The west part of the Peninsula had been defended by the 243rd Static Infantry Division, which could not work to its full potential due to the outdated weapons that it possessed. It is possible that the German troops on the Cotenin Peninsula had not been properly prepared for an attack because the Nazis did not expect one. Even if they had been expecting an attack, it is certain that they did not expect one of such importance.
The 91st Air Landing Division has been positioned in the middle of the Cotenin Peninsula, between the 243rd and the 709th. The men in the 91st had apparently been better trained than those in the other two divisions, but they had been disadvantaged because they had just arrived in the area, in May, 1944. Also, the 91st only had 7500 men a few days before the Allied invasion. However, they were joined by a unit of paratroopers on D-Day, the 6th Fallschirmjager Regiment.
Both the 82nd Airborne and the 101st Airborne had been extremely trained army units, with most of the people in the 82nd having fought in Italy, and, nearly all of the people in the 101st having volunteered to join their division. The main mission that the two divisions had, had been to secure the grounds between the Douve and Merderet Rivers in the west and the coastal floods in the east, until the army units from Utah beach would accompany them. There had been some initial setbacks in making the plan, with the 91st Air Landing Division coming to the Peninsula.
Little from the planes succeeded in dropping their people on their assigned drop zone, and, this resulted in people being dispersed on tens of miles across the land. It seems that this unfortunate event had actually been fortunate for the Americans, with Germans having anticipated that the Allies would drop troops in certain areas which had been favorable for landings. The 3rd battalion from the 506th managed to land near its allocated drop zone, but, its apparent success quickly turned to dust when the Germans ambushed the battalion and murdered a large part of it. The battalion's commander, Lt. Col. Wolverton, and his executive officer, Maj. George Grant, died within minutes of their landing, along with a great number of their men. The only ones to survive from the 3rd battalion had been those that had been dropped in a wrong drop zone. Apparently, the battalion's remaining contingent managed to complete the mission that their battalion had. All of the men from the other battalions fought courageously in small groups until they met the rest of their unit, advancing towards their targets. Eventually, just before the sea landings occurred, the airborne divisions had managed to secure important land behind the beaches.
The fact that most of the U.S. troops failed to land in their assigned drop zones worked in favor of the Allies, with the Germans becoming confused, learning that the enemy was spread across the peninsula. Moreover, the fact that Americans had been scattered in either small or large number across the land made the Nazi leaders believe that the attack had been a stratagem, intended by the Allies to distract the Germans from a much more important mission.
The 2nd Battalion from the 506th has had limited success consequent to their landing, as the fact that they had landed in the north of the peninsula meant that they had to advance to the south. There they encountered German resistance which managed to slow them down, and, the battalion only succeeded in reaching its target after 12:00 P.M. The murdering of the 91st Air Landing Division's commander, General Wilhelm Falley, by a group from the 101st airborne had played an important role in the distress experienced in the German camp.
While fate had seemingly acted against the U.S. airborne divisions, they had actually managed to accomplish their objectives, having an important involvement in the victory that the Allies have had at Utah beach. Even with the interest expressed by General Dollman, the German Seventh Army's commander, to have the 709th, the 91st, and the 6th divisions intercept the enemy, the army units had been out of shape and disadvantaged because of several factors.
Operation Overlord had had an indisputable success, even with the fact that the Allies did not expect to crush the German forces at such a rate. Observing that the German resistance could not be a match for the powerful Allied forces, the Allied leaders felt confident that their troops could perform other successful missions deep in enemy territory. While the Allied leaders prepared another attack on German occupied territory, the Nazis continued to underestimate the level of Allied campaigns. Hitler...
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