d day invasion tactics and weaponry?

Question

describe in detail sucesses or failures in terms of tactics,weponry, or technolgy used by axis or allies during the normandy invasion and what the impact was on the overall campaign. Please guys i need this it is all due 3/28

Answer 1

Static defence was not that bad, as far as the Atlantic Wall was concerned, as opposed to what the guy said above. The critical error made by the Werhmact was the restrictions on the tactical Panzer reserves, which were kept near Pas de Calais and under the direct control of OKH and Hitler. The only panzer division available in the first few days of the Normandy invasion was the 21st Panzer Division. Rommel had wanted to strike the allies with the Panzers while they were on the beaches.

The key tactic or factor for the allied victory was the air superiority which wreaked havoc on the railroads behind the lines and the reinforcements that were sent. The typhoons were tank killers which compensated for the poorly armoured Shermans.

Another factor was the airborne landings by the 101st and 82nd to secure the bridges behind the German lines, even though many were scattered.

The Germans had some success in the hedge growth of the normandy region, great places for defence. The germans also had success with their Tigers against the allied Shermans. Michel Whitman, German Tiger ace stopped an entire Canadian division outside of Caen. But it was a case of too little too late.

The allies superior resources won out in the end. The Allied tactic of carpet bombing made mince meat of the vaunted Wehrmact.

Answer 2

Critical error made by the Wehrmacht was that they adopted the static defense. Field Marshall von Rundstedt was proponent of fixed defense and hoped that they would be able to stop the allied invasion at the beaches. However, problem with fixed defense is that if it is breached at one spot, and the enemy in mobile enough to pour through the breach and bypass the rest of the defensive line, it's all over.

For this reason, Rommel proposed deployment of the panzer divisions near the beach. Rommel planned to smash the allied beachhead with panzer division early in the landing, before the allies had chance to consolidate the beachhead and bring up additional reserves in-land.

It is doubtful that deployment of panzer divisions near the beaches would have made difference as Germans believed Allies would cross the channel at Pas-de Calais, the shortest crossing point. Thus, even if panzer divisions were deployed at Pas-de Calais, they would have had to traverse hundreds of miles and would have surely been destroyed by the allies airforce.

Answer 3

The biggest tactic was surprise.

The planning for "Operation Overlord" the invasion of France, involved many new tactics, some of which were the use of glider bourne troops, combined with parachutists to land behind the beaches under cover of darkness, to seize key points, such as bridges or road junctions.

This was an ALL ARMS operation, which means that each of the air land and sea elements had to work together, to acheive sucess. This required many new ways of working that hadn't been tried before, such as the beach masters who controlled the un-loading of men and supplies, much like traffic cops at an intersection. A whole range of speciallised armoured vehicles were developed to deal with specific problems, such as the "flail tank" that cleared mine fields, or the flamethrower tank that attacked concete bunkers at close range.

Another new tactic was having artillery guns firing from their landing craft as they closed in to the beach. By doing this, the artillery units contributed to their own sucessfull landings. Overhead, the airforces were flying two types of sorties, one to attack specific targets on the ground, the other as "on-call" fire support for the troops who needed it.

Finally, the rapid re-inforcement of sucessfull units was a new tactic that required local commanders to be quick and keep up the pace of battle even at night.

Jim Bunting. Toronto.

Answer 4

Besides the conventional weapons of the time spying was major role of the opposing armies..

Answer 5

Hitler failed to deploy the reserves that he had and paid for it. The allies sent nearly everything we had and won.