On June 6, 1944, in the midst of the Second World War, the Allied forces brought in "the
largest amphibious assault in the history of war."(World History Chronology) from various
countries including Great Britain, the United States, and Canada stormed the beaches of
Normandy hoping to overthrow the German forces occupying France. Years of meticulous
planning and seemingly endless training had finally come together to form the operation known as
D-Day, the invasion of Normandy. Many different operations and brilliant leaders helped to
contribute to the victory at Normandy. D-Day was not only a turning point in the War, but it
forever changed the course of history.
      For years, the entire world passively watched Adolf Hitler's rise to power. After the
annexing of France other countries woke up to the reality that global domination by Germany
was inevitable. The development of Germany's secret V1 and V2 rockets pressured the Allies to
react quickly and reclaim a foothold in continental Europe. The fate of Western Europe lied in
the hands of three men: Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin. Winston
Churchill (1874 - 1965) was Great Britain's greatest 20th Century statesman. Franklin
Roosevelt (1882 -1945), the thirty-second President of the United States, served longer than
any other U.S. president and during his presidency faced the two greatest crises of American
history: the Great Depression and World War II. Joseph Stalin (1879 - 1953), the secretary of
the communist party in Russia, had a very strong influence in the reconstruction of Europe after
World War II. (Microsoft Encarta)
     President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill's first choice to lead the invasion of
Normandy was U.S. Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall who played an

important role in designing the overall American Military effort in Europe. After much
consideration, Roosevelt decided that Marshall's presence in Washington was indispensable.
The Allies soon agreed that General Dwight D. Eisenhower, another well-experienced officer,
would be the Supreme Overall Commander of the Allied troops in Europe. Eisenhower
accepted the job assignment and became the supreme commander of the invasion and
commanding general of all United States forces in all European Operations.(AJP Taylor)
     When Eisenhower returned to London, England he told the combined chief of staff:
"Every obstacle must be overcome, every inconvenience suffered, and every risk run to ensure
that our blow is decisive. We cannot afford to fail." (Microsoft Encarta) With this enthusiasm he
drove not only himself but his troops with no mercy: "He worked 20 hours a day; the men
trained with live ammunition." (Microsoft Encarta) Eisenhower wanted this plan to work. His
biggest fear was how to bring in enough landing crafts to open the attack to the Allies 8
divisions, as opposed to the German commander Rommel's 50 divisions. (Microsoft Encarta)
     Omar Bradley (1893 - 1981), an American General, was chosen to lead the ground
troops in the invasion of Normandy. Under his direction, the 100,000 troops were the main
American offensive efforts. He was an aide for Eisenhower until 1942. Under his command his
troops stormed Bizerte, a German held city and took over 40,000 prisoners. He also
commanded the center division on the Utah and Omaha beaches. (Microsoft Encarta)
     George S. Patton (1885 - 1945) was ideally suited to command an army. "He was bold
strategist and a good administrator who knew how to motivate his troops. However, his
boldness also led him to words and actions that caused political difficulties." (Patton,George S)
Patton was in charge of a fake army set up in southern France to be used as a diversion. He
was in command of rubber tanks, fake planes, and fake army

vehicles. These were all used to divert the Germans from the actual landing site...Normandy.
One of the most brilliant moves in the war was Patton's counterattack to force a
withdrawal.(Patton,George S)      
     Stalin insisted on attacking the Germans on two different fronts: Russia from the east and
the Allied forces from the northwest. This strategy acted as a divide and conquer method of
warfare, splitting up the German defenses. Stalin realized from years of experience that a unified
German army would be unbeatable. International cooperation seemed essential for survival
against Nazi Germany. (AJP Taylor)
     A combination of environmental and tactical factors explained the time and place of the
invasion. Crossing the English Channel for an attack was an extremely dangerous operation.
Besides the actual assault on the Nazi dominated Europe, the many miles of treacherous sea was
all in all pretty dangerous itself. After the crossing, the assault craft carrying the troops were to
seize the beachhead. The amphibious 'swimming' tanks had to come in on a tide 40 minutes
after first light. A tide provided the minimum amount of light required by the attendant warships
and warplanes to blow up Hitler's Atlantic coast defenses. They also needed moonlight before
full tide so that the airborne troops could identify their targets. According to Henry Maule"A
combination of such conditions only occurred for three days in each lunar month. In June, 1944,
were the fifth to the seventh" (372). The Allies had to launch a successful invasion before winter
because Germany might have taken captive Great Britain by then. They also had to prevent the
immense bombardment of London and the invasion ports by the secret weapons that Hitler was
having built: V1 and V2. (Henry Maule)
     The United States, Canada, and Great Britain wanted to get a good foothold on the
Nazi dominated continent know as Europe before it was too late. Success for the Allies could
only come with surprise. To make this surprise possible, Eisenhower thought it would be better
to attack south into Normandy, France rather than go to the east toward

Calais, where the German defense and multitude of troops were the largest. The route to
Normandy was more difficult to navigate, hence the Germans did not consider Normandy a
possibility. This plan was risky because the Allies hoped that the Germans would not be able to
shift more troops to Normandy before the invasion. (D-Day the Total Story)
     Though the original invasion was scheduled for June 4, bad weather postponed the
operation: " The next night's forecast, though not ideal was better. D-Day would be on June 6."
(D-day the total story). The allies had many spies working on German lines. To make it look like
they weren't really working for the Allies the spies were to tell the Germans that the Allies were
coming an hour before the invasion. (D-Day the Total Story)
     General Erwin Romel, was second in command to Hitler. Romel was very optimistic.
He thought the Allies would only attack in good weather, so went home to visit his wife for her
birthday. The following passage shows how the Allies used many diversionary tactics to fool the
Germans:
In May, while millions of troops poured into the staging area of
southern Britain, The Allies created a decoy. False radio
transmissions and rows of inflated rubber tanks and landing craft
located away from the true staging area, kept the enemy
confused about the operation's size and target. (The 50th
Anniversary of the Invasion of Normandy:Operation Overlord)
The Allies led the Germans to believe the attack would be on Calais, the shortest route from
Great Britain. (D-Day the Total Story)
     By the end of the battle the D-Day planners had predicted that 10,000 men out of the
150,000 troops of the Allied forces were going to end up dead. Over 30,000 airmen fighting
for the Allied forces were in action on D-Day. Between the night of June fifth and June sixth
15,000 and 20,000 tons of bombs were dropped. And when it was all said and

done with, the Allied forces had suffered 9,758 casualties: 6,603 lives had been taken. Yet
somehow they pulled off a victory not due mostly to planning and preparation but sheer courage
and determination. (The 50th Anniversary of the Invasion of Normandy:Operation Overlord and
About D-Day)      
     D-Day was a turning point in the war and in history for a couple of reasons. It was a
turning point in the war because: it gave the Allied troops a strong foothold on continental
Europe; therefore, knocking the Germans out of western France. The Allies had now pushed
the Germans back into their own territory: The Germans are not as spread out as they were
before.
     It was a turning point in history for a couple of reasons also: One reason is if Hitler had
gotten global domination then today we might all be speaking German. It also didn't give Hitler
enough time to attack Great Britain. If they had gotten Great Britain then the Germans would
have been well on their way to global domination. Luckily the Allied forces knocked them back
into central Europe. Hitler realized that his forces were beatable and he wasn't invincible. It also
united countries together for a common cause: to defeat tyranny and bring unification back to
Europe. Unification was the key.
     The greatest fighting force ever assembled had accomplished its goal by using the brute
force of three united countries fighting for peace and freedom. This battle ended Hitler's dream
of Nazi domination. Eleven months after D-Day Germany surrendered.(The 50th Anniversary
of the Invasion of Normandy:Operation Overlord). After one of the greatest battles in history
the United States, there is still no National Memorial to remember D-Day, June 6, 1944. Was
the victory created by the months of strategic planning of minor details, places, and people? Or
was it great luck that factors like: weather and time ended up being to the Allies benefit?
Americans are not the only ones grateful for the Allied victory and German loss. Every man and
every woman

affected by the war realizes that the victory was the price of all the pain suffered and lives lost.


Primary Sources
"Microsoft Encarta." Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia; Deluxe Edition: The Ultimate Learning
     Resource 1993-97.
I got Eisenhower's thoughts and words on the battle of D-Day.
Secondary Sources
About D-Day. The National D-Day Memorial Foundation. 17 Nov. 1999
     <http://www.dday.org>
From this book I got some statistics on the battle of D-Day.
D-Day the Total Story. The History Channel. 17 Nov. 1999
     <http://www.thehistorychannel.co.uk/classroom/gcse/dday.htm>
This is where most of my information came from. I got stuff about fake radio signals and the
weather on the days before D-Day.
Maule, Henry. The Great Battles of World War II. England: The Hamlyn Publishing Group
     Limited, 1972
I got information out of this book on how the attack came about to be on June 6.
"Patton,George S." American Lives. Unit 5, Chapter 17, Section 2, Page 36
All of the information of George S. Patton gave from this one piece of paper that you gave me.
Taylor, AJP. The History in World War II. England: Octpus Books, 1974
I got information on how it came about that Eisenhower was picked to lead the battle.
The 50th Anniversary of the Invasion of Normandy:Operation Overlord. 17 Nov. 1999
     <http://www.nandotimes.com/sproject/dday.html>
This packet told me that Germany surrendered eleven months after D-Day.
World History Chronology. North Park Education. 17 Nov. 1999
     <http://campus.northpark.edu/history/WebChron/DDay.html>
This told me how D-Day was the largest amphibious assault in the history of war.