On June 6, 1944, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, gave the green light to the largest amphibious military operation in history: Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of northern France, commonly known as D-Day
By dawn, 18,000 British and American paratroopers were already on the ground. An additional 13,000 aircraft were mobilized to provide air cover and support for the invasion. At 6:30 a.m., American troops landed on the beaches of Utah and Omaha.
The British and Canadians overcame slight opposition to capture the beaches of Gold, Juno and Sword; so are the Americans in Utah. However, the task was much more difficult at Omaha Beach, where the US First Division fought the high seas, fog, mines, burning vehicles and German coastal batteries, including an elite infantry division , who spat out heavy fire. Many injured Americans eventually drowned at high tide. The British divisions, which land on the beaches of Gold, Juno and Sword, and the Canadian troops also face heavy German fire.
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But by the end of the day, 155,000 Allied soldiers – American, British and Canadian – had successfully stormed the beaches of Normandy and were then able to push inland. Within three months, northern France would be liberated and the invading force would prepare to enter Germany, where it would meet Soviet forces from the east.
READ MORE: What Hitler was wrong about D-Day
Before the Allied assault, Hitler’s armies controlled most of continental Europe and the Allies knew that a successful invasion of the continent was essential to winning the war. Hitler also knew this and expected an assault on northwest Europe in the spring of 1944. He hoped to push the Allies off the coast with a strong counterattack that would delay future invasion attempts, giving him the time to throw the majority of its forces into defeating the Soviet Union in the east. Once this was accomplished, he believed that a total victory would soon be his.
For their part, the Germans suffered from confusion in the ranks and the absence of the famous commander, Marshal Erwin Rommel, absent on leave. At first, Hitler, believing that the invasion was a feint designed to distract the Germans from an attack to come north of the Seine, refused to release the neighboring divisions to join the counterattack and reinforcements had to be called from further away, causing delays.
Find out how the battle unfolded in our interactive timeline for the day.
He also hesitated to call for armored divisions to assist in defense. In addition, the Germans were hampered by effective Allied air support, which removed many key bridges and forced the Germans to make long detours, as well as effective Allied naval support, which helped protect Allied troops from progression.
Although D-Day did not go exactly as planned, as British Marshal Bernard Montgomery later claimed – for example, the Allies could only land portions of the supplies and vehicles they wanted. France – the invasion was a decisive success. At the end of June, the Allies had 850,000 men and 150,000 vehicles in Normandy and were ready to continue their march across Europe.
READ MORE: How many people were killed on D-Day?
The heroism and bravery of troops from allied countries on D-Day have inspired several films, including the most famous The longest day (1962) and Save Private Ryan (1998). He was also featured in the HBO series Band of Brothers (2001).
