We have one more stop on our whirlwind tour of the D-Day Beaches – Arromanches. Today Arromanches, (pronounced “arrow-mansh”), is a neat little tourist town on the Normandy coast. Seventy-five years ago this was Gold Beach, where British forces landed on D-day. In the critical days following D-Day, Arromanche was Action Central.
A Rough Start
As described in the previous post, D-Day got off to a rough start. A thick, low cloud cover caused tremendous havoc. Paratroopers and gliders landed all over the place. Gliders loaded with troops and armor smashed into buildings, hedgerows, and Rommel’s glider defenses. Troops called them “flying coffins.”
At Omaha Beach, bombers completely missed targets obscured by clouds, leaving defenders at full strength. Tanks meant for the beach were dumped into deep water, only to sink to the bottom. Strong tides caused landings to be off-target. Fighting groups were scattered, so leaders had to organize whoever was nearby into ad-hoc units, then plan the next move. Mass confusion reigned.
But Not Everything Went Wrong
But much more went right than went wrong. The Big One was achieving the element of surprise. The Nazis were caught completely off-guard. Nazi commanders didn’t even believe the first reports of something big happening south of Le Havre. Communication lines cut by the French Resistance isolated confused Nazi units.
The Allied strategy was to establish a stronghold before a Nazi counter-attack could materialize. If the Nazis countered in force while the Allies were still stuck on the beach, that’d be all she wrote. But crack Nazi Panzer divisions were north of the Seine, near Pas de Calais. The “Atlantic Wall” was deadly, but it was thin, without much to back it up. In short, the Allied D-Day strategy worked.
Arromanches
After D-Day, Allied success depended on sustained, rapid delivery of massive amounts of equipment, armor, supplies, and troops. The Allies needed a harbor. Pre-built, portable “Mulberry Harbors” were the answer.
To build them, the Royal Navy towed decommissioned ships and massive concrete structures into place, then sunk them to provide a breakwater. They tied other structures, floating on pontoons, into place. Then they attached special, floating bridges that served as piers.
Mulberry harbors were erected at Omaha Beach and at Arromanches. A bad storm ruined the one at Omaha Beach, but at Arromanche, 12,000 tons of cargo and 2,500 vehicles a day could be unloaded. More than two million men, half a million vehicles, and four million tons of supplies were unloaded at Arromanche.
Le Bocage – Hedgerow Country
The Nazis rushed hundreds of thousands of troops and thousands of Panzer tanks to western France. The Allies and Nazis met up in an area called “Le Bocage” – hedgerow country. The Allies were not prepared.
The Allied command knew about English hedgerows. But French hedgerows are like brick walls compared to English hedgerows. They’re lined by natural ditches and separated by flat, green fields. They’re the ideal places to dig in deep and make mincemeat of unsuspecting invaders. The Allies learned that the hard way.
Nazi snipers in trees, machine gun nests embedded in hedgerows, and countless booby traps did a number on Allied troops. In open spaces, Panzer tanks were a nightmare. The worst of it was probably bombardment from wickedly accurate Nazi “88’s.” (Pic below).
Hand-to-Hand Combat
Fighting in the hedgerows was hand-to hand, often at night. Nazi soldiers were battle-hardened pros, seasoned by years of fighting. They had the best equipment, they knew how to use it, and they knew all the tricks.
For example, say the Nazis held a fortified hilltop position. Eventually, they’d be overrun by greater numbers of Allied troops. After making their stand, the Nazis would withdraw, but before retreating, they’d set booby traps and lock in the coordinates of fortified positions on the hill. After the Allies took the hill and settled in, the Nazis would use those coordinates to very accurately obliterate the top of the reinforced hill, then take it back the next day.
Something to be Thankful For
In contrast, most Allied troops had never seen battle. Hundreds of thousand replacement troops had never fired a gun. Thousands were teenagers, unprepared physically, and especially mentally. Ready or not, they were sent straight to the front lines.
But the Allies controlled the skies. Allied troops, armor, and supplies just kept coming in, while Nazis started to face shortages. The Nazis were eventually outnumbered and running low on everything. They lost the war of attrition.
As we traveled along today, our guide, in her delicate French accent, explained all of this and more. Her passion and depth of knowledge about D-Day were inspiring. Those of us lucky enough to be on the bus that day got an education, a lot to think about, and a lot to be thankful for.
To be continued…
To dive deeper into D-Day, see Travel Notes, Normandy, D-Day.
