In the early hours of June 6, 1944, American, British, and Canadian troops landed on the coast of Normandy to begin Operation Overlord. There were five drop zones who's code names were Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. Americans troops invaded Utah and Omaha Beach. US troops quickly secured Utah Beach while at Omaha Beach things did not go so well. US troops suffered heavy casualties in just a few hours but by nightfall they had managed to clear the bluffs covering the beach. British and Canadian troops were to invade Gold, Juno, and Sword Beach and were met with much less resistance. .
The preparation for D-Day took a long time. Gathering and transporting tanks on shores and the movement of thousands of men and their weapons proved to be quite difficult. The plan called for almost 6,500 ships and landing crafts, which would land nearly 200,000 vehicles and 600,000 tons of supplies in the first three weeks of the operation. The invasion would also involve more than 13,000 fighters, bombers, and transport planes. .
D-Day was previously scheduled for May 1, but was postponed to June 5 to make more landing crafts available, but was again moved to June 6. This was because of the bad weather conditions that occurred on June 5.
General Eisenhower was named Supreme Allied Commander with General Montgomery as land force commander of Operation Overlord. As the ships traveled across the dark English Channel, men lied crammed on their bunks reading, sleeping, playing poker, and some men dealing with sea-sickness. The German High Commander had no clue about the attack that was about to happen and left for his wife's birthday. Also, many of his senior commanders were away as well. .
When the Allies began their invasion, the German response was bewildered and uncertain. They awoke to see the Allied armada coming toward them. More than 1,000 transports dropped paratroopers to secure the flanks and beach exits of the assault area.
Under Adolf Hitler the German empire extended from Russia to the west, to France on the east. Germany controlled much of Europe except for Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, and Sweden (Keegan 1). Hitler's army's gained control of much of Europe during the years of 1939 through 1941. It was not until December 11th 1941 that Hitler declared war on the United States. Soon afterward, Dwight D. ...