D-DAY LANDINGS continued...

...On the day of the invasion, allied planes dropped tons of aluminium foil strips called ‘chaff’ to fool German radar into thinking that an invasion air force was heading in that direction. Rubber dummy paratroopers also floated to the earth further confusing the German troops on the ground and causing German commanders to think twice before reacting to reported landings. These tactics ensured that even as the Germans saw the armada at Normandy, they didn’t believe it was the real invasion, thinking instead it was simply a diversionary raid designed to take German attention away from Calais.

A few hours after the decision to launch ‘Operation Overlord’, the invasion fleet was in final preparations to slip out to sea. The convoys concentrated off the Isle of Wight and then turned south along channels that had been swept clear of mines. The crossing was accomplished without serious loss or interference by the Enemy, whose air and sea patrols had been cancelled because of the bad weather. The leading minesweepers came within sight of the French coast early in the evening of 5th June.

Defending German forces remained unaware of the vast armada approaching them until thousands of throbbing engines were heard offshore at about 0200 hours next morning. On the British beaches, the surf very rough and a number of landing craft were lost.

The German strong points were quickly overcome by Hobart's 'funnies' - ingenious tanks and other armoured vehicles designed to swim ashore under their own power, lay paths and bridges or whirl chains mounted in front to strike the ground and explode a path through minefields. The infantry pressed rapidly inland and by nightfall British and Canadian troops had occupied a coastal strip 12 miles wide and 6 miles deep.

By 11 June the allies had established a bridgehead 50 miles wide by 12 miles deep into which they poured a total of 326,547 men, 54,186 vehicles and 104,428 tons of supplies. Most of these were landed across the open beaches or in anchorages sheltered by breakwaters formed of sunken blockships.

Enemy reaction to the massed beach landings was slow and confused. Though reports of airborne and seaborne attacks had been pouring into German Headquarters since early morning, it was persistently believed that these were only diversions and the real weight of the allied invasion would come near Calais...