(3/5) TANKS! The Battle of Normandy

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Videos Running Time 00:49:00 in 5 Parts

TANKS!: The Battle of Normandy

D-Day (Operation Overlord) was the culmination of 2 years of planning, training and preparation. It was the answer to the USSRs pleadings for 2 years. By the time of the D-Day landings, the USSR had pushed the Whermacht back into Poland. The Western Allies would tie down 25-30% of the Whermacht and assist the USSR in the complete ruin of Nazi Germany.

The D-Day plan is quite possibly the best planned invasion in history. Much of the credit is owed to the experiences of the British Armed Forces against their respected foe. The selection of Normandy, as the landing zone was chosen by British Lt.Gen Morgan. General Montgomery insisted that 5 divisions invade Normandy rather than three. The enigma decrypts and the British double cross system, of turning German agents sent to Britain, completely fooled German Intelligence (Abwehr) and SS SD (Sicherheitsdienst). By June 6th, 1944, German intelligence relied on 38+ agents in Britain for most of their human pre-invasion intelligence. These agents were either British SIS (Security Information Service) handlers, turned German agents or fictitious agents created by British intelligence. Some in British intelligence became suspicious that the plan was working too well.

The British and Canadian forces experience at Dieppe, was a blessing in disguise, despite the terrible casualties sustained by the brave Canadian troops. The British Churchill tank had difficulty negotiating the sand on the beach. However, once off the beach the armor ran into tough obstacles. All armor landed at Dieppe was lost. The British were determined to be better prepared during the next raid or invasion.

Known to the Allies as Hobarts Funnies, specialized armor was developed by the British 79th Armored Division. The Churchill AVRE (Amour Vehicle Royal Engineers) tanks were developed for the Normandy landings. Churchill tanks were converted into; anti-mine tanks, carpet layer tanks, flamethrower tanks, bunker buster spigot throwing tanks and numerous other vehicles.

Most notable of the specialized armor was the DD (Duplex Drive) Sherman Tank. The DD tank was basically a tank converted into a small boat . With a pressurized canvas screen, the DD Sherman could swim towards the Normandy coast and significantly assist the infantry driving inland. The DD Sherman was a resounding success at Sword, Gold and Juno. The DD tank was a disaster at Normandy Beach. Because of difficult sea conditions and the ridiculous decision to launch the DDs into rough sea 5 miles distant off shore, doomed the DD attack. However, follow-up tank support, brave infantry attacks and naval gunfire turned the tide at Omaha Beach.

Superior German armor, tactics and anti-tank equipment turned the Normandy breakout into a nightmare. Hedgerow embankments turned the French countryside into small fortresses. If that wasnt difficult enough, the German Tiger, Panther, PzKw IV and tank hunters could easily knock-out any Allied tank at extreme distance. On the other hand the Tiger and Panthers frontal armor was impervious to any Allied tanks round. Allied tankers began developing a Tiger phobia during any advance.

The Normandy campaign came to an end with the closure of the Falaise Pocket. In the end the superior armor, tactics and defenses of the German Army in Normandy could not turn the tide. Allied superiority in numbers, air power and overall strategy defeated the Germany Army in Normandy.

Enjoy this excellent episode of TANKS! The Battle of Normandy.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• World
• War
• II
• Tanks
• Sherman
• German
• British
• Normandy
• Tiger
• Panther
• Omaha
• Beach
• armor
• USSR
• Whermacht
• Nazi

[navymexican]

Where is 2/5?

[1ownjoo2]

So if you take 30k, and 50k and then take in the 10:1 kill ratio the germans had.... Well i think you get what im saying there...

The germans would have crushed the Americans if thats all they were fighting. The problem was russia.

[1ownjoo2]

@ciutarobby I already know it was the winter

[ciutarobby]

@1ownjoo2 Russia was still less powerfull than germany

the problem was russian winter :) go read about operation barbossa and all the things in russia

[Burningwithecstasy]

where is 2/5 TANKS! The Battle of Normandy?

[cf80to01]

@sudaev Okay, clearly you do not understand Youtube. If you are going to be calm and use reason to debate I am not sure we will ever get anywhere........ I guess everything is relative to where you are from and how much of the subject you actually know. I consider myself pretty well read on WW2 in Europe. and I would agree that most people are inwardly fixated. I think my problem is that I often am looking for intelligent debate rather than a pissing contest.

[sudaev]

@cf80to01 - Ever since I was a kid in the 70s and 80s the documentaries were often shows like the British-made "The World At War"....

I don't see much evidence that the channels you mentioned, above, are too fixated on the Americans. In fact, in the USA, people refer to the History Channel as "The Hitler Channel".

Perhaps the Brit documentaries do the same thing - I just saw a Brit documentary on the Pacific war and it clearly focused on British & Commonwealth units.

[cf80to01]

@sudaev The History Channel, Arts and Entertainment Channel (though they do far less military related material since others came on the scene)

and The Military Channel. In my experience very few people actually have studied their own military history and know only what they get from TV. Unfortunately a good portion of people in the west (who like military history and are too lazy/stupid to read) never question anything they see on the television. If you do not see it.....look harder.

[TheJEWHUNTER1488]

sale on french rifles ! only dropped twice ! running from germans , and then americans !

[HappyandAtheist]

@sudaev

funny I see US comments all the time manly 'do what we say we saved your ass' and the ' USA USA USA !' school of thought. I just figure that you get fools every were and ignore them. Most american I talk to have a more balanced view of WWII.

[sudaev]

Ever since I was a kid, here in USA, I was pointedly told by British kids that Americans literally did nothing in WWII, and that they were worthless, etc. These same kids had no real specific knowledge; it was just something they were practically programmed to say. Perhaps this myopia goes both ways

[sudaev]

@cf80to01 - I don't see that at all. YouTube is mostly fanboys of the Wehrmacht, or UK types shrieking about Americans "watching their own documentaries"...but any such comments by Americans I rarely see. It's as if you're so hyper-sensitive to it, that you imagine it's widespread in the few cases that you do see. And where is this "American military history channel"?