Supplementary Reading

Text B

Would nature be on the side of the Allied forces as they prepared to invade mainland Europe or would it favour the Germans? No one was certain.

The Normandy Landings

                         Anthony Ward[1]                                               

1   The largest and most ambitious military expedition in history was the invasion of Normandy[2] in northernFranceby British, American and Canadian forces that took place in the summer of 1944. Even nature played a role.

2     It took more than a year for military planners to orchestrate every movement of troops, artillery, ships and aircraft and to set everything in place for the move that was to open up a second front in Europe. This would liberateFranceand open the way for the final assault onGermanyitself.

3     Everything was controlled; right down to the placement of military decoys across the English Channel to fool the Germans into thinking the attack would come fromBritain’s closest point toFranceat Pas de Calais[3] rather than in Normandy as planned.

4     Everything was controlled, that is, except the weather.

5     D-Day, the code name given to the day of invasion, was originally scheduled for 5 June 1944. This date had been arrived at by considering two factors — moonlight and tide. The hour of the invasion would need to be near sunrise, when the seaborne troops would have a rising tide. This would enable them to land close to the obstacles that had been placed to hinder their landing without coming ashore on top of them. The paratroopers needed a full moon for visibility. The days with the proper tide-moonlight formula closest to the target date were 5, 6 and 7 June. (1) The fifth was chosen for D-Day to allow a safety margin in case the attack needed to be postponed.

6     In addition to moonlight and favourable tides, calm seas were needed for the crossing. (2) But an unusually stormy transition from spring toward summer that year held out little hope that there would be a suitable break in the weather. It also meant the possibility that Operation Overlord, as the invasion was called, might have to be postponed until later in the year or even the following year.

7     With the arrival of 5 June, the weather was so bad that General Eisenhower[4] , supreme commander of the invasion forces, was forced to postpone the invasion by one day. When he met with his staff to review their options, they were faced with the grim reality that 6 June did not look much better than the original D-Day. The meteorological report gave a thin ray of hope that a lull in the storm would allow enough time to launch the invasion. Consultations went on late into the night on whether to press ahead. Opinions were divided. Finally, Eisenhower made his decision. "I am quite positive we must give the order," he said. "I don't like it, but there it is. I don't see how we can do anything else." Within hours, an armada of 3,000 landing craft, 2,500 other ships, and 500 naval vessels began to leave English ports.

8     Meanwhile, critical errors by the German side allowed them to be taken completely by surprise. Due to the bad weather, the German navy cancelled its usual patrol of the English Channel. Also, a practice drill scheduled for June 6 was called off. The German meteorological services were unaware of the break in the weather. On the eve of the attack, many of the top German leaders were absent from their commands. Rommel[5] , the general in charge of the coastal defences, was in Germany visiting his wife on her birthday, and several officers were some distance away in Rennes[6] or on their way there for a war-game exercise.

9     The assault on Normandy began at 12:15 a.m., when the pathfinders for the American airborne units left their planes and parachuted to earth. Five minutes later, on the other side of the invasion area, the British pathfinders made their jump. The pathfinders were specially trained to find and mark the drop zones. The main airborne assault was to commence within the hour.

10    The airborne attack became confused because of stiff winds and the evasive flying of the transport planes when they encountered anti-aircraft fire. As a result, the paratroopers were scattered over a wide area and most missed their drop zones, some by as much as 20 miles. Other complications were caused by the terrain, and the worst terrain was on the Cotentin Peninsula. The Germans had laced the open fields with anti-personnel and glider stakes and flooded the low areas. The flooding caused the most trouble for the Americans of the 101st and 82nd Airborne divisions, with many of the troops drowned, laden down by their heavy equipment.

11    The airborne units were to secure the flanks of the amphibious assault. That meant capturing bridges, crossroads and coastal batteries. After accomplishing those tasks, the paratroopers had to withstand any German counterattacks.

12    As the airborne units struggled to achieve their goals, the great fleet made its way across the channel to its appointment with destiny. Leading that grand armada were the minesweepers. Behind them followed a vast array of naval vessels of every conceivable type. Never before had such a fleet been assembled. Including the landing craft carried on board, the combined Allied invasion armada numbered up to 6,000 ships. Approximately 150,000 men were to cross the English Channel and land at assault beaches code-named "Utah," "Omaha," "Gold," "Juno" and "Sword."

13    The first areas of French soil wrested from German control were a group of small islands located three miles off Utah Beach. Allied commanders were concerned that these islands could be used as sites for heavy guns. The men of theU.S.4th and 24th Cavalry squadrons were designated to take the islands prior to the main invasion. The assault teams found only land mines. The Germans had left the islands unoccupied.

14    For the majority of the assault troops, however, the war had not begun yet. After spending as long as 48 hours aboard the various transport ships as a result of the delay, many of the men were miserably seasick and in poor shape for the challenge ahead.

15    The naval bombardment began around 5:45 a.m. The air attack followed. The naval and air bombardments were designed to destroy the beach guns and obstacles, pin down the enemy and provide shelter for the ground troops on the open beaches by making craters. Both, however, largely failed in their objectives. Weather conditions had improved, but they were not perfect. Because of poor visibility caused by low cloud cover, it was decided that the bombers would delay the release of bombs 30 seconds to avoid hitting the assaulting troops. As a result, the bombs fell inland and missed their targets. Although the naval bombardment was more accurate, it was not much more effective against the hardened German gun emplacements.

16    The weather also was partially responsible for causing some of the assault craft to miss their assigned landing areas. Additionally, many of the landing craft and amphibious tanks foundered in the rough sea. In the Omaha area, most of the craft carrying artillery and tanks intended to support the incoming troops sank in the high waves.

17    At Utah Beach, however, a strange stroke of good fortune occurred when the assault craft encountered a southerly current that caused them to land in the wrong sector. (3) The German shore batteries that would have contested a landing in the original area would undoubtedly have taken a heavy toll. The landing at the new sector was virtually unopposed.

18    (4) Despite difficulties, Eisenhower's gamble with the elements was to pay off. The invasion forces succeeded in establishing a toehold on French soil. Reinforcements began to pour in, thrusting on deep intoFrance. Within a year Hitler's empire, which he had boasted would last a thousand years, lay in ruins.

1. Culture Notes

（1）. Dwight David Eisenhower

Dwight David Eisenhower (1890 – 1969)

the popular World War II general and the 34th President of theUnited   States 

1）A brief introduction

Born in Texas and raised in Kansas, Eisenhower was a general and political leader of the twentieth century. As supreme commander in Europe of the forces of the Allies during World War II, he directed the invasion of Normandy on D-Day and led in the overthrow of the Nazi government ofGermany. He later organized the military forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. In 1952, his popularity was so high that both the Democrats and the Republicans wanted him for a presidential candidate; he chose the Republicans. “I Like Ike” was a popular slogan of his campaigns. He defeated the Democratic candidate, Adlai Stevenson, in both 1952 and 1956. In office, he negotiated the end of the Korean War and generally pursued moderate policies. His years as President were marked by increasing prosperity at home, although the cold war with the Soviet Union continued abroad. Richard Nixon was Eisenhower's vice president.

2）His chronology

3） A video clip about him  

(Directions:) Here is a video clip about Dwight D. Eisenhower. After you watch it, you are required to say something about him with your partner or in your group. You can adopt different ways to do that such as retelling, dialog, interview and so on.

（2）. D-Day (Directions:) This text describes the Normandy Landings in detail and D-Day is its code name. Now here is a video clip about it and you can have a visual-aural experience of it. You can see the transcript of it if necessary.

 (=Now, on June 6, 1944 Eisenhower was ready and the first waves of nearly 2 million alive troop sailed for Normandy. Our giant Armanda of 4,000 ships. The skies were alive with a light planes pounding road and real networks. German reinforcement for Normandy will be slow in arriving and tired and disorganized after their continual hammering from the air. German defenses on the beaches were soften up by massive bombardment. They expected an attack across the Straits of Dover and the landing at Normandy came as a complete tactical surprise. This was a crucial attack at the power of Nazi Germany. This was the D-Day. It was the greatest amphibious invasion of all time and even Stalin was force to admit that history of warfare knows no other like undertaking from the point of view of its scale, its vast conception and its masterly execution. By the end D-Day, more than a quarter of a million of alive troops were firmly established in French soil.)

2. Language Study

ambitious: adj. full of ambition

       * A slave has but one master; an ambitious man has as many masters as there are people who may be useful in bettering his position.

这看起来像一个非常雄心勃勃的计划！我祝你们两个好运！

(=That looks like a very ambitious plan! I wish both of you good luck!)

obstacle: n. a thing that blocks one's way

* The biggest obstacle in our way was a tree trunk in the road.

这一决定排除了人质获释的最后障碍。

(=This decision has removed the last obstacle to the hostages' release.)

in case: so as to be safe if (sth.) happens

 * I brought my key just in case you forgot yours.

我带了一些三明治以防我们饿了。

(= I’ve brought some sandwiches in case we get hungry.)

The fifth was chosen for D-Day to allow a safety margin in case the attack needed to be postponed.

   Translate the sentence into Chinese.

(=6月5日被选定为进攻开始日，其用意是留下一个安全系数，以防万一进攻需要推迟。)

hold out: offer

* Few people held out any hope of finding the lost jewelry.

我们的食品供应将只能再撑两个星期。

(=Our food supplies will only hold out for another two weeks.)

But an unusually stormy transition from spring toward summer that year held out little hope that there would be a suitable break in the weather.

  Translate the sentence into Chinese.

(=然而，当年春夏之交大风暴异乎寻常地多，希望在这个时候天气会出现一个适合进攻的风平浪静的间隙，可能性微乎其微。)

due to: because of

* Due to wet leaves on the line, this train will arrive an hour late.

她的众多不幸是由无聊造成的。

（= A lot of her unhappiness is due to boredom. ）

cancel: vt. decide not to go ahead with (sth. previously arranged)

* Janet had to cancel tomorrow's trip because of her bad cold.

去伦敦的火车已被取消。

(=The train to London has been cancelled.)

call off: decide that a planned event will not take place; cancel

* The police have called off the search for the missing child until dawn tomorrow.

由于寒冷的天气，明天的比赛已被取消。

(=Tomorrow's match has been called off because of the icy weather.)

on the eve of: immediately before

* On the eve of the national entrance examinations, he was so stressed that he couldn't concentrate on his reading.

在中国新年前夕，美国总统向华人社区发去贺信。      

(=TheUSPresident issued a letter of congratulations to the Chinese community on the eve of the Chinese New Year.)

stiff:  adj.  (of a wind, etc.) blowing strongly; not easily bent

* The handle on this door is rather stiff.

当该名男子在雪地里被发现时，他的尸体已经僵硬得像块木板。

(=The man's body was as stiff as a board when it was found in the snow.)

secure:

1. vt. make (sth.) safe from being attacked, harmed, or lost

  * Our missiles and bombers secure us from attack.

他们尽力保卫大桥，使之免遭再次袭击。

(=They tried to secure the bridge from the threat of further attack.)

2. adj.

       *Is your online banking information secure from hackers?

* 尽管失业率上升，79％的美国人觉得他们的工作是安全的。

(=79% of Americans feel secure in their jobs despite rises in joblessness.)

withstand: vt. endure without giving in; resist

* The specially designed shelters are built to withstand ground and air attacks.

这座桥被设计成能抵御地震。

(=The bridge was designed to withstand earthquakes.)

concern: vt. worry

*It concerns me that he hasn't been in contact with the company yet.

我父亲的健康问题使我们非常担心。

(=The state of my father's health concerns us greatly.)

prior to:  before

* There is only one week prior to her going abroad.

在面试前，他做了大量的准备工作。

(=He had made a lot of preparation prior to the interview. )

aboard:  prep. on board of; on; in.

* How many people were aboard the hijacked plane?

在船碰撞中，船上所有的乘客都落入河中。

(=During the collision all passengers aboard the ship fell into the river.)

pin down: prevent from moving

*    It took four nurses to pin down the little boy for an injection.

该部队在首都以北30英里处被抵抗力量牵制住了。

(=The troops were pinned down by resistance forces 30 miles north of the capital.)

objective: n. a thing aimed at or wished for

* Her main objective now is simply to stay in power.

销售人员可以实现财务目标吗？

(=Can the sales force achieve its financial objectives?)

responsible: adj. being the cause of; legally or morally

obliged

*Paul is directly responsible for the efficient running of the office.

她的部门负责监督理事会。

(=Her department is responsible for overseeing the councils.)

contest: vt. fight for; struggle to win or keep

* The medal is being keenly contested by eight gymnasts.

她很可能会赢得，因为只有两个人角逐席位。

(=She is likely to win since only two people are contesting the seat.)

The German shore batteries that would have contested a

landing in the original area would undoubtedly have taken a heavy

toll. The landing at the new sector was virtually unopposed.

   Translate the sentence into Chinese.

(=要是在原定地区登陆的话，德军海岸炮群无疑会拼命抵抗并给盟军造成惨重伤亡。在新登陆区的登陆几乎没有遭到任何抵抗。)

pay off: bring good results; succeed 

*I was pleased to hear about your job offer — all that hard work has obviously paid off.

   她所有的努力得到了回报，最终，她终于通过了考试。

(All her hard work paid off in the end, and she finally passed the exam.

Despite difficulties, Eisenhower's gamble with the elements was to pay off.

Translate the sentence into Chinese.

(=尽管困难重重，艾森豪威尔在与恶劣天气的赌博中赢得了胜利。)

boast: vt. talk about in a manner showing too much pride and satisfaction (usu. used in the pattern: boast about sth. / that)

*He didn't talk about his success in case people thought he was boasting.

家长喜欢吹嘘他们的孩子所取得的成就。

(=Parents enjoy boasting about their children's achievements. )

*They boasted that they had never lost a single game.

3. Comprehension Task

Children of War

As we all know, war is always a heavy topic in our life. However, we cannot live without noticing it for it exists every day in the world and always brings us a terrible disaster. Now let us watch a video clip about the great influence of the war on the children of Palestine andIsraeland have a discussion.

The questions for discussion are as follows:

1. What influence does the war have on children of both sides?

2. What can we do to help children there?

3. What do you think is the solution to the conflict?

[1] Anthony Ward: a British scholar and reviser of this course book series, who specially wrote this article for us.

[2] Normandy: historical region in northwestFrance, on the English Channel

[3] Pas de Calais: the part ofFranceclosest to the British Isles

[4] Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1972): nicknamed Ike. US general, Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force (1943-1945) and 34th President of theUS(1953-1961)

[5] Erwin Rommel (1891-1944) nicknamed the Desert Fox. German field marshal, noted for his brilliant generalship in north Africa in World War II. Later a commander inFrance. He committed suicide after the officers’ plot against Hitler.

[6] Rennes: city in northwestFrance