Operation Overlord: D-Day to Paris

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• 1. Initial focus
• 2. First landings
• 3. Main attack
• 4. Exploitation phase
• 5. Making for the Seine
• 6. Paris
• 7. Find out more
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Initial focus

Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of north-west Europe in June 1944, was a remarkable achievement. It provided the springboard from which forces from Britain, the United States, Canada, Poland and France could liberate western Europe from German occupation - before advancing on Berlin to defeat Hitler.

The planning for Overlord began in the spring of 1943, and at the outset focused on where best to penetrate the system of German coastal defences. Stretching from northern Norway to the Franco-Spanish frontier, these defences were known as the 'Atlantic Wall'.

'Operation Overlord ... was a remarkable achievement.'

After an assessment of the alternatives it was decided that an initial assault force of 150,000 men would land on the beaches of Normandy, in northern France. Although here the English Channel was wider than at the Pas de Calais, Normandy was chosen because its beaches were close to English ports, were within range of Allied aircraft stationed in England, and had the useful French port of Cherbourg nearby.

With Normandy chosen, the supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, American General Dwight D Eisenhower then tasked his staff with the more detailed military planning for the invasion.

British General Sir Bernard Montgomery was put in charge of land operations, while lieutenant generals Omar N Bradley (commanding US First Army) and Sir Miles Dempsey (commanding British Second Army), took charge of the actual assault troops.

The final plan demanded that three airborne divisions be delivered to Normandy, to protect the flanks of the main invasion force of five divisions assaulting the beaches.

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Published: 2004-05-10