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LEARNING RESOURCES FOR TEACHING HISTORY
Key Stage 3
Second World War
Why was D-Day Successful?
Key concepts and
skills
Rationale
D-Day is one of the most significant events of the Second World War.
This enquiry encourages pupils to investigate and recognise the
enormous problems that the Allies faced and think of their own
solutions, before analysing how these problems were overcome.
ACTIVITIES
Possible starter
Encourage pupils to use their knowledge of previous invasion attempts in
history and brainstorm why they succeeded or failed – (The Norman
Conquest, The Spanish Armada, Battle of Trafalgar, Battle of Waterloo.)
This could be a possible homework activity before the lesson.
Suggested Main Activities
Step 1: What problems did the Allies face when planning Operation
Overlord?
• Pupils use Resource A (one photo and two written sources) to
identify problems the Allies faced.
• Pupils use the Problem Cards (Resource B) to rank the problems
that the Allies faced. Pupils could use a diamond 9 or similar
sorting framework, to show their understanding.
Step 2: How did the Allies try and overcome these problems?
• In groups, pupils discuss possible solutions for each problem and
share through class discussion
• Explore the Allies solutions to these problems using Resource C
(Solution Cards.) Play a heads and tails game where pupils
compete to match the problems with the solutions as quickly as
possible and justify their thinking.
• Compare the solutions the Allies came up with, with those
generated by the pupils. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses
of the Allies plans.
Step 3: Was good planning the only reason why D-Day was successful?
• Explore Resource D and E: map, narrative, (the build up to D-
Day, battle for the beaches and what happened after D-Day)
•
•
•
written sources
Pupils identify evidence that planning was important and other
factors that contributed to the success of D-Day.
Pupils create their own Success Cards that explain the reasons
why D-Day was successful. Pupils rank these cards in order of
importance.
Whole class debate about the reasons for the success of D-Day.
Pupils must justify their rankings.
Possible Extension
Pupils choose how to show their understanding of why D-Day was
successful to a wider audience (they could produce a newspaper or
magazine article, radio broadcast, tv documentary, podcast, website
© Imperial War Museum
PAGE 1
Why was D-Day Successful?
• Cause and
Consequence
• Historical Enquiry
• Using Sources
(photographs,
documents and
individual stories)
• Organisation and
Communication of
ideas
Cross-curricular
links
• Personal Learning and
Thinking Skills
(problem solving)
• Literacy (audience and
purpose)
LEARNING RESOURCES FOR TEACHING HISTORY
Key Stage 3
entry or Remembrance Day assembly)
Resources
Resource A: Stimulus material about the problems the Allies faced
Resource B: Problem Cards Resource C: Solution Cards
Resource D: Source collection on why D-Day was successful (What
happened on the Day)
Resource E – Narrative of the build up to D-Day, the battle for the
beaches and what happened afterwards, and a map.
© Imperial War Museum
PAGE 2
Why was D-Day Successful?
LEARNING RESOURCES FOR TEACHING HISTORY
Key Stage 3
RESOURCE A
What problems did the allies face on D-Day?
Field Marshal Erwin
Rommel, commander of
the German anti-invasion
forces, inspecting German
defences on the Atlantic
Wall.
IWM Ref: HU 28594
There were great, monstrous fortification on the beach like
tremendous cubes or criss-crossed steels, girders to stop gliders
landing, to stop ships coming in. There were girders penetrating
into the beach, sticking up to stop boats coming in. And the
whole beach area was supposed to be and in fact was covered by
flame-throwers. But I think, domineering the whole place were
these tremendous, big pill boxes. I don’t know how frequent they
were but no matter where you went you couldn’t get out of
range of them they covered the beach very well. The
fortifications were excellent.
Private William James
Spearman, Grenadier
Guards (4 Commando)
IWM Ref: 9796/08/04
We were also informed that within the past few days, probably
resulting from a visit by the German Field Marshall Rommel, local
people had been recruited to erect huge poles in the proposed
Divisional main dropping and landing area. Such a pole would
easily smash to bits any troop carrying glider that hit them for the
average speed of a fully laden Horsa glider as it first hits the
ground, is between 70 and 90 miles per hour and, at that sort of
speed, it would only need the wingtip to touch a pole to rip a
wing off and turn a glider onto its back (with disastrous
consequences since they were only made of plywood and fabric
and were extremely vulnerable when landing on rough ground –
even without the added danger of huge poles.
D.E. Edwards
6th Airborne
Division
IWM Ref: 78/68/1
© Imperial War Museum
PAGE 3
Why was D-Day Successful?
LEARNING RESOURCES FOR TEACHING HISTORY
Key Stage 3
RESOURCE B
The Problems the Allies Encountered on D-Day
6 million mines had been
buried along the coast
There were many
underwater obstacles to
overcome
Local people had been
recruited to help the
Germans
The allies needed to
surprise the Germans
There were many pill
boxes which could shelter
the enemy
There were many bunkers
which could shelter the
enemy
The allies did not have a
good knowledge of the
local area
A successful invasion
depended on the right
conditions
The beaches were heavily
The allies had problems
with vehicles sinking in the fortified with barbed wire
sand
French ports were heavily
defended
© Imperial War Museum
PAGE 4
A successful invasion
relied on good weather
Why was D-Day Successful?
LEARNING RESOURCES FOR TEACHING HISTORY
Key Stage 3
RESOURCE C
What Solutions did the Allies find for their Problems?
Holidaymakers on the
beach at Viller-sur-Mer
in France before the
Second World War.
This photograph is an
example of the
thousands acquired by
the Admiralty-run Inter
Services Topographical
Department as a result
of a public appeal for
photographs to assist in
planning the D-Day
landings in 1944.
IWM Ref: HU 81693
We are in a Transit Camp where we have been
cooped up for several days. This is one of the
many high security tented camps behind
guarded barbed-wire fences along the South
Coast of England and, in our case, near an
airfield. Having been brought here in covered
lorries from Bulford Camp on Salisbury Plain we
have no knowledge of our location.
© Imperial War Museum
PAGE 5
Why was D-Day Successful?
D.E. Edwards, 6th
Airborne Division
IWM Ref: 78/68/1
LEARNING RESOURCES FOR TEACHING HISTORY
Key Stage 3
An inflatable Sherman tank
IWM Ref: H 42531
Dummy landing craft used
as decoys in south-eastern
harbours in the period
before D-Day.
IWM Ref: H 42527
No question about D-Day and H hour now, only
24 hours prior confirmation to come and the
issue of the real maps in place of the bogus maps
we have all learnt by heart.
© Imperial War Museum
PAGE 6
Why was D-Day Successful?
Lieutenant H. T. Bone, in
charge of a Signals Unit, 2nd
East Yorkshire Regiment
IWM Documents 87/31/1
LEARNING RESOURCES FOR TEACHING HISTORY
Key Stage 3
Mulberry Harbour: One of
the concrete caissons
(Phoenixes) being towed by
a tug to its assembly point
to form part of a Mulberry
Harbour. These were
temporary harbours which
would help the ships to
land.
IWM Ref: A 25799
Monday June 5th 1944
Rain during night. Bed drier now. Everything dirty.
Many sick. More and more craft coming up all
shapes and sizes. Seemingly been swanning
around since yesterday. (Later learned that
Invasion postponed at last minute for 24 hours due
to bad weather). Had small bout seasickness in
evening – soon passed off. Some becoming very ill.
Lots of vomit added to grease and water. Cold
and wet. Sailed after dark. Tuesday June 6th D.
Day.
Up 5.00 hours cold, wet, sea rough.
© Imperial War Museum
PAGE 7
Why was D-Day Successful?
Reverend L F Skinner,
Senior Chaplain to 8th
Armoured Brigade,
attached to the Sherwood
Rangers Yeomanry
IWM Ref: 01/13/1
LEARNING RESOURCES FOR TEACHING HISTORY
Key Stage 3
RESOURCE D
What happened on D-Day?
Sherman Crab Mark II
minesweeping flail tank,
used to clear already
identified minefields.
IWM Ref: H 38079
© Imperial War Museum
PAGE 8
Why was D-Day Successful?
LEARNING RESOURCES FOR TEACHING HISTORY
Key Stage 3
I noticed some aircraft, all ours, and saw some Typhoons
diving with their rockets on to their objectives⁄On land a
great haze of dust and smoke started to rise and all the
landmarks were blotted out as we had been
warned⁄From the air photographs I had picked out a
prominent log, above high-water mark to the left of Le
Hamel. For a while I could not even see this.
After a bit I picked out a fallen tree slightly to our left and
told the coxswain to steer for it. As we neared the waterÊs
edge the bombardment lifted and some shells or mortar
bombs began to fall in the water among the craft, nothing
really close to us. Ahead we could see LCTs disgorging
tanks and the underwater obstacles were high and dry,
being tackled by the intrepid sappers.
H Hour was 7.30, but everything was a few minutes late.
At 7.38 we touched bottom and stopped, some way from
the seaÊs edge on this flat beach, as we expected. Down
went the ramp and out I jumped, no doubt starting to
shout ÂGet up them beachesÊ, as ordered. This ended up in
bubbles, for the water was about 7Ê deep. My Mae West
saved me and brought me to the surface, with the LCA
about to pass over me. I caught hold of the chain and was
towed ashore. After a moment I saw an aerial, then a
steel helmet, then the astounded eyes of Pte. Dossor, my
batman, who was the only man to follow my example.
We had hit a sandbank and the LCA had gone over it
and could continue the run-in. We all disembarked
safely…Five columns of men began to make their way
over some 300 yards of sand after wading the last 80
yards knee-deep. I was soaked to the skin. My GS
watch had stopped at 7.48. My map case had floated
away and for all I knew my Sten and ammunition were
useless. My binoculars were misty.
© Imperial War Museum
PAGE 9
Why was D-Day Successful?
Major A R C Mott,
Company Commander
1st Battalion Hampshire
Regiment
IWM Ref: 99/16/1
LEARNING RESOURCES FOR TEACHING HISTORY
Key Stage 3
Tuesday June 6th D. Day
Up 5.00 hours cold, wet, sea rough. ÂStand ToÊ for
07.00. This is it. Land visible through mist by 6.30.
Rain cleared. Running for Beach by 07.00 under fire by
07.10. Beach 7.25. Lawrence Biddle/Bgde Major
asked for volunteers unroll coconut matting at prow
ship. I and three four others volunteered, took places
behind roll. See nothing but good front cover. As
beached hit mine. Man either side me wounded – one
lost leg. I was blown backwards onto Bren Carrier but
OK.
Landing doors jammed. Gave morphine injections and
rough dressings to injured men and helped them in
chain hatches. ShipÊs Officer released doors and ramp.
We rolled matting out. Water about 6 feet deep – sea
rough- matting would not sink. Shellfire pretty hot.
Infantry carriers/jeeps baling but left us to matting as
tanks revved up. Washed aside but made it to beach
though I had hell of pain in left side.
Chaos ashore. Germans firing everything they had.
Road mined – great hole. Buldozers unable to get
through because mines. One tried – went up on mine.
Spent an hour with some Engineers demolishing
remains some pillbox or whatever building it had been
to make another exit from beach. Heavy work with
pickaxe and chest hurting like hell. Finally got half-track
into queue. Another standstill. Along line on foot, saw
CO and A Sqdn waiting to get on faster and further.
© Imperial War Museum
PAGE 10
Why was D-Day Successful?
Reverend L F Skinner,
Senior Chaplain to
8th Armoured Brigade,
attached to the
Sherwood Rangers
Yeomanry
IWM Ref: 01/13/1
LEARNING RESOURCES FOR TEACHING HISTORY
Key Stage 3
And as we neared the French coast, on our left, to the east
in other words, not too far away from us we saw, suddenly,
one ship explode into the air and sank, all in a few
minutes. So we assumed this must have hit some big mine
which accentuated the knowledge that they had mined the
coast. And of course, we were led by minesweepers but I
suppose if you think about it, the minesweepers, it was
very hard for the minesweeper to remove every mine. So I
think a number of ships were sunk on this passage over
the mines.
Of course, we were lucky even to land because some of the
boats as they went in got blown out of the water long
before they reached there⁄But luck was with us and we
landed on the beach.
We had tremendous weights on our backs, some were half
hundredweight⁄we had shells. The idea was we had to
have enough things to support ourselves for three months
in case we didnÊt get re-inforcements⁄as well as all our
weaponry. And we know and I personally know because I
actually did lay down, once you get down with that pack on
your back, you canÊt get up again.
But I was shocked by the number of bodies, dead bodies,
living bodies and all the blood in the water giving the
appearance they were drowning in their own blood for the
want of moving. The whole place was littered like it.
© Imperial War Museum
PAGE 11
Why was D-Day Successful?
Private William James Spear
Grenadier Guards
(4 Commando)
IWM Ref: 9796/08/04
LEARNING RESOURCES FOR TEACHING HISTORY
Key Stage 3
Resource E
D-Day Narrative
In 1943, the Allies, Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States, met
in Tehran to plan their strategy for the liberation of Western Europe.
Britain and the United States agreed to launch an attack across the
English Channel in the following spring.
The invasion would be code-named ‘Operation Overlord’. It would be
very difficult and extremely dangerous. To defend coastal areas against a
possible Allied invasion, the Germans had built thousands of concrete
pillboxes, bunkers and gun positions. In early 1944, when Field Marshal
Erwin Rommel became Hitler’s commander in North-West France, he
made the defences facing the English Channel even stronger. Rommel’s
men buried over six million mines along the shore.
MAP NOT TO SCALE
Airborne Landing & Drop Zones
Towns
Main roads
LE HAVRE
POINTE DU HOC
MERVILLE
ARROMANCHES
CARENTAN
PEGASUS BRIDGE
BAYEUX
LISIEUX
PLANNED ROUTE OF ATTACK
CAEN
© Imperial War Museum
PAGE 12
Why was D-Day Successful?
LEARNING RESOURCES FOR TEACHING HISTORY
Key Stage 3
Planning and Preparations: December 1943-June 1944.
The Allied generals, Dwight Eisenhower (USA) and Bernard Montgomery
(British) planned to attack a 50-mile stretch of the Normandy coastline
across five beaches. Each beach was given a code-name and was attacked
by a different nation. Each beach would be divided and subdivided into
sections, each with a different code name and each area the
responsibility of a specific unit. The invasion would begin at night.
Paratroopers would land by glider or parachute in northern France.
Their task would be to capture bridges and to destroy important
German gun batteries. The following morning, 60,000 troops would land
on the five beaches.
To gain information about the geography of Normandy and the German
defences, allied commanders asked people to send in their holiday
photographs from Northern France. Members of the French Resistance
radioed secret messages about the movement of German troops and
submarines surveyed the landing sites. Commandos landed on the
beaches at night to inspect German defences. This enabled the planners
to make detailed maps and models of Normandy.
On D-Day, tanks would land with the infantry. New kinds of tank were
invented. The ‘DD tank’ was a tank that could swim. The ‘Crab’ was a
tank fitted with a long frame at the front so that it could explode mines
and clear barbed wire. The ‘Bobbin’ would lay matting on the beaches so
that other vehicles did not sink in the sand.
Floating, or Mulberry Harbours were constructed and hidden in the
English Channel, ready to be towed to France after D-Day. This would
ensure that supplies could be shipped to the troops.
During 1943 and early 1944, thousands of American troops arrived in
Britain to join the Canadian and other soldiers already here. At airbases
and army camps across the country, soldiers trained for their D-Day
tasks. Paratroopers practised capturing bridged and gun batteries. Other
troops practised landing on beaches. The training was planned to bring
the men as close as possible to the reality of the invasion. Soldiers faced
dummy machine gun fire and fake dead bodies were used. On 27 April, a
training convoy of American landing craft, carrying hundreds of soldiers,
was torpedoed by the German navy. Over 700 Americans died. This
incident was kept secret to avoid weakening morale.
Countdown, 25 May-6 June
It was impossible to keep preparations a secret from the Germans, but
the allies had to keep them guessing about where the invasion would
take place. Inflatable tanks and wooden landing vessels were positioned
opposite Calais to make the Germans think the landing would be there.
German double-agent working in Britain gave the Nazis false information
about the Allied plans and Allied bombers destroyed roads and railways
all over northern France to hide the fact that Normandy was the planned
invasion zone.
© Imperial War Museum
PAGE 13
Why was D-Day Successful?
LEARNING RESOURCES FOR TEACHING HISTORY
Key Stage 3
Final orders were sent to ship’ captains on 25 May. Information could
no longer be kept secret as these orders contained detailed maps and
charts showing when and where the invasion would take place. To keep
this information as secure as possible, the movement of civilians was
severely restricted within 10 miles of the south coast of England and
American troops could not write letters home. The soldiers that would
take part in the invasion were station on thousands of ships and landing
craft.
Poor weather caused D-Day to be postponed by 24 hours. Success
depended on clear skies to allow bombers to fly and calm seas for the
landing vessels to land safely. On Sunday 4 June, the worst of the
weather was passing. Eisenhower made the decision that D-Day would
begin during the night of 5-6 June. 60,000 men began the 17-hour
journey to Normandy. Paratroopers from Britain and America were
dropped into enemy territory to start the assault.
The Airborne Landings
The airborne landings did not go entirely to plan. More than 6,000
British and 12,000 US paratroopers landed in France in the early hours
of 6 June. Pilots struggled with thick cloud and German anti-aircraft fire.
Paratroopers were dropped in the darkness, often in the wrong place.
Some fell into the sea or drowned in flooded rivers. Others died because
they hit trees or roofs. Some who landed safely were hopelessly lost.
They were alone in enemy territory and did not know in what direction
to move. However, crucial bridges such as those code-named Pegasus
and Horsa were captured, along with road junctions and gun batteries.
The battle for the beaches
At dawn on 6 June, Allied bombers began their air attack on the German
defences in Normandy. This was followed by a massive bombardment
from the Allied warships. The Allies’ naval guns were huge weapons that
fired shells weighing more than a ton across ten miles of open sea.
Conditions aboard the landing crafts were dreadful. Many men were
seasick as their boats were tossed about in 5-ft waves. They were wet,
shivering and frightened as they waited for their boat to land. They tried
to see where they were going, but thick grey cloud from the
bombardment made it difficult to see the German defences.
As the first boats reached the shallow water, the ramps were dropped
and the soldiers jumped out. Some had long stretches of sea to wade
through, carrying heavy equipment. Many radio operators, weighed
down with extra equipment sank beneath the water. As men struggled
ashore in the noise and smoke of the battle, they became targets for
enemy machine guns. Some soldiers bled to death in the water and on
the sand. Some of the injured men were crushed as Allied tanks rolled
forward, unable to see them. Sometimes if a tank was hit it ‘brewed-up,’
and the soldiers inside burnt to death.
© Imperial War Museum
PAGE 14
Why was D-Day Successful?
LEARNING RESOURCES FOR TEACHING HISTORY
Key Stage 3
On the beaches of Utah, Gold, Juno and Sword, the invasion went
according to plan. Omaha beach was much steeper and more heavily
defended than the Americans expected. The DD floating tanks were
launched too far from the shore and most tanks did not make it to the
beach, their crews drowned. The soldiers that did land on the beach had
no tank protection from German machine guns and 2000 men died.
Utah beach was the first to be brought under Allied control. On Gold,
Juno and Sword beaches the Allied soldiers faced heavy German fire, but
the invasion went according to plan.
By nightfall on 6 June, it was clear that D-Day had succeeded. British
forces were unable to capture the city of Caen as Montgomery had
planned. Allied troops had not managed to link up with each other along
the Normandy coast. But they had broken through the German defences
and had a foothold in France.
After D-Day
Around 9,000 Allied soldiers were killed and 1,200 wounded on 6 June.
Most of these men are buried in the war cemeteries of Normandy, but
many bodies were never found. For those who survived, the struggle to
liberate Europe from Nazi occupation was just beginning. D-Day was
only the start of a struggle to beat the Germans in Northern France
during the summer of 1944. The battle to break out of Normandy was
long and difficult. The countryside of sunken lanes and tall hedges
provided cover for the Germans. In one assault the Allies lost 200
soldiers in taking one hedgerow. By the end of June 60,000 Allied
soldiers had lost their lives and many more had been wounded. Slowly,
however, the Germans were forced to retreat. On 25 August, 80 days
after D-Day, Paris was liberated. D-Day was the beginning of the end of
the Second World War in Europe.
© Imperial War Museum
PAGE 15
Why was D-Day Successful?