课外阅读题13th
Passage 13 (Unit 13, Book II: Giving Hitler Hell (I). Unit 14, Book II: Overdue Interest. WWII History)
The Battle of Normandy was fought during World War II in the summer of 1944, between the Allied nations and German forces occupying Western Europe. More than 60 years later, the Normandy Invasion, or D-Day, remains the largest aborne invasion in history, involving nearly three million troops crossing the English Channel from England to Normandy in occupied France.
Operation Overlord was the codename for the Allied invasion of northwest Europe. The assault pha, or the establishment of a cure foothold, was known as Operation Neptune. Operation Neptune began on D-Day (June 1, 1944) and ended on June 30, when the Allies had established a firm foothold in Normandy. Operation Overlord also began on D-Day, and continued until Allied forces crosd the River Seine on August 19.
The battle began months before the invasion, when Allied bombers began to pound the Normandy coast and farther south, to destroy transportation links, and disrupt the German army's build-up of their military strength. More than 300 planes dropped 13,000 bombs over Normandy in advance of the invasion. Six parachute regiments, with more than 13,000 men, also went ahead to cut railroad lines, blow up bridges, and ize landing fields. Gliders also brought in men, light artillery, jeeps, and small tanks.
With the invasion of Normandy, General Dwight D. Einhower faced a task of magnitude and hazards never before attempted. He would have to move his forces 100 miles across the English Channel and storm a heavily fortified coastline. His enemy was the weapon-and-tank-superior German army commanded by Erwin Rommel, one of the most brilliant generals of the war. Less than 15 percent of the Allied forces coming aboard the ships had ever en combat.
An invading army had not crosd the unpredictable and dangerous English Channel since 1688. Once the massive Allied force t out, there was no turning back. The Allies b
oasted a 5,000-vesl armada that stretched as far as the eye could e, transporting both men and vehicles across the channel to the French beaches. In addition, the Allies had 4,000 smaller landing craft and more than 11,000 aircraft.
By nightfall on June 6, more than 9,000 Allied soldiers were dead or wounded, but more than 100,000 had made it ashore and cured French coastal villages. Within weeks, supplies were being unloaded at Utah and Omaha beachheads at the rate of more than 20,000 tons per day. By June 11, more than 326,000 troops, 55,000 vehicles, and 105,000 tons of supplies had been landed on the beaches. By June 30, the Allies had established a firm foothold in Normandy. Allied forces crosd the River Seine on August 19.
Military intelligence was an important part of the Normandy invasion. British and American cryptographers working in London deciphered coded messages that the German believed to be unbreakable. Messages could quite often be delivered to Einhower within two and a half hours of the time the Germans had nt it. In addition, r
econnaissance teams took infrared pictures of Omaha Beach while avoiding German patrols.
There is no official casualty figure for D-Day. It is estimated that more than 425,000 Allied and German troops were killed, wounded, or went missing during the battle. That figure includes more than 209,000 Allied casualties. In addition to roughly 200,000 German troops killed or wounded, the Allies also captured 200,000 soldiers. Captured Germans were nt to American prisoner-of-war camps at the rate of 30,000 per month, from D-Day until Christmas 1944.
Between 15,000 and 20,000 French civilians were killed during the battle.
In the end, the invasion of Normandy succeeded in its objective by sheer force of numbers. By July 1944, some one million Allied troops, mostly American, British, and Canadian, were entrenched in Normandy. During the great invasion, the Allies asmbled nearly three million men and stored 16 million tons of arms, munitions, and supplies in Britain.
The occupation of Normandy was crucial for the Western Allies to bring the war to the western border of Germany. If the Normandy invasion had not occurred, there could conceivably have been a complete posssion of northern and western Europe by Soviet forces.
1. Before the Battle of Normandy, Normandy was occupied by __________.
A. the Allied
B. Germany
C. France
D. Briton
2. “The battle” in the first ntence of the third paragraph refers to __________.
