Amphibious operations such as D-Day and the Allied advance 1944-45, including Arnhem and the Battle of the Bulge

Amphibious operations such as D-Day and the Allied advance 1944-45, including Arnhem and the Battle of the Bulge.

D-Day:

During the planning of the Normandy landings, there was a lot of thought put into how the Allies were to attack if a victory was to occur. This planning introduced new weapons and transport made for the swiftest and easiest landings possible.

1. In order to unload a large number of troops and supplies by sea, a harbour was needed. Due to the fact that there was no safe place to land ships to do this, the Allies came up with the idea of creating an artificial harbour, codenamed "Mulberry". Mulberry platforms for transportation were called "whales". In the Mulberry Harbour, there were 12 miles of roadways, anchored near the landing beaches but away from German artillery.
2. A pipeline was used by the Allies to carry fuel under the English Channel to invading forces, codenamed "PLUTO".
3. A group of specially modified tanks named "Hobart's Funnies" were created for the landings, including "The DD", "The Bobbin" and "The Flail". These were all made in the hopes that it would aid troops during the landings so that they could get the upper hand.

Battle of Arnhem:

1. In September 1944, British and Polish forces were given the task of securing the bridge at Arnhem, landing with parachutes and gliders - although ended up mostly missing where they were supposed to land.
2. Units were parachuted and glider-landed into the area. This was one of the first times that troops had used proper strategic use of airborne forces.

Battle of the Bulge:

1. This battle was a surprise for the Allies, who received minimal intelligence that an attack would happen.
2. Before the attack, English speaking German soldiers dressed in US uniform went behind Allies' lines, spreading misinformation, changing road signs, and cutting telephone wires.
3. At first, the weather was in the German's favour, with low cloud and fog making the Allies' air superiority defective.
4. However, the Germans had based their attack methods on massive armoured onslaught, requiring lots of fuel, which they did not possess
5. Because of this fuel deficiency, the Germans were only able to use their then never used before jet bombers for a brief time, as success in the air became meaningless because of the lack of armoured vehicles on the ground. This was a rare instance in which air superiority was not the deciding factor of a modern battle.