What if~D-Day Failed?

Around 7 years ago, a classic video game franchise, Wolfenstein got a remake where the Nazis have won World War 2 and taken over the entire world, and you (B.J. Blazkowicz, the hero) had to loosen the Nazis' icy grip on the world. The point of divergence in the game's timeline is June 6, 1944, as we know it as "D-Day" where Operation Overlord failed with 156,000 (the entire invasion force) Allied soldiers dead, top that with continuing bombing raids on Britain and some sci-fi technology invented by a secret Jewish society reverse engineered by the Nazis.

An idea took hold. What if D-Day really did fail? How would this have an effect on the war? That is what this page will try to cover.

Now, I have covered Operation Overlord many times on here so if you like to read about what happened in the actual day, you can click here. What I'm going to talk about are the other things the Allies did before D-Day was underway.

## The Element of surprise

Well, the Allies knew that the approach will not be easy for one thing. They had to beat the coastal defenses surrounding Nazi Occupied Europe which as called "Hitler's Atlantic Wall" and said by the man himself to be "Impenetrable". The Atlantic Wall ran for 1,700 Miles from the farthest reaches of Norway to the border of France and Spain with areas having as much as 100,000 Nazi soldiers guarding the beachfronts and the English Channel also had a lot of sea mines which can destroy almost any naval vessel the Allies had.

So, the Allied High Command had to make sure that there were no loopholes the Nazis can easily exploit and cause the operation to fail.

These members of the Allied High Command were "General George S. Patton", a hero of the previous North African Campaign, and British Naval Colonel "Bertram Ramsay", a brilliant military strategist.

Ramsay was given a very special job, and that is to detect any and all flaws of Overlord that the Nazis may exploit. Patton also headed another Operation, called "Fortitude" which is to create an "element of surprise" for the Nazis, and that is when Patton and his men made a "fake base" in a British town that was close to the Belgian town of "Calais" which was the shortest route across the English channel, and fool Nazi reconnaissance.

What is also said what led to the eventual victory on D-Day is that the Allies sent Paratrooper regiments to disrupt Nazi counterattacks.

It was also a huge mistake on Hitler's part. Days before the invasion, Nazi General "Erwin Rommel" argued with Hitler about fortifying the beachfront around Normandy, but Hitler scoffed at Rommel's idea and told him to hold his men in their current positions in case the invasion succeeded.

Unlike what my British Competitors at Biographics said about Rommel that he wanted to spend time with his wife on her birthday, but this info is false.

Anyway, moving on.

Just an hour before the invasion, Allied pilots sprinkled small metal "chaff", like throwing a Ping-Pong Ball in a set of Mouse Traps, it disrupts Nazi radar systems, which allows the Allied invasion force to to its thing at Normandy.

What happens the rest of that day is history, Allies invade through heavy machine gun fire, dive bombings, the whole shebang. In the end, the Allies lost 12,000 men, but they succeeded in securing a foothold in Nazi Occupied Europe, bringing the fall of Nazi Germany within a few months.

## What if?

Now, here's the question. What if D-Day failed?

Let's say the Allies didn't take their "proper precautions" so to say, and maybe Hitler went along with Rommel's request to defend the beach-heads at Normandy as well, and the Allies suffer enough casualties that they have to retreat from Normandy, Operation Overlord has failed.

With Overlord a failure in this alternate reality, does this buy Nazi Germany enough time to recuperate from their losses and be able to turn the tide of the war back in their favor? Well.............

Yes, Operation Overlord was a huge operation and it defined the outcome of World War 2 for our modern eyes. But, because the Allies were already destroying key areas in Nazi Europe, and the Soviets (being the manpower sponge as it is) were also softening up the seemingly "invincible" army of the Third Reich, by 1944 Nazi Germany was on critical life support, even before D-Day. It's ally in Fascist Italy was dead at this time, and Japan didn't have the resources to help their Axis friend, not to mention that they also were half a world away.

The Allied victory at Normandy in our reality merely pulled the plug on Germany's life support systems.

What 8th grade history failed to teach us is that on the very same day as Operation Overlord, the Allies along with Italian Freedom Fighters loyal to King Emmanuel were fighting what was left of Mussolini's Fascist Army and took Rome on June 6, 1944. Even if D-Day were to fail, the Allies would've succeeded in Italy.

I

n this alternate reality with D-Day a failure, more than likely the Allies would invade France from the south since it's much less defended, in fact in our reality the Allies came into Southern France with virtually no resistance. There could be more resistance in this alternate reality since D-Day would be a wake up call for the Nazis and they know that it'll take another few months for the Allies to mount another invasion of France, but the Allies would try to learn from the mistakes of D-Day and use that "element of surprise" in their invasion of southern France.

Remember, even in alternate history, things are just inevitable.

It'll take a few more months, but eventually the Allies would've invade Europe and push the Nazis back into Germany, at most either June or July of 1945.

### Post-War

The effects of an alternate reality where D-Day failed can reach beyond World War 2 and into the Cold War. Because the Allies took longer to get to Europe, it's possible that the Soviets could invade deeper into German regions, thus the Soviet Union could hold more of (if not all of) Germany by the end of the war than in our reality, and could possibly shift the balance of power in Europe during the Cold War and what happens in the Eastern Bloc.

Another alteration, is that Dwight Eisenhower wouldn't be elected President since he led the invasion force of D-Day, in this alternate reality he would be drummed out of the US Army for the failure of the landings.

### Interesting consequences

D-Day being a failure could bring on some interesting consequences. Let's say that the Allies took much longer to invade Europe, or not at all. What would happen, and what the Allies would try to do next? That is why I have to ask the..............

The original plan for the Atomic Bombs were to be used against the Nazis, but the European theater of the war was over before the bombs were finished developing and were used on Japan instead, and there were 3 "good" reasons why

1. A proposed ground invasion of Japan would cost more lives than the bombs.
2. Japan was the last of the Axis powers by the summer of 1945.
3. When the bombs were developed, the Allies said "Might as well use 'em."

In this alternate reality, it might be possible that \*if\* the Allies struggle to invade Nazi Europe they they'll consider the "Atomic Option" on Nazi Germany. That can have some consequences of its own, like collateral damage to Soviet Occupied Germany, creating \*more\* animosity towards the Allies and the Soviets in the Post-War times.

Perhaps the United States could use both bombs on both Germany as well as Japan. This could also how things are dictated in the Post-War times especially dealing with a defeated Germany and Japan since both were hit by Nukes as we can see more resentment towards the US as they destroyed their home nations.

Well, that'll do it for this page, what do you think would happen if D-Day Failed? Don't forget to check out my Games and Movies wikis too. Until next time, this is JohnnyOTGS signing out.