Page 10 - Cause & Effect: World War II
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commanders were slow to react. In fact, Rundstedt was awakened and
told of the paratroop assault, but he refused to believe it was the first
wave of a major invasion. He ordered no mass mobilization of Ger-
man defenses.
At dawn on June 6, the waters off the coast of Normandy suddenly
filled with Allied ships—some five thousand vessels in all. Seconds af-
ter the ships emerged from the mist, the sky was filled with thundering
booms as the ships blasted the shoreline with artillery shells. Overhead,
the skies filled with planes bombing enemy positions. Below, the Ger-
man defenders could do little but hide behind concrete bunkers.
The first troops landed on Utah Beach at 6:31 a.m., when their am-
phibious carriers entered shallow waters, dropped their ramps, and dis-
charged their soldiers. They encountered little resistance—due largely
to the naval and air bombardments. The troops moved quickly ashore.
Allied troops land at Omaha Beach in Normandy on D-day, June 6, 1944.
The Omaha Beach landing met stiff German resistance and incurred
many casualties.
