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66-585: Designed by Italian architect Luis Fossatti , and constructed between 1941 and 1946 by Brazilian entrepreneur Joaquim Rolla, the Palácio Quitandinha is one of the most impressive architectural monuments in Petrópolis. The exterior is in the Norman-French style , while the interior is a mix of Brazilian Baroque and Art Deco . The surface area of the hotel is 50 thousand square meters. It has six floors, with

132-614: A second front in Western Europe. Churchill declined because he felt that even with American help the British did not have adequate forces to do it, and he wished to avoid costly frontal assaults such as those that had occurred at the Somme and Passchendaele in World War I . Two tentative plans code-named Operation Roundup and Operation Sledgehammer were put forward for 1942–43, but neither

198-521: A 10 meter high ground floor. It has 440 rooms plus 13 suites with decor by Dorothy Draper . The hotel was, for many years, probably the second most famous hotel of the country, after the Copacabana Palace hotel in Rio de Janeiro , which is only about 65 km from Petrópolis. The scenic artificial lake in front of the hotel, loosely resembling the shape of Brazil, was built to provide a source of water in

264-589: A front line from Caumont-l'Éventé to the south-east of Caen in order to protect the American flank, while establishing airfields near Caen. Possession of Caen and its surroundings would give the Anglo-Canadian forces a suitable staging area for a push south to capture the town of Falaise . A secure lodgement would be established and an attempt made to hold all territory captured north of the Avranches -Falaise line during

330-473: A naval convoy approaching Cap d'Antifer (about 80 km from the actual D-Day landings). The illusion was bolstered by a group of small vessels towing barrage balloons . No. 218 Squadron RAF also dropped "window" near Boulogne-sur-Mer in Operation Glimmer . On the same night, a small group of Special Air Service (SAS) operators deployed dummy paratroopers over Le Havre and Isigny. These dummies led

396-550: A necessary element of the plan for the landings. Information on the exact date and location of the landings was provided only to the topmost levels of the armed forces. Men were sealed into their marshalling areas at the end of May, with no further communication with the outside world. Troops were briefed using maps that were correct in every detail except for the place names, and most were not told their actual destination until they were already at sea. A news blackout in Britain increased

462-466: A relatively narrow isthmus , so these sites were rejected. The Pas de Calais, the closest point in continental Europe to Britain, was the location of launch sites for V-1 and V-2 rockets , then still under development. The Germans regarded it as the most likely initial landing zone and accordingly made it the most heavily fortified region; however, it offered the Allies few opportunities for expansion as

528-502: A second attack would take place at Calais. Military and civilian personnel alike were aware of the need for secrecy, and the invasion troops were as much as possible kept isolated, especially in the period immediately before the invasion. American general Henry J. F. Miller was sent back to the United States in disgrace after revealing the invasion date at a party. The Germans thought they had an extensive network of spies operating in

594-626: Is an example of that type of chateau. The confident church architecture such as at Lessay and Bayeux has left its mark on the landscape, as well as an artistic legacy in literature and in art, for example Claude Monet 's series of Impressionist paintings of the Rouen Cathedral 's Gothic facade . The south part of Bagnoles-de-l'Orne , which is called Belle Époque district is filled with superb bourgeois villas with polychrome façades, bow windows and unique roofing. This area, built between 1886 and 1914, has an authentic "Bagnolese" style and

660-768: Is typical of high-society country vacation of the time. Operation Overlord 16,714 Allied airmen killed (8,536 members of the USAAF, and 8,178 flying under the command of the RAF) Civilian deaths: Airborne assault British Sector American Sector Normandy landings American Sector Anglo-Canadian Sector Logistics Ground campaign American Sector Anglo-Canadian Sector Breakout Air and Sea operations Supporting operations Aftermath Luxembourg The Netherlands Belgium France Britain 1941–1943 1944–1945 Germany Strategic campaigns Operation Overlord

726-606: The 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend , were, for the most part, younger and far better equipped and trained than the static troops stationed along the coast. In early 1944, OB West was significantly weakened by personnel and materiel transfers to the Eastern Front. During the Soviet Dnieper–Carpathian Offensive (24 December 1943 – 17 April 1944), the German High Command was forced to transfer

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792-683: The 21st Army Group , which comprised all the land forces involved in the operation. The Normandy coast in northwestern France was chosen as the site of the landings, with the Americans assigned to land at sectors codenamed Utah and Omaha , the British at Sword and Gold , and the Canadians at Juno . To meet the conditions expected on the Normandy beachhead, special technology was developed, including two artificial ports called Mulberry harbours and an array of specialised tanks nicknamed Hobart's Funnies . In

858-526: The Armoured Ramp Carrier , which other tanks could use as a bridge to scale sea-walls or to overcome other obstacles. In some areas, the beaches consisted of a soft clay that could not support the weight of tanks. The Bobbin tank unrolled matting over the soft surface, leaving it behind as a route for ordinary tanks. The Assault Vehicle Royal Engineers (AVRE) was a Churchill tank modified for many combat engineering tasks, including laying bridges; it

924-797: The BBC produced over ten million items, some of which proved useful. The French resistance provided details on Axis troop movements and on construction techniques used by the Germans for bunkers and other defensive installations. Many German radio messages were encoded using the Enigma machine and other enciphering techniques and the codes were changed frequently. A team of code breakers stationed at Bletchley Park worked to break codes as quickly as possible to provide advance information on German plans and troop movements. British military intelligence code-named this information Ultra intelligence as it could only be provided to

990-702: The British Expeditionary Force ) in the Dunkirk evacuation (27 May to 4 June). British planners reported to Prime Minister Winston Churchill on 4 October that even with the help of other Commonwealth countries and the United States, it would not be possible to regain a foothold in continental Europe in the near future. After the Axis invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin began pressing for

1056-529: The Eastern Front , meant the Germans no longer had a pool of able young men from which to draw. German soldiers were now on average six years older than their Allied counterparts. Many in the Normandy area were Ostlegionen (eastern legions)—conscripts and "volunteers" from Turkestan , Russia, Mongolia, and elsewhere. The Wehrmacht had provided them mainly with unreliable captured equipment; they lacked motorised transport. Formations that arrived later, such as

1122-663: The English Channel on 6 June, and more than two million Allied troops were in France by the end of August. The decision to undertake cross-channel landings in 1944 was made at the Trident Conference in Washington in May 1943. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed commander of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force , and General Bernard Montgomery was named commander of

1188-519: The Liberation of Paris followed on 25 August. German forces retreated east across the Seine on 30 August 1944, marking the close of Operation Overlord. In June 1940, Germany's leader Adolf Hitler had triumphed in what he called "the most famous victory in history"—the fall of France . British craft evacuated to England over 338,000 Allied troops trapped along the northern coast of France (including much of

1254-624: The Supermarine Spitfire and Hawker Typhoon greatly limited the number of potential landing-sites, as comprehensive air support depended upon having planes overhead for as long as possible. Morgan considered four sites for the landings: Brittany , the Cotentin Peninsula , Normandy, and the Pas de Calais . As Brittany and Cotentin are peninsulas, the Germans could have cut off the Allied advance at

1320-470: The Transport Plan , communications infrastructure and road and rail links were bombed to cut off the north of France and to make it more difficult to bring up reinforcements. These attacks were widespread so as to avoid revealing the exact location of the invasion. Elaborate deceptions were planned to prevent the Germans from determining the timing and location of the invasion. The coastline of Normandy

1386-603: The Trident Conference in Washington in May 1943 took the decision to launch a cross-Channel invasion within the next year. Churchill favoured making the main Allied thrust into Germany from the Mediterranean theatre , but the Americans, who were providing the bulk of the men and equipment, over-ruled him. British Lieutenant-General Frederick E. Morgan was appointed Chief of Staff, Supreme Allied Commander (COSSAC), to begin detailed planning. The initial plans were constrained by

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1452-430: The highest tides . The Allies wanted to schedule the landings for shortly before dawn, midway between low and high tide, with the tide coming in. This would improve the visibility of obstacles the enemy had placed on the beach while minimising the amount of time the men had to spend exposed in the open. Specific criteria were also set for wind speed, visibility, and cloud cover. Eisenhower had tentatively selected 5 June as

1518-661: The British side, Lieutenant-General Miles Dempsey commanded the Second Army , under which XXX Corps was assigned to Gold and I Corps to Juno and Sword. Land forces were under the command of Montgomery, and air command was assigned to Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory . The First Canadian Army included personnel and units from Poland , Belgium, and the Netherlands. Other Allied nations participated. The Allied Expeditionary Air Force flew over 3,200 photo-reconnaissance sorties from April 1944 until 6 June. Photos of

1584-692: The Combined Training Centre in Inveraray in Scotland. Naval exercises took place in Northern Ireland, and medical teams in London and elsewhere rehearsed how they would handle the expected waves of casualties. Paratroopers conducted exercises, including a huge demonstration drop on 23 March 1944 observed by Churchill, Eisenhower, and other top officials. Allied planners considered tactical surprise to be

1650-568: The English administration under the reign of the Plantagenets . The manoir du Catel and the Manoir du Clap are quite typical of that kind of architecture. From the 17th century to the end of the 19th, Normandy became a very flourishing earldom and many noble families decided to build castles there. The castle is not a defending place anymore, and becomes a reflection of one's wealth. The chateau de Bosmelet

1716-910: The Germans to believe an additional airborne assault had occurred. Training exercises for the Overlord landings took place as early as July 1943. As the nearby beach resembled the planned Normandy landing-site, the town of Slapton in Devon , was evacuated in December 1943, and taken over by the armed forces as a site for training exercises that included the use of landing craft and the management of beach obstacles. A friendly fire incident there on 27 April 1944 resulted in as many as 450 deaths. The following day, an additional estimated 749 American soldiers and sailors died when German torpedo-boats surprised members of Assault Force "U" conducting Exercise Tiger . Exercises with landing craft and live ammunition also took place at

1782-573: The Low Countries, with another 18 stationed in Denmark and Norway. Fifteen divisions were in the process of formation in Germany, but there was no strategic reserve. The Calais region was defended by the 15th Army under Generaloberst (Colonel General) Hans von Salmuth , and Normandy by the 7th Army commanded by Generaloberst Friedrich Dollmann . Combat losses throughout the war, particularly on

1848-562: The UK, but in fact, all their agents had been captured, and some had become double agents working for the Allies as part of the Double-Cross System . The double agent Juan Pujol García , a Spanish opponent of the Nazis known by the code name "Garbo", developed over the two years leading up to D-Day a fake network of informants that the Germans believed were collecting intelligence on their behalf. In

1914-496: The area is bounded by numerous rivers and canals. On the other hand, landings on a broad front in Normandy would permit simultaneous threats against the port of Cherbourg , coastal ports further west in Brittany, and an overland attack towards Paris and eventually into Germany. The Allies therefore chose Normandy as the landing site. The most serious drawback of the Normandy coast – the lack of port facilities – would be overcome through

1980-469: The area to bolster the illusion that a large force was gathering there. As well as the broadcast of fake radio-traffic, genuine radio messages from 21st Army Group were first routed to Kent via landline and then broadcast, to give the Germans the impression that most of the Allied troops were stationed there. Patton remained stationed in England until 6 July, thus continuing to deceive the Germans into believing

2046-451: The capture of the port at Cherbourg. This significant expansion required the acquisition of additional landing craft, which caused the invasion to be delayed by a month until June 1944. Eventually the Allies committed 39 divisions to the Battle of Normandy: 22 American, 12 British, three Canadian, one Polish, and one French, totalling over a million troops. "Overlord" was the name assigned to

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2112-453: The casino closed after only two years. Notable guests who stayed at the hotel included Errol Flynn , Orson Welles , Lana Turner , Henry Fonda , Maurice Chevalier , Greta Garbo , Carmen Miranda , Walt Disney , Bing Crosby , politicians like Eva Perón and president Getúlio Vargas of Brazil and king Carol II of Romania . The hotel eventually closed in 1962 and its rooms were sold as private residences in 1963. The imposing façade and

2178-574: The coastline were taken at extremely low altitude to show the invaders the terrain, obstacles on the beach, and defensive structures such as bunkers and gun emplacements. To conceal the location of the invasion, sorties were flown along all European coastline. Inland terrain, bridges, troop emplacements, and buildings were also photographed, in many cases from several angles. Members of Combined Operations Pilotage Parties clandestinely prepared detailed harbour maps, including depth soundings . An appeal for holiday pictures and postcards of Europe announced on

2244-881: The conditions would be unfavourable for Allied aircraft. After much discussion, Eisenhower decided that the invasion should go ahead. Allied control of the Atlantic meant that German meteorologists did not have access to as much information as the Allies on incoming weather patterns. As the Luftwaffe meteorological centre in Paris predicted two weeks of stormy weather, many Wehrmacht commanders left their posts to attend war games in Rennes , and men in many units were given leave. Marshal Erwin Rommel returned to Germany for his wife's birthday and to meet Hitler to try to get more tanks. Had Eisenhower postponed

2310-531: The date for the assault; however, on 4 June, conditions were clearly unsuitable for a landing, as high winds and heavy seas made it impossible to launch landing craft, and low clouds would prevent aircraft from finding their targets. By the evening of 4 June, the Allied meteorological team, headed by Group Captain James Stagg of the Royal Air Force , predicted that the weather would improve sufficiently so that

2376-528: The development and deployment of artificial harbours. The COSSAC staff planned to begin the invasion on 1 May 1944. The initial draft of the plan was accepted at the Quebec Conference in August 1943. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed commander of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF). General Bernard Montgomery was named commander of the 21st Army Group , which comprised all of

2442-456: The east since the creation of Führer Directive 51 , which no longer allowed any transfers from the west to the east. There were also transfers to the Italian front: von Rundstedt complained that many of his best units had been sent on a "fool's errand" to Italy, saying it was "madness ... that frightful boot of a country should have been evacuated ... we should have held a decent front with

2508-512: The eastern flank to secure the Orne River bridges, and north of Carentan on the western flank. The initial goal was to capture Carentan, Isigny , Bayeux , and Caen. The Americans, assigned to land at Utah and Omaha, were to cut off the Cotentin Peninsula and capture the port facilities at Cherbourg. The British at Sword and Gold , and the Canadians at Juno , were to capture Caen and form

2574-459: The effectiveness of the deception operations. Travel to and from the Republic of Ireland was banned, and movement within several kilometres of the coast of England restricted. The invasion planners specified a set of conditions regarding the timing of the invasion, deeming only a few days in each month suitable. A full moon was desirable, as it would provide illumination for aircraft pilots and have

2640-472: The entire II SS Panzer Corps from France, consisting of the 9th and 10th SS Panzer Divisions, as well as the 349th Infantry Division , 507th Heavy Panzer Battalion and the 311th and 322nd StuG Assault Gun Brigades. All told, the German forces stationed in France were deprived of 45,827 troops and 363 tanks, assault guns, and self-propelled anti-tank guns. It was the first major transfer of forces from France to

2706-497: The establishment of a large-scale lodgement on the Continent. The first phase, the amphibious invasion and establishment of a secure foothold, was code-named Operation Neptune and is often referred to as "D-Day". To gain the required air superiority needed to ensure a successful invasion, the Allies launched a strategic bombing campaign (codenamed Pointblank ) to target German aircraft-production, fuel supplies, and airfields. Under

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2772-512: The event of a fire. When it was opened as the "Cassino Hotel Quitandinha", the Palácio Quitandinha was the largest hotel casino in Latin America. Gambling had been permitted in Brazil since 1930, but it was outlawed on May 30, 1946 by decree of the federal government under president Eurico Gaspar Dutra . The ruling outlawed all types of gambling from casinos to games of chance in Brazil. As a result,

2838-520: The expectation that fuel would be difficult or impossible to obtain on the continent, the Allies built a "Pipe-Line Under The Ocean" ( PLUTO ). Specially developed pipes 3 in (76 mm) in diameter were to be laid under the Channel from the Isle of Wight to Cherbourg by D-Day plus 18. Technical problems and the delay in capturing Cherbourg meant the pipeline was not operational until 22 September. A second line

2904-630: The first day, but gained a tenuous foothold that they gradually expanded when they captured the port at Cherbourg on 26 June and the city of Caen on 21 July. A failed counterattack by German forces in response to Allied advances on 7 August left 50,000 soldiers of the German 7th Army trapped in the Falaise pocket by 19 August. The Allies launched a second invasion from the Mediterranean Sea of southern France (code-named Operation Dragoon ) on 15 August, and

2970-747: The first three weeks. The Allied armies would then swing left to advance towards the River Seine . The invasion fleet, led by Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay , was split into the Western Naval Task Force (under Admiral Alan Kirk ) supporting the American sectors and the Eastern Naval Task Force (under Admiral Sir Philip Vian ) in the British and Canadian sectors. The American forces of the First Army , led by Lieutenant General Omar Bradley , comprised VII Corps (Utah) and V Corps (Omaha). On

3036-468: The harsher landscape of that area and local tradition, which has been influenced by English and Danish styles. Brick and flintstone were later used to build or rebuild some of the cottages and public buildings, such as town halls. Some villages of the pays de Caux and the Pays de Bray were entirely rebuilt this way. The other parts of Lower Normandy , especially the Cotentin Peninsula , tends to use granite as

3102-405: The invasion again, the next available period with the right combination of tides (but without the desirable full moon) was two weeks later, from 18 to 20 June. As it happened, during this period the invaders would have encountered a major storm lasting four days, between 19 and 22 June, that would have made the initial landings impossible. Nazi Germany had at its disposal 50 divisions in France and

3168-470: The invasion could go ahead on 6 June. He met Eisenhower and other senior commanders at their headquarters at Southwick House in Hampshire to discuss the situation. General Montgomery and Major-General Walter Bedell Smith , Eisenhower's chief of staff, were eager to launch the invasion. Admiral Bertram Ramsay was prepared to commit his ships, while Air Chief Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory expressed concern that

3234-412: The invasion, the Allies conducted Operation Bodyguard , the overall strategy designed to mislead the Germans as to the date and location of the main Allied landings. Operation Fortitude included Fortitude North, a misinformation campaign using fake radio-traffic to lead the Germans into expecting an attack on Norway, and Fortitude South, a major deception designed to fool the Germans into believing that

3300-469: The land forces involved in the invasion. On 31 December 1943, Eisenhower and Montgomery first saw the COSSAC plan, which proposed amphibious landings by three divisions , with two more divisions in support. The two generals immediately insisted on expanding the scale of the initial invasion to five divisions, with airborne descents by three additional divisions, to allow operations on a wider front and to speed up

3366-401: The landings would take place at Pas de Calais in July. A fictitious First U.S. Army Group was invented, supposedly located in Kent and Sussex under the command of Lieutenant General George S. Patton . The Allies constructed dummy tanks, trucks, and landing craft, and positioned them near the coast. Several military units, including II Canadian Corps and 2nd Canadian Division , moved into

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3432-475: The months leading up to the landings, the Allies conducted Operation Bodyguard , a substantial military deception that used electronic and visual misinformation to mislead the Germans as to the date and location of the main Allied landings. Adolf Hitler placed Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in charge of developing fortifications all along Hitler's proclaimed Atlantic Wall in anticipation of landings in France. The Allies failed to accomplish their objectives for

3498-523: The months preceding D-Day, Pujol sent hundreds of messages to his superiors in Madrid, messages specially prepared by the British intelligence service to convince the Germans that the attack would come in July at Calais. Many of the German radar stations on the French coast were destroyed by the RAF in preparation for the landings. On the night before the invasion, in Operation Taxable , 617 Squadron (the famous "Dambusters") dropped strips of "window", metal foil that German radar operators interpreted as

3564-459: The most senior commanders. The Enigma code used by Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt , Oberbefehlshaber West (Supreme Commander West; OB West ), commander of the Western Front , was broken by the end of March. German intelligence changed the Enigma codes after the Allied landings but by 17 June the Allies were again consistently able to read them. After the disastrous Dieppe Raid , the Allies developed new technologies for Overlord. To supplement

3630-526: The number of landing craft , most of which were already committed in the Mediterranean and in the Pacific. In part because of lessons learned in the Dieppe Raid of 19 August 1942, the Allies decided not to directly assault a heavily defended French seaport in their first landing. The failure at Dieppe also highlighted the need for adequate artillery and air support, particularly close air support , and specialised ships able to travel extremely close to shore. The short operating range of British aircraft such as

3696-584: The particularities of this region is that one can discover a lot of castles and manors during a journey. That part of the French territory has been marked by the presence of the English administration and troops before, and during the Hundred Years' War . The religious wars gave to this region a typical style of buildings as well. From the Late Middle Ages to the Renaissance, Normandy evolved under England's architectural influence. That's why there are so many manors there. This type of building can only be found in Normandy and Brittany, in France. It has been brought by

3762-550: The predominant local building material. The Channel Islands also share this influence – Chausey was for many years a source of quarried granite, including stone for the construction of Mont Saint-Michel. The Caen plain and the area of Bessin use the traditional unusually hard limestone, called Caen stone . Like almost everywhere in France, the oldest houses in the main cities are half-timbered, but there are more widespread in Haute-Normandie and there are more recent examples. The urban architectural heritage of mainland Normandy

3828-587: The preliminary offshore bombardment and aerial assaults, some of the landing craft were equipped with artillery and anti-tank guns to provide close supporting fire. The Allies had decided not to immediately attack any of the heavily protected French ports and two artificial ports, called Mulberry harbours , were designed by COSSAC planners. Each assembly consisted of a floating outer breakwater , inner concrete caissons (called Phoenix breakwaters ) and several floating piers. The Mulberry harbours were supplemented by blockship shelters (codenamed "Gooseberries"). With

3894-465: The scenic surrounding of the hotel makes it an important tourist attraction itself. The building's enormous public areas were restored by SESC , a Brazilian commerce organization which had taken them over, beginning in 2007. Architecture of Normandy#Fin de siècle architecture in Normandy The architecture of Normandy spans a thousand years. In Upper Normandy and in the pays d'Auge , Mortainais , Passais and Avranchin ( Lower Normandy ),

3960-401: The vernacular domestic architecture is typically half-timbered and thatched . The half-timbered farmhouses scattered across the countryside are inherited from an older tradition that has its roots in the Celtic farms, the remains of which have been excavated by archeologists. A particular style of farmstead called clos masure or cour-masure developed in the Pays de Caux as a result of

4026-408: Was armed with a demolition gun that could fire large charges into pillboxes . The Duplex-Drive tank ( DD tank ), another design developed by Hobart's group, was a self-propelled amphibious tank kept afloat using a waterproof canvas screen inflated with compressed air. These tanks were easily swamped, and on D-Day, many sank before reaching the shore, especially at Omaha. In the months leading up to

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4092-410: Was badly damaged during the Battle of Normandy in 1944. Many historic urban centres were destroyed, notably in Caen, Rouen , Lisieux and perhaps most tragically in Valognes , once known as the "Versailles of Normandy" for its aristocratic mansions and palaces. Massive post-war urban reconstruction in the 1950s and 1960s, such as in Le Havre and Saint-Lô , has left modernist interventions. One of

4158-414: Was deemed by the British to be practical or likely to succeed. Instead, the Allies expanded their activity in the Mediterranean, launching the Operation Torch an invasion of French North Africa in November 1942, the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943, and Allied invasion of Italy in September. These campaigns provided the troops with valuable experience in amphibious warfare . Those attending

4224-445: Was divided into seventeen sectors, with code-names using a spelling alphabet —from Able, west of Omaha , to Roger on the east flank of Sword . Eight further sectors were added when the invasion was extended to include Utah on the Cotentin Peninsula. Sectors were further subdivided into beaches identified by the colours Green, Red, and White. Allied planners envisaged preceding the sea-borne landings with airborne drops: near Caen on

4290-434: Was laid from Dungeness to Boulogne in late October. The British built specialised tanks, nicknamed Hobart's Funnies , to deal with conditions expected during the Normandy campaign. Developed under the supervision of Major-General Percy Hobart , these were modified M4 Sherman and Churchill tanks . Examples include the Sherman Crab tank (equipped with a mine flail), the Churchill Crocodile (a flame-throwing tank), and

4356-401: Was the codename for the Battle of Normandy , the Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II . The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 ( D-Day ) with the Normandy landings (Operation Neptune). A 1,200-plane airborne assault preceded an amphibious assault involving more than 5,000 vessels. Nearly 160,000 troops crossed

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