Much less known than the landing of June 6, 1944, the Battle of Normandy, which followed, was decisive for the outcome of the Second World War, starting with the liberation of France from the Nazi yoke. But the fighting, which lasted almost three months, was particularly deadly and destructive, particularly for civilian populations.
“The west of France undoubtedly suffered some of the harshest fighting ever. And, whatever Soviet propaganda may have said, the Battle of Normandy was certainly at least as deadly and decisive as that of the Eastern Front,” summarizes the renowned British historian Antony Beevor, in his reference work D-Day and the Battle of Normandy.
Official data also gives the measure of the slaughter which led the Allies from the beaches of Normandy to Paris, liberated on August 25, 1944. In a little less than three months of fighting, the Germans lost more than 200,000 soldiers (killed, wounded or missing), including 50,000 killed, and over 200,000 additional soldiers were taken prisoner. The Allies (Americans, British, Canadians, Poles and French) for their part counted 210,000 losses, including more than 36,000 dead and around 20,000 missing, without forgetting the approximately 16,000 dead in the air forces.
How did we get there, after having successfully completed the initial assault against the “Atlantic Wall” established by the Wehrmacht to stop any attempted “invasion” of the territory then controlled since 1940 by the Hitler regime?
Full professor at the National School of Public Administration and specialist in military history, Stéphane Roussel emphasizes that the resistance of the German army was significantly stronger than what had been expected. “We are talking about almost three months of fighting where the Allies are advancing very slowly. One wonders how the Germans were able to contain the Allied advance for so long, given the scale of the reinforcements which [ceux-ci] benefited, compared to the German army. »
It must be said that at this point in the war, the Wehrmacht was in more and more difficulty. Two weeks after the landing in France, the Russians launched 2.3 million of their men against 800,000 German soldiers, during Operation Bagration, on the Eastern Front. An operation which forced Hitler’s army to retreat 500 kilometers in just a few weeks.
In this context, the instruction from Adolf Hitler, increasingly disconnected from the reality facing his armies, is nevertheless unequivocal: it is forbidden to retreat on the ground. One of the main leaders of the army, Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, was dismissed on July 2 for having dared to evoke the very lucid idea of negotiating “peace”.
Historian Antony Beevor also recalls that Nazi propaganda repeated to soldiers that a defeat “would result in the pure and simple annihilation of their motherland”, to encourage them to fight to the death.
It is often said that Normandy paid for the rest of France, because once the breakthrough was completed, in August 1944, the liberation of the rest of the country would happen very quickly.
The terrain was also favorable to them, since the Norman bocage was dotted with hedges which surrounded open areas, an ideal situation for surprising the troops trying to advance in this landscape which quickly became hell for the Allies. There will be many cases of soldiers traumatized by combat.
Massive destruction
Result of all these obstacles: the Allies accumulated delays and suffered failures in their attempt to liberate Normandy, then France, on the road to German territory. For example, the initial plan planned to regain control of the city of Caen in the first hours following the landing on June 6, thanks in particular to Canadian soldiers. It will ultimately take multiple assaults to achieve this, and this will only happen on July 20.
The case of Caen also demonstrates the extent of the massive destruction suffered by Normandy, since the city was largely destroyed. This is also the case for Cherbourg and Saint-Lô, nicknamed “the capital of ruins”. “It is often said that Normandy paid for the rest of France, because once the breakthrough was completed, in August 1944, the liberation of the rest of the country would happen very quickly. Normandy will therefore be partly destroyed, while the rest of France will be intact,” underlines Stéphane Roussel.
This destruction, with the heavy bombardment and shelling, also kills thousands of civilians. “The region paid a heavy price for its liberation: during the Battle of Normandy itself, 19,890 French civilians died and even more were seriously injured. To this tragic toll, we must add the victims of the preparatory bombings for Operation Overlord in the first five months of 1944: 15,000 dead and 19,000 injured,” writes Antony Beevor in D-Day and the Battle of Normandy.
“The Liberation was certainly a moving moment but, for many Normans, the pillaging and blunders of the Allied soldiers tinged this joy with bitterness. Some even murmured that they had suffered less under the German yoke,” he adds, recalling that the killing did not stop with the end of the fighting. “Mines and unexploded shells continued to cause many casualties after the Liberation, particularly among children, many of whom jumped while playing with grenades and ammunition left behind by both sides. »
The fact remains that this murderous summer contributed to the defeat of the regime of terror established by the Nazis over a large part of Europe. “The Battle of Normandy is as important as the D-Day landings in terms of strategic impact. This is what will break German resistance on the Western Front. And when the Allies managed to break through the front in Normandy, there was a race towards the borders of Germany,” explains Stéphane Roussel.
Some of the troops who fought in Normandy will also have to fight in the Netherlands, in the Ardennes and in Germany. And it will take several more months of fighting on several fronts for the war to end on the continent, at the end of the largest massacre in the history of humanity.