Australian contribution to the Battle of Normandy

The 13 Australian Army officers who took part in the campaign filled a variety of roles in British units in order to gain experience that they could take back to Australia.

Australian personnel also took part in the invasion of Southern France in August 1944, and RAAF airmen continued to operate against German forces until the end of the war in May 1945.

However, the relatively low casualties suffered by the Allied air forces during the fighting in Normandy and subsequent campaigns resulted in an over-supply of trained Australian aircrew in the UK, hundreds of whom were never assigned to a combat role.

456 Squadron, which was a specialist night fighter unit equipped with Mosquitos, formed part of Air Defence of Great Britain and was assigned to protect the invasion force.

[10] Four RAN sub-lieutenants who had been sent to the UK to undergo training were also assigned to RN landing craft units to help address a shortage of officers capable of coordinating operations by these vessels.

These officers had been posted to the UK to gain experience in planning and conducting large-scale amphibious operations, which would improve the army's procedures ahead of Australian landings in the Pacific.

[21] In addition, the 31 Australian pilots posted to RAF photo reconnaissance units frequently conducted sorties to monitor German dispositions along the coast of the English Channel.

[26] 2TAF's fighter-bombers also attacked bridges over the river Seine from April as part of an effort to seal off the Normandy region, and Australian pilots posted to British squadrons were involved in a small number of these operations.

In January 1944, RANVR officer Lieutenant Ken Hudspeth, who commanded the midget submarine HMS X20, transported a party of specialist personnel to inspect and collect soil samples from French beaches being considered for the invasion.

[38] Nancy Wake, an Australian serving with the British Special Operations Executive, was parachuted into France in April 1944 and subsequently helped to organise the French Resistance in the Auvergne region.

[39] On the night of 5/6 June Bomber Command conducted precision attacks on ten German coastal artillery batteries near the beaches where Allied troops were to land.

On the night of 5/6 June several Australian airmen served in heavy bombers that dropped "window" chaff in patterns that, on German radar, simulated the appearance of convoys headed for the Pas de Calais region of France.

139 Squadron RAF took part in "intruder" bombing raids against targets in western Germany and the Low Countries that sought to divert German aircraft away from Normandy.

[38] Some of the warships with Australian crew members that supported the landings were HMS Ajax (which had three RANVR officers on board), Ashanti, Enterprise, Eskimo, Glasgow, Mackay and Scylla.

Major Jo Gullett, who was the second in command of an infantry company in the 7th Battalion, Green Howards, came ashore on Gold Beach as part of the invasion force.

During July and August the RAAF units operated at or near their highest level of activity in the war to that point, but morale remained high as the airmen perceived that the contribution of air power to the campaign would be decisive.

[59] Large numbers of Australian airmen who were undergoing training or awaiting a posting on D-Day were assigned to combat units during the fighting to replace casualties of the Normandy campaign.

Bomber Command made fewer raids on these targets than had been planned prior to the invasion, however, as its units were frequently assigned to strike facilities associated with the V-1 flying bombs the Germans were launching against the UK.

[74] The Australians in 2TAF's other light and medium bomber units also attacked the German lines of communication in France and occasionally provided direct support for the Allied ground forces throughout this period.

453 Squadron and the RAAF fighter pilots in RAF units continued to fly patrols over the beachhead in the week after D-Day, but only rarely encountered German aircraft.

[78][79] A small number of Australians posted to RAF squadrons equipped with Hawker Typhoon fighter-bombers also attacked German vehicles and positions in direct support of the Allied ground troops throughout the month.

[81][82] Australian fighter ace Flight Lieutenant Nicky Barr, who had escaped from German custody in Italy during 1943, also briefly served in an air support control unit in Normandy.

[89] All four Australian heavy bomber squadrons participated in a series of attacks on German positions on 18 July as part of Operation Goodwood, but this offensive also failed to result in a breakthrough.

[91] The four squadrons also attacked German Army positions on 14 August in support of Operation Tractable; visibility was clear over most of the target area, and the raids were considered successful.

[93] Australians also continued to be involved in Allied air attacks aimed at disrupting movement of German troops and supplies to Normandy during July and August.

464 Squadron's attacks on transportation came on the night of 14/15 July, when four aircraft piloted by highly experienced airmen conducted a successful precision strike on the Gestapo barracks at Bonneuil-Matours.

455 Squadron took part in attacks on German shipping travelling off the Netherlands and in the North Sea during July and August, but these operations were not directly related to supporting the invasion.

458 Squadron, which was equipped with Wellington bombers, flew anti-submarine patrols and attacked targets in northern Italy and southern France ahead of the landings, which took place on the 15th of the month.

While the number of pilots and other airmen undergoing training through the EATS had begun to be reduced in early 1944, by 30 June there were thousands of qualified airmen—including 3,000 Australians—in the UK waiting for posts in operational units.

It was not possible to find flying positions for most of the remaining unattached airmen who arrived after June 1944, and some were posted back to Australia; the remainder spent the rest of the war in training courses and various non-flying roles.