Chapter 28

Operation Overlord. Allied troops in Normandy

The maneuver tactics that the Germans had used so successfully on the Eastern Front now turned against them. And there could be no talk of a new summer offensive. The defeat at Kursk put an end to all hopes of success. Despite heavy losses in manpower over the past three years, Russia still had almost 300 divisions with over 5 million men, against 200 understrength German divisions that barely had 2 million men. But the most painful surprise for the Germans was not the stunning reserves of the Red Army, but its persistent fighting spirit.

The threat of invasion in the West grew. In early June, Hitler told his military advisers:

– A possible American landing in Europe will decide the outcome of the entire war. If we succeed in thwarting these enemy plans, a new attempt will not be made soon. This will mean that our reserves will be freed up for combat operations in Italy and Russia. The Eastern Front can at least be stabilized. But if an invasion from the West takes place, it will mean final defeat. We cannot win a positional war, if only because every step back means stretching the front line, and we do not have significant reserves for this. Therefore, the landing must be disrupted.

Hitler entrusted the task of preventing a “second front” in the West to Field Marshal Rommel, who, through no fault of his own, lost the campaign in North Africa. Rommel was convinced that the best way to stop the invasion was right on the coast. His elderly superior, Commander-in-Chief of the Western Front, Gerd von Rundstedt, was of the opposite opinion. The decisive battle should be fought away from the coast, he believed. All tank and tactical reserves must be in the depths of France so that they can encircle and defeat the enemy.

Hitler made a compromise decision that satisfied neither one nor the other. He took Rommel's tank formations, but positioned them much closer to the coast than Rundstedt wanted.

On the morning of June 4, Rommel left for Germany by car. Outwardly, this was explained by the field marshal’s desire to see his wife, whose birthday was on June 6. In fact, his goal was to convince Hitler to transfer two tank divisions and one motorized brigade to Normandy. Rommel believed that the time for a short vacation was good: weather forecasters predicted stormy weather for the next two weeks, which excluded any enemy actions from the sea.

And on the other side of the English Channel, the commander-in-chief of the Allied forces, General Dwight Eisenhower, had to make a difficult decision. The invasion, codenamed Overlord, was scheduled to begin on June 5, but due to an unfavorable weather forecast, the general was forced to postpone it by at least a day. At his headquarters in the woods near Portsmouth, he weighed the pros and cons of the risk of a landing in bad weather or a delay until July. Already more than 200 thousand people knew about the operation, and by July the enemy would know about it. In the evening, a new weather report was received: until the morning of June 6 it will be relatively favorable, but then a sharp deterioration is expected. Eisenhower interviewed his generals. The majority was in favor, and the commander made a decision: on June 6, the Allies would land on the Normandy coast.

At 12:15 a.m. on June 6 British Summer Time, eighteen-year-old skydiver Murphy landed in the garden of a schoolteacher in the French town of Sainte-Mère-Eglise. This was the beginning of Overlord. An hour later, the headquarters of the Wehrmacht 7th Army received the first unclear and contradictory messages. At 3.00 Rundstedt reported to the Fuhrer's headquarters in Berghof that a large enemy airborne landing had landed in Normandy. Three hours later, Rundstedt's chief of staff announced that this was probably the beginning of an invasion and asked that four tank and motorized divisions from the Wehrmacht High Command reserve be transferred to the landing area.

But Jodl was sure that this was a diversionary attack. He was misled by the secret Operation Bodyguard: the Allies organized a “leak” of a false military plan to the Fuhrer’s headquarters, according to which the main landing was to take place at the narrowest point of the English Channel - Pas de Calais. Therefore, Jodl did not even consider it necessary to wake up the Fuhrer. Someone suggested calling Hitler, but the aristocratic Rundstedt, who called the Fuhrer a “Bohemian corporal,” considered it beneath his dignity.

Only at 9.00 the Fuhrer was woken up, but not because of the Allied landing, but because he had a meeting with the dictators of Hungary, Slovakia and Romania - Horthy, Tiso and Antonescu. Hitler calmly listened to the report, then ordered Keitel and Jodl to be summoned. By the time they arrived, he was no longer so calm.

“So what is this, an invasion or not?!” the Fuhrer shouted indignantly. Turning sharply, he headed towards the exit.

On the way to Klessheim Castle, where he had a meeting with three European dictators, the Fuhrer was animated and declared that he could restrain the Russians and destroy the Anglo-Saxons in front of the Atlantic Wall.

By 4 p.m., Hitler returned to the Berghof for a late lunch with Eva and other guests. This time the main topic of his monologue was vegetarianism. “The elephant is the strongest animal, but it doesn’t eat meat,” the Fuhrer argued. As usual, after lunch everyone headed to the Tea House. After tea, Hitler dozed off for an hour, and at 23.00 convened another military meeting, at which he expressed the opinion that this invasion was a trick, and the main landing would be made in the Calais area. Nothing could convince him. The false operation “Bodyguard” was a success.

By midnight, the Allies had advanced 50 kilometers deep. The Germans were taken by surprise, their air force and fleet were neutralized, and their coastal defenses were broken. The enemy achieved a strategically important victory at the cost of less than 2,500 lives.

Hitler was so convinced that the Normandy landings were just a diversionary maneuver that in the first days he did not take decisive measures to eliminate the Allied bridgehead and refused to give freedom of action to the command of the Western Front. Meanwhile, the Allies secured complete air superiority over France. On June 12, as retaliation, Hitler ordered the launch of V-1 rockets on London - two days before the scheduled date. But only ten missiles were launched, four of them fell immediately, two disappeared, and others destroyed the railway bridge. After this fiasco, Goering hastened to remind Hitler that this was Milch's program. But when two days later 244 rockets were launched, causing enormous fires in London, the Reichsmarshal quickly took credit for this achievement.

All this, however, had no effect on the events in Normandy. In ten days, the Allies landed almost a million people and 500 thousand tons of cargo here. The situation became so threatening that on June 17, Hitler traveled by car to the Soissons area, where he met with Rundstedt and Rommel. As General Hans Speidel recalled, “the Fuhrer looked pale and sleep-deprived, nervously fingered his glasses, then irritably began talking about his dissatisfaction with the Allied landings, for which he placed responsibility on the field commanders.”

Operation Overlord. Landing of first echelon troops

Rommel took upon himself the main burden of objections to Hitler. He openly declared that the fight was hopeless, given the overwhelming superiority of the Allies in the air, sea and land. There is only one chance: stop the suicidal tactics of holding every inch of territory, immediately withdraw German troops, regroup all armored forces for a decisive battle beyond the range of enemy naval artillery fire. Hitler assured his military leaders that his new weapon of retaliation would “force the British to make peace.” This was a sore point for Rundstedt and Rommel because their requests to use the V-1 against English southern ports supplying the invasion force were rejected by Hitler on the grounds that the missiles should be focused on a political target. Both field marshals limited themselves to criticizing the Luftwaffe: how can you win on land without at least minimal air support? Hitler responded that “masses of fighters” would soon clear the skies of American and British aircraft. He did not mention that, despite Milch's strong objections, the new jet, which had recently begun production, was a hybrid fighter and bomber, ineffective in both roles.

The growing roar of enemy aircraft forced everyone to move to an underground bunker. The change of situation gave Rommel more courage. He said that the enemy would inevitably break through the front and rush into Germany. The field marshal further predicted that the Eastern Front would collapse and the Reich would be politically isolated. Therefore, he resolutely insists on ending the war as soon as possible.

“Don’t worry about the future course of the war,” Hitler replied sharply. - Better take care of your front.

Shortly after the meeting ended, a V-1 rocket sent to London went off course and exploded on the roof of the command bunker. Fortunately, no one was hurt, and Hitler immediately went to the Berghof. He returned in a gloomy mood and announced:

– Rommel was confused and became a pessimist. In times like these, only optimists can achieve anything.

Two days later, Rundstedt reported that the Americans had broken through and were advancing across the Cotentin Peninsula. If German troops are not immediately withdrawn from Cherbourg, they will be cut off.

“The fortress of Cherbourg must be held at all costs,” the Fuhrer replied.

True, at the very last moment he allowed a retreat in order to avoid encirclement of the Cherbourg group.

During this period, Hitler maintained self-control, which surprised his inner circle, and he also listened to criticism. At a night meeting on June 23, General Dietl, dissatisfied with the Fuhrer’s contemptuous remarks about the Finns capitulating to Russia, slammed his fist on the table and said sharply:

“My Fuhrer, I must speak to you like a Bavarian!” and accused Hitler of being unfair in his assessments.

To everyone’s surprise, the Fuhrer replied that Dietl was right, said goodbye to him warmly, then turned to the others and said:

“I wish all my generals were like this.”

Field Marshal Gerd von Rundschedt. Dismissed by Hitler after Operation Overlord

The Fuhrer treated Admiral Doenitz the same way, who on the day of his appointment as fleet commander openly opposed one of Hitler’s proposals. Since then, he always politely and carefully listened to the admiral's opinion. During this turbulent time, the Fuhrer heard criticism even from his young secretary. Having seen him one day looking at photographs of air raids, Traudl Junge ventured to say that these photographs could not give a true picture of the disaster. He ought to go around one day and see how people “wash their hands on charred boards, since all their property has turned into smoke.” Hitler was not angry.

“I know,” he said, sighing. “But I will change all that.” We have built new planes, and soon this whole nightmare will end.

However, he stubbornly refused to listen to the field commanders in Normandy, and as a result the situation there became hopeless. On June 26, the Americans occupied Cherbourg. The Germans had no chance to seize the initiative. Their armies were now forced to conduct purely defensive battles. The Third Reich was facing disaster.

And in the Berghof, the dejected and somewhat absent-minded Fuhrer at that time assured representatives of the military industry of the inviolability of private property and the preservation of free enterprise. Towards the end of the speech, Hitler promised to thank business people once peace came. But the applause was so thin that he threatened:

– If Germany loses the war, German private capital will not survive. After the defeat, the Germans will not need to transition to a peaceful economy. Everyone will then have to think about how to move on to another world. Should I do it myself, should I allow myself to be hanged, should I starve, or should I work in Siberia...

Three days later, Hitler summoned Rundstedt and Rommel to the Berghof. He immediately refused to consider Rommel’s proposal to fight a retreat to the Seine, pull armies there from Southern France and create a new line of defense along the river all the way to the border with Switzerland. The Fuhrer preferred to talk about a counteroffensive.

– There will be no waste - neither general nor tactical. The war will be won with a new miracle weapon, he said.

Rommel took this as science fiction. Both field marshals left in a grave mood. Keitel doomedly confessed to Rommel:

“It’s a shame, but nothing can be done.”

Two days later, Hitler's planned counteroffensive failed miserably, prompting Rundstedt to warn Keitel that the end was coming.

“What should we do?” asked Keitel.

“Make peace, you idiots!” Rundstedt exploded. - What else?

Keitel reported this to Hitler, who talked with Field Marshal Gunther von Kluge. The Fuhrer immediately appointed Kluge as commander-in-chief of the Western Front and wrote Rundstedt a polite notice that the Wehrmacht no longer needed his services.

On June 6, 1944, the long-awaited landing of the anti-Hitler coalition troops began on the northern coast of France, which received the common name “Suzerain” (“Overlord” (from the English overlord “lord, ruler”)). The operation was prepared for a long time and carefully, it was preceded by difficult negotiations in Tehran. Millions of tons of military cargo were delivered to the British Isles. On the secret front, Abwehr disinformation was carried out by the British and US intelligence services regarding the landing area and many other measures that ensured a successful offensive. At different times, both here and abroad, the scale of this military operation, depending on the political situation, was either increased or decreased. The time has come to give an objective assessment of both it and its consequences in the Western European theater of the Second World War.

photo: Allied troops after the landing. Arrival of reinforcements at the bridgehead.

As is known from films, Soviet soldiers, participants in the war of 1941-1945, called the American stew, condensed milk, egg powder and other food products that came to the USSR from the USA under the Lend-Lease program as the “second front”. This phrase was pronounced with a somewhat ironic intonation, expressing barely concealed contempt for the “allies.” The meaning behind it was this: while we are shedding blood here, they are delaying the start of the war against Hitler. They are sitting back, in general, waiting to enter the war at the moment when both the Russians and the Germans weaken and exhaust their resources. Then the Americans and the British will come to share the laurels of the winners. The opening of the Second Front in Europe was increasingly postponed; the Red Army continued to bear the brunt of the fighting.

In a sense, that's exactly what happened. Moreover, it would be unfair to blame F.D. Roosevelt for not being in a hurry to send the American army into battle, but waiting for the most opportune moment. After all, as President of the United States, he had a responsibility to think about the good of his country and act in its interests. As for Great Britain, without American help its armed forces were technically unable to carry out a massive invasion of the mainland. From 1939 to 1941, this country fought a war against Hitler alone, it managed to survive, but there was no talk of an offensive. So there is nothing particularly to blame Churchill for. In a sense, the Second Front existed throughout the war and until D-Day (Day of Landing), it pinned down significant forces of the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine. The majority (approximately three-quarters) of the German naval and air fleet was engaged in the operation against Britain.

Nevertheless, without detracting from the merits of the allies, our participants in the Great Patriotic War always rightly believed that it was they who made a decisive contribution to the common victory over the enemy.

photo: Field Marshal Rommel inspects units of the 21st Panzer Division that were stationed in the Allied landing areas. May 30, 1944
A condescending and contemptuous attitude towards allied assistance was cultivated by the Soviet leadership throughout the post-war decades. The main argument was the ratio of Soviet and German losses on the Eastern Front with similar numbers of dead Americans, British, Canadians and the same Germans, but in the West. Nine out of ten killed Wehrmacht soldiers laid down their lives in battles with the Red Army. Near Moscow, on the Volga, in the Kharkov region, in the Caucasus mountains, on thousands of nameless high-rises, near unknown villages, the back of a military machine was broken, easily defeating almost all European armies and conquering countries in a matter of weeks, and sometimes days.

Maybe the Second Front in Europe was not needed at all and could have been done without it? By the summer of 1944, the outcome of the war as a whole was a foregone conclusion. The Germans suffered terrible losses, there was a catastrophic lack of human and material resources, while Soviet military production reached levels unprecedented in world history. The endless “levelling of the front” (as Goebbels propaganda explained the constant retreat) was essentially flight. Nevertheless, J.V. Stalin persistently reminded the allies of their promise to strike Germany from the other side. In 1943, American troops landed in Italy, but this was clearly not enough.

photo: Allied troops land on the coast of Salerno under artillery fire. September 1943
The names of military operations are chosen so as to convey in one or two words the entire strategic essence of the upcoming action. Moreover, the enemy, even recognizing him, should not guess the main elements of the plan. The direction of the main attack, the technical means involved, timing and similar details necessarily remain a mystery to the enemy. The upcoming landing on the northern European coast was called "Overlord". The operation was divided into several stages, which also had their own codes. It began on D-Day with Neptune, and ended with Cobra, which implied advancement into the interior of the mainland.

The German General Staff had no doubt that the Second Front would open. 1944 is the last date when this event could take place, and, knowing the basic American technical techniques, it was difficult to imagine that the USSR’s allies would launch an offensive in the unfavorable autumn or winter months. In the spring, an invasion was also considered unlikely due to the instability of weather conditions. So, summer. Intelligence provided by the Abwehr confirmed the massive transport of technical equipment. B-17 and B-24 bombers were delivered disassembled to the islands by Liberty ships, as were Sherman tanks, and in addition to these offensive weapons, other cargo arrived from overseas: food, medicine, fuel and lubricants , ammunition, marine vehicles and much more. It is almost impossible to hide such a large-scale movement of military equipment and personnel. The German command had only two questions: “When?” and where?".

photo: Landing of British special armored vehicles on Gold Beach
The English Channel is the narrowest point of water between the British Mainland and Europe. It was here that the German generals would have launched a landing if they had decided to do so. This is logical and corresponds to all the rules of military science. But that is why General Eisenhower completely ruled out the English Channel when planning Overlord. The operation had to come as a complete surprise to the German command, otherwise there was a considerable risk of a military fiasco. In any case, defending the coast is much easier than storming it.

The fortifications of the Atlantic Wall were created in advance throughout all previous war years; work began immediately after the occupation of the northern part of France and was carried out with the involvement of the population of the occupied countries. They acquired particular intensity after Hitler realized that the opening of a Second Front was inevitable. 1944 was marked by the arrival at the proposed landing site of the Allied troops of General Field Marshal Rommel, whom the Fuhrer respectfully called either the “desert fox” or his “African lion.” This military specialist spent a lot of energy on improving fortifications, which, as time has shown, were almost of no use. This is a great merit of the American and British intelligence services and other soldiers of the “invisible front” of the allied forces.

photo: Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, General Eisenhower, talking with the paratroopers of Company E
The success of any military operation depends to a greater extent on the factor of surprise and timely troop concentration than on the balance of forces of the warring parties. The second front should have been opened on that section of the coast where an invasion was least expected. The Wehrmacht's capabilities in France were limited. Most of the German armed forces fought against the Red Army, trying to contain its advance.

The war moved from the territory of the USSR to the spaces of Eastern Europe, the oil supply system from Romania was under threat, and without gasoline, all military equipment turned into a pile of useless metal. The situation was reminiscent of chess tsuntzwang, when almost any move led to irreparable consequences, especially the wrong one. It was impossible to make a mistake, but the German headquarters still made the wrong conclusions. This was facilitated by many actions of allied intelligence, including the planned “leak” of disinformation and various measures to mislead Abwehr agents and aerial intelligence. Models of transport ships were even made and placed in ports far from the actual loading areas.

photo: German anti-landing installations on the northern coast of France
Not a single battle in the entire history of mankind has gone according to plan; unexpected circumstances have always arisen that prevent this. “Overlord” is an operation that was planned long and carefully, but was repeatedly postponed for various reasons, which was also no exception. However, the two main components that determined its overall success were still preserved: the landing site remained unknown to the enemy until D-Day, and the balance of forces was in favor of the attackers.

1 million 600 thousand soldiers of the allied forces took part in the landing and subsequent hostilities on the continent. Against 6 thousand 700 German guns, the Anglo-American units could use 15 thousand of their own. They had 6 thousand tanks, and the Germans only 2000. It was extremely difficult for one hundred and sixty Luftwaffe aircraft to intercept almost eleven thousand Allied aircraft, among which, in fairness, it should be noted, most of them were transport “Douglas” (but there were also quite a few “ Flying Fortresses”, and “Liberators”, and “Mustangs”, and “Spitfires”). The armada of 112 ships could only be resisted by five German cruisers and destroyers. Only German submarines had a quantitative advantage, but by that time the Americans’ means of combating them had reached a high level.

photo: Landing of first echelon troops. Sector Omaha, June 6, 1944
The American military did not use French geographical concepts; they seemed unpronounceable. Like the names of military operations, areas of coastline called beaches were coded. There were four of them: Gold, Omaha, Juneau and Sword. Many Allied soldiers died on their sand, although the command did everything to minimize losses. On July 6, eighteen thousand paratroopers (two airborne divisions) were landed from DC-3 aircraft and by gliders. Previous wars, like the entire Second World War, had never seen such a scale.

The opening of the Second Front was accompanied by powerful artillery preparation and aerial bombardment of defensive structures, infrastructure and locations of German troops. The actions of the paratroopers in some cases were not very successful; during the landing, forces were dispersed, but this did not matter much. The ships were heading towards the shore, they were covered by naval artillery, and by the end of the day there were already 156 thousand soldiers and 20 thousand military vehicles of various types on the shore. The captured bridgehead measured 70 by 15 kilometers (on average). As of June 10, over 100 thousand tons of military cargo had already been unloaded on this strip, and the concentration of troops reached almost a third of a million people. Despite the huge losses (in the first day they amounted to about ten thousand), after three days the Second Front was opened. This has become an obvious and indisputable fact.

photo: American soldiers who landed on Omaha Beach advance deeper into the continent
In order to continue the liberation of Nazi-occupied territories, more than just soldiers and equipment were required. War consumes hundreds of tons of fuel, ammunition, food and medicine every day. It gives the warring countries hundreds and thousands of wounded who need to be treated. An expeditionary force deprived of supplies is doomed.

After the Second Front was opened, the advantage of a developed American economy became obvious. The Allied forces had no problems with the timely delivery of everything they needed, but this required ports. They were captured very quickly, the first was the French Cherbourg, which was occupied on June 27.

Having recovered from the first sudden blow, the Germans, however, were in no hurry to admit defeat. Already in the middle of the month they used the V-1 for the first time, a prototype of cruise missiles. Despite the meager capabilities of the Reich, Hitler found the resources for mass production of ballistic V-2s. London was shelled (1,100 missile strikes), as well as the ports of Antwerp and Liege located on the mainland and used by the Allies to supply troops (almost 1,700 FAUs of two types). Meanwhile, the Norman bridgehead expanded (up to 100 km) and deepened (up to 40 km). 23 air bases were deployed there, capable of receiving all types of aircraft. The number of personnel increased to 875 thousand. Conditions were created for the development of an offensive towards the German border, for which the Second Front was opened. The date of general victory was approaching.

photo: British troops in a French village, June 6, 1944.
Anglo-American aviation carried out massive raids on the territory of Nazi Germany, dropping tens of thousands of tons of bomb load on cities, factories, railway junctions and other objects. In the second half of 1944, the Luftwaffe pilots were no longer able to resist this avalanche. During the entire period of the liberation of France, the Wehrmacht suffered half a million losses, and the allied forces suffered only 40 thousand killed (plus more than 160 thousand wounded). The Nazi tank forces numbered only a hundred combat-ready tanks (the Americans and British had 2 thousand). For every German plane there were 25 Allied ones. And there were no more reserves. A group of two hundred thousand Nazis found themselves blocked in western France. In conditions of overwhelming superiority of the invading army, German units often hung out a white flag even before the start of artillery preparation. But there were frequent cases of stubborn resistance, as a result of which dozens, even hundreds of Allied tanks were destroyed.

On July 18-25, the British (8th) and Canadian (2nd) corps encountered well-fortified German positions, their attack floundered, which prompted Marshal Montgomery to subsequently argue that the attack was a false and diversionary one.

An unfortunate side effect of the high firepower of American troops was losses from so-called “friendly fire,” when troops suffered from their own shells and bombs.

In December, the Wehrmacht launched a serious counter-offensive in the Ardennes salient, which was crowned with partial success, but could solve little strategically.

Result of the operation and the war
After World War II began, the participating countries changed from time to time. Some stopped hostilities, others started them. Some took the side of their former enemies (like Romania, for example), while others simply capitulated. There were even states that formally supported Hitler, but never opposed the USSR (like Bulgaria or Turkey). The main participants in the war of 1941-1945, the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany and Britain, remained invariably opponents (they fought even longer, from 1939). France was also among the winners, although Field Marshal Keitel, when signing the surrender, could not resist making an ironic remark about this... “What, we also lost to the French?”

There is no doubt that the Normandy landing of the allied forces and the subsequent actions of the armies of the United States, Britain, France and other countries contributed to the defeat of Nazism and the destruction of the criminal political regime, which did not hide its inhumane essence. However, it is very difficult to compare these undoubtedly respectable efforts with the battles of the Eastern Front. It was against the USSR that Hitlerism waged a total war, the goal of which was the complete destruction of the population, which was also declared by the official documents of the Third Reich. Our participants in the Great Patriotic War, who fulfilled their duty in much more difficult conditions than their Anglo-American brothers in arms, deserve all the more respect and fond memory.

Allied landings in Normandy
(Operation Overlord) and
fighting in Northwestern France
summer 1944

Preparations for the Normandy landing operation

By the summer of 1944, the situation in the theaters of war in Europe had changed significantly. Germany's position deteriorated significantly. On the Soviet-German front, Soviet troops inflicted major defeats on the Wehrmacht in Right Bank Ukraine and Crimea. In Italy, Allied troops were located south of Rome. A real possibility had arisen of landing American-British troops in France.

Under these conditions, the United States and England began preparations for the landing of their troops in Northern France ( Operation Overlord) and in Southern France (Operation Anvil).

For Normandy landing operation(“Overlord”) four armies were concentrated in the British Isles: the 1st and 3rd American, the 2nd English and the 1st Canadian. These armies included 37 divisions (23 infantry, 10 armored, 4 airborne) and 12 brigades, as well as 10 detachments of British commandos and American Rangers (airborne sabotage units).

The total number of invasion forces in Northern France reached 1 million people. To support the Normandy landing operation, a fleet of 6 thousand military and landing ships and transport vessels was concentrated.

The Normandy landing operation was attended by British, American and Canadian troops, Polish units, which were subordinate to the emigrant government in London, and French units, formed by the French Committee of National Liberation (Fighting France), which on the eve of the landing declared itself the Provisional Government of France.

The general leadership of the American-British forces was carried out by American General Dwight Eisenhower. The landing operation was commanded by the commander 21st Army Group English Field Marshal B. Montgomery. The 21st Army Group included the 1st American (commander General O. Bradley), 2nd British (commander General M. Dempsey) and 1st Canadian (commander General H. Grerard) armies.

The plan for the Normandy landing operation provided for the forces of the 21st Army Group to land sea and airborne assault forces on the coast Normandy on the section from the Grand Vey bank to the mouth of the Orne River, about 80 km long. On the twentieth day of the operation, it was planned to create a bridgehead 100 km along the front and 100–110 km in depth.

The landing area was divided into two zones - western and eastern. American troops were to land in the western zone, and British-Canadian troops in the eastern zone. The western zone was divided into two sections, the eastern – into three. At the same time, one infantry division, reinforced with additional units, began landing in each of these areas. 3 Allied airborne divisions landed deep in the German defense (10–15 km from the coast). On the 6th day of the operation it was planned to advance to a depth of 15–20 km and increase the number of divisions in the bridgehead to sixteen.

Preparations for the Normandy landing operation lasted three months. On June 3–4, the troops allocated for the landing of the first wave headed to the loading points - the ports of Falmouth, Plymouth, Weymouth, Southampton, Portsmouth, and Newhaven. The start of the landing was planned for June 5, but due to bad weather conditions it was postponed to June 6.

Operation Overlord plan

German defense in Normandy

The Wehrmacht High Command expected the Allied invasion, but it could not determine in advance either the time or, most importantly, the place of the future landing. On the eve of the landing, the storm continued for several days, the weather forecast was bad, and the German command believed that in such weather a landing would be completely impossible. The commander of the German forces in France, Field Marshal Rommel, just before the Allied landings, went on vacation to Germany and learned about the invasion only more than three hours after it began.

The German Army High Command in the West (in France, Belgium and Holland) had only 58 incomplete divisions. Some of them were “stationary” (did not have their own transport). Normandy had only 12 divisions and only 160 combat-ready combat aircraft. The superiority of the group of allied forces intended for the Normandy landing operation (“Overlord”) over the German troops opposing them in the West was: in number of personnel - three times, in tanks - three times, in guns - 2 times and 60 times on airplanes.

One of three 40.6cm (406 mm) guns of the German Lindemann battery
Atlantic Wall sweeping across the English Channel


Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-364-2314-16A, Atlantikwall, Batterie "Lindemann"

Beginning of the Normandy landing operation
(Operation Overlord)

The night before, the landing of Allied airborne units began, in which American: 1,662 aircraft and 512 gliders, British: 733 aircraft and 335 gliders.

On the night of June 6, 18 ships of the British fleet conducted a demonstrative maneuver in the area northeast of Le Havre. At the same time, bomber aircraft dropped strips of metallized paper to interfere with the operation of German radar stations.

At dawn on June 6, 1944, the Operation Overlord(Normandy landing operation). Under the cover of massive air strikes and naval artillery fire, an amphibious landing began on five sections of the coast in Normandy. The German navy offered almost no resistance to the landing.

American and British aircraft attacked enemy artillery batteries, headquarters and defensive positions. At the same time, powerful air strikes were carried out on targets in the Calais and Boulogne areas in order to divert enemy attention from the actual landing site.

From the Allied naval forces, artillery support for the landing was provided by 7 battleships, 2 monitors, 24 cruisers and 74 destroyers.

At 6:30 a.m. in the western zone and at 7:30 in the eastern zone, the first amphibious assault forces landed on the shore. American troops that landed in the extreme western sector (“Utah”), by the end of June 6, advanced deep into the coast up to 10 km and linked up with the 82nd Airborne Division.

In the Omaha sector, where the 1st American Infantry Division of the 5th Corps of the 1st American Army landed, enemy resistance was stubborn and the landing forces during the first day had difficulty capturing a small section of the coast up to 1.5–2 km deep.

In the landing zone of the Anglo-Canadian troops, enemy resistance was weak. Therefore, by the evening they linked up with units of the 6th Airborne Division.

By the end of the first day of landing, the Allied troops managed to capture three bridgeheads in Normandy with a depth of 2 to 10 km. The main forces of five infantry and three airborne divisions and one armored brigade with a total number of more than 156 thousand people were landed. On the first day of the landing, the Americans lost 6,603 people, including 1,465 killed, the British and Canadians - about 4 thousand people killed, wounded and missing.

Continuation of the Normandy landing operation

The 709th, 352nd and 716th German infantry divisions defended the Allied landing zone on the coast. They were deployed on a front of 100 kilometers and were unable to repel the landing of Allied troops.

On June 7–8, the transfer of additional Allied forces to the captured bridgeheads continued. In just three days of landing, eight infantry, one tank, three airborne divisions and a large number of individual units were landed.

Arrival of Allied reinforcements at Omaha Beachhead, June 1944.


Original uploader was MIckStephenson at en.wikipedia

On the morning of June 9, Allied troops located at different bridgeheads began a counter-offensive to create a single bridgehead. At the same time, the transfer of new formations and units to the captured bridgeheads and armies continued.

On June 10, one common bridgehead was created 70 km along the front and 8-15 km in depth, which by June 12 managed to be expanded to 80 km along the front and 13-18 km in depth. By this time, there were already 16 divisions on the bridgehead, which numbered 327 thousand people, 54 thousand combat and transport vehicles and 104 thousand tons of cargo.

An attempt by German troops to destroy the Allied bridgehead in Normandy

To eliminate the bridgehead, the German command brought up reserves, but believed that the main attack of the Anglo-American troops would follow through the Pas de Calais Strait.

Operational meeting of the command of Army Group B


Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-300-1865-10, Nordfrankreich, Dollmann, Feuchtinger, Rommel

Northern France, summer 1944. Colonel General Friedrich Dollmann (left), Lieutenant General Edgar Feuchtinger (center) and Field Marshal Erwin Rommel (right).

On June 12, German troops launched a strike between the Orne and Vir rivers in order to dissect the Allied group located there. The attack ended in failure. At this time, 12 German divisions were already operating against the Allied forces located on the bridgehead in Normandy, of which three were tank and one motorized. Divisions arriving at the front were brought into battle in units as they unloaded in the landing areas. This reduced their striking power.

On the night of June 13, 1944. The Germans first used the V-1 AU-1 (V-1) projectile aircraft. London was attacked.

Expansion of the Allied bridgehead in Normandy

On June 12, the 1st American Army from the area west of Sainte-Mère-Eglise launched an offensive westward and occupied Caumont. On June 17, American troops cut off the Cotentin Peninsula, reaching its western coast. On June 27, American troops captured the port of Cherbourg, taking 30 thousand people prisoner, and on July 1, they completely occupied the Cotentin Peninsula. By mid-July, the port at Cherbourg had been restored, and through it increased supplies for the Allied forces in Northern France.

On June 25–26, Anglo-Canadian troops made an unsuccessful attempt to take Caen. The German defense offered stubborn resistance. By the end of June, the size of the Allied bridgehead in Normandy reached: along the front - 100 km, in depth - 20 to 40 km.

A German machine gunner, whose field of vision is limited by clouds of smoke, is blocking the road. Northern France, June 21, 1944


Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-299-1808-10A, Nordfrankreich, Rauchschwaden, Posten mit MG 15.

German security post. Plumes of smoke from a fire or from smoke bombs in front of a barrier with steel hedgehogs between concrete walls. In the foreground is a lying guard post with an MG 15 machine gun.

The Wehrmacht High Command (OKW) still believed that the main Allied attack would be delivered through the Pas-de-Calais Strait, so it did not dare to reinforce its troops in Normandy with formations from North-East France and Belgium. The transfer of German troops from Central and Southern France was delayed by Allied air raids and sabotage by the French “resistance”.

The main reason that did not allow the reinforcement of German troops in Normandy was the strategic offensive of Soviet troops in Belarus that began in June (Belarusian Operation). It was launched in accordance with an agreement with the Allies. The Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht was forced to send all reserves to the Eastern Front. In this regard, on July 15, 1944, Field Marshal E. Rommel sent a telegram to Hitler, in which he reported that since the beginning of the landing of the Allied forces, the losses of Army Group B amounted to 97 thousand people, and the reinforcements received were only 6 thousand. people

Thus, the Wehrmacht High Command was unable to significantly strengthen the defensive grouping of its troops in Normandy.

United States Military Academy's Department of History

Troops of the Allied 21st Army Group continued to expand the bridgehead. On July 3, the 1st American Army went on the offensive. In 17 days it went 10-15 km deep and occupied Saint-Lo, a major road junction.

On July 7–8, the British 2nd Army launched an offensive with three infantry divisions and three armored brigades on Caen. To suppress the defense of the German airfield division, the Allies brought in naval artillery and strategic aviation. Only on July 19 did British troops completely capture the city. The 3rd American and 1st Canadian armies began landing on the bridgehead.

By the end of July 24, the troops of the 21st Allied Army Group reached the line south of Saint-Lo, Caumont, and Caen. This day is considered the end of the Normandy landing operation (Operation Overlord). During the period from June 6 to July 23, German troops lost 113 thousand people killed, wounded and prisoners, 2,117 tanks and 345 aircraft. The losses of the Allied forces amounted to 122 thousand people (73 thousand Americans and 49 thousand British and Canadians).

The Normandy landing operation ("Overlord") was the largest amphibious operation during the Second World War. In the period from June 6 to July 24 (7 weeks), the 21st Allied Army Group managed to land expeditionary forces in Normandy and occupy a bridgehead of about 100 km along the front and up to 50 km in depth.

Fighting in France in the summer of 1944

On July 25, 1944, after a “carpet” bombing by B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator aircraft and an impressive artillery barrage, the Allies launched a new offensive in Normandy from the Len-Lo area with the goal of breaking through from the bridgehead and entering the operational space ( Operation Cobra). On the same day, more than 2,000 American armored vehicles entered the breakthrough towards the Brittany Peninsula and towards the Loire.

On August 1, the 12th Allied Army Group was formed under the command of American General Omar Bradley, consisting of the 1st and 3rd American Armies.

The breakthrough of American troops from the bridgehead in Normandy to Brittany and Loire.


United States Military Academy's Department of History

Two weeks later, General Patton's 3rd American Army liberated the Brittany Peninsula and reached the Loire River, capturing a bridge near the city of Angers, and then moved east.

The advance of Allied troops from Normandy to Paris.


United States Military Academy's Department of History

On August 15, the main forces of the German 5th and 7th tank armies were surrounded, in the so-called Falaise “cauldron”. After 5 days of fighting (from the 15th to the 20th), part of the German group was able to leave the “cauldron”; 6 divisions were lost.

The French partisans of the Resistance movement, who operated on German communications and attacked rear garrisons, provided great assistance to the Allies. General Dwight Eisenhower estimated guerrilla assistance at 15 regular divisions.

After the defeat of the Germans in the Falaise Pocket, the Allied forces rushed east almost unhindered and crossed the Seine. On August 25, with the support of the rebel Parisians and French partisans, they liberated Paris. The Germans began to retreat to the Siegfried Line. The Allied forces defeated the German troops located in Northern France and, continuing their pursuit, entered Belgian territory and approached the Western Wall. On September 3, 1944, they liberated the capital of Belgium, Brussels.

On August 15, the Allied landing operation Anvil began in the south of France. Churchill objected to this operation for a long time, proposing to use the troops intended for it in Italy. However, Roosevelt and Eisenhower refused to change the plans agreed upon at the Tehran Conference. According to the Anvil plan, two Allied armies, American and French, landed east of Marseille and moved north. Fearing being cut off, German troops in southwestern and southern France began to withdraw towards Germany. After the connection of the Allied forces advancing from Northern and Southern France, by the end of August 1944 almost all of France was cleared of German troops.

This event can be called by different names (“D-Day”, Normandy operation or “Overlord”). This event is popular even outside the warring countries. This battle claimed numerous lives. A battle that went down in world history. Operation Overlord is a military procedure of the Allied forces; this operation was the opening of the second Western Front. It was held in France (Normandy). To date, Operation Overlord represents one of the largest amphibious operations in world history. At least three million people took part in it. This procedure began in 1944 (June 6) and ended on August 31 of the same year. The ending of "Overlode" was the liberation of the city of Paris from the German occupiers. Operation Overload was distinguished by high-quality preparation for battle and organizational skill. Also, the ridiculous mistakes of the Reich Army played a huge role in this victory; it was they that provoked the German collapse in France.

The main goal of the American and British troops was to strike at the heart of the Third Reich; it was also necessary to destroy the main enemy from the Osinsky countries. The German goal (as the goal of a country that is defending itself) is simple: to prevent the troops from gaining a foothold in France, it was also necessary to provide them with technical and human losses, and at the end, dump them into the strait called the English Channel.

The Americans prepared for the landing in advance (one of the very first landing plans was studied three years before its implementation).

The operation was postponed multiple times and changed due to the fact that the United States could not make a final decision about what was more important - the Pacific or European theater of operations. So, Operation Overlord was launched when it was decided that the Pacific served as a tactical defense and Germany was the main rival.

The operation included two phases, each of them had its own name: “Neptune” and “Cobra”. “Neptune” envisaged the landing of troops with the further capture of the coastal part of the territory, and “Cobra” consisted of a further offensive inland and the capture of Paris. The first part lasted almost a month, the second – two. To avoid leaking information, troops were stationed in special bases that were forbidden to leave. Information propaganda was carried out regarding the place and time of Overlord. In addition to the troops of England and the United States, Australian, New Zealand and Canadian soldiers took part here. For a long time they could not decide on the time and place of the event; Brittany, Normandy and Pas-de-Calais were considered as the most suitable places for the landing. As you know, preference was given to Normandy. The main selection criteria were: the power of strengthening the defense, the echelon and radius of operation of the aviation of the allied forces. The Germans were confident that the landing would take place in the Pas-de-Calais area, due to the fact that this place is located closest to England. On June 6, the operation began during the daytime. The night before this day, a parachute landing was dropped behind enemy lines, this provided some assistance to the main forces. On the eve of the main attack, the Germans and their fortifications were bombarded by a massive air raid and ships.

Victor Surenkov

The worst thing, apart from the lost battle,
this is a won battle.

Duke of Wellington.

Allied landings in Normandy, Operation Overlord, D-Day, Normandy Operation. This event has many different names. This is a battle that everyone knows about, even outside the countries that fought the war. This is an event that claimed many thousands of lives. An event that will go down in history forever.

general information

Operation Overlord is a military operation of the Allied forces, which became the opening operation of a second front in the West. Held in Normandy, France. And to this day it is the largest landing operation in history - in total more than 3 million people were involved. The operation began on June 6, 1944 and ended on August 31, 1944 with the liberation of Paris from the German occupiers. This operation combined the skill of organizing and preparing for combat operations of the Allied troops and the rather ridiculous mistakes of the Reich troops, which led to the collapse of Germany in France.

Goals of the warring parties

For the Anglo-American troops, Overlord aimed to deliver a crushing blow to the very heart of the Third Reich and, in cooperation with the Red Army's advance along the entire eastern front, to crush the main and most powerful enemy from the Axis countries. The goal of Germany, as the defending side, was extremely simple: not to allow the Allied troops to land and gain a foothold in France, to force them to suffer heavy human and technical losses and dump them into the English Channel.

Strengths of the parties and the general state of affairs before the battle

It is worth noting that the position of the German army in 1944, especially on the Western Front, left much to be desired. Hitler concentrated his main troops on the eastern front, where Soviet troops were victorious one after another. The German troops were deprived of a unified leadership in France - constant changes in senior commanders, conspiracies against Hitler, disputes about a possible landing site, and the lack of a unified defensive plan did not in any way contribute to the successes of the Nazis.

By June 6, 1944, 58 Nazi divisions were stationed in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, including 42 infantry, 9 tank and 4 air field divisions. They were united into two army groups, “B” and “G”, and were subordinate to the “West” command. Army Group B (commander Field Marshal E. Rommel), located in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, included the 7th, 15th armies and the 88th separate army corps - a total of 38 divisions. Army Group G (commanded by General I. Blaskowitz) consisting of the 1st and 19th armies (11 divisions in total) was located on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and in southern France. In addition to the troops that were part of the army groups, 4 divisions made up the reserve of the West command. Thus, the greatest densities of troops were created in North-Eastern France, on the coast of the Pas-de-Calais Strait. In general, the German units were scattered throughout France and did not have time to arrive on the battlefield in time. For example, about 1 million more Reich soldiers were in France and initially did not participate in the battle.

Despite the relatively large number of German soldiers and equipment stationed in the area, their combat effectiveness was extremely low. 33 divisions were considered “stationary”, that is, they either had no vehicles at all or did not have the required amount of fuel. About 20 divisions were newly formed or recovered from battles, so they were only 70-75% of normal strength. Many tank divisions also lacked fuel. From the memoirs of the Chief of Staff of the West Command, General Westphal: “It is well known that the combat effectiveness of the German troops in the West at the time of the landing was much lower than the combat effectiveness of the divisions operating in the East and Italy... A significant number of ground force formations located in France, the so-called “stationary divisions” were very poorly equipped with weapons and vehicles and consisted of older soldiers.” The German air fleet could provide about 160 combat-ready aircraft. As for the naval forces, Hitler's troops had at their disposal 49 submarines, 116 patrol ships, 34 torpedo boats and 42 artillery barges.

The Allied forces, commanded by future US President Dwight Eisenhower, had 39 divisions and 12 brigades at their disposal. As for aviation and navy, in this aspect the Allies had an overwhelming advantage. They had about 11 thousand combat aircraft, 2300 transport aircraft; over 6 thousand combat, landing and transport ships. Thus, by the time of the landing, the overall superiority of the Allied forces over the enemy was 2.1 times in men, 2.2 times in tanks, and almost 23 times in aircraft. In addition, the Anglo-American troops constantly brought new forces to the battlefield, and by the end of August they already had about 3 million people at their disposal. Germany could not boast of such reserves.

Operation plan

The American command began preparing for the landing in France long before D-Day itself (the initial landing project was considered 3 years before - in 1941 - and was codenamed "Roundup"). In order to test their strength in the war in Europe, the Americans, together with British troops, landed in North Africa (Operation Torch), and then in Italy. The operation was postponed and changed many times because the United States could not decide which theater of military operations was more important for them - the European or the Pacific. After the decision was made to choose Germany as the main rival, and in the Pacific to limit itself to tactical defense, the plan for the development of Operation Overlord began.

The operation consisted of two phases: the first was codenamed "Neptune", the second - "Cobra". "Neptune" assumed an initial landing of troops, the capture of coastal territory, "Cobra" - a further offensive deep into France, followed by the capture of Paris and access to the German-French border. The first part of the operation lasted from June 6, 1944 to July 1, 1944; the second began immediately after the end of the first, that is, from July 1, 1944 until August 31 of the same year. The operation was prepared in the strictest secrecy, all troops that were supposed to land in France were transferred to special isolated military bases that were forbidden to leave, information propaganda was conducted regarding the place and time of the operation. In addition to US and British troops, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand soldiers took part in the operation, and French resistance forces were active in France itself. For a very long time, the command of the allied forces could not accurately determine the time and place of the start of the operation. The most preferred landing sites were Normandy, Brittany and Pas-de-Calais. Everyone knows that the choice was made on Normandy. The choice was influenced by factors such as the distance to the ports of England, the echelon and strength of defensive fortifications, and the range of the Allied aircraft. The combination of these factors determined the choice of the Allied command. Until the very last moment, the German command believed that the landing would take place in the Pas-de-Calais area, since this place was closest to England, and therefore required the least time to transport cargo, equipment, and new soldiers. In Pas-de-Calais, the famous “Atlantic Wall” was created - an impenetrable line of defense for the Nazis, while in the landing area the fortifications were hardly half ready. The landing took place on five beaches, which were codenamed “Utah”, “Omaha”, “Gold”, “Sword”, “Juno”. The start time of the operation was determined by the ratio of the water level and the time of sunrise. These factors were considered to ensure that the landing craft did not run aground and were not damaged by underwater obstacles, and that it was possible to land equipment and troops as close to the shore as possible. As a result, the day the operation began was June 6, and this day was called “D-Day.” The night before the landing of the main forces, a parachute landing was dropped behind enemy lines, which was supposed to help the main forces, and immediately before the start of the main attack, the German fortifications were subjected to a massive air raid and shelling by Allied ships.

Progress of the operation

Such a plan was developed at headquarters. In reality, things didn't go quite that way. The landing force, which was dropped behind German lines the night before the operation, was scattered over a vast territory - over 216 square meters. km. for 25-30 km. from captured objects. Most of the 101st Division, which landed near Sainte-Maire-Eglise, disappeared without a trace. The 6th British Division was also unlucky: although the landing paratroopers were much more numerous than their American comrades, in the morning they came under fire from their own aircraft, with which they could not establish contact. The 1st US Division was almost completely destroyed. Some ships with tanks were sunk before they even reached the shore. Already during the second part of the operation - Operation Cobra - Allied aircraft attacked their own command post. The offensive went much slower than planned. The bloodiest event of the entire company was the landing on Omaha Beach. According to the plan, early in the morning, German fortifications on all beaches were subjected to fire from naval guns and air bombing, as a result of which the fortifications were significantly damaged. But on the Omaha, due to fog and rain, the naval guns and planes missed, and the fortifications did not receive any damage. By the end of the first day of the operation, on the Omaha the Americans had lost more than 3 thousand people and were unable to take the positions planned by the plan, while on the Utah during this time they lost about 200 people, took the necessary positions and united with the landing party. Despite all this, on the whole the landing of the Allied troops was quite successful. Then the second phase of Operation Overlord was successfully launched, within the framework of which cities such as Cherbourg, Saint-Lo, Caen and others were taken. The Germans retreated, throwing weapons and equipment to the Americans. On August 15, due to mistakes by the German command, two German tank armies were surrounded, and although they were able to escape from the so-called Falaise Pocket, it was at the cost of huge losses. Allied forces then captured Paris on August 25, continuing to push the Germans back to the Swiss borders. After the French capital was completely cleared of fascists, Operation Overlord was declared completed.

Reasons for the victory of the Allied forces

Many of the reasons for the Allied victory and the German defeat have already been mentioned above. One of the main reasons was the critical position of Germany at this stage of the war. The main forces of the Reich were concentrated on the Eastern Front; the constant onslaught of the Red Army did not give Hitler the opportunity to transfer new troops to France. Such an opportunity arose only at the end of 1944 (Arden offensive), but then it was already too late. The better military-technical equipment of the Allied troops also had an effect: all the equipment of the Anglo-Americans was new, with full ammunition and a sufficient supply of fuel, while the Germans constantly experienced supply difficulties. In addition, the Allies constantly received reinforcements from English ports. An important factor was the activity of the French partisans, who pretty well spoiled the supplies for the German troops. In addition, the allies had a numerical superiority over the enemy in all types of weapons, as well as in personnel. Conflicts within the German headquarters, as well as the incorrect belief that the landing would take place in the Pas-de-Calais area and not in Normandy, led to a decisive Allied victory.

Operation meaning

In addition to the fact that the landing in Normandy showed the strategic and tactical skill of the command of the Allied forces and the courage of ordinary soldiers, it also had a huge influence on the course of the war. “D-Day” opened a second front, forcing Hitler to fight on two fronts, which stretched the already dwindling forces of the Germans. Overlord was the first major battle in Europe in which American soldiers proved themselves. The offensive in the summer of 1944 caused the collapse of the entire Western Front, the Wehrmacht lost almost all positions in Western Europe.

CemeteryAmerican soldierson Omaha Beach

Representation of the battle in the media

The scale of the operation, as well as its bloodshed (especially on Omaha Beach) led to the fact that today there are many computer games and films on this topic. Perhaps the most famous movie was the masterpiece of the famous director Steven Spielberg, “Saving Private Ryan,” which tells about the massacre that took place at Omaha. This topic was also touched upon in “The Longest Day,” the television series “Band of Brothers” and many documentaries. Operation Overlord has appeared in more than 50 different computer games.

Even though Operation Overlord was carried out more than 50 years ago, and now it remains the largest amphibious operation in the history of mankind, and now the attention of many scientists and experts is focused on it, and now there are endless disputes and debates about it . And it’s probably clear why.

List of used literature

1. Max Hastings, Operation Overlord: How the Second Front Was Opened. http://militera.lib.ru/h/hastings_m/index.html
2. Materials from the site http://www.normandy-1944.com/
3. Article from the magazine “Around the World” “The mysteries of Operation Overlord.” http://www.vokrugsveta.ru/vs/article/861/
4. Dwight Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe. http://militera.lib.ru/memo/usa/eisenhower/index.html
5. Ralph Ingersoll, Operation Overlord. Seaborne invasion".
6. Images taken from the Yandex-images service. http://images.yandex.ru/