Eighty-one years ago, on June 6, 1944, World War II was raging across Europe. All hope seemed lost for the Allied Powers until they came up with the daring invasion code-named Operation Overlord. The invasion was a key to the Allied Powers win eleven months later.
Planning
General Dwight D. Eisenhower was in charge of planning and executing Operation Overlord. Originally, the D-Day invasion was planned for June 5th, but due to bad weather, it was moved until June 6th. To throw off the Germans, the Allies made the Germans think that the Allies were creating a force in Scandinavia; and that the Allies were going to attack the Germans at the Pas de Calais, the shortest point in the English Channel. [1]
At Pas de Calais, the Allies created fake airplanes and tanks by painting on canvas sheets. The invasion of Normandy was the largest amphibious invasion in military history with 7,000 ships and landing craft manned by over 195,000 naval personnel from eight allied countries and almost 133,000 troops from the United States, the British Commonwealth, and their allies, helped with the crossing over to Normandy and by June 30, over 850,000 men, 148,000 vehicles, and 570,000 tons of supplies had landed on the Normandy shores. [2]
D-Day
Operation Overlord was also called the D-Day invasion. Although it is not completely known, most people, including those in the military, believe the D in D-Day, stands for day. [3]
The Invasion
The invasion began at 6:30 am on June 6th. There were five beaches that had to be taken: Gold, Juno, Sword, Omaha, and Utah. The British and Canadian forces overran the first three beaches while U.S. forces took the Omaha and Utah beaches. Due to the Allied Powers massive deception plan, the Germans were not prepared for the attack. Other than Omaha Beach, all the other beaches were relatively easy to capture. Of the 4,000 (roughly) Allied casualties, 2,000 were at Omaha Beach. [4]
Victory
Hitler’s Atlantic Wall lasted less than twenty-four hours. [5] The Allied forces continued to push eastward toward Germany, while the Soviet Union pushed westward to Germany. Eleven months after D-Day on May 7, 1945, the Germans surrendered, ending World War II.
Eisenhower’s Speech
On the eve of the invasion, General Eisenhower had letters distributed to the Allied forces which stated:
You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hope and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you… I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory! Good luck! And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking. [6]
