D-Day: "Operation Overlord"
06 June 1944
Soldiers wade towards beach under German fire
D-Day, also known as “Operation Overlord”, commenced on June 6th, 1944. It was the storming of the beaches of Normandy, France by the allied forces against Germany. It was an attack planned for both airborne and amphibious warfare. The planning for this operation began many months before by General Dwight D. Eisenhower and his staff. Before the initial attack began, Eisenhower read aloud to all allied troops; “You are about to embark upon the great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months.” The initial wave of the attack was with thousands of airborne troops dropped behind the invasion site to disrupt German communications and to capture key bridges. The second wave was bombardment of coastal defenses by navy warships. This was combined with aerial bombardment of the coastal defenses as well. Then the amphibious troops began landing on the beaches and pushing forward with the attack. There were many hours of deadly fighting before the troops began breaking off the beach and moving further inland. Once the beaches were secure, massive landing of troops, tanks, materials, etc. began. This helped ensure the allied troops' success. D-Day involved more men, ships, and planes then any other operation of its kind in history. D-Day played a major role in who was victorious in WWII. Although it was not the official end of the war, it was what pushed the Allied forces ahead of the Germans, causing great destruction to the Axis Powers.