A bird’s-eye view of landing craft, barrage balloons, and allied troops landing in Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944. The Allies (Americans, British, Canadians, and others) put thousands of men and tons of supplies on the Normandy beaches in France as quickly as possible.

Early in World War II, Germany defeated France. After the United States entered the war, it made plans with Britain to drive the Germans out of France. The code word for the planned invasion was “Overlord.” Operation Overlord would put armies on the shores of northern France at a place known as Normandy. The beaches where the armies would land were given code words: Gold, Sword, Juno, Utah, and Omaha.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower was in charge of all “Allied” troops: American, British, and Canadian. It was up to him to decide when the invasion would begin. The code word for that day was “D-Day.” Nobody, not even Eisenhower, knew ahead of time when D-Day was. That way, German spies could not find out when the attack would begin. Although there were many appointed “D-Days” during World War II, Operation Overlord's D-Day is the most famous. When Eisenhower decided all was ready, he set June 6, 1944, as D-Day for the Normandy invasion.

Operation Overlord was well planned, but risky. The Germans were sure to fight hard. As it turned out, the invasion resulted in about ten thousand American, British, and Canadian casualties. The deadliest fighting took place at Omaha Beach. At least 1,500 Americans died that morning. Twice that number were wounded. The Germans were forced to retreat. Hundreds of ships brought the tons of equipment and goods needed by the Allies to remain in France.

General Omar Bradley commanded the American troops that landed on D-Day. His army eventually numbered over one million, the largest ever commanded by an American general. During the rest of 1944, the Germans were pushed back toward the borders of Germany. Bradley's army advanced deep into Germany in 1945 and played a key role in winning the war in Europe.

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