The beginning of the liberation of Western Europe

"The Allied landing on the coast of Normandy" at the end of World War II, a fact that took place on June 6, 1944, in the so-called "D-Day".

It is not just the military operation, but everything that surrounded it and all that involved. The Allies prepared more than 150,000 soldiers to the initial assault. On the German side hundreds of thousands of soldiers were waiting on the French beaches.

The D-Day had been planned for over a year, and those who participated in the invasion were trained for months. The air and sea assault depended on a combination of factors, including the weather, tide levels and, most importantly, the surprise. It was the whole game involving strategy and ingenuity, and doubts that preceded and followed this massive amphibious operation what make it possible to succeed.

Allied strategists had used every means to make believe that the landing would take place at the Pas of Calais. They don’t hesitate to create false military camps.

Any further delay implied the risk of alerting the Germans, and it was crucial that they were taken by surprise. Any clue of where and when the Allies would land, would have been, for sure, a disaster, as this would have allowed the Germans to concentrate all their firepower at the most vulnerable moment of the allies, during his landing on the beaches of Normandy.

D-Day Success was not guaranteed and the decision would have meant a military and political disaster and the commander of the allied forces, Dwight D.

The day of the attack caught by surprise the German commanders, most of whom were not present. They thought that "due to weather" that day there would be no invasion.However, the landing began on June 6 and thousands of soldiers from both sides fought and died on the beaches. The Allies were imposed, but the tenacity of the German defense show that the battle may have been won by anyone, especially if Hitler had authorized the use of its reserves in time.

Despite the nonchalant reaction of the Germans, the Allies found stiff resistance along the roads and in the villages of northern France. But thanks to the large number of troops and the support of the bombers were able to break through.

One key to success was the extreme secrecy, aided by an excellent distraction campaign that convinced Hitler that the main attack would be at the Pas of Calais rather than Normandy and at a later date. This strategy was so successful that when the Allies landed in Normandy, Hitler was convinced that it was a distraction and retain vital forces claimed unsuccessfully German Marshal Rommel, in charge of the defense.

D-Day was a deployment of preparations and plans of attack and defense. For the Allies, the big day had numerous delays and for the Germans was all a mystery. There were many conflicts, including fighting between the Allies to designate what the best front and the best form of attack. The Germans believed that they were invincible, suffered the consequences of the lateness of the preparations because when the day had less than half the weapons they had ordered.

However, despite all these drawbacks, the D-Day took place as it could, which ended with the defeat of the German defense. D Day marks the beginning of the Allied invasion of Western Europe in June 1944, marking the beginning of the defeat of Nazi Germany.

By: Maria Claudia Villar