2194days

Western Europe · United States, United Kingdom, Canada and France vs Germany

Normandy campaign (Operation Overlord)

6 June 1944 – 25 August 1944

The largest amphibious operation in history landed 156,000 troops by sea and air on 6 June 1944, about 132,000 of them on five beaches behind three airborne divisions. Seven weeks of attrition in the bocage followed until Operation Cobra broke out on the American front. The German armies in Normandy were destroyed in the Falaise pocket and Paris was liberated on 25 August.

Explore Normandy campaign (Operation Overlord) on the interactive map · Wikipedia

Day by day

— D-Day

Three airborne divisions land after midnight on the flanks; from 06:30 five seaborne assault forces go ashore between the Orne and the Cotentin. By nightfall the lodgements are separate and shallow, Omaha barely two kilometres deep.

— One beachhead

Carentan falls to the 101st Airborne and the five lodgements join into a continuous front eighty kilometres long. Caen, a D-Day objective, remains in German hands, and the panzer divisions are arriving in front of it.

— The storm

The worst Channel storm in forty years blows for three days and wrecks the American Mulberry harbour off Omaha. Ashore, VII Corps has cut the Cotentin at Barneville and turned north on Cherbourg.

— Cherbourg falls

The Cherbourg garrison surrenders, though the port is wrecked and will not work for weeks. To the east Operation Epsom pushes across the Odon towards Hill 112 in an attempt to outflank Caen.

— Northern Caen

After a month and a heavy bomber raid, British and Canadian troops take Caen north of the Orne. The Americans are fighting through the bocage and the marshes towards Saint-Lo, a few hundred metres a day.

— Operation Cobra

Saint-Lo fell on 18 July. Now 1,500 heavy bombers carpet the German line west of it and US First Army breaks through. Within a week the armour is past Coutances and running for Avranches.

— Mortain

Patton's Third Army has poured through Avranches into Brittany and south towards Le Mans. Hitler orders four panzer divisions to counter-attack west through Mortain to cut the corridor. Operation Luettich runs into the 30th Division and Allied fighter-bombers.

— The pocket forms

The Mortain attack is stopped and the German armies are inside a sack between Falaise and Argentan. XV Corps has turned north from Le Mans through Alencon to Argentan; the Canadians are pushing south on Falaise.

— The pocket closes

Polish and Canadian troops meet the Americans at Chambois. Perhaps 50,000 Germans are taken and 10,000 killed; those who escaped left their guns and vehicles in the lanes around Trun. Patton's spearheads are already across the Seine at Mantes.

— Paris

Leclerc's 2e Division Blindee and the US 4th Division enter Paris, where the Resistance has been fighting since the 19th. General von Choltitz surrenders the city at the Gare Montparnasse. The Normandy campaign is over.

Landing ships putting cargo ashore on Omaha Beach at low tide during the early days of the Allied invasion, mid-June 1944. Among identifiable ships present are LST-532 (in the center of the view); USS LST-262 (3rd LST fr
Landing ships putting cargo ashore on Omaha Beach at low tide during the early days of the Allied invasion, mid-June 1944. Among identifiable ships present are LST-532 (in the center of the view); USS LST-262 (3rd LST frThe original uploader was MIckStephenson at English Wikipedia. · Public domain · source
Troops of the US Army 2nd Infantry Division march up the bluff at the E-1 draw in the Easy Red sector of Omaha Beach, Normandy, France on D+1, June 7, 1944. They are going past the German bunker, Widerstandsnest 65 (WN 6
Troops of the US Army 2nd Infantry Division march up the bluff at the E-1 draw in the Easy Red sector of Omaha Beach, Normandy, France on D+1, June 7, 1944. They are going past the German bunker, Widerstandsnest 65 (WN 6US Army Signal Corps · Public domain · source
IWM caption : THE BRITISH ARMY IN THE UNITED KINGDOM 1939-45. Men of 22nd Independent Parachute Company, 6th Airborne Division for the invasion. Comment: This happened during preparation for Operation Tonga, part of the
IWM caption : THE BRITISH ARMY IN THE UNITED KINGDOM 1939-45. Men of 22nd Independent Parachute Company, 6th Airborne Division for the invasion. Comment: This happened during preparation for Operation Tonga, part of the Malindine, E G (Capt), War Office official photographer · Public domain · source
Map of the air plan for the Allied landings in Normandy on 6 June 1944
Map of the air plan for the Allied landings in Normandy on 6 June 1944Not stated, but the book was written by Hilary St. George Saunders · Public domain · source

Equipment in this battle

Also in Western Europe