作戰日 (D-Day)

On 6 June 1944, the biggest combined naval, military and air operation ever seen took place. Code-named 'Overlord', the D-Day landings on the coast of Normandy marked the start of a campaign which led to eventual Allied victory in Europe in May 1945.

Preparations for the liberation of Western Europe had begun soon after the evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk in 1940. By the end of 1941, Britain had been joined by the Soviet Union and the United States in the ‘Grand Alliance’ against Hitler. 

In December 1943 a command team was formed to plan and lead the Allied air, sea and ground forces for the forthcoming invasion. General Dwight D Eisenhower was named as Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Forces. 

The ‘D’ in D-Day simply stands for Day. The terms D-Day and H-Hour were used by military planners to designate the day and hour of a forthcoming operation where the exact date and time were still to be confirmed or were secret.

depended on careful preparation. While factories in Britain worked round the clock to produce the huge quantities of weapons, ammunition and equipment needed by the invasion forces, a wide variety of specialists contributed their unique skills and knowledge.

Detailed information was compiled about the German defences, the terrain and the weather conditions. Inventors and engineers devised special equipment to help forces land safely in Normandy.

False information was fed to the Germans to draw their attention away from the real invasion site. 

The Allies could not rely on capturing an undamaged port, so two artificial harbours were planned, one in the British sector and one in the American. Each was assembled from 400 prefabricated sections. 

The pier heads (Whales) and their roads ashore rose and fell with the tide on adjustable legs (Spuds). Submerged concrete caissons (Phoenixes), floating steel tanks (Bombardons), and sunken blockships (Corncobs), which formed an outer defence (Gooseberry), protected the piers.