The History Of D-Day

D-Day, one of the most prominent days in United States History, marked the “beginning of the end of the war in Europe” (D-Day 1). Operation Overlord, otherwise known as D-Day, began on June 6, 1944, and it lasted until August 1944. American, British, and Canadian forces came together to storm the beaches of Normandy, France to help end the German Nazi’s domination over Western Europe. General Dwight D. Eisenhower and his team spent endless hours planning the battle to ultimately end in the allies victory.

The preparation of D-Day was a long, strategic process. Many different invasions and or battles were studied to improve “the planning for the large-scale amphibious operations and cooperation between land, sea, and air forces, and between the various Allied chains of command” (Samules 4). United States General Dwight D. Eisenhower was chosen as the supreme Allied Commander in December of 1943, and he oversaw all of the plans that were to be carried out during operation overlord.

A major plan of deception used to deceive the Germans on the whereabouts and timing of the attack was Operation Body Guard. A fake base was assembled at the bottom end of Europe just above the top of France equipped with fake equipment, fake missions, and a phantom army led by George Patton. The allies did this to make it look, to the Germans, like they would invade near “Pasde Calais in Northern France, and that Norway and the Balkans would also be attacked” (Samuels 6). With this simulation of a base in Southern Europe playing the part of a full functioning base, German forces began to feel threatened. The Germans began to move more of their military to the Northern regions of France to build up protection forces. This quote of Hitler’s acti...

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...ely 156,000 Allied troops had successfully stormed Normandy’s beaches. According to some estimates, more than 4,000 Allied troops lost their lives in the D-Day invasion, with thousands more wounded or missing” (D-Day 3). On June 11, the beaches were declared to be fully secure, and the allies pumped in troops, vehicles, equipment to Normandy. The Allied forces fought through France and chased the Germans out. When the Allies reached the Seine River, Paris was finally liberated and the Allies declared victory in August 1944.

Following the victory of D-Day, the Allies accepted the surrender of Nazi Germany on May 8, 1945. Operation Overlord, or D-Day, gave confidence to the Allies and showed them that they could truly win World War II. Therefore, D-Day is seen as the Allied invasion of Normandy that led to the ultimate victory of the ruthless war in Europe.