- 28 Aug 2007 20:21
#1308706
Indeed Omaha beach was going so badly there were thoughts of calling it off. One of the reasons Omaha went so bad was because the Ost Front vets of the 352nd ID happened to be running drills to deal with an amphib landing...right when the Americans hit the beach. So they got utterly decimated when the shocked Landsers of the 352nd found that their drill had turned into an actual firefight.
As to Caen that was a bloody mess and far from smooth. Normandy was a bloody campaign when you factor in the 12th SS Hitlerjügend Fanatic defense because they were told that Hitler would be sending reinforcements so those young boys got blown to hell and back while still waiting out for support. In fact it made Kurt "Panzer" Meyer sick that these lads would say things like, "If only the Führer knew." As Meyer said he did but there wasn't much he could do.
I believe the results were in question. D-Day was a tremendous gamble which might have gone horribly wrong; in fact, on some beaches it did go horribly wrong. And the fight to establish a beachhead and capture Caen was even tougher than expected.
Indeed Omaha beach was going so badly there were thoughts of calling it off. One of the reasons Omaha went so bad was because the Ost Front vets of the 352nd ID happened to be running drills to deal with an amphib landing...right when the Americans hit the beach. So they got utterly decimated when the shocked Landsers of the 352nd found that their drill had turned into an actual firefight.
As to Caen that was a bloody mess and far from smooth. Normandy was a bloody campaign when you factor in the 12th SS Hitlerjügend Fanatic defense because they were told that Hitler would be sending reinforcements so those young boys got blown to hell and back while still waiting out for support. In fact it made Kurt "Panzer" Meyer sick that these lads would say things like, "If only the Führer knew." As Meyer said he did but there wasn't much he could do.