Operation Overload Examples

Katelyn McGrail
Mr. Hodgin
European History (Honors) 1/26/16
Operation Overload There were many opportunities that could have killed the vibe of Operation Overload and could have lead to failure, but luckily it succeeded in the end. There are five specific examples that stuck out the most, and could have easily shaken up the plan. For example, the limited planning, the deception campaigns, the chosen stretch of Normandy having no ports, amplification of landing, and the American parachutists. First, there was very limited planning for an invasion of Europe after the evacuation of Dunkirk. Preparations for ‘Operation Overlord’ did not begin until the Stalin-Roosevelt-Churchill conference at Tehran in November of 1943. There was no commander
The Allied deception plan for Operation Overlord, were codenamed at the Washington Trident Conference in May 1943. They conceived to purposefully persuade the enemy that the landing would fall in the Pas de Calais, where the Channel is narrowest, rather than in Normandy or Brittany. A Pas de Calais landing made sense militarily, for example it included a short crossing to level and sandy beaches. The deception was code named Operation Fortitude and centered on the implantation in the consciousness of German intelligence. False radio transmissions from FUSAG were sent over the air, and false references were made to it in bona-fide messages. General Patton was mentioned as its commander. By January 9 1944 the deception had “borne fruit: an Ultra intercept referred to FUSAG on that day and others followed.” This was the proof that the operations of Fortitude got what they needed, but they could not distract the attention of the Germans from Normandy for good. Luckily, in the end they had hoped that minimizing German anticipation of a Normandy landing until it was actually mounted, would keep the anxiety alive and they real invasion would be later to
It can be seen materially to have added to the confusion and disorientation the invasion was inflicting on their German opposite numbers. The general commanding 91st Division, was ambushed and killed by wandering American parachutists while returning from conference. It sometimes took hours for German commanders to comprehend that the reports they were receiving. On the day before, Luftwaffe meteorologists had discounted the possibility of an imminent invasion because of bad weather forecasts. By luck, Rommel was temporarily absent in Germany on leave, Rundstedt was sleeping the sleep of the old campaigner at Saint-Germain while Hitler was preparing for bed at his holiday house at Berchtesgaden on the Obersalzberg and would not be presented with the firm evidence that the invasion had begun until his noon conference six hours after the assault waves had touched down. Obviously, since much of this was luck, something could have gone wrong, and ended up in