Even though Germany had "61 divisions, of which eleven were armored, to defend France," neither Rommel nor Rundstedt would succeed in defending the "Atlantic Wall" (Badsey 25).
In a November-December 1943 meeting between President Roosevelt and Russian leader Joseph Stalin, it was decided that two large attacks against Germany would take place at the same time. The United States along with England and Canada would attack Germany across the English Channel on the western front. Stalin and his Russian army would invade Germany from the east. These actions would take place together and at the same time. In January 1943, Eisenhower and his staff devised the western attack plan and called it "Operation Overlord." This invasion would land in Normandy between Caen and the Cotentin Peninsula (Keegan 2).
The Overlord plan called for much consideration and strategic planning. Eisenhower and his planners at SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force) picked and early June date for "D-Day." "D-Day" is a term used by the military to descibe the day a military action is going to go on. The allied planners felt that their air power and naval bombing of selected targets in Germany and France would weaken the German defenses. They also would use paratroopers to move troops behind enemy lines. Before the actual invasion of the Normandy beaches by ground troops the navy and air forces would bomb the cliffs and defenses guarding the beaches. These massive air strikes and bombings were planned to destroy most if not all the German beach fortifications. The allies planned on getting troops and supplies in Normandy faster than the Germans could defend the western front. Ground troops would come in over five beaches code named, from east to west, Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha, and Utah. American service men would land across the Utah and Omaha beaches while the British would land on Sword beach.
