What was involved in the d day invasion of france

Image source, Getty Images. Phantom army. Two million troops. Weather watching. Rommel's shoes. He was in Germany when the news came of the invasion.

Getty Images. D-Day landings , allied troops landed in Normandy, across 5 beaches. Sleeping Hitler. Commonwealth strength. Bloody Omaha. Smashed toilets. Pub test. Related Topics.

In addition, they led the Germans to believe that Norway and other locations were also potential invasion targets. Many tactics were used to carry out the deception, including fake equipment; a phantom army commanded by George Patton and supposedly based in England, across from Pas-de-Calais; double agents; and fraudulent radio transmissions. Eisenhower selected June 5, , as the date for the invasion; however, bad weather on the days leading up to the operation caused it to be delayed for 24 hours.

On the morning of June 5, after his meteorologist predicted improved conditions for the following day, Eisenhower gave the go-ahead for Operation Overlord. The eyes of the world are upon you. Later that day, more than 5, ships and landing craft carrying troops and supplies left England for the trip across the Channel to France, while more than 11, aircraft were mobilized to provide air cover and support for the invasion.

By dawn on June 6, thousands of paratroopers and glider troops were already on the ground behind enemy lines, securing bridges and exit roads. The amphibious invasions began at a. According to some estimates, more than 4, Allied troops lost their lives in the D-Day invasion, with thousands more wounded or missing. Less than a week later, on June 11, the beaches were fully secured and over , troops, more than 50, vehicles and some , tons of equipment had landed at Normandy.

For their part, the Germans suffered from confusion in the ranks and the absence of celebrated commander Rommel, who was away on leave. At first, Hitler, believing the invasion was a feint designed to distract the Germans from a coming attack north of the Seine River, refused to release nearby divisions to join the counterattack.

Reinforcements had to be called from further afield, causing delays. He also hesitated in calling for armored divisions to help in the defense. Moreover, the Germans were hampered by effective Allied air support, which took out many key bridges and forced the Germans to take long detours, as well as efficient Allied naval support, which helped protect advancing Allied troops.

In the ensuing weeks, the Allies fought their way across the Normandy countryside in the face of determined German resistance, as well as a dense landscape of marshes and hedgerows.

By the end of June, the Allies had seized the vital port of Cherbourg, landed approximately , men and , vehicles in Normandy, and were poised to continue their march across France. By the end of August , the Allies had reached the Seine River, Paris was liberated and the Germans had been removed from northwestern France, effectively concluding the Battle of Normandy.

The Allied forces then prepared to enter Germany, where they would meet up with Soviet troops moving in from the east. The Normandy invasion began to turn the tide against the Nazis. A significant psychological blow, it also prevented Hitler from sending troops from France to build up his Eastern Front against the advancing Soviets.

Their job was to blow up bridges, sabotage railroad lines, and take other measures to prevent the enemy from rushing reinforcements to the invasion beaches. Hours later, the largest amphibious landing force ever assembled began moving through the storm-tossed waters toward the beaches. Most of the Americans were packed into flat-bottomed Higgins boats launched from troop transports 10 miles from the French coastline.

Vomit filled the bottom of the boats, and as water kept rushing in over the gunwales, the green-faced men had to bail this vile stew with their helmets. Though it was cold, the men were sweating. Personnel and equipment arriving at Normandy by air and sea following the D-Day invasion in National Archives and Records Administration, G Planners had divided the landing zone into five separate beaches.

The Americans landed at Omaha and Utah beaches. The fiercest fighting was on Omaha Beach where the enemy was positioned on steep cliffs that commanded the long, flat shoreline. Troops leapt from their landing boats and were pinned down for hours by murderous machine-gun fire that turned the beach into a vast killing field.

By nightfall, about , Allied troops and 50, vehicles were ashore with nearly a million more men on the way that summer. The Normandy invasion was one of great turning points of 20th-century history. An immense army was placed in Nazi-occupied Europe, never to be dislodged. Germany was threatened that same month by a tremendous Soviet invasion from the east that would reach the gates of Berlin by the following April. Another landing would not have been possible for at least a year.