The D-Day Invasion

D-Day was the turning point of World War II.    

World War II was one of the largest war the world has ever seen.  It took place in Europe, the Pacific, and even parts of Africa.  Though the war was important to keep the peace, no day was more important than D-Day.  D-Day, also known as “Operation Overlord” (www.dday.co.uk), was the a large scale invasion of France.  Overlord was carried out on June 6 1944.  Through months of training, the invasion forces were prepared for their assault.  The most thought of part of D-Day are the beach landings.  They were not the only important parts of D-Day though.  Through all the missions carried out by the invasion forces, Operation Overlord was a success.  That is why D-Day was the turning point in World War II.
   

World War II started in 1939 with the Nazi invasion of Poland.  As the war progressed, the Nazi Blitzkrieg had stormed through all of France, straight to the Atlantic coastline.  The Allies hopes were thinned.  The Allies knew they needed to invade France and liberate it from the Nazis.  Operation Overlord was formed.  Originally, “Operation Roundup” (www.dday.co.uk), Overlord was thought up by “Supreme Allied Commander Dwight Eisenhower”(www.britannica.com/dday).  So, training for Overlord began.
   

Most of the training for Overlord took place in Britain which was a “large scale military training facility”(Conway, John R. D-Day Pg. 40).  There were many people there to help train for the incoming invasion.  Over “three million people”(www.dday.co.uk) trained in Britain  Not just people, but tons and tons of equipment were needed to make this a successful invasion.  “Almost 6000 different types of ships, and 16000 gliders”(www.dday.co.uk) were needed.  To get all of this equipment overseas, the Americans created “Operation Bolero”(www.dday.co.uk).  With all this equipment, firepower, and troop support, there was no doubt this was going to be the biggest naval invasion the world has seen.
   

This invasion plan was not fully noticed by the Germans.  After a while of holding the French Atlantic Coast, the Germans knew there will probably be an invasion.  Field Commander Erwin Rommel had decided to fortify what would be known as the Atlantic Wall.  This was the Atlantic Coast of France.  Rommel decided to heavily fortify Pas de Calais due to its short distance from England.  Instead, the Allies decided to invade at Normandy.  Normandy was farther from the English Coast and it had suitable landing beaches.  Rommel decided to place traps along the Atlantic Wall to halt tank movement.  The Allies also had a plan for this.  Winston Churchill had his finest engineers create different variations of tanks.  One known as the “Churchill Tank”(Dowswell, Paul. Second World War) which shot a 110m flamethrower, was very deadly.  Other tanks ripped up mines from below the ground.  These designs helped defeat Rommel’s defenses.