What remains today as the largest amphibious operation of modern warfare; the Battle of Normandy became a crucial turning point in not only Operation Neptune, but World War II as a whole. An invading army had not attempted an assault across the English Channel since 1688; lasting from June to August of 1944, a combined Allied effort of a 5,000-vessel armada transporting both men and equipment combined with 4,000 smaller landing crafts and over 11,000 aircraft into history. To understand an operation of this scale, you have to consider several things; the historical context in which the battle took place, who the key leaders were for this battle, the armies that fought in this …show more content…
However, in May of 1940, Germany invaded and occupied the northwest of France; this led to the Allies planning a major invasion across the English Channel. The Allies convinced the Germans that the target of the impending operation was going to be Pas-de-Calais, Paris; they utilized many elements to create the deception, to include fake equipment; a phantom army commanded by George Patton; and fraudulent radio transmissions. On the night of the assault, six parachute regiments, including over 13,000 soldiers, Gliders of light artillery, jeeps, and small tanks, landed ahead of the invasion in order to knock out rail lines, bridges, and to seize and establish landing fields. (History.com Staff. …show more content…
First, it was a big psychological blow to the high-powered Nazi war machine as it was the greatest defeat the Germans has suffered up to this point in the war. Second, the occupation of Normandy was crucial for the Western Allies to bring the war to the western border of Germany. For Hitler this was a big loss for the army; forced to fight a two sided war front without control of Normandy he faced soviet forces and other allies on both the northern and western sides of Europe. Germany was beginning to find themselves boxed in; they were going to lose ground and lose ground fast, the liberation of France was imminent. The loss of France would deprive Germany not only of a major source of resources, and labor but also its seaports that had long sheltered its U-boat operations would be lost. In addition, its radar sites that had afforded early warnings of Allied bomber attacks would be lost if France