The AN/CPS-1 Microwave Early Warning (MEW) radar deployed in time for D-Day on the south coast of England was a vast improvement over previous ground-based radar networks. At its most basic level, Normandy was a giant navigation problem. Though the soldiers on Omaha Beach would never think they had it easy (and as discussed below, they were indeed let down by some of this technology), the reality is that Operation Overlord was about far more than simply having enough men and equipment while tricking the Germans into thinking the landing was occurring elsewhere. Without them, the German defenses would have been exceptionally difficult to crack. By D-Day, the combination of the quartz oscillator and the cavity magnetron had yielded an extensive array of ground-based and aircraft equipment that allowed the offensive resources of the Allies to be applied efficiently and effectively. The British development of the cavity magnetron in 1940 made microwave radar possible, giving far greater definition and resistance to jamming than anything the Germans had. However, radar had come a very long way since the first generation Chain Home radar stations countered the offensive bomber formations of the Blitz. Radar was used by all sides in World War II and was probably best known for facilitating the British victory in the Battle of Britain. National Archives and Records Administration 342-FH-3A17194 Airborne radar at this time could identify three types of ground features reasonably well – coastlines, ships, and towns. Here are a few of the remarkable, but overlooked technologies that were essential to the Allied victory in Normandy.Ĭompared with the radar image above, on June 6, the Baie de la Seine was filled with Allied landing craft and shipping. This was especially true in regards to the electronic frontier. I’m always a little dismayed to see the exuberance with which some museum visitors regard the German jet and rocket technologies on display at the museum and one often overhears comments to the effect of “if Hitler hadn’t interfered with the Messerschmitt Me 262 production, they could have won the air war.” While it is certainly true that the Germans held a commanding lead in 1944 in jet and rocket production, it is also true that whatever military advantage they offered was vastly overshadowed by many other fields in which the Allies totally overmatched the Germans. National Archives and Records Administration 342-FH-3A17193
The area would never look the same again during the war as it would be filled with military shipping. This airborne radar scope image of the Normandy coastline was taken just before the invasion.
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