Why was the 1944 invasion of Normandy necessary,?

Question

when the allied forces already occupied Italy? Why didn't they just reinforce their divisions already in Italy, and march across the rest of Hitler's "Fortress Europe?"

Answer 1

In order to get to Germany from Italy, you have to cross borders through either Switzerland or Austria. As the terrain of these two countries are mountainous and the roads narrow, it's unthinkable how you can move large masses of troops and materiel through the narrow mountain passes.

This option was considered right after the Allied landings in Sicily, but was later ruled out. It was thought that German bomber planes could simply drop bombs on these mountain passes and that would render them totally impassable.

Crossing the English Channel from Britain to France was a more practical solution. Large masses of troops and materiel can be easily loaded into ships and barges, them move them across the Channel. Furthermore, the British Royal Airforce had a dominant presence in the skies above the Channel, so German fighter and bomber planes cannot attack the ships crossing the Channel without getting intercepted by British fighter planes. The sea lanes in the Channel are also dominated by the British Navy, so German U-Boats and submarines cannot attack Allied shipping crossing the Channel.

So yes, the crossing of the English Channel from Britain to Normandy was the best option.

Answer 2

there are a few reasons. First, the attack was a surprise, something that Hitler did not expect. Opening a new front directly on his doorstep cut the German suply lines to the rest of his armies that were further south. The second, and probably more important reason has more to do with America's ally Stalin. By 1944 the Russian Red Army was engaging over 80% of Hitlers forces on the eastern front, crushing it in that same year, and moving towards Germany at a rapid pace. The other ally powers realised that if a new front closer to Germany were not opened, the Soviets had a very good chance of crushing all of Germany by themselves, and occupying most of western and all of eastern europe as a consequence. The truth is that by 1944 the German army had already been defeated to a large extent. German troops died by the millions fighting the Red Army. Therefore the move to invade Normandy was strategic, to prevent the Russians from getting to Germany first. As it turned out, both the american/british/french forces as well as the Red army arrived at about the same time, which was why Berlin and Germany itself was split virtually down the middle. If Normandy had not happened, it is very likely that all of Germany would have been under the control of the Soviets.

Answer 3

Because Italy was easy to defend because of the mountainous terrain. Also the north of Italy was blocked by neutral Switzerland and the two alternatives into Yugoslavia and France were narrow and also easy to defend. It could have added at least another year if they tried that.
The most difficult problem with an invading force is to keep it supplied with enough fuel,food and ammunition to sustain the advance and even in France this was difficult once the Allies broke out of Normandy and advanced too rapidly before the onset of winter for the Line of Communication to keep up

Answer 4

The allies where having a much harder time getting through Italy then they expected.
Also, the more fronts your enemy has to defend, the better chance you have of overrunning them.
Not to mention the Russians where making good progress against Germany through Europe. Great Britain and the US wanted to get into the war to get some of the credit for stopping Germany, although, ultimately, The Normandy landings didn't even count as one of the top ten battles in WWII.

Answer 5

Second front.

Also, watch the movie Patton for an interesting take on the second front. Basically, the movie claims that Patton (who was doing quite well with tanks against the Germans) was used as a decoy in the south, riding in parades and making a spectacle to convince the Germans we were gearing up for a southern assault so they would move troops to defend. That softened up the north for an invasion, which because of the flat terrain allowed a faster sweep and land grab, making not only a second front, but also a beachhead to operate from on the continent.

Answer 6

March across Italy? When was the last time you looked at a map of Italy? The country was designed for defense and the Germans were very, very good at it. We were losing thousands of men per mile. As soon as it looked like we were going to break through the Germans would pull back to the next mountain range and dig in all over again.

Answer 7

The forces in italy were at a standstill for over a year- also do not forget that the Alps are in Northern Italy and Southern Germany- creating a sustainable supply chan from Britian-to-Italy-across-the-Alps-into Germany- would have been extremely unpractical

The troops in Italy were tying up crack German troops- creating yet another front in France- put German on the defensive in all directions- hastening it's collapse.

Answer 8

It forced the Germans to spread out their supplies and troops. The Anzio landings main purpose was to force Germany to deploy troops and commit resources away from the planned invasion through France. Encirclement is also one of the oldest and proven military strategies there is.

Answer 9

It would have been too hard for them to get their tanks, heavy guns and troops across the mountains (Alps).

Also, invading France allowed them to use England as a convenient supply base and they had the air support bases there they needed to provide fighting cover for the ground forces in France.

Answer 10

What was between Italy and Germany? The Alps.