Destruction Day Essay

In the words of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the commander of operation D-day, “The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.” This inspired people to not give up fighting for the world. Eisenhower was the commander of operation D-day where the troops would attack five beaches in France. The events of D-day were a major turning point in World War II. First, the state of conflict in Europe had significant effects on D-day. Second, most of D-day’s goals were accomplished during the attacks. Third, the events of D-day were very crucial for winning the war.

In 1944, the United States war effort in Europe was just starting to pick up. Even though the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor occurred just three years prior, the growing power of the Third Reich could not be ignored. During this time, France was already occupied by Nazi Germany and Hitler's war machine was on the path of conquering all of Eurasia. In an attempt to combat this immense threat, the U.S. formulated a plan to engage the German forces through an invasion of Normandy. This bloody offensive would be remembered in infamy as D-Day. Shortly before this violent clash of U.S. and German forces, the inexperienced men of the United States Third Army was given an encouraging and inspiring speech by the four star general George S. Patton.

D-day was meant to be able to recapture Europe and get an upper hand on the Germans. When the United States, Canada, Britain, and Australia came onto the beaches in LCVP’s which stood for landing craft vehicle personal. When landing on the beaches there were tank traps machine guns and tranches of troops waiting on the beach. The point of this was to be able to stop all the soldiers coming of the LCVP’s and to be able to gun them down so they don’t get pass their defenses.

The German troops were fighting fearlessly on the east end of Europe, ready to take over Russia, but once the Allied forces show up in Sicily at the demand of the Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin. The German’s attention is diverted away from Russia and taking over the Eastern Front to saving their precious Italian land which served as a strategic location for the Axis. The Germans had tried to save Italy since it was their captured land and also territory of the Axis powers. But when Canada came into play, the Germans found themselves in a tough situation where they had to use only their utmost intelligent troops in order to fight back against the support that the Allies received from Canada. Canada’s newest technology and warfare strategies changed

“D-Day”, is considered one of the most significant battles of World War ll. D-Day is also known as the “Battle of Normandy”, or, “Operation Overlord”. The Battle of Normandy began in June 1944, and ended around August 1944. By the end of the war around August 1944, all of France had been cleared of Nazi forces. D-Day is considered a huge factor with the end of World War II and the Nazi Party due them having to push out of France and back into their initial land of Germany. Later on as the Nazi Party was pushed back into Germany, more allied forces collaborated to officially wipe out the Nazi Party in Germany. D-Day was initialized as it was approved by General Dwight D. Eisenhower. After the approval of the general, troops landed on the French coasts to neutralize the Nazi Party and to recover the land.

D-Day was a defining moment for Canada because they proved their power and abilities as a middle power, captured the heaviest defended beach, and covered the most land on the first day. Canada contributed a lot to the war effort during World War Two. I believe that D-Day was more significant to making Canada’s identity than their involvement at Vimy Ridge. Their victory at Juno Beach is known as a turning point which ended World War Two. It was one of the first times Canada fought independently and everyone in Canada including the French Canadian, African Canadian, and women were supporting the effort, which even sparked the change for equality.

The Second Battle of Ypres took place from April 22nd to May 25th 1915 and is distinguishable for Canadians as being the first battle in which Canadians troops fought in during the First World War. The battle marked the first Canadian victory and has become popularly known as the first site of mass use of chlorine gas on the Western Front. But the battle does not have to exist solely in the confines of the First World War. The battle and its effects impacted not only the immediate outcome of the war but rather spurred a shift in war tactics and Canadian enthusiasm to its troops. Essentially, the Second Battle of Ypres was vital to the First World War because of its maintained the strategic placement for the Western allies, but it is also important in a wider context through its ability to set a precedent for future battles with modern chemical warfare, and through the effect it had on the home front to boost Canadian support overseas. To begin, I will first summarize the battle and the context Ypres to give an overall understanding of the situation leading into the battle. In suit, I will examine the strategic advantage Ypres had with respect to its ability to protect the ports of northern Europe and its establishment of a buffer zone between Great Britain and Germany. Secondly, I will examine the battle as a pivotal moment for the future of modern warfare as the Germans breeched international code with their use of chlorine gas. Thirdly, I will demonstrate how the

Canada’s contribution in the Allied war effort did not only come from Canadian soldiers, but also from regular, everyday citizens who never saw battle, such as those involved in the Canadian war industry, BCATP, and the Corps of Canadian Firefighters. The Canadian industry supplied a great deal of war materials for the Allies, producing “more than 800,000 military transport vehicles, 50,000 tanks, 40,000 field, naval, and anti-aircraft guns, and 1,700,000 small arms.”6 Canada’s strong war industry was required to produce as much ammunition, weapons, and vehicles as they could in order to defeat Germany, who had great industrial power at the time. In 1939, Canada became the home for major recruiting and training for pilots during the Second World War in an organization called the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Throughout the war, Canada had graduated 131,533 airmen, including pilots, navigators, bomb aimers, wireless operators, air gunners and flight engineers.7 These men would later become involved in the war in the air, and their numbers would greatly contribute to the Allied air superiority.  During the Battle of Britain, German air forces relentlessly bombarded London and

The invasion of Normandy, also known as Operation Overlord or D-Day, was perhaps one of the most important battles in the human history. The invasion took place on June 4, 1944, at the Coast of Normandy in France. Troops from over twelve countries, including Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America participated in the fight against Germany. Although the battles were enduring and hard-fought, the Allies achieved the final victory; the Allies were finally able to set their feet on the European soil again. The Allied invasion of Normandy was a major turning point of the war that led to the ultimate liberation of Europe from the Nazi forces.

Britain and France desperately awaited the moment when the US would fully join in the fighting in Europe during World War II, and D-Day brought that full fledged involvement. If not for the efforts of the United States of America, its cooperation and planning with its allies, the invasion would not have been successful. It was successful, however, due to previous planning, the level of supplies and men from the US combined with the European allies, as well as the divided German forces. D-Day was the beginning of liberation of Western Europe from Nazi control. Hitler had known that in order for the Allies to be successful, there would have to be an invasion of mainland Europe - which his forces controlled most of - and that it would come from northwestern Europe, with Great Britain being the jumping off point. But if he was expecting the attack, why was he not better prepared? The planning that had gone into the invasion at the beaches of Normandy on the coast of France had been thorough and extensive, with a large part of that planning being the intentional disinformation about the location of the invasion, thus fooling the Nazi leader. These factors explain why Operation Overlord was successful, and thus became the turning point in the world war.

One of the most important battles of the war and the greatest invasion in history, Canada was instrumental to the D-day victory. On June 6th Canadian, British and American forces helped destroy Germany’s dominance in Europe. The largest naval fleet in history worked together to destroy German defenses on the beaches of Omaha, Utah, Gold, Juno and Sword spanning along 80 miles of coast. Canadian troops being given one of the most important beaches, Juno was instrumental for the allied forces to continue fighting in Europe. Juno beach was to be a secure and safe landing area for troops and supplies to be brought to the battlefield from Britain. With this being the mot important beach Canadian troops new they could not afford a loss and were able

The “D-Day Dodgers” was the name given to a group of soldiers who were accused of avoiding the supposedly harsher battle in Normandy by fighting in Italy. The Italian Campaign of World War II further proved that Canadians were capable of fighting for themselves. The numerous victories after the battles in Italy can be attributed to the military tactics used and created during the campaign. The Italian Campaign derailed German focus from the Normandy and Soviet battles which aided other European Campaigns. By examining the contributions of the “D-Day Dodgers”, the accusation that those involved in the Italian Campaign were avoiding the war in the rest of Europe was not justified.

“D-Day”. A legendary day that rings throughout the course of history; a turning point for the allies in World War 2. D-Day refers to the invasions of the Normandy sector, or operation “Overlord”, in Normandy, France, which were carried out on June 6, 1944, by the allied forces (Britain, Canada, America, and France), against the Germans, in Nazi fortified Europe. The primary goal was to liberate Western Europe, and tear down Hitler's Atlantic Wall, and each of the allies contributed to the overall success. Comprehensively, how successful was Canada, and why? Canadian D-Day attacks on Juno Beach were highly successful overall, for three primary reasons: highly effective use of armour, the tactical capture of key point on the beaches, and lastly,

Before the attack on Pearl Harbor, many Americans believed that the war in Europe was strictly a European problem, one that would have little effect on the nation. This made the idea of an invasion directly into North America a lesser fear. However, an article in the New York Times on April 30th, 1941 titled “Let Us Face the Truth” pointed out the

One of the most significant encounters of World War II was the Battle of Normandy (the first day of which is commonly referred to as D-Day). Nearly three million soldiers were deployed for the invasion. Those deployed consisted mainly of American and British soldiers, however Canadian, French, Polish, Belgian, and Czech forces were represented as well (Jensen). The battle was fought in an effort to gain European ground and to reduce the German potential for overrunning Russia (Lucas). The Battle of Normandy was significant in that it was the turning point of World War II, incurred heavy casualties on each side, and was the greatest amphibious landing in history (Cohen).