D-Day and the Normandy Campaign | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans (2024)

Top Photo: "Into the Jaws of Death" — US troops wade through water and Nazi gunfire, June 6, 1944. Records of the US Coast Guard (NAID 355).

Buildup and Training

The planning for an invasion in northwest Europe began years in advance, although it was not until December 1943,when General Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, that preparations for the future operation, code-named Overlord, intensified.

The Plan

Operation Fortitude successfully deceived German High Command into expecting a landing at Pas-de-Calais. Instead, the Allies targeted a 50-mile stretch of Normandy coastline. The plan had two components: Operation Neptune, the naval assault phase, and Operation Overlord, the broader invasion strategy. Approximately 160,000 Allied troops were to land across five beaches: Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha, and Utah, with British and American airborne forces landing inland.

D-Day

Initially set for June 5, D-Day was delayed due to poor weather. With a small window of opportunity in the weather, Eisenhower decided to go—D-Day would be June 6, 1944. Paratroopers began landing after midnight, followed by a massive naval and aerial bombardment at 6:30 a.m. American forces faced severe resistance at Omaha and Utah Beaches. Despite challenges, including mislandings and fierce opposition, Allied forces established a critical beachhead in Normandy.

Hedgerow Fighting

For all of the preparations made for Overlord, the Allied forces were ill-equipped to fight in the hedgerows they quickly encountered in Normandy. The Normandy bocage presented unexpected challenges with its dense hedgerows and narrow roads. German forces used the hedgerows defensively, creating deadly killing fields that Allied troops had to cross. The Allies had to adapt their tactics to overcome these obstacles and advance.

The End of the Normandy Campaign

American forces isolated and captured Cherbourg by June 27, while British forces secured Caen by July 9. Despite these victories, progress was slow. On July 24–25, American forces launched Operation Cobra, breaking through German lines near Saint-Lô. This marked the end of the Normandy Campaign and the beginning of the Allied push to liberate northern France and Paris.

D-Day 80th Anniversary Media Resources

Must Reads

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  D-Day: The Allies Invade Europe

  In May 1944, the Western Allies were finally prepared to deliver their greatest blow of the war, the long-delayed, cross-channel invasion of northern France, code-named Overlord.

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  Operation Neptune: A Tale of Two Landings

  While the Overlord operation was a combined effort of land, sea, and air forces, the amphibious assault plan was given the code name Neptune.

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  'A Pure Miracle': The D-Day Invasion of Normandy

  This column is the first of three D-Day columns written by war correspondent Ernie Pyle describing the Allied invasion of Normandy.

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  Planning for D-Day: Preparing Operation Overlord

  Despite their early agreement on a strategy focused on defeating “Germany First,” the US and British Allies engaged in a lengthy and divisive debate over how exactly to conduct this strategy before they finally settled on a plan for Operation Overlord, the D-Day invasion of Normandy.

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  See Also

  D-Day - Normandy Invasion, Facts & Significance | HISTORYD-Day: Invasion in der NormandieNormandy Invasion | Definition, Beaches, Map, Photos, Casualties, & Facts

  The Airborne Invasion of Normandy

  On June 5, 13,400 American paratroopers boarded C-47 aircraft for the largest airborne operation in history. Problems began as they crossed into France.

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  Gold, Juno, and Sword Beaches on D-Day

  The British landing area lay between Port-en-Bessin and Ouistreham where they would link up with 6th British Airborne Division along the Orne River, after their landing to protect the eastern flank of the Allied lodgment.

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  'The Horrible Waste of War': The Wreckage after D-Day

  This column is the second of three D-Day columns written by war correspondent Ernie Pyle describing the Allied invasion of Normandy.

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  Why D-Day?

  If the US and its western Allies wanted to win this war as rapidly as possible, they couldn’t sit around and wait: not for a naval blockade, or for strategic bombing to work, or for the Soviets.

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  Practice Makes

  Slapton Sands taught the Allies lessons, at a high price.

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  The Reception: The Germans on D-Day

  How the sheer raw power of the Alliesoverwhelmed the Germans.

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  Heroic Beauty: Exposing Omaha Beach

  How a Signal Corps photographic team took one of the most iconic images of Omaha Beach.

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  The First Ships of Operation Neptune

  The first to cross the English Channel on D-Day, minesweepers cleared the way for the invasion of France.