In his defense, the Red Army did routinely use massive diversions. Also, they didn’t have satellites or drones to get a clear picture of what was going on there.
Crazy-Rabbit-3811 on
That one Portuguese farmer was putting in work.
Drag0n_TamerAK on
Fog of war and the allies had spent alot of time making it seem like they would attack else where
BigLumpyBeetle on
It WAS a war with millions…
new_lance on
Look. I’m gonna be honest, Normandy was a terrible landing zone. It had no harbor, what were the Americans gonna do? Build [artificial harbors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulberry_harbours)?
The lie told to the Germans was that the Normandy landings were a diversion to landings at the Pas de Calais. So not as wild of a thought, as Calais was about 300km from Normandy, had a better beach, and was closer to Germany.
There were rumors of several landings to happen in 1944, and the Allied intelligence had been drip feeding the idea into German high command that when France was invaded it would be at Calais.
So a massive buildup in the English Channel would threaten either or both beaches, and having your high command and intelligence arguing about where the attack would come made things harder to plan for. Also, several panzer divisions were placed under Hitlers direct command and could not be used until he gave the order. When the attack came, Hitler was sleeping and no one wanted to wake him up, leaving most of the crucial Germans reserve to hangout for hours as the beachhead was developed.
RandomStoddard on
But, but, inflatable tanks!
laZardo on
I briefly confused it for Operation Mincemeat cause a floating corpse would’ve fit the meme bait
TheUncouthPanini on
Give him a break, guys! Normandy was obviously a diversion, just like Sicily!
bookhead714 on
Just putting this down to Hitler being a moron is dismissing the absolutely Herculean effort put forth by the Allies in what was one of the most impressive and complicated counterintelligence campaigns in history.
12 Comments
*Operation Fortitude intensifies*
In his defense, the Red Army did routinely use massive diversions. Also, they didn’t have satellites or drones to get a clear picture of what was going on there.
That one Portuguese farmer was putting in work.
Fog of war and the allies had spent alot of time making it seem like they would attack else where
It WAS a war with millions…
Look. I’m gonna be honest, Normandy was a terrible landing zone. It had no harbor, what were the Americans gonna do? Build [artificial harbors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulberry_harbours)?
[Or the Spanish chicken farmer acting as an double agent giving them misleading intel and the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops creating a decoy army.](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tR2nBI0Y-XY&pp=ygUKR2hvc3QgYXJteQ%3D%3D)
The lie told to the Germans was that the Normandy landings were a diversion to landings at the Pas de Calais. So not as wild of a thought, as Calais was about 300km from Normandy, had a better beach, and was closer to Germany.
There were rumors of several landings to happen in 1944, and the Allied intelligence had been drip feeding the idea into German high command that when France was invaded it would be at Calais.
So a massive buildup in the English Channel would threaten either or both beaches, and having your high command and intelligence arguing about where the attack would come made things harder to plan for. Also, several panzer divisions were placed under Hitlers direct command and could not be used until he gave the order. When the attack came, Hitler was sleeping and no one wanted to wake him up, leaving most of the crucial Germans reserve to hangout for hours as the beachhead was developed.
But, but, inflatable tanks!
I briefly confused it for Operation Mincemeat cause a floating corpse would’ve fit the meme bait
Give him a break, guys! Normandy was obviously a diversion, just like Sicily!
Just putting this down to Hitler being a moron is dismissing the absolutely Herculean effort put forth by the Allies in what was one of the most impressive and complicated counterintelligence campaigns in history.