Prior to the assault, minefields and other obstacles had to be cleared and channels marked for the landing craft. The movement of thousands of ships of various sizes had to be carefully choreographed to ensure that they arrived at the right time in the right place to perform their allotted tasks. This was no simple task, as sufficient forces had to be built up, equipped, sustained, and transported across the Channel to France. The date subsequently changed to June 1944 after two invasion beaches were added to the plan, necessitating a month delay to obtain additional landing craft and transport aircraft.Īdmiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, RN was appointed the Naval Commander and given responsibility for organising Operation NEPTUNE, the naval element of Operation OVERLORD. Once the invasion decision had been made planning commenced in earnest. General Eisenhower was appointed the Supreme Allied Commander for Operation OVERLORD. At the Tehran Conference in November 1943, Roosevelt and Stalin forced Churchill to commit to a firm invasion date of May 1944. The Casablanca Conference in January 19 as the year for the invasion of France. Planning for an Allied return to the continent had commenced in 1941, with Stalin pushing for a Second Front in Europe from 1942. These amphibious craft would form the backbone of the future D-Day invasion force. Shipyards in America were crucial to the war effort, as not only were they building and repairing warships of all types, but also constructing merchant ships and a variety of specialised amphibious craft. As well as contributing to the defence of Great Britain from invasion the RN was responsible for ensuring the safe passage of convoys carrying vital supplies, men and equipment to the United Kingdom from America and the British Empire that allowed the war to continue against the Axis.Īfter Pearl Harbor and Hitler's declaration of war on America the armed forces and, perhaps more significantly, the industrial might of the United States joined the war in Europe. The operation was cancelled on 12 October 1940 when Hitler's priority shifted to Operation BARBAROSSA and the invasion of the Soviet Union. Due to the success of the Royal Air Force in the Battle of Britain and ongoing Royal Navy (RN) operations, Germany never gained sufficient command of the sea or air to hazard such a risky venture. German control of both the air and sea were imperative for the conduct and sustainability of such an operation. In the space of a day the Allied forces gained a foothold in occupied Western Europe that could not be dislodged, and which formed a bridgehead for subsequent operations that would drive German forces progressively back toward their ultimate defeat in 1945.įollowing the Allied defeat in France in 1940, Adolf Hitler prepared his forces for Operation SEA LION, the planned amphibious assault on Great Britain. Operation OVERLORD was the culmination of four years of maritime operations against the Axis forces in the European theatre. One of the clearest demonstrations of sea power occurred on 6 June 1944, when the Allies landed in German-occupied Normandy in the greatest sea-borne invasion in history.
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