[Jumpmaster6]

First off, the shot at the pykrete actually ricocheted and hit another officer in the room, wounding him. That is where the "they are shooting each other" comment came from.

But to your main topic.... Tactically, with the fight in Italy still underway, the decision to invade the Normandy region was twofold. It would essentially create a third front to do so. Russia in the east, Italy to the South, and France to the West. Southern France could be supported by extending the combat line from Italy. Northwest France itself is a separate thing entirely. The fight in Italy with the beach heads proved hard to support through the Med with France still in enemy hands. It was easier to support with supplies coming straight from England across the channel (and the U.S. shipping lanes). More troops could be poured in, and the bottleneck that was experienced in Italy at the Hermann Goering Division line would not be extended. Also, it would not play into the fears of the German Wehrmacht that Patton had a command just 22 miles from the Calais Port. It was this deception plan that kept the Panzer Divisions in reserve, and would not support the Normandy invasions, even AFTER the invasion had begun. It was viewed that Normandy was the ruse, and not the main effort. Also, little known to everyone was that America had a huge number of "phantom" divisions in the Order of Battle. We had phantom Airborne Divisions, and the phantom Army under Patton. What would happen was that these patches for the phantom units were created, and soldiers were told to wear them on pass. Also, it was instructed to them that they were to get into bar fights so it would be reported to the press that "PVT Joe Schmoe from the 12345 Airborne Division was charged with drunk in public and assault" (I am just using 12345. There was no phantom unit named this). Anyway, the German undercover spies would report this as proof the Division existed. After the capture of their documents, we found that the Germans had actually correctly placed these phantom units into the Order of Battle. It was these phantom divisions, the placement of fake aircraft, inflatable tanks, fake ships etc.. that played into the Normandy invasion plans. Hope that helps a little. Tom.