Why didn't the Allies land right on German beaches instead of Normandy?

Question

The german army was so spread out, covering parts of africa, france, and of course the soviet union.

And yeah, I understand that normandy was better because its closer to the resupply from England.

But still, why not land directly onto the northern shores of Germany. Use the combined navies to obliterate the german navy surrounding german harbors, land, and you're right there. It's not like Germany had factories setup in France to build tanks or planes.

I'm sure there are more reasons than the proximity to England resupply, so please tell me.
Why not just have D-Day landings right on the north beach of germany?

Answer 1

Several reasons, but the main ones are:



1. Many of the landing craft that the Allies used were barely seaworthy enough to cross the English Channel, and never would have made it across the North Sea.



2. The Allies managed to drive off the Luftwaffe from the Normandy area and make the landings unmolested, but would have had a much harder time doing so from the North Sea, because it was far from any Allied air bases, but very close to many, many German ones. Any attempt to land in that area of Germany would have seen the Luftwaffe pound the landing force unmercifully.



3. Most of the German troops manning the Normandy defenses were second-rate troops. Many of them were actually Russian and Polish POW's press-ganged into the German army--and the Poles defected as soon as there was no German officer to prevent them from doing so. A direct attack on Germany would have been met by real German soldiers with plenty of warning of the attack (the invasion force would have been spotted sooner on such a long crossing), defending their homeland, not hostile French territory.



A direct attack on Germany was considered by the Allies, but not via a landing on German shores. Many of the British leaders, including Churchill himself, advocated escalating the Italian campaign and putting all of the Allied resources into it. If the Allies overran Italy, then they could simply have crossed the border into Austria (part of Germany at the time), using the Alpine passes and the Ljubljana Gap. This plan wasn't pursued because the U.S. was providing the bulk of the troops for the attack on Europe, and American generals favored a cross-Channel attack. The drawbacks of the Italian strategy were that you'd be advancing on a narrow (and thus easier for the Germans to defend) front until you reached the Po River, and that it would leave France and its resources and potential manpower under German occupation--something that also opened up dangerous political issues.

Answer 2

It was too far to the North which would have been too far away to maintain the supply ships, and the coast would have been less friendly

In this post war map you can see the German coast in green

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map-Germany-1945.svg



One of the disadvantages of taking the ports would have been the destruction of them and wouldn't be able to be captured and used



In this Map you can see the distance between England and Europe and it you compare the two maps you will see that the German coasts begins at the very right http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:UK_Radar1940.JPG



You may think of Holland then, but the Dutch had flooded most of the coastal areas which made them unfriendly landings, and they had also attempted a landing in Belgium years earlier which proved that the beaches were unsuitable as they were small stones and tanks and trucks etc bogged down and the men had difficulty even walking on them



The beaches at Normandy were closely examined by the SBS and divers to see how friendly they would have been for the Armour, boots on ground and trucks etc



Finely they need to establish a beachhead and not facing a huge battle from the sea straight away, they wouldn't have been able to land so many men in waves immediately



Chetak

Answer 3

Dearest Jonathan, Where shall I start?



1) the route to Germany's beaches from England is so long that it would have enabled the Germans to learn of the impending attack (i.e. the element of surprise would have been lost) and destroy the shipping convoys, or at least hamper them to the extent that their efficacy would have been reduced.

2) Germany was, believe it or not, quite powerful. That is how they managed to keep England, the French and other resistances, the Soviet Union, the entire Commonwealth of Britain (do some reading and learn how many millions of people that amounts to), and others, on the hop for six years. Can you just IMAGINE how strong were their fortifications on their own doorstep? Can you? The Allies' losses on the beaches of The Fatherland would have been unsustainable.

3) They would have left the Germans an opportunity to counter-attack their rear from France and the Low Countries.

Answer 4

The North Sea is much rougher than the English Channel. To take the Germans by surprise they didn't try the shortest crossing from Dover to Calais but chose to land in Normandy.

Landing in France meant that the German's lines of communication were extended and they could count on a certain amount of support from the local people.

Answer 5

One major reason would be the availability of air support. Normandy was in range of RAF and USAF units able to provide support. This is one of the reasons why Germany cancelled operation Sealion as they could not provide air support.



Another reason would be the death trap the Jutland could offer, due to the air superiority available by Germany in comparison to the lack of fighter coverage that could be provided by the allies. Then you have the Uboat who would have a field day.



Also the "combined navies", tried there best to Obliterate German defences on the NOrmandy coast, but of course they were not 100% effective.

Answer 6

Because this would involve passing through the fortified Danish straits. The Allies never controlled the Baltic, so how could they have gotten to the German beaches? All of a sudden you're trying to move landing craft a great distance.



The low countries have shallower beaches, which means the big ships wouldn't have been able to cover them as easy. Which left the only real choices to first take Scandinavia or to go further South.

Answer 7

Germany would easily destroy the invasion of the fatherland because their subs would detect the incoming ships and would sink them, also germany would also not hesitate to use their top secret weapons on the incoming invasion like the V-2, ME-262, STG44, and many others. The V-2 would be fired on the fleet, the me262 would wipe out the allied aircraft, and the sturmgewehr 44 would be put in the frontline as the standard issue rifle

Answer 8

That puts the Allied beachhead far closer to the centers of German air power, while also putting the beachhead outside of easy fighter cover, making it far, far more likely that the beachhead would be destroyed.

Answer 9

The Allies also wanted to take out the V-2 rocket sites that were launching rockets at Britain, they were located in the Netherlands. See map below.

Answer 10

A Military historian rites: The Allies strategy is best explained by examining the Roman conquest of Europe. You will see how hard it is to find Germany. The Allies relied on French people who knew the way.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Invasions_of_the_Roman_Empire_1.png

Answer 11

Yes, why?



Let me show you just two pictures of Germany's North Sea coast. They will explain a lot.



http://www.mit-pferden-reisen.de/galerie/full/Cuxhaven_Wattritt-Kolonne._JPG.jpg

http://www.cn-online.de/typo3temp/pics/0b3653e2c0.jpg

Answer 12

The allies took the Germans by a surprise attack

Answer 13

The supply lines would have been too long, and too vulnerable.