D-Day: A Brief History of Operation Neptune and the Normandy Landings

By Ron Cassie

General Dwight D. Eisenhower described Operation Neptune, the name given to the Normandy landings, as a crusade in which “we will accept nothing less than full victory.”

At dawn on June 6, 1944, 160,000 American, British and Canadian troops went ashore to battle Germany’s Nazi soldiers across the Omaha, Utah, Sword, Juno and Gold beaches, a distance of 50 miles, heavily fortified end-to-end.

The D-Day invasion was supported by some 5,000 ships and 13,000 aircraft, according to the U.S. Army’s official website. It's considered the decisive victory in Western Europe during World War II, and by the end of summer, some 3 million Allied forces were fighting in Europe.

The invasion had actually begun in the dark just after midnight with more than 20,000 paratroopers being dropped behind German lines in the hours leading up to the Allied troops’ crossing of the English Channel. A fortunate break in the stormy weather on June 6 helped the Allied paratroopers and landing ships.

By nightfall, American and Allied troops made their way through brutal fighting past the beachheads, gaining an uneasy toehold. The cost had been high—more than 9,000 Allied soldiers were killed or wounded, according to the U.S. Miltary’s website. However, more than 100,000 soldiers had begun a march across Europe to defeat Hitler’s army.

Operation Neptune, ending on the last day of June, was the name given to the assault phase of Operation Overload.

Eisenhower warned the men of the difficulty beforehand, telling soldiers their “task would not be any easy one.” His message was also inspirational, bespeaking of the gravity of the invasion plans.

“Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon a great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months,” Eisenhower told the troops four days before the invasion. “The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers in arms on other fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world."

British General Sir Bernard L. Montgomery led the overall invasion. Lieutenant General Omar B. Bradley led the 1st U.S. Army.

It was, according to Winston Churchill, “the most difficult and complicated operation that has ever taken place.”

He described Eisenhower's courage as “equal to all the necessary decisions that have to be taken in these extremely difficult and uncontrollable matters.”

Tragically, of course, tens of thousands of American soldiers never returned from the fighting in France and remained buried there today.