Just watched Saving Private Ryan again, ***Q about D-Day***

[CarlKillerMiller]

Surprisingly, most movies have not been able to make the experience any more "intense", which is why they are mostly accurate.

Things like MOH, however, would never occur, as you would never be able to save another soldier there, the chaos was just too encompassing.

 

[Feldenak]

This book is a good start.

 

[nick1985]

where else would they land?? and how else would they do it?? it was the best/only way at the time.

 

[OREOSpeedwagon]

Originally posted by: Mwilding

Originally posted by: GoodToGo

Originally posted by: OREOSpeedwagon
The only way we won at D-Day was because the germans started running out of ammo and we had an insane amount of soldiers and they couldn't stop us.

Oh god I hope you are wrong because the thought is just sickening

Don't take any history classes taught by OreoSpeedwagon...

Not planning on being a history teacher That's what my high school history teacher told one of my friends when he asked a similar question to LOLyourFace's.

 

[GoingUp]

the bombings were effective on every other beach except omaha... they missed almost all of their targets there...


anyone else cry when they see the cemetary at the beginning and end? I cant help but get all teary eyed when I think about it

 

[Yossarian]

Originally posted by: Feldenak
This book is a good start.

yes! very good book, I just read it a couple months ago. good big picture overview and lots of personal anecdotes. for example, months before the invasion "midget" submarines came in and dropped off guys to take soil samples to make sure the beaches and exit roads would be able to hold the tanks and heavy equipment.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: OREOSpeedwagon
The only way we won at D-Day was because the germans started running out of ammo and we had an insane amount of soldiers and they couldn't stop us.

We won D-Day because of some great subterfuge and planning. The Allies had Hitler thinking that the initial bombardment of the beaches of Normandy was a feint for a larger attack at a port further north. Because of this, Hitler held back Rommel and his division of tanks from rushing to Normandy to provide support until it was much too late.

Also, don't short change the bravery of our men. A captain of a destroyer ran his ship dangerously close to shore to provide support for the troops. Many men jumped out of planes in total darkness. Not all made it. Then there was the bravery of the men landing on shore. Those were truly hellish conditions. But they perservered and the world is a better place for it.

Please, read up on the history of D-Day. At least watch the History channel.

 

[Feldenak]

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: OREOSpeedwagon
The only way we won at D-Day was because the germans started running out of ammo and we had an insane amount of soldiers and they couldn't stop us.

We won D-Day because of some great subterfuge and planning. The Allies had Hitler thinking that the initial bombardment of the beaches of Normandy was a feint for a larger attack at a port further north. Because of this, Hitler held back Rommel and his division of tanks from rushing to Normandy to provide support until it was much too late.

Also, don't short change the bravery of our men. A captain of a destroyer ran his ship dangerously close to shore to provide support for the troop. Many men jumped out of planes in total darkness. Not all made it. Then there was the bravery of the men landing on shore. Those were truly hellish conditions. But they perservered and the world is a better place for it.

Please, read up on the history of D-Day. At least watch the History channel.

Agreed! Try reading a book or two every now and then.

 

[Kadarin]

Originally posted by: LOLyourFace

Originally posted by: Glitchny

Originally posted by: KGB
This is where Band Of Brother's comes in. It potrays how the American Airborne ParaChuter's were "supposed" to land behind the German defenses and take them out out by dawn to save a several thousand lives on the landing.

Alas we know how mediocre the plan was executed, and the higher unexpected number of GI's were killed instantly once off the transporter boats. Remember the whole coast of Normandy was not fortified totally. The British/Canadians who landed further north of Omaha beach had a "day in the park" getting back into France. American's suffered much more casualties because they were chose to attack the lower portion.

If you want to see a good film about WW1, (it star Mel Gibson) its called Galipolli I believe. Another good movie about invading mass number of troops into a nation.

/Ironically both D-Day and Galipolli invasion was planned by the same man... yep you guessed it.. Winston Churchill...

yeah but d-day worked and when you are fighting a war there are whats called acceptable losses

assuming what the movie portrayed is 100% correct, I wouldn't call that 'acceptable losses' at all.

You are, I think, jaded by modern standards of military conflict, brought about by the advent of the smart bomb and advances in communication technology. WWII was a war that HAD to be won, whatever the cost.

 

[silverpig]

There was more deception than just bombing other beaches. They took dead Brit soldiers, clothed them in high ranking officers' uniforms and threw them into the ocean during naval battles. On these dead bodies were "secret plans" of D-Day. The first one showed the landing at some other location. Then they did it again with new plans for another location. They then sent a large air force to clear the beach at this second location. Almost immediately after, they bombed/invaded Normandy.

Air strikes aren't so easy to do though when the enemy has AA up the ying yang all along the coast...

 

[tm37]

I want to read this tonight.

Some good links here.

 

[Rogue]

Despite the loss of life, this extract below looks like a resouning success in the mission to me:

By nightfall the 1st and 29th divisions held positions around Vierville, Saint-Laurent, and Colleville?nowhere near the planned objectives, but they had a toe-hold. The Americans suffered 2,400 casualties at Omaha on June 6, but by the end of the day they had landed 34,000 troops. The German 352nd Division lost 20 percent of its strength, with 1,200 casualties, but it had no reserves coming to continue the fight.

In a similar mission today, this would not be an issue at all. Not even taking precision fire munitions into account, we would have dispatched several SpecOPS teams under cover of darkness with night-vision capability to eliminate many of these threats. Add in the precision munitions of today and it was a suicide mission, for the Nazis.

The sad thing is, given the circumstances and situation, you probably couldn't even find 2400 people to even volunteer for this mission today. Men are not quite what they used to be, that's for damn sure.

 

[Amorphus]

Originally posted by: JimmyEatWorld
What I always wondered, is why the beach landers were designed with only a single drop-down flap to let the soldiers out, like a dump-truck. Woudln't make tons more sense to have doors that dropped down on the sides, leaving the rear end erect to provide cover, or at least to prevent them seeing inside? This would prevent their guns shredding through a whole boat full of them.

it was developed, I'm quite sure. the problem initially was water getting into the landing craft, or something. our landing craft now are designed as such.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

I read a good portion of this thread. Did a Google and could not find what I wanted.

The USA is the only nation, in the history of modern warfare, that has been able to launch
a successful offensive amphibious assault, against a fortified position. (period)

We learned alot in the Pacific Theater before D-Day.

 

[OREOSpeedwagon]

Originally posted by: Feldenak

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: OREOSpeedwagon
The only way we won at D-Day was because the germans started running out of ammo and we had an insane amount of soldiers and they couldn't stop us.

We won D-Day because of some great subterfuge and planning. The Allies had Hitler thinking that the initial bombardment of the beaches of Normandy was a feint for a larger attack at a port further north. Because of this, Hitler held back Rommel and his division of tanks from rushing to Normandy to provide support until it was much too late.

Also, don't short change the bravery of our men. A captain of a destroyer ran his ship dangerously close to shore to provide support for the troop. Many men jumped out of planes in total darkness. Not all made it. Then there was the bravery of the men landing on shore. Those were truly hellish conditions. But they perservered and the world is a better place for it.

Please, read up on the history of D-Day. At least watch the History channel.

Agreed! Try reading a book or two every now and then.

I read books, usually 1-2 a week. And I watch the History channel every once in a while, never watched anything on D-Day though.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Originally posted by: Rogue
Despite the loss of life, this extract below looks like a resouning success in the mission to me:

By nightfall the 1st and 29th divisions held positions around Vierville, Saint-Laurent, and Colleville?nowhere near the planned objectives, but they had a toe-hold. The Americans suffered 2,400 casualties at Omaha on June 6, but by the end of the day they had landed 34,000 troops. The German 352nd Division lost 20 percent of its strength, with 1,200 casualties, but it had no reserves coming to continue the fight.

In a similar mission today, this would not be an issue at all. Not even taking precision fire munitions into account, we would have dispatched several SpecOPS teams under cover of darkness with night-vision capability to eliminate many of these threats. Add in the precision munitions of today and it was a suicide mission, for the Nazis.

The sad thing is, given the circumstances and situation, you probably couldn't even find 2400 people to even volunteer for this mission today. Men are not quite what they used to be, that's for damn sure.

true.dat

Check out a song called Mrs. Sullivan by Caronline's Spine if you get a chance. I cry every time I listen to it.

 

[Cyberian]

Originally posted by: BrunoPuntzJones

Check out a song called Mrs. Sullivan by Caronline's Spine if you get a chance. I cry every time I listen to it.

Maybe 5 young men isn't so much in the grand scheme of things, but that has always been a gut-wrenching story.

 

[JEDI]

teleportors didnt work and phasers got jammed by sand.

dang, now that i think about it, why didn't they just do an orbital strike? oh yeah, the Germans had those old Episode 1 shields that repel almost everything, yet people can just walk on through

 

[ReiAyanami]

yeah we shoulda dropped one of our three non-existent nuclear bombs on the region to clear it for our troops. that way they'd only have to deal with radiation, but no germaniacs

 

[DaWhim]

the best D-day movie is The Longest Day

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: OREOSpeedwagon
I read books, usually 1-2 a week. And I watch the History channel every once in a while, never watched anything on D-Day though.

The next time that June 6th comes around. Watch the History channel. They have some very gripping documentaries on D-day. Especially anything that deals with the counter-intelligence efforts. My favorite is the one about the incidental double-agent that the Allies had in their court that totally had the Nazis fooled.

 

[TheBoyBlunder]

From what I've heard, they DID bomb the crap out of the beach area...it's just crappy luck I guess. I'm taking WW2 History next semester, I'll let you know when we get to D-Day.

 

[Crazee]

A great place to check out if you are in the area is the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans. linky

It is really awesome. They have a lot of accounts from Veterans who lived through D-day and just incredible amounts of information.

 

[AnyMal]

Originally posted by: JimmyEatWorld
What I always wondered, is why the beach landers were designed with only a single drop-down flap to let the soldiers out, like a dump-truck. Woudln't make tons more sense to have doors that dropped down on the sides, leaving the rear end erect to provide cover, or at least to prevent them seeing inside? This would prevent their guns shredding through a whole boat full of them.

As for the bombing and what not.... I seem to recall that we did not bomb on Omaha beach, rather we bombed somewhere else in Frace to feign an attack there. Hitler mobalized a bunch of resources to that fake place, and Omaha was less than it could have been. In place of that bombing assault was supposed to tbe paratroopers.

Such boat design would not help, sadly. The germans held elevated positions, they could see and shoot inside the boat from up there.

 

[Staples]

Originally posted by: Bootprint
Don't forget they also dropped some troops in gliders more inland.

Well, never seen the movie but this part about dropping troops inland is exactly what you play in Call of Duty. That game is really cool and makes you feel like you are in the war itself.