D-Day: The Allied Invasion of Normandy

• On June 6, 1944, Allied forces launched Operation Overlord, a massive amphibious assault on five beaches in Normandy, France, to liberate Western Europe from Nazi Germany's control. • By June 1940, France had fallen to the Nazis, and Winston Churchill vowed to liberate France from Nazi Germany in a famous speech. • The invasion was delayed due to the Allied invasion of French North Africa in November 1942, the invasion of Sicily in 1943, and Italy in 1943. • In December 1943, at the Tehran Conference, Roosevelt and Stalin insisted on launching the invasion across the English Channel within the next year. • In January 1944, U.S. General Dwight Eisenhower was appointed Supreme Allied Commander to lead the invasion. • The Allies conducted Operation Bodyguard, a strategy to mislead the Germans about the date and location of the landings, and Exercise Tiger, a rehearsal for the D-Day invasion. • Over 11,000 aircraft were deployed, 200,000 sorties were launched, and 195,000 tons of bombs were dropped on French rail centers and road networks to isolate the invasion area. • By early June 1944, over 2 million American troops, along with 250,000 Canadians, were present in Britain, preparing for the Normandy invasion. • Millions of tons of supplies were shipped from America to the staging area, including 450,000 tons of ammunition. • Adolf Hitler appointed Irwin Rommel to spearhead defense operations in the region and finish the Atlantic Wall, a 2,400-mile fortification of bunkers, land mines, and beach and water obstacles. • The German heavily defended the port facilities of Cherbourg and Saint-Malo in the Normandy area. • On June 5, 1944, Rommel had laid an additional four million mines on the beaches. • The original date of Operation Overlord was June 5, but it was delayed due to bad weather, and Eisenhower gave the go-ahead for the invasion on June 6. • On June 6, U.S., British, and Canadian forces simultaneously landed on five separate beachheads in Normandy, France. • The American Army captured Omaha and Utah beaches, with over 21,000 troops landing on Utah at the cost of 197 casualties. • The British Army landed on Sword and Gold beaches, with over 25,000 troops landing on Gold at the cost of 400 casualties. • The Canadian 3rd Infantry Division landed on Juno beach, with over 20,000 troops landing at the cost of 1,200 casualties. • In the first 24 hours of the invasion, approximately 156,000 Allied troops successfully stormed Normandy beaches, with at least 10,000 casualties and over 4,000 confirmed dead. • German casualties numbered at least 4,000, with some estimates claiming over 9,000. • After D-Day, the Allies gradually expanded their foothold over the ensuing months, capturing key towns and cities, including Cherbourg, Caen, and Paris. • On August 15, 1944, the Allies launched Operation Dragoon, liberating most of southern France in just four weeks. • On April 30, 1945, Adolf Hitler committed suicide, and on May 7, 1945, Germany signed its unconditional surrender, marking the official end of World War II.