Operation Overlord
In the early morning of 6 June 1944 a massive Allied seaborne invasion landed on the beaches of Normandy, in northern
France (see photograph below). The event was D-Day. The mission was called Operation Overlord — ‘the most
complicated and difficult’ operation of World War II,
according to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
The operation took over a year to plan and
implement. For months, intelligence information was
gathered via maps, aerial photographs and holiday
postcards. Secrecy was crucial, as the attack had to
take the Germans by surprise. It was also essential
to pick a day when the weather and tide conditions
were right.
When Allied Commander-In-Chief, General Dwight
D. Eisenhower (see photograph on the right) gave
the order, more than 155 000 American, British and
Canadian troops were ferried across the English
Channel on some 6000 ships and landing craft. Their
 Digital Stock/Corbis Corporation
task was to secure five Normandy beaches, codenamed Sword, Juno, Gold, Utah and Omaha. The beach landing was supported by a massive aerial bombardment of
inland enemy positions, and by drops of paratroopers. The intent was to destroy German gun batteries before they could
fire on the arriving landing craft.
Hitler had expected any Allied attack might occur further east, and had concentrated coastal defences near Calais.
Operation Overlord was so unexpected that, at first, he thought it was an Allied trick, and delayed sending German backup troops to the beaches. This element of surprise was a key advantage for the Allies.
By nightfall on 6 June, Sword, Juno and Gold were in British and Canadian hands, and Omaha and Utah in American
hands. Omaha was by far the toughest landing point as it was bordered by high cliffs and had few routes inland off the
beach. US troops at Omaha also had the bad luck to run into a crack German division. The heavy loss of life at this
beachhead is graphically recalled in Stephen Spielberg’s film The Saving of Private Ryan.
Extract from an official American
account of the Omaha Beach
landing
‘Already the sea runs red. Even among some of
the lightly wounded who jump into shallow water,
the hits prove fatal. Knocked down by a bullet in
the arm or weakened by fear and shock, they are
unable to rise again and are drowned by the
onrushing tide … A few move safely through the
bullet swarm to the beach, then find that they
cannot hold there. They return to the water to use
it for body cover. Faces turned upward, so that
their nostrils are out of the water, they creep
toward the land at the same rate as the tide. That
is how most of the survivors make it.’
 Digital Stock/Corbis Corporation
As quoted in D-Day, by Martin Gilbert, pp. 146–7
© John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 2004
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Operation Overlord was a risky operation for the Allies. It was also very costly, with some 3000 Allied troops killed on
D-Day alone. But it was a turning point in the war in Europe. By establishing a second war front (Germany was also
fighting Russia to the east), Germany’s fighting ability was weakened. By the end of July, nearly one million Allied soldiers
had poured into France via the captured Normandy beaches, pushing southwards. Within a year, the German army would
suffer a crushing defeat on the outskirts of its capital, Berlin.
Use information in this worksheet and in the sources listed as References to complete
the following activities.
1.
Explain why Operation Overlord would have been such a complicated and difficult military operation.
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2.
Imagine you were an Allied soldier involved in both the Dunkirk evacuation and D-Day. What similarities and
differences might you have observed in what was happening on these two days? Refer to the references listed
below, particularly SOSE Alive History 2 and the D-Day (1) web link.
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3.
Based on the official US account given above, and on what you may have seen if you have viewed the movie Saving
Private Ryan, how do you think you would have felt to have survived the battle for Omaha beach? Knowing what the
Allies were fighting for, and what was at stake, would you have still felt the sacrifice was worth it? Write a journal
entry in your notebook describing your feelings and thoughts.
4.
Suggest why Operation Overload was the turning point in the war in Europe. You might find the D-Day (2) web link
helpful.
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© John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 2004
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5.
The study of history is fascinating, because it often involves thinking about how different our world might have been if
not for a particular event or person. Here’s a ‘what if’ scenario.
Imagine that Hitler had found out about the planned Operation Overlord, and that the Allied invasion
had failed. Given the need for the weather and tides to be just right, it would have been sometime
before a mission like this could have been tried again — and Germany would have been ready for
it! Without the western front this operation set up, Germany would have focused its efforts on the
eastern front, and the advancing Russians. But what if they had failed to stop them? After taking
Berlin (which they did do), the Russians would have been free to sweep through countries such as
Belgium, France and the Netherlands, wiping out remaining pockets of German resistance. Keep
imagining! The war is now over, and Russia is the dominant Allied victor in Europe.
(a) Russia was one of the Allies during World War II, but it was also a communist country. What do you think might
have happened to Europe if the above scenario had occurred? Predict in what ways this might have changed
the course of history.
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6.
Now predict another scenario. Imagine again that Operation Overlord has failed, and that Germany (given its ability
to focus on the eastern front) has defeated the advancing Russians. What might have happened if Germany under
Hitler had been the victor in Europe? Who would have suffered most, and what might life have been like? You will
find SOSE Alive History 2 helpful.
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References:
SOSE Alive History 2, pp. 150–4 ▪ SOSE Alive 4, pp. 56–7 ▪ www.jaconline.com.au/sosealive/sahistory2 (or
www.jaconline.com.au/sosealive/sosealive4) and click on the D-Day web links for this chapter
© John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 2004
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