What would be even more interesting is to show the number of German troops at these beaches. Omaha had perhaps a thousand defenders with perhaps an equal number within ten miles of the beach. The German situation on the other beaches were worse. The Germans did have the advantage of fortifications, and did they make the most of them.
Its interesting to hear the no nothings bray about how fixed defenses are useless. In the Pacific a week worth of bombardment couldn't reduce all defenses or even a good per centage of them. In Normandy the bombardment was a few hours.
Even with what we deployed for D Day, we had the resources to sic the Fifth Fleet on the Marianas, at the same time. Followed by Palau, and Operation Dragoon, the invasion of Southern France, and we then went right on to the greatest amphibious invasion of them all, the liberation of the Philippines.
We were a steely country back then. OTOH, I remember the first of our raids on Schweinfurt. That hurt a lot and took 5 months to recover from. Losing 60 bombers outright and 80-98 crippled beyond repair was not good. I still remember the flap about putting up the memorial to the 8th Air Force. My folks lived in Arlington about 2 miles from the Annex and the hate that boiled off people who should have known better was palpable. Always wanted to use that word in a sentence.
3 comments:
What would be even more interesting is to show the number of German troops at these beaches. Omaha had perhaps a thousand defenders with perhaps an equal number within ten miles of the beach. The German situation on the other beaches were worse. The Germans did have the advantage of fortifications, and did they make the most of them.
Its interesting to hear the no nothings bray about how fixed defenses are useless. In the Pacific a week worth of bombardment couldn't reduce all defenses or even a good per centage of them. In Normandy the bombardment was a few hours.
Even with what we deployed for D Day, we had the resources to sic the Fifth Fleet on the Marianas, at the same time. Followed by Palau, and Operation Dragoon, the invasion of Southern France, and we then went right on to the greatest amphibious invasion of them all, the liberation of the Philippines.
We were a steely country back then. OTOH, I remember the first of our raids on Schweinfurt. That hurt a lot and took 5 months to recover from. Losing 60 bombers outright and 80-98 crippled beyond repair was not good. I still remember the flap about putting up the memorial to the 8th Air Force. My folks lived in Arlington about 2 miles from the Annex and the hate that boiled off people who should have known better was palpable. Always wanted to use that word in a sentence.
Post a Comment