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D-DAY
On June 6th 1944 allied forces under the command of general Eisenhower landed on the coast of France to liberate Europe from Nazi-occupation. A day that would become known to the world as "D-Day". The location was the Bay of the Seine, Normandy.
D-Day, as is often assumed, was not the name of the operation and simply refers to the day on which a major events starts. The plan to invade Europe was actually called Operation Overlord. Under this plan multiple possiblities had been investigated and several landing area's had been considered. Normandy was only one of those and plans for the area were made under the name "Neptune". So D-Day was the day on which Operation Overlord/ Neptune took place.
The Plan
The invasion plan was fairly straightforward: Securing the beaches and connecting them into one continuous front. At the same time Caen had to be taken on the first day. The city had to be secured to be able to reach the open fields southeast of the city, where the allied planners hoped to be able to use their superior numbers in mobile warfare. On the western-part the Americans would head for Cherbourg to gain control of a deep-water harbour to supply the allied forces, before turning south and join the allied advance.
But this was only the plan. While the landings themselves were successful and losses less than expected in most area's, the failure to capture Caen meant the fighting had to take place in the dense bocage area, where the allied tanks could not be deployed en-masse and the defenders had the advantage in the terrain. The Normandy campaign would turn into a war of attrition with bloody fighting for every yard until the allies finally broke through the German defences and could use their mobility to advance rapidly across France and liberate Paris
The assault
During the night Airborne forces landed to provide cover for the seaborne troops. The paratroopers and glider-men were to take crucial strategic positions and eliminate enemy opposition. On the right American airborne troops tried to shield off the beaches and eliminate German positions and artillery. Their British and Canadian colleagues had a similar mission on the left flank, east of the Orne river.
Between these Airborne forces, five beaches had been selected for the seaborne invasion. The Americans were to land in the west on Utah and Omaha Beach, while the British and Canadian forces would land to the east, close to Caen. The British troops would land on Gold and Sword and the Canadians between those beaches on Juno. The entire operations was strongly supported by the naval and airborne forces, that controlled both the sea and the skies.
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Related articles and topics
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British Sector
Airborne Operations
Gold Beach
June Beach
Sword Beach
US sector
Airborne Operations
Utah Beach
Omaha Beach
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