D-‐Day Primary Source Readings: Directions: Read each source and answer the questions. Source A: German Soldier “It was in the night and I was sleeping, and my sergeant came running and said, "There are a thousand
different ships coming in the English Channel."
The heavy naval guns fired salvo after salvo into our positions. In the beginnings, the ships lay at twenty
kilometers, but the range slowly decreased. With unbelieving eyes we could recognize individual landing craft.
The hail of shells falling upon us grew heavier, sending fountains of sand and debris into the air. Surprisingly,
we suffered little causalities and most beach obstacles remained intact.
There was thousands of ships, and we could see landing boats of American troops. Then came thousands of
men at one time coming on land and running over the beach. This is the first time I shoot on living men, and I
go to the machine gun and I shoot, I shoot, I shoot! For each American I see fall, there came ten hundred other
ones!
Source A: Questions 1. How well did the allies destroy German positions prior to landing? 2. What thoughts might be running through the minds of the German defenders? Source B Questions: 1. Describe two things Hemingway saw. 2. What do you think he means by “real war is never like paper war”? Source: B: A view from the landing craft by Ernest Hemingway “On our way to the beach we passed a Landing Craft Infantry and I could see a ragged shell-‐hole through the steering house where a German 88mm artillery shell went through. Blood was dripping from the edges of the steering house. Her rails and hull have been befouled by sea-‐sick men. I could see dead men inside the craft.” “As we lowered the ramp the first time, while we crowded in against the other LCV, but before she sank, I saw three tanks coming along the beach, barely moving, they were advancing slowly. The Germans let them cross the open space on the beach. It was a perfect field of fire. Then I saw a little foundation of water jut up, just over and beyond the lead tank. The smoke broke out of the leading tank, I saw two men dive out onto the beach. The tank started to blaze up and burn fiercely.” “There is much I have not written. You could write for a week and not give everyone credit for what he did on a front of 1135 yards. Real war is never like paper war, nor do accounts of it read much the way it looks” Source C: This was D-‐Day by Pvt. Charles Schmelze “Coming onto the beach, nobody walked. They came running in fast, falling, crouching and then digging in because the Germans had plenty of ammo and were in defensive positions behind the bluffs overlooking the beach.” “Everything was confusion. Units were mixed-‐up, many of them leaderless, most of them not where they were supposed to be. Shells coming in, boats burning, vehicles with nowhere to go, tanks hitting mines or sinking in the ocean. Everything jammed together like a junkyard” “Soon units got assembled and forced open the exits off the beach by blowing up gaps in concrete using TNT and pushing through the barbed wire. ‘If you want to live, keep moving’ everybody said.” Source C Questions: 1. Describe two problems faced by the Allies landing on the beach? 2. How did the Allies eventually get off the beach? 3. Why do you think it was important to “keep moving”? Source D: Airdrop on Normandy by Capt. Laurence Critchell “Wind rocked the plane on the ride-‐over. Nobody talked much. Men said short prayers. The man going into combat does not feel much different from the man in training. He may realize his heart is beating faster, his face hot, and his hands cold. His facilities are keyed up to abnormal alertness. We were awakened by sounds of gunfire as the Germans fired upon us from the ground. We stood-‐up and then dove out. One soldier in front of me was wearing too much equipment. His left arm got tangled up in the jump door and for three seconds he hung outside in one-‐hundred-‐mile-‐per-‐hour wind. When he was torn free the metal edge of the door scraped his skin to the flesh. He barely felt it. When I jumped out, I could hear the sharp crack of bullets coming up at me and through my parachute. Thousands of different tracer rounds, bullets, and lights gave the sky a nightmarish quality, like being a multi-‐colored blast furnace. Upon landing back to earth I heard sounds of explosions, machine-‐gun fire, and the whirl of engines as the planes headed back to England.” Source D: 1. Why do you suppose nobody talked on the ride over? 2. Describe the night sky when he jumped. Source E: Beach Obstacles 1. Describe three obstacles soldiers had to face