A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words: Photographs from...
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A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words: Photographs from D-Day Context: The time had finally come. British and American troops had liberated North Africa and pressed on into Italy. Soviet troops had turned the tide at Stalingrad and were slowly reclaiming their territory. The English Channel was virtually free of Nazi submarines, and American and British planes were bombing German industrial centers around the clock. Just after midnight on June 6, three airborne divisions parachuted behind enemy lines to disrupt paths of communications. As the German lookout sentries scanned the English Channel at daybreak, they saw the largest armada ever assembled in history heading toward the French shore. The troops at Omaha Beach met fierce resistance and suffered heavy casualties. Still, by nightfall a beachhead had been established. Eventually, German troops retreated. After D-Day, the days of the German resistance were numbered. Directions: Photographs provide concrete, visual evidence that allow us to conceptualize events of the past when viewed with a critical eye. Today, you will analyze a variety of photographs to better understand the complexity of Operation Overlord’s planning and engagement. You will be divided into five groups. Each group will analyze five photographs. Use the set of D-Day photographs assigned to your group to gain a better understanding about the events that unfolded during the Allied invasion of Normandy. Make sure to examine your photos for several minutes before you begin the worksheet. After 15 minutes of analysis, you will report your findings to the class. Reading Photographs: Guiding Questions 1. Give a title that represents the content or theme of your set of photographs. 2. Present details from each photograph explaining how it fits into your set and relates to your title. a. b. c. d. e.
Transcript of A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words: Photographs from...
A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words: Photographs from D-Day
Context: The time had finally come. British and American troops had liberated North Africa and pressed on into Italy.
Soviet troops had turned the tide at Stalingrad and were slowly reclaiming their territory. The English Channel was virtually
free of Nazi submarines, and American and British planes were bombing German industrial centers around the clock.
Just after midnight on June 6, three airborne divisions parachuted behind enemy lines to disrupt paths of communications.
As the German lookout sentries scanned the English Channel at daybreak, they saw the largest armada ever assembled in
history heading toward the French shore. The troops at Omaha Beach met fierce resistance and suffered heavy casualties.
Still, by nightfall a beachhead had been established. Eventually, German troops retreated.
After D-Day, the days of the German resistance were numbered.
Directions: Photographs provide concrete, visual evidence that allow us to conceptualize events of the past when viewed
with a critical eye. Today, you will analyze a variety of photographs to better understand the complexity of Operation
Overlord’s planning and engagement. You will be divided into five groups. Each group will analyze five photographs. Use
the set of D-Day photographs assigned to your group to gain a better understanding about the events that unfolded during
the Allied invasion of Normandy. Make sure to examine your photos for several minutes before you begin the worksheet.
After 15 minutes of analysis, you will report your findings to the class.
Reading Photographs: Guiding Questions
1. Give a title that represents the content or theme of your set of photographs.
2. Present details from each photograph explaining how it fits into your set and relates to your title.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
3. Is there anything in your photographs that you do not understand, that your do not recognize, or that
raised questions that would require further research?
4. How do you think your set of photographs fit into the timeline of D-Day (before, during, after)? What
evidence do you have to support this conclusion?
5. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using photographs like these to analyze historical events?
Photograph Set A
A-I: A large coastal gun in a concrete bunker.
A-II: A German gun emplacement on the Atlantic Wall.
A-III: Ramps, hedgehogs, mine-tipped poles, and tetrahedrons on a Normandy beach.
A-IV: Anti-tank obstacles
A-V: Barbed wire/ Normandy beach.
Photograph Set B
B-I: LCVP’s/ PT boats/ LCSs on Bayou St. John awaiting shipment.
B-II: A Higgins Industries factory producing LCVPs
B-III: American fighter planes and bombers awaiting preflight servicing.
B-IV: Everything needed was stockpiled.
B-V: Pontoons for temporary bridges to span France’s rivers.
Photograph Set C
C-I: Pre-invasion bombing of Pointe-du-Hoc .
C-II: Paratroopers of the US 101st Airborne Division.
C-III: U.S. gliders and paratroopers.
C-IV: Glider landing field in Normandy.
C-V: Wrecked 30-man Horsa glider in Normandy field.
Photograph Set D
D-I: Allied soldiers on troop transports in the English Channel.
D-II: U.S. troops loading onto an LCVP (Higgins boat).
D-III: U.S. soldiers head toward the beach in an LCVP.
D-IV: U.S. soldiers wade to shore through Nazi gun and mortar fire
D-V: The end of the day on Omaha Beach.
Photograph Set E
E-I: Robert Capa, photographer for Life magazine, went ashore at Omaha Beach with Company E, 16th
Regiment, 1st Infantry Division
E-II: Survivors from a destroyed Higgins Boat at Omaha Beach.
E-III: U.S. medics tend to the wounded on Utah Beach.
E-IV: Wounded men from the 1st Division on Omaha Beach.
E-V: Wounded soldiers on an LCT being taken to hospital ships
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