D-Day - 6th June, 1944.

[syscom3]

Lets hear some more opinions where the allies should have/could have done things differently.

[evangilder]

Yes, let's please keep this on topic.

[plan_D]

I'm thinking about that question, syscom. And this thread will incorporate the Normandy campaign up to the capture of Paris. At the moment I'm bringing together information on the leaders and command structures.

[mosquitoman]

I think the Allies were very ambitious in their plans- attempting to capture Caen on the first day and the paratroop drops were too scattered to take most of their objectives and the Allied planners must have know that looking at Husky and Avalanche. Gliders were the best means of putting airborne troops into the action IMO

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Ill somewhat agree, however quite a bit of gliders I believe were taken down. The problem when you use gliders is the fact that if you take one out you kill everyone on board. If they jump there is a good chance of a lot of them making it down.

The advantage of the glider would be that if it did make it down, then there would be a cohesive fighting force on the ground as a whole.

[syscom3]

I think the allies completely underestimated the navigational problems to accuratley drop their "sticks". Plus thegerman AA defenses were far tougher than planned.

I would have added far more pathfinders for navigation marking.

I also would have planned to use some light attack bombers to go after the German AA defenses while the C47's were flying over.

[Gnomey]

Another thing that didn't help was that many of the C-47 pilots had not met heavy flak before and therefore tried to fly around it/away from it thus getting of course as well as going faster than planned, none of which helped drop accuracy.

[Erich]

remember what the Wehrmacht did in the American sector ........... turned the water gates open to flood the fields which did not help US navigation in the least

[evangilder]

Yep, and it would have been bad for gliders.

[Gnomey]

Very true Eric, and the bocage would not of helped either for the Gliders, leaving them with short landing grounds.

[evangilder]

That too.

[syscom3]

Why couldnt the USN or RN deploy several "radio" buoys off the coast of Cotentain (spelling?) peninsula so the C47's could do radio cross fix's for a more accurate drop?

They could do this using small subs, have them monitor the airwaves for the signal that the C47's were taking off, and then turn on the radio transmitters when the transports were over the channel.

[Erich]

the biggest probelm was flooding of the fields and not necessarily from light 2cm Fla for the gliders, C-47's and the like. there wre no visible markintations for the pilots and crew nor the commanders to rely upon except for possibly recognized intersections/road cuts that were pre-marked on theri maps. /besides at least for the Us forces not quite the genre of vetreran W-ss or Heer units to face them. seems the 2nd Ss and 17th Ss Panzer-grn were the only two W-SS units to defy US massive ground forces when they had gotten in place. 17th Ss lost their Stug Abt and their Pz Jäger units during air attack by Jbos when cought out in open roads vehicle to vehicle something they had no clues about. Have to say the Pz. grendaier compnaies did put up a stout defence amidst the continual US artillery hammer that came down on them daily.

[evangilder]

I remember reading that a group of C-47s were supposed to get a signal from the ground by an advance unit of paras. They were killed after landing and thus, could not provide the markers for the C-47s.

[Erich]

Sadly there are too many accounts of US paras dropped well behind the stick and marker points well deep into enemy held territory and drowned in process or hung up in blown out trees like rats to the slaughter house