Ethan R. Williams - 50 Div in Normandy. A Critical Analysis of the British 50th (Northumbrian) Division on D-Day and in...

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50 DIV IN NORMANDY: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE BRITISH 50 th (NORTHUMBRIAN) DIVISION ON D-DAY AND IN THE BATTLE OF NORMANDY

by

ETHAN RAWLS WILLIAMS, LCDR, USN B.S., United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, 1997

Contents

50 DIV IN NORMANDY: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE BRITISH 50 th (NORTHUMBRIAN) DIVISION ON D-DAY AND IN THE BATTLE OF NORMANDY, by LCDR Ethan Rawls Williams, 124 pages.

In late 1943, the British army ordered the veteran 7 th Armored, 51 st (Highland), and 50 th (Northumbrian) Divisions to return to the Great Britain to provide combat experienced troops for the invasion of northwest Europe. On D-Day, the 50 th Division achieved nearly all of its objectives. By mid-June, however, the 50 th held positions only a few miles beyond its final D-Day positions. The apparent failures of the veteran divisions in later operations led many senior leaders to believe that these divisions had become a liability. This thesis will evaluate the performance of the 50 th Division in Normandy by first examining the period before the invasion to determine the 50 th s readiness for war, British army doctrine, and weapons. The 50 th s prior combat experiences and pre-invasion training will be analyzed to determine the effect that prior combat had on the division. Finally, this thesis will evaluate the performance of the 50 th Division in specific combat engagements in Normandy.

I sincerely thank my thesis committeeDr. Kuehn, Dr. Bourque, and CDR Szmedfor their tremendous guidance, assistance, and advice.

Thanks to the staff of Fort Leavenworths Combined Arms Research Library for research assistance, an outstanding book collection, and for providing an excellent place to read and write.

Thanks to Major Michael DeBarto, U.S. Army, Retired, for his professional mentorship at the Warrior Preparation Center and friendship through the years. We spent many hours together tromping through European battlefields researching and executing Battle Staff Rides, trying to find where it really happened. Major DeBarto assigned me to the British sector for the Normandy Battle Staff Ridemy first introduction to the 50 th Division.

This thesis would not have been possible without the support and understanding of my wife and editor, Beth, and my daughter, Lauren.

Figure 1. Unit Emblem of the 50 th (Northumbrian) Division

Figure 2. The 50th Division in France and Belgium, May-June, 1940

Figure 3. The 50 th Division in the Mediterranean, 1941-1943

Figure 4. Organization of the 50 th Division on June 6, 1944

Figure 5. The German Defenses on June 6, 1944

Figure 6. German Defenses, Gold Beach Sector

Figure 7. The Final Overlord Plan

Figure 8. Gold Beach Sector of Normandy

Figure 9. Operation Perch

You will enter the Continent of Europe and, in conjunction with the other United Nations, undertake operations aimed at the heart of Germany and the destruction of her armed forces. Directive to Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force Issued February 12, 1944

At 4:45 a.m. on September 1, 1939, German forces attacked across the Polish border, igniting the Second World War. Later that same day, the British 50 th (Northumbrian) Division received orders to mobilize. Two days later, Great Britain and France, bound by their obligations to Poland, declared war on Germany. The German Blitzkrieg invasion quickly overwhelmed the Polish defenders as Warsaw fell on September 27 and all resistance in Poland ceased a little over a week later. Fearing an attack in the west, Great Britain and France mobilized and deployed their forces to the French border, and waited for the German invasion in the west. That invasion came on May 10, 1940. Circumventing the impressive Maginot Line, the German forces attacked through Belgium and Holland. After easily defeating the Dutch and Belgian armies, the Germans continued the offensive, driving a wedge between the British Expeditionary Force (B.E.F.) and the French forces in northern France. Elements of the 2 nd Panzer Division reached the coast of the English Channel on May 19, isolating over 300,000 British and French troops in the north of France. Following a failed attempt by the 50 th Division to break through the German penetration and link up with the French army in the south, those trapped forces began a withdrawal north to the coast.

At the port city of Dunkirk and along the adjacent beaches, the Miracle of Dunkirk occurred as nearly 337,000 B.E.F. and French soldiers were evacuated to Britain. While the Royal Navy performed superbly in its mission to rescue the trapped soldiers from northern France, the battle in France and the evacuation can only be viewed as a massive defeat. It took only three weeks for the Germans to defeat the B.E.F. and it was only another two weeks before Paris was captured. France surrendered to Germany on June 22, 1940. War continued to rage in Europe, however, for the next five years, engulfing the entire continentfrom the Atlantic Ocean to Moscow and from Norway to North Africa.

Following their defeat in France, the British focused their efforts on the Mediterranean, fighting the Germans in North Africa, Crete, and Greece. In June, 1941, Germany opened a second front when it attacked the Soviet Union. Later that same year, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor officially brought the United States into the war. At the Arcadia Conference, held in Washington, D.C., two weeks after the Pearl Harbor attack, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill presented his strategic plan for the defeat of Germany:

1. A naval blockade of the Axis countries

2. An intense bombing campaign against Germany

3. Break the German peoples will to fight through propaganda and encourage rebellion within occupied nations

4. Landings by small armored and mechanized forces throughout Europe from Norway to Greece

5. A large and decisive assault upon German controlled Europe.

To accomplish the decisive assault on Germany, American and British planners developed the framework for an invasion in the spring of 1943. This plan consisted of Operation Bolero, the build-up of men and materials in Great Britain; Operation Roundup, the cross channel landing in Northern France in 1943; and the beach head consolidation and advance into Germany. Immediately there were concerns regarding the timing of Roundup. The Americans desired an earlier invasion, as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt believed that it was of the highest importance that U.S. ground troops be brought into action against the enemy in 1942.