TODAY’S PLAN

• Video Introduction: Saving Private Ryan

• Presentation: D-Day to Liberation

• Activity: Liberation of the Netherlands

D-DAY: THE PLAN• Ever since the Evacuation of

Dunkirk, the Allies had planned on invading France and taking it back

• Hitler, however, had anticipated this and built 2400 mile fortification consisting of bunkers, mines, and other obstacles along the French coast

• In January 1944, General Dwight Eisenhower was appointed commander of D Day (codenamed Operation Overlord)

ATLANTIC WALL

D-DAY: THE PLAN• While the Allies had

created a diversionary plan to attack Pas-De –Calais (including a fake army) the real target was Normandy

• The attack was originally planned for June 5, 1944 but due to bad weather it was postponed until the next day

D-DAY: THE ATTACK• More than 5000 ships carrying

troops headed for Normandy on the morning of June 6, 1944. Along with them were 11,000 aircraft for support.

• By 6:30 am thousands of paratroopers had landed behind enemy lines

• The Americans attacked beaches codenamed Utah and Omaha; the British attacked Gold and Sword; while Canadians attacked Juno

D-DAY: THE ATTACK• All beaches were taken within

the day with Omaha proving to have the most resistance

• By the end of the day 156,000 Allied troops had landed on the beaches of Normandy suffering over 5000 casualties

• One week later on June 11 the beaches were fully secured with over 326,000 soldiers, 100,000 tons of equipment, and 50,000 vehicles

D-DAY: JUNO BEACH• On the morning of D-Day, over 30,000

Canadians passed through concrete barriers, barbed wired, and other obstacles to take Juno Beach

• Canadian soldier massively outnumbered German soldier who were often under 18 or over 35 due to the massive losses they had taken over the war

• Over 100,000 soldiers would take a role in D-Day and the following invasion

• On the first day of battle 359 Canadians were killed while 715 were injured

D-DAY: THE LIBERATION OF FRANCE

• With the invasion of Normandy the Allies were slowly taking control of Northern France

• On August 15, 1944 the Allies launched Operation Dragoon in which 100,000 soldiers took over Southern France and rapidly made their way north

• By the time the South and North armies reached Paris it was largely evacuated and the Allies liberated the city

• The attack in France forced the Germans to borrow soldiers from the East which gave the Soviet Union a huge advantage

DID YOU KNOW?• The “D” in D-Day actually only stood for Day and

was simply used to preserve secrecy.

• New gadgets designed for D-Day included a “swimming tank” and a flame throwing tank called “the crocodile”. There were even collapsible motorbikes.

• To plan for the operation the BBC ran a competition for French beach holiday photographs. It was actually a way of gathering intelligence on suitable beaches.

• It was the largest seaborne invasion in history: 7,000 ships took part.

• Commonwealth personnel, nearly all British and Canadian, outnumbered the Americans on D-day. Of the 156,000 men landed in France on 6 June, 73,000 were American, and 83,000 were British and Canadian, while the Commonwealth naval contingent was twice that of the Americans.

THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE

• In the winter months of 1944-45, Hitler launched his last attack

• The Germans were to send a massive army group through the Ardennes Forest and cut off communication between Canada, USA, and Britain

• The attack took the Allies by surprise and was largely successful for the first two days

THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE

• The bad weather also supported the Axis because as it prevented the Allies from using air support

• The battle lasted a month and was locked in a stalemate for most of it

• Hitler’s attack, however, relied heavily on vehicles and the Germans were running dangerously low on fuel leading to an Allied victory

• The battle had heavy losses for both sides

• The Allies: 90,948• The Axis: 67,200-100,000

THE BOMBING OF DRESDEN• In February 1945, the Allied

forces bombed the city of Dresden for three reasons

• Dresden was a Nazi city and the bombing was therefore justified

• Dresden was a massive producer of Germany’s weapons and equipment

• Though the Russians were their allies, Roosevelt and Churchill wished to show how powerful they were in case Russia turned on them

THE BOMBING OF DRESDEN

• Over three bombing raids, the entire city of Dresden was burnt down

• Temperatures were so high that the roads of the city melted

• 3,330 tons of bombs were dropped and between 35,000-135,000 people died

BATTLE FOR BERLIN• By April 1945, the Allies had completely

surrounded Berlin

• The Soviet Union had devastated German forced after the Battle of Stalingrad and was now ready to attack Germany’s capital

• Moreover, the Soviets had 2,500,000 soldiers ready for the battle while Germany only had 1,000,000 (most of the old men and children)

• Despite Hitler’s slim chances of winning, he decided to fight to the last man

• After shelling the city for three weeks, the Soviets sent in 1 million soldiers and destroyed the city with tanks

• 80,000 Russians were killed versus 150,000 Germans

• On May 2 1945, Berlin surrendered to the Soviets

GERMAN SURRENDER

• During the Battle for Berlin Adolf Hitler hid in his bunker underneath the Reich Chancellery Building

• On April 28, 1945 Adolf Hitler married his long time girlfriend Eva Braun.

GERMAN SURRENDER

• Finally realising that Germany could not win the War, Hitler and his new wife killed themselves on April 30, 1945. There bodies were burned.

• On May 7, 1945 General Alfred Jodl surrendered on behalf of Germany in Reims, France.

• With the surrender of Germany, the War in Europe was over.

DID YOU KNOW• Despite becoming the dictator of Germany,

Hitler was not born there. Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn, Austria on April 20, 1889

• Throughout his youth, Hitler dreamed of becoming an artist. He applied twice to the Vienna Academy of Art (once in 1907 and again in 1908) but was denied entrance both times.

• Hitler endured and survived four years of World War I. During this time, he was awarded two Iron Crosses for bravery.

• Adolf Hitler had one sister that lived past childhood. Paula Hitler lived until 1960 and had no ties to the Nazi party

• On January 2 1939, Hitler was declared Times Magazine “Man of the Year 1938”