The overall size of the invasion army was raised to twenty three divisions at this stage, but that would increase again before D-Day. The area to be attacked was also expanded, with beaches added further to the west to speed up the attack on the Cotentin and Cherbourg. He insisted that initial invasion force should be increased from three to five divisions, which required a postponement into June to allow enough shipping to be gathered. At the time Eisenhower and Montgomery were fighting in Italy, but they were replaced in December 1943 and returned to England.Īfter his return to Britain Montgomery examined the plans and rejected them. In November 1943 Roosevelt and Churchill met at Cairo, and agreed on the command structure for Overlord, with Eisenhower as Supreme Allied Commander, Air Chief Marshal Tedder as his deputy and Montgomery as commander of the ground forces during the assault phase (Operation Neptune). Morgan was able to present his outline plan at the Quebec Conference of August 1943, where it was accepted by the Allied leaders. The main restriction on his plans was the limited number of landing craft available, as the Pacific campaign sucked up ever greater numbers of them. Morgan suggested an attack by three seaborne and two airborne divisions, and a build-up to eighteen divisions. It also had a greater number of sheltered beaches than the Pas de Calais. Normandy was further from the British coast, but nearer to the major ports of Portsmouth and Southampton, while still within fighter range of Britain. The Pas de Calais was closest to the English coast and closer to Germany, but it was also much more heavily defended, as these advantages were also obvious to the Germans. There were two options with suitable coastlines – the Pas de Calais or Normandy. Morgan’s first task was to decide where the landings were to take place. Morgan to the new post of Chief of Staff to the Supreme Allied Commander (designation), better known as COSSAC. Ramsey, Eisenhower and Montgomery on D-DayĪlthough it had been clear that there would eventually need to be an invasion of Western Europe, formal planning for it didn’t start until after the Casablanca Conference of January 1943, where it was decided to appoint Lieutenant General F.E. Neptune was considered to have ended on 30 June, by which time Cherbourg had been captured, and the Allies had a secure lodgement, large enough to build up their armies.Įverything that happened during Operation Neptune was thus also part of Operation Overlord, and the two will be covered in this single article. From September 1943 it was used on all planning documents that gave the location and date for the invasion.
#Cambam start point of operation code
In the end Operation Overlord was considered to have ended with the liberation of Paris and the start of the crossing of the Seine on 25 August, ending the battle of Normandy.Ĭontrary to popular belief, Operation Neptune was not the code name for the naval part of Overlord, but was actually the code given to the assault phase of Overlord – the D-Day landings and the establishment of a firm lodgement in Europe. After that it would depend on what the Germans did, but might have involved an attack west into Brittany or east to capture Havre and Rouen. Once the original beachhead was captured, the next stage of Overlord was to be the capture of Cherbourg. The area was to contain enough port facilities to support 26-30 divisions. Overlord was the overall codename for the invasion of North-Western Europe, with the aim of securing a ‘lodgement on the Continent from which further offensive operations can be developed’. There is some confusion over the difference between Operation Neptune and Operation Overlord. Beach Obstructions under construction, Normandy
0 kommentar(er)
