This Week in History: D-Day

On June 6th, 1944, Normandy beaches in Northern France were invaded by allied forces. This invasion, known as Operation Overlord, was four years in the making.

The troops led by General Dwight D. Eisenhower were making the largest amphibious invasion in history. This land and water invasion used flat bottom boats originally designed to rescue flood victims from the Mississippi River; a large part of the success of the operation was attributed to them.  

There were German troops stationed further up the coast, where the English Channel was narrowest. Allied troops numbering around 160,000 made their way to the coast of German-occupied France, but nearly a tenth of those troops died.

The Germans actually knew of the impending invasion by the Allied forces, but because of evasion tactics, were clueless as to where and when it would take place. Operation Overlord was the freeing force that allowed France to escape the German invasion keeping them captive.