They began by fortifying the Atlantic Wall in Normandy with more machine gun bunkers, millions of beachfront landmines, and by flooding inland marshes to trap Allied paratroopers. Their strategic preparations would ultimately help the Nazis inflict terrible Allied casualties on D-Day.

When Nazi Germany began an airborne invasion of Crete. Greek and other Allied forces, along with Cretan civilians, defended the island. After one day of fighting, the Germans had suffered heavy casualties and the Allied troops were confident that they would defeat the invasion.

Planes dropped 13,000 bombs before the landing: they completely missed their targets; intense naval bombardment still failed to destroy German emplacements. The result was, Omaha Beach became a horrific killing zone, with the wounded left to drown in the rising tide.

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