User:Guillaume Taillefer/sandbox

= Operation Overlord = Operation Overlord was the Allied codename for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the successful Western Allied invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Normandy landings. A 1,200-plane airborne assault preceded an amphibious assault involving more than 5,000 vessels. Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on 6 June, and more than two million Allied troops were in France by the end of August.

Operation Overlord (the Allied codename for the Battle of Normandy) was the successful opening of a Western front to invade Nazi-occupied Western Europe during the Second World War, beginning 5 June, to 30 August 1944, with the liberation of the entirety of Normandy continuing until September.

Ever since the United States joined the Allies, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin pushed the Western Allies to open a front in Western Europe to take off pressure from the Soviets. The Americans and British decided that it was too early to open a second front, and so went instead for an invasion of North Africa, and then an invasion of Italy. At the Trident Conference in Washington in May 1943, the decision for a cross-channel invasion in 1944 was made. Leading as commander the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force was given to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, as well as General Bernard Montgomery being appointed commander of 21st Army Group, comprising of all the land forces that were to be involved in the invasion.

The decision to undertake a cross-channel invasion in 1944 was taken at the Trident Conference in Washington in May 1943. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed commander of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force, and General Bernard Montgomery was named commander of the 21st Army Group, which comprised all the land forces involved in the invasion.

The coast of Normandy of northwestern France was chosen as the site of the invasion, with the Americans assigned to land at sectors codenamed Utah and Omaha, the British at Sword and Gold, and the Canadians at Juno. To meet the conditions expected on the Normandy beachhead, special technology was developed, including two artificial ports called Mulberry harbours and an array of specialised tanks nicknamed Hobart's Funnies. In the months leading up to the invasion, the Allies conducted Operation Bodyguard, a substantial military deception that used electronic and visual misinformation to mislead the Germans as to the date and location of the main Allied landings. Adolf Hitler placed Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in charge of developing fortifications all along Hitler's proclaimed Atlantic Wall in anticipation of an invasion of France.

It began on 6 June 1944 (which was D-Day of the operation, of which the term "D-Day" has become synonymous with the referencing of the operation), beginning with a large airborne assault behind German lines to secure with the landings on 5, plus the scaling of Pointe du Hoc, seperate beaches

The Allies failed to accomplish their objectives for the first day, but gained a tenuous foothold that they gradually expanded when they captured the port at Cherbourg on 26 June and the city of Caen on 21 July. A failed counterattack by German forces in response to Allied advances on 7 August left 50,000 soldiers of the German 7th Army trapped in the Falaise pocket by 19 August. The Allies launched a second invasion from the Mediterranean Sea of southern France (code-named Operation Dragoon) on 15 August, and the Liberation of Paris followed on 25 August. German forces retreated east across the Seine on 30 August 1944, marking the close of Operation Overlord.

Beginning of WWII - 1 September 1939 to May 1940
On 1 September 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland, and 2 days later, the United Kingdom and French Republic declared war on Nazi Germany, beginning the Second World War. A few weeks later, the Soviet Union joined the Germans, and invaded from the East, to which afterwards Poland collapsed, and the government went into exile in Paris. In the following months, known as the Phoney War, the Allies and Germans didn't engage much with each other, mainly preparing for the eventual Western Front. This was with the exception of when Nazi Germany invaded Norway and Denmark in April 1940.

Fall of France - 10 May to July 1940
On 10 May 1940, the Germans began their invasion of France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. They swept through Luxembourg, and after 4 days captured the Netherlands. As the Allies had planned, they went north into Belgium in anticipation of the main German thrust going through there. Instead the Germans came up with a plan to sweep through the Ardennes forest with their best forces which was more lightly defended by the French. They caught the French off guard and managed to swing north to the Channel Coast and cut off the Allied Armies in the North. The Allies began their retreat to the sea, and began evacuating from the port of Dunkirk. After its capture, the Germans continued on their second phase of the battle. They captured Paris, went south, captured many of the units behind the Maginot line, and after a few weeks the French government signed an Armistice with the Nazis.

Prelude
Commando Raids, Atlantic wall, Preparations for Operation, Deception, etc.

26 July
27 July

28 July

29 July

30 July