LESSON TERM EURO FRIDAY THE 9 TH OF OCTOBER
DO NOT FORGET TO SEND ME YOUR DOCUMENT FOR IRELAND
LESSON TERM EURO FRIDAY THE 9 TH OF OCTOBER
GOAL : recap on the normandy trip
The atlantic wall
Word of the day
WORDS OF THE DAY
(to) tip the scale ( faire pencher la balance)
Dim ( mal éclairé sombre + vague / lointain)
Ex : i have a dim recollection of these events
folksy = popular
(to) bear the brunt of something ( porter le
fardeau de)= (to) shoulder something
ex: the americans had to shoulder the fierce
retaliation from the Germans
(to) face the music = (to) face up to their responsibility
ex: Hitler had decided to fight on both fronts. Now he
and his men had to face the music
(to) pound something = (to) blast sth = (to) bomb
sth
a huge gamble ( un pari énorme)
STEP 1 RECAP ON THE NORMANDY TRIP AND YOUR KNOWLEDGE WHO WILL BE THE BETTER AT THIS GAME ?TO BE LEARNT
1. Location of the landing AND WHY ?
2. Type of weather necessary
3. Type of beaches necessary : pebbles
or sand AND WHY ?
4. Moment of day for the landing AND WHY ?
5. Habour or beach
6. Where to go next ? paris ?
other cities ?
7. Low tide or high tide ?
8. Landing alone or other type of
operations before ?
9. Once landed how to ensure
supplies ?
10. Type of boats to take the men on shores
11. One military commander or only one
suprême commander ?
12. Do we involve the French or not ?
do we involve the french resistance ?
13.
1. The germans expected the allies to land
in pas de calais and more precisely in calais
being the shortest route to the UK and dover.
So calais was heavily defended with
bunkers and casemates and large number of german soldiers.
Thus the allies decided to land in
Normandy in the cotentin peninsula which offered many advantages .
First sandy beaches which made the
landing easier both for men and material alike.
The dieppe landing by the candian forces
in 1942 had taught them a painful lesson as the tanks landing on pebble beaches
had got stuck .
Thus they did not want to face the same
kind of mayhem/ disaster.
Then an operation of this size required
massive stretch of lands to be able to accomodate both 160 000 soldiers
plus the future supplies and different nationalities with 5 beaches being the
plan.
Finally they were looking for a location
that was close to the british coast to ensure that the planes could go back and forth on a fuel tank.
Hence their choice of Normandy.
Moreover the very fact that normandy
belonged to a peninsula made it easier in thei eyes to encircle the german
forces and prevent them from fleeing to paris.
Besides there were limited points of
access with the countryside being strewn ( be strewn = éparpillé) with rivers
and swamps/ marches .Therefore capturing the bridges and the few main
thoroughfares= roads would be easier.
A last point upside being Cherbourgh and
its harbour which would be needed to bring in supplies afterwards.
2. The weather had to be balmy to prevent
the waters from being too choppy and
thus mitigate = reduce risks of seasickness which would be detrimental to the soldiers.
3. The landing occured on the 6 th of june
at 6 am this at daybreak to allow german positions to be visible while enabling
the troops to remain slightly hidden.
The landing was preced by various
operations .first the dropping from planes of paratroopers who were meant to
capture the main roads and thus stop possible german reinforcement from paris
Some of these paratroopers landed with
gliders to catch the germans unaware as gliders are silent.
Besides these gliders allowed a
landing right in the lmiddle of cities
and closer to their target which was bridges such as the pegasus bridge.
Then at 5. 30 pounding started from the
vessels and from planes .Their goal was to destroy the main cannons and
batteries.But most were ineffective as i twas not easy to have a proper view of
their target from the sea.The French resistance had provided them with crucial
information about the location of the main batallions and cannons .And yet most
of the pounding missed their target.
4. The allies intended to capture the
peninsula in a couple of days.But in fact it took them 20 days to reach
cherbourgh faced with german nazi regiments who
put up a good fight and oppose a
fierce resistance helped by the
REINFORCEMENT
TO
POUND
DROPPED
THE PARATROOPERS
A
STRETCH OF LAND
BEHIND
THE LINES
TO
LAND
MID TIDE
HEAVILY
DEFENDED
CALAIS
THE
BRITISH COAST
MULBERRY
ARTIFICAL HARBOUR
TO
DELAY + TO POSTPONE
A
GUERILLA WAR : WARFARE
A
SNIPER
TO
ENSURE SUCCESS
PEBBLE ::
SANDY
AN
EASY TARGET
DIEPPE
GOT
STUCK + STRANDED
A
VESSEL
GET
SEASICK
A
HARBOUR
HEDGEROWS
STEP 6 THE ATLANTIC WALL AND ROMMEL BEACH DEFENSES / OBSTACLES
1 )WHY DID THEY BUILD A WALL ?
THE DOCUMENTS CAN BE FOUND HERE
https://www.pearltrees.com/private/id109053365?access=47f50af410b.68005b5.e22a132f18e841a044c7f416562cf4f6
2 ) AN INCONSISTANT WALL : a broad overview
QUESTIONS
GROUP QUESTION :
1.who and why did decide to build the wall ?
2. when did they start ?
3.who were the workers building it ?
4.quote Rommel : was he right or wrong ?
5.how did the allies find out about the wall ?
6. why did the allies back away from attacking cherbourg ?
3) THE ELEMENTS OF DEFENCE
READ THE FOLLOWING TEXT .THEN PUT THE VARIOUS ELEMENTS OF DEFENSE IN THE
APPROPRIATE SPOTS
On every beach that was remotely suitable for an amphibious landing Rommel
built defenses.
Offshore, the German’s first line of defense consisted of mines anchored
in the Channel.
The tidal-flat obstacles began with so-called belgian gates
the belgian gates
Next at about 100 meters out from the high-water mark, a band of heavy logs
were driven into the water at an angle pointed seaward, with mines lashed to
the tips of some of the logs.
At about 70 meters from shore , the main belt of obstacles featured hedgehogs :.They
could rip out the bottom of any landing craft.
Rommel bestrode France like a colossus.he could and did flood the
countryside by damming the rivers or letting in the sea.
The obstacles forced the Allies to choose between risking their landing
craft on a full tide or coming in on low but rising tide and thus giving the
german soldiers an opportunity to cut down the first waves of attackers as they
struggled to get all the way up the
beach.
To make full use of the killing zone, Rommel put his divisions right up
close.
On the plateau above, were hundreds of Tobruks , circular
concrete-lined holes big enough for a mortar.The Tobrucks were connected by underground
tunnels .
Big guns were put also in casemates with embrasures that
opened down the beach to provide enfilade power .
.To protect the casemates from the real threat, an infantry assault with
grenades and flamethrowers, the germans surrounded them with land mines and
barbed wire.
Behind the mines and astride the draw ( une ravine) there were antitank
ditches ( fossés)
a casemate
the answers
QUESTIONS
QUESTIONS
1.who and why did decide to build the wall ?
2. when did they start ?
3.who were the workers building it ?
4.quote Rommel : was he right or
wrong ?
5.how did the allies find out about the
wall ?
6. why did the allies back away from attacking
cherbourg ?
ANSWERS
GROUP QUESTION :
1.who and why did decide to build the wall ?
HITLER DECIDED TO BUILD THE WALL BECAUSE IT
WOULD ALLOW HIM TO FOCUS MOST OF HIS WAR EFFORT ON FIGHTING THE RUSSIANS WHILE
PREVENTING THE BRITISH AND THE AMERICANS FROM LANDING ON THE ATLANTIC COAST.
2. when did they start ?
THEY STARTED DURING THE SUMMER OF 1942 RIGHT ON
THE BEGINNING OF THE INVASION ON THE RUSSIAN TERRITORY
3.who were the workers building it ?
THERE WERE 450,000 MEN WHO WERE REQUISITIONED OR
WORKING FOR THE GERMAN ENGINEERING GROUP ORGANISATION TODT . THIS GROUP USED
FORCED LABOUR COMPOSED OF PRISONERS WHO HAD BEEN OFFERED TO JOIN THE GERMAN
ARMY UNDER DURESS OR WERE JUST BEING EXPLOITED SHAMELESSLY.
THE TODT ORGANISATION WAS THE ONE TO ADMINISTER
AND CONCEIVE THE DEATH CAMPS.
SOME FRENCH PEOPLE WERE ALSO FORCED TO WORK
FOR THE GERMANS UNDER THE COMPULSORY LABOUR ORGANISATION. THAT IS WHY FROM 1942
SOME MEN JOINED THE RESISTANCE TO AVOID HAVING TO WORK FOR THE GERMANS OR
HAVING TO GO AND WORK IN GERMANY.
REQUISITIONED WORKERS COULD LACK MOTIVATION AND
TOOK GREAT PLEASURE IN SABOTAGING THE WALL.
4.quote Rommel : was he right or
wrong ?
ROMMEL : " if you think that they will come
in good weather,by the shortest route and that they will give you fair warning,
you are wrong..the allies will land in terrible weather, having chosen the
longest itinerary.. the landing will be here in Normandy and that will be the
longuest day."
of course he was spot on but unfortunatly for the
germans Hitler did not heed his words ( to heed = tenir compte de )
5.how did the allies find out about the
wall ?
THEY KNEW A LOT THANKS TO THE RESISTANCE
6. why did the allies back away from attacking
cherbourg ?
BECAUSE CHERBOURG'S HARBOUR WAS A GUN-STUDDED
FORTRESS AND SO HEAVILY DEFENDED.
(to be studded = parsemé de)
HOMEWORK
1. read the lesson
2. take notes down on the main information
3. learn the facts and the vocabulary
