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beachhead

  (bēch'hĕd') pronunciation
n.
  1. A position on an enemy shoreline captured by troops in advance of an invading force.
  2. A first achievement that opens the way for further developments; a foothold: “It is not yet clear whether the ecologists will establish a beachhead in the economists' carefully constructed intellectual empire” (Peter Passell).

 
 

n. a defended position on a beach taken from the enemy by landing forces, from which an attack can be launched.

Etymology: World War II (originally U.S.): formed on the pattern of bridgehead.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

 

(DOD) A designated area on a hostile or potentially hostile shore that, when seized and held, ensures the continuous landing of troops and materiel, and provides maneuver space requisite for subsequent projected operations ashore.

 
Wikipedia: beachhead
Hive of activity, Okinawa beachhead on L+3 day, 1945.
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Hive of activity, Okinawa beachhead on L+3 day, 1945.
Fighting the way out of the Normandy beachhead, 1944.
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Fighting the way out of the Normandy beachhead, 1944.
For other meanings see Beachhead (disambiguation)

Beachhead is a military term used to describe the line created when a unit (by sea) reaches a beach, and begins to defend that area of beach, while other reinforcements (it is hoped) help out, until a unit large enough to begin advancing has arrived. Sometimes used interchangeably (both correctly and incorrectly) with Bridgehead and Lodgement. Beachheads were very important in operations such as Operation Neptune, the Korean War (especially at Inchon), and the Vietnam War, among many other examples.

Although many references state that Operation Neptune refers to the naval operations in support of Operation Overlord, the most reliable references make it clear that Overlord refers to the establishment of a large-scale lodgement in Normandy, and that Neptune refers to the landing phase which created the beachhead; i.e. Neptune was the first part of Overlord. According to the D-day museum:

"The armed forces use codenames to refer to the planning and execution of specific military operations. Operation Overlord was the codename for the Allied invasion of north-west Europe. The assault phase of Operation Overlord was known as Operation Neptune. (...) Operation Neptune began on D-Day (6 June 1944) and ended on 30 June 1944. By this time, the Allies had established a firm foothold in Normandy. Operation Overlord also began on D-Day, and continued until Allied forces crossed the River Seine on 19 August 1944."

Once an amphibious assault starts, victory tends to go to the side which can reinforce the beachhead most quickly. There are exceptions to this rule where the amphibious forces have not expanded from their beachheads quickly enough to create a lodgement area before the defenders can reinforce their positions. Two famous examples in which the attackers failed to expand their beachheads before the defending side could bring up reinforcements occurred during the landing at Suvla Bay in the Gallipoli Campaign in World War I, and the amphibious landing at Anzio during World War II.

See also


 
Translations: Translations for: Beachhead

Dansk (Danish)
n. - brohoved

Nederlands (Dutch)
bruggenhoofd

Français (French)
n. - (Naut) tête de pont

Deutsch (German)
n. - Brückenkopf

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - προγεφύρωμα

Italiano (Italian)
testa di sbarco

Português (Portuguese)
n. - cabeça (f) de ponte (em praia) (Mil.)

Русский (Russian)
береговой плацдарм

Español (Spanish)
n. - cabeza de playa

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - brohuvud

中文(简体) (Chinese (Simplified))
滩头阵地, 滩头堡, 据点, 立足点

中文(繁體) (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 灘頭陣地, 灘頭堡, 據點, 立足點

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 해안 교두보, 상륙 거점, 발판

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 海岸堡, 上陸拠点, 足がかり

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) رأس, جسر‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮ראש חוף (בפלישה)‬


 
 

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
US Military Dictionary. The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. Copyright © 2001, 2002 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Military Dictionary. US Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Words, 2003.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Beachhead" Read more
Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.  Read more

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