The landings of 6 June 1944 entered history under the now legendary name of D-Day.
#WHAT WAS D DAY HOW TO#
The German defenders were uncertain how to respond.ĭ-Day was mostly an Anglo-American effort: British, American and Canadian troops made up most of the numbers, but no less than 17 Allied countries participated on the ground, the sea and in the air. On the evening of 6 June 1944, the Allies had gained a foothold on all five beaches. About 24.000 airborne troops were also deployed in order to take control of strategic points and to prevent German attacks on the flanks of the assault forces ashore.ĭespite poor weather conditions and fierce resistance from German units the operations were successful.
#WHAT WAS D DAY CODE#
A fleet of over 6.900 vessels was required to land the assault forces of more than 156.000 men on five beaches, that received code names (from west to east) Utah and Omaha (U.S.), Gold (British), Juno (Canadian) and Sword (British). Eisenhower gives the go-ahead for the largest amphibious military operation in history. The German Command expected the Allies to land where the Channel was at its narrowest. On June 6, 1944, Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Normandy was chosen because of its close proximity to the British coast, thus allowing Allied aircraft to effectively support troops landing during the initial phase of the assault (Operation Neptune).Ībove all, the German defences along this stretch of the coastline were less formidable than in the north. Up until then the Allied forces had suffered serious defeats, yet D -Day, as the invasion was called, spelled the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany and the Third Reich. The aim was to gain a foothold in Western Europe in order to defeat Nazi Germany, along with the Soviet Army on the Eastern front. What Was D-Day In the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, an armada of 7,000 ships carrying 160,000 Allied troops stormed the beaches of Nazi-occupied France. It worked: the Germans, faced with the need to defend coastlines stretching from Norway to south-west France, paid most attention to the Pas de Calais.Four years after the crushing defeat of France, Belgium and the Netherlands in the spring of 1940, the Anglo-American Allies launched Operation Overlord. An elaborate plan was implemented in order to convince the Germans that the invasion would be in the Pas de Calais. The skilful use of intelligence and deception was also a key factor in the operation. The Allies enforced tight security to prevent the Germans learning the details of the invasion. Intelligence, deception and German preparations Other preparations included the manufacture of equipment including transport ships, landing craft, amphibious tanks and artificial harbours. In the last few months before D-Day, the Allied air forces wrecked the railways and bridges of northern France and achieved the necessary weakening of German air force strength. It also had a fairly large port (Cherbourg), and was opposite the main ports of southern England. Normandy was chosen for the landings because it was in range of fighter aircraft based in England and had open beaches that were not as well defended as those of the Pas de Calais. A new planning staff was assembled, and General Eisenhower was appointed Supreme Commander of the operation. The German U-boats in the Atlantic were defeated and the Allied armies in the Mediterranean achieved increasing success, as did Soviet forces on the Eastern Front. During 1943, however, the Allies achieved a much more favourable strategic position in Europe. Planning was affected by a lack of forces and equipment, notably landing craft, and by the need to divert resources to campaigns elsewhere, especially in the Mediterranean. Stalin, whose forces were engaging the Germans in the east, pressured the Allies to open a second front in Europe without such detailed preparation, and the Americans and British also had disagreements. It required extensive planning and preparation, a process dogged by political and strategic arguments. Operation Overlord was a complex operation involving the land, sea and air forces of the USA, Britain, Canada and other allies. The campaign was code-named Operation Overlord. This successful action signalled the beginning of the end of the Second World War: it was the first stage in the liberation of western Europe and a major step towards the defeat of Nazi Germany. On 6 June 1944 - D-Day - Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy. "Under the command of General Eisenhower, Allied naval forces, supported by strong air forces, began landing Allied armies on the northern coast of France." - First Overlord communiqué, 6 June 1944.