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The Allied Invasion of Normandy was the beginning of the end of Nazi Germany. Operation Overlord was in no way a last minute operation thrown together. When the plan was finalized in the spring of 1944 the world started work on preparing the hundreds of thousands of men for the greatest battle in history. By June of 1944 the landing forces were training hard, awaiting D-Day. 1,700,000 British, 1,500,000 Americans, 175,000 from Dominions (mostly Canada), and another 44,000 from other countries were going to take part. Not only did men have to be recruited and trained but also equipment had to be built to transport and fight with the soldiers. More than 1,300 warships, 1,600 merchant ships, 4,000 landing craft and 13,000 aircraft including bombers, fighters and gliders were built. Several new types of tanks and Armored vehicles were built. Two examples are the Sherman Crab flail tank and the Churchill Crocodile. On the ground, Britain assembled three Armored Divisions, eight Infantry Divisions, two Airborne Divisions and ten independent fighting Brigades. The United States had six Armored Divisions, thirteen Infantry and two Airborne Divisions. With one Armored Division and two Infantry Divisions, Canada also contributed greatly with the war effort especially when you look at the size of the country at the time. Overlord was supposed to go according to General Sir Bernard L. Montgomery's Master Plan. .
His plan was initiated by a command system that connected the U.S. and Britain and helped them jointly run the operation. This plan was to have five Divisions act as a first wave, landing on the sixty-one mile long beach front. Four more Divisions, as well as some airborne landings, would support the first wave. The beaches of Normandy would be separated into five beaches, codenamed, from west to east Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword. The Americans would invade the two westernmost beaches, being Utah and Omaha and the British and its Dominions would take Gold, Juno and Sword.
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. ...
