Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

(Normandy landings) (6 June-18 July 1944) Overlord was the code name of the Allied landings in Normandy which began on 6 June 1944. The date for the invasion of Western Europe by a cross-Channel attack was initially set for 1 May 1944 at the Trident Conference, held in Washington on 12–25 May 1943. This conference, which was attended by Roosevelt, Churchill and the Allied chiefs of staff, was the culmination of earlier discussions for invasion, all of which had suffered from differences between British and American strategical ideas. Preliminary planning for Overlord was carried out under a British officer, Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Morgan, who established a combined British-American body, Chief of Staff to the Supreme Allied Commander, to coordinate and plan the effort. After the Teheran Conference in November 1943, overall command of the invasion was given to an American general, Eisenhower. Eisenhower came to London early in 1944, and Morgan became his deputy chief of staff. Taking into consideration earlier Allied experiences with amphibious landings – including the Dieppe raid (19 August 1942), North Africa (8 November 1942), Sicily (9 July 1943), Salerno (9 September 1943) and Anzio (22 January 1944) – plans were made for landing five divisions along a 40-mile front. Naval and air support were to be put under the control of two British officers, Admiral Sir Bertram ... log in or subscribe to read full text