The Invasion of France
D-Day for the invasion of France was June 6, 1944. General Dwight Eisenhower’s mission was simply stated:
You will enter the Continent of Europe, and, in conjunction with the other United Nations, undertake operations aimed at the heart of Germany and the destruction of her armed forces.409
After months of preparation and years of fighting on the periphery, the time had finally come to strike directly at Germany with the aim of ending the war. The scale of Operation Overlord was unlike anything seen before. Three airborne divisions jumped into inland landing zones ahead of the beach landings. Five divisions made an amphibious assault over a fifty-mile-wide swath of the Normandy coast, ahead of fifty more divisions that would eventually pour in to take the battle into Germany. More than five thousand vessels and eleven thousand aircraft were assembled for this massive undertaking, and artificial harbors were created along the beaches to handle the massive logistical flow.
The German units manning the coastal defenses of Normandy were well prepared by this time and offered bitter resistance at almost every point. The first waves of the American 1st Division were hit hardest crossing Omaha Beach. The moment the landing craft ramps went down, they were decimated by accurate machine gun and artillery fire from positions dominating the beach. The high ground was taken by the end of D-Day thanks to the initiative and courage of small-unit leaders and individual soldiers.
Fortunately for the Allies, on a strategic level, the German high command was surprised at the timing and location of Overlord. Even as the Normandy landings were unfolding, they continued to expect the main invasion further north where the beaches were better. Also, the weather seemed to play a miraculous role in events by giving a brief window of opportunity for the invasion during a prolonged period of otherwise impossible conditions. Massive Allied air attacks added to the German confusion and further hampered movement of reserves that could have assisted forces defending the beaches.
By the end of D-Day, one hundred seventy-five thousand Allied troops and fifty thousand vehicles were ashore along the Normandy coast. The cost in lives and materiel was high, but by any measure, the invasion was a complete success. The British had returned and the Americans had finally arrived on the continent of Europe.