Operation Overlord
Tuesday, August 18, 2020
Military planning demands a high level of secrecy, so nascent operations are often put together under codenames. One of the most famous examples is Operation Overlord, the codename for the Allied invasion of Western Europe, which was occupied by the Germans in the last years of World War II. It is now known as the Battle of Normandy, the name of the beach where the first landings took place on June 6, 1944.
It was a massive undertaking, complicating the issue of keeping it confidential. Imagine bringing together 1,200 airplanes, over 5,000 sea-going vessels, and nearly 160,000 troops on day one (and by the end of August totaling over two million).
The landings at Normandy themselves were codenamed Operation Neptune. Today we usually refer to that day as D-Day, a generic term that has been applied to many operations, though this is the most famous of all D-Days. The "D" simply means "Day." (The specific hour of an action is called "H-Hour.") The term is often used in the early planning stages before the actual date is chosen.
Operation Neptune was the largest seaborne invasion in history. The amphibious landings followed air attacks and the airborne landings of 24,000 men who arrived by nighttime parachute drops and gliders.
The men arriving by sea had to face heavy gunfire; landmines; and barbed wire, wooden stakes, and other obstacles. Once the troops reached the towns, there was house-to-house fighting.
One peculiarity of seaborne troop movement is the importance of the tides, which are dictated by the moon and in turn dictated the ideal times of day for landing. The assault could only be made in a window of a few days each month. Inclement weather delayed the launch by one day; another day's delay would have pushed the operation back by two weeks.
Things did not go well at first; German resistance was strong. But after 2 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days of fighting, the Germans withdrew on August 30. Paris had been liberated five days earlier, and a little over seven months later, the Allies celebrated VE Day: "Victory in Europe Day."