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Possible stupid question about D day.
Posted on 6/28/25 at 12:55 pm
Posted on 6/28/25 at 12:55 pm
There were thousands of miles of coastline that the Allies could have landed at. What made them decide to land at the locations they did where there was such high resistance?
17
Posted on 6/28/25 at 12:56 pm to RoosterCogburn585
quote:
There were thousands of miles of coastline that the Allies could have landed at.
Landed from where? That narrows things down considerably.
Posted on 6/28/25 at 12:56 pm to RoosterCogburn585
there were only so many places they could land because they needed a major port. cherbourg and calais offered that with calais offering the fastest way into Germany. Calais was also more heavily fortified because the Germans knew this. Normandy was actually lightly held in most places save for Omaha beach
This post was edited on 6/28/25 at 12:57 pm
Posted on 6/28/25 at 12:56 pm to RoosterCogburn585
are you asking why they landed in northern France in general, or why specific sections of beach were picked
Posted on 6/28/25 at 12:57 pm to Sam Quint
Kind of both to be honest.
Posted on 6/28/25 at 12:57 pm to RoosterCogburn585
quote:The other acceptable landing spots had more defenses.
What made them decide to land at the locations they did where there was such high resistance?
Posted on 6/28/25 at 12:58 pm to RoosterCogburn585
A little google search shows Normandy beach was great for supporting a large amphibious attack. I don't know, but maybe most of the coastline was full of cliffs. They did have to march upwards on the attack, or at least my character did in call of duty.
Posted on 6/28/25 at 12:59 pm to RoosterCogburn585
Vibes were breezier up north and Churchill wanted to get payback for the 11th century Norman conquest
Posted on 6/28/25 at 1:00 pm to GeauxGoose
quote:
my character did in call of duty.
TYFYS
Posted on 6/28/25 at 1:01 pm to RoosterCogburn585
there's a huge number of variables that make a landing site acceptable. there may be thousands of miles of coast, but they had to find a place without crazy tides, where the water depth was ok and the shore was at an acceptable slope, weather considerations, port locations, LOC distances, etc.
i dont know enough about this topic to answer why specifically those exact locations were picked, but i do know that accessible beaches are severely limited once you get all the variables right
i dont know enough about this topic to answer why specifically those exact locations were picked, but i do know that accessible beaches are severely limited once you get all the variables right
This post was edited on 6/28/25 at 1:02 pm
Posted on 6/28/25 at 1:02 pm to RoosterCogburn585
Narrower path across the English Channel. And Calais was a great decoy, so they put a great deal of work into convincing Hitler the Normandy invasion wasn't the real one, and we were going to invade Calais as soon as he moved toward Normandy.
Posted on 6/28/25 at 1:04 pm to RoosterCogburn585
After half past that's a lot of questions which will lead to a lot of other questions try this and then see if you have
more questions
more questions
Posted on 6/28/25 at 1:06 pm to RoosterCogburn585
Not a stupid question at all. I didn't know this, not specifically anyway:
Posted on 6/28/25 at 1:08 pm to RoosterCogburn585
quote:
Possible stupid question about D day.
quote:You've made the possible possible here.
There were thousands of miles of coastline that the Allies could have landed at. What made them decide to land at the locations they did where there was such high resistance?
I guess we could have instead invaded at Danzig, a little further boat ride from England but they wouldn’t have expected us there for sure.
Posted on 6/28/25 at 1:10 pm to RoosterCogburn585
quote:
There were thousands of miles of coastline that the Allies could have landed at. What made them decide to land at the locations they did where there was such high resistance?
The original invasion could have technically happened anywhere, but you need a port/deep water to consistently bring the materials ashore to consistently continue war.
This post was edited on 6/28/25 at 1:10 pm
Posted on 6/28/25 at 1:45 pm to RoosterCogburn585
quote:
where there was such high resistance?
What was it about these ports do you think made the Germans fortify them more than others?
Posted on 6/28/25 at 1:58 pm to RoosterCogburn585
quote:
What made them decide to land at the locations they did where there was such high resistance?
There was a massive head fake campaign that had the Germans convinced they were landing somewhere else. The resistance they faced could have been a whole, whole lot worse.
This post was edited on 6/28/25 at 2:01 pm
Posted on 6/28/25 at 2:27 pm to RoosterCogburn585
Transport distances played a massive role. Cargo ships of the day ran maybe 13-15 mph. Dover to Calais is like 20 miles. Southhampton to Normandy was more like 100 miles. The farther you go, the harder is to to get there undetected, and the harder and slower it is to resupply. So I think logistics played a major role. You want the easiest transportation and supply for your side, and the longest / slowest / most difficult for the Germans.
Posted on 6/28/25 at 2:37 pm to RoosterCogburn585
There's been a lot written about this if you do some searching.
Most logical (close) was Dover to Calais, which is why the Chunnel is there plus all the ferry that have been running for centuries. Everybody knew that so the allies staged a fake army complete with the real General Patton commanding it and enough men driving around and moving tanks in/out of the "camp" to fool German spies into thinking the eventual invasion would come here.
Barring that, the selected beaches were chosen for a few reason. Distance to Paris. Beachy-nature compatible to moving men and tanks ashore. Transport infrastructure inland (IE railroads and motorways nearby). A nice sheltered bay to the lee of the Cotentin Peninsula.
This material is available to read in a number of books and websites. Look up Max Hastings, he is an accomplished D-Day author.
Most logical (close) was Dover to Calais, which is why the Chunnel is there plus all the ferry that have been running for centuries. Everybody knew that so the allies staged a fake army complete with the real General Patton commanding it and enough men driving around and moving tanks in/out of the "camp" to fool German spies into thinking the eventual invasion would come here.
Barring that, the selected beaches were chosen for a few reason. Distance to Paris. Beachy-nature compatible to moving men and tanks ashore. Transport infrastructure inland (IE railroads and motorways nearby). A nice sheltered bay to the lee of the Cotentin Peninsula.
This material is available to read in a number of books and websites. Look up Max Hastings, he is an accomplished D-Day author.
Posted on 6/28/25 at 3:03 pm to RoosterCogburn585
The topography and port availability was key.. it wasn’t the easiest and that was chosen on purpose. There were other potential landing spots that were more heavily defended and the allies leaked info suggesting the landing was going to elsewhere.. it was geographically in an area that allowed for a difficult counter attack as they could defend the flanks easier when you look at the maps.. there was also major rail and road lines that were positioned at different crossroads that allowed for easier movement as they pushed towards Paris. Arguably one of the best invasion plans prepared and executed in history.
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