Their first issue was where they were going to land in France because the area was well defended. So they then decided to land in Normandy on the beaches even though the risk were higher, it was more suitable for a mass landing. Just before midnight on June 5, Allied planes dropped paratroopers behind enemy lines. Then at dawn there were 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces that landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch. A huge fighting force had been assembled, including 1,200 fighting ships, 10,000 planes, 4,126 landing craft, 804 transport ships, and hundreds of amphibious and other special tanks. The Allies landed over 2 million men in Northern France and the cost of the Normandy campaign was high for both sides. In early August, a massive armored division under American General George S. Patton helped the joint British and American forces break through German defenses and advance toward Paris. Meanwhile, other Allied forces sailed from Italy to land in southern France. In Paris, French resistance forces rose up against the occupying Germans. Under pressure from all sides, the Germans retreated. On August 25, the Allies entered Paris and within a month, all of France was