Operation “Overload” or better known as D-Day was on June 6, 1944. This invasion was a result of four years of planning. Many people helped plan this invasion, which was the largest amphibian invasion in history. The men who planned this assault on the beach of France knew there would be great losses but would be worth it to help end Hitler’s rein of terror. It was forecasted to have about 10,000 soldier’s dead. To help reduce this number D-Day was planned for June 4th so that low tide and first light would coincide.

Germany knew that the Allies would try something and would probably attack the coast, but was not sure on exactly where the attack would occur. Hitler decided to use the help of retired Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt and made him

d as a civilian airliner, but was used to carry twenty-eight paratroopers and a crew of two over 1,500 miles. The CG-13A was an unarmed glider, which was towed to the drop zone carrying a crew of two and up to forty-two soldiers or combination of soldiers, artillery and vehicles.

The bombers of that day and the day before had problems because of heavy clouds. The clouds made it very difficult to see their targets and missed their targets by a few miles. It was not a total loss because most of the bombs hit roadways and some other areas to help out the paratroopers. Paratroops also had problems hitting their targets because of heavy clouds. Some of the Paratroopers missed their targets by thirty-five miles. Of the 11,770 paratroopers involved 5,436 were killed wounded or went missing. Some of the men were shot even before they had a chance to hit the ground and have a fighting chance at surviving. Despite of this, these brave soldiers were the first troops to gain control of enemy areas on D-Day. More than 4,000 paratroopers were in France by 1 AM of June 6th. Some of the airborne transporters used on the horrible day were the C-47, CG-13A, and the bomber the B-17. The C-47 was an unarmed transport, nicknamed the “Sky train”. It was originate!

The day before D-Day, June 4th there was a bad storm. D-Day was originally planned for June 5th, but because of storm, the water was rough and hard to maneuver in and moving being stable would help protect the boats for water mines. Visibility was also very bad and made it dangerous, because the drivers of the boats would be unable to see the shore and know when to slow down or know if they drove to close. It also mad it so the light from the sun could not pass through the clouds and let the boats see the dangerous obstacles set down by the Germans. This meant that General Dwight D Eisenhower thought chances of this invasion working was lowered greatly, so the invasion would be postponed one day to June 6. If the date was postponed one more day then the invasion would have had to wait another 2 weeks before the next time first light and low tide coincided. Winston Churchill heard that the weather on June 6th was suppose to be clear and told General Eisenhower and they decided it was go time. The soldiers trained hard and long for this invasion to go as smoothly as planned. The American troops and landing crafts practiced assault landings under the fire of bullets and explosive insets. The army leaders of the Allied forced used what they were good at and put it into action on D-Day. General Eisenhower had been successful in invasions on the Mediterranean with landings in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy which all went smoothly. Generals such as Montgomery, Patton, and Bradley were all adept at securing a lodgment on an enemy-held shore. Eisenhower and Churchill would be the main men in charge until they have taken the beaches.

Commander and Chief. Field Marshal Rundstedt who had not lost a campaign during the war, and directed the blitzkrieg that crushed France, Holland, and Belgium. He was given the task to protect the coast from the German boarder in the north all the way to the Italian frontier, which was about 3,000 miles. To do this heavy defenses were placed along the coastline, and sixty divisions of soldiers of poor health and Soviet prisoners of war (who were glade to fight against Marshal Stalin but did not care about fighting the Americans or British armies). These defenses started strengthening the “Atlantic Wall” as soon as 1942. Which was a line of fortifications, which the German army was believed to be invulnerable behind. Some of the obstacles were miles and miles of barbed wire, mines, Belgian Gates, teller mines, ramps, hedgehogs, pillboxes, and concrete bunkers. Mines were placed in the water and on land. On land mines a

Some topics in this essay:
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