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18 Time Lines
U.S. Army medical personnel administer a plasma
transfusion to a wounded comrade, who survived
when his landing craft went down off the coast of
Normandy, France, in the early days of the Allied
landing operations in June 1944. (AP Photo)
American paratroopers, heavily armed, sit inside a military plane as they soar over the English Channel en
route to the Normandy French coast for the Allied D-Day invasion of the German stronghold during World
War II, June 6, 1944. (AP Photo)
Allies needed to establish a beach head in France.
For the NAZIs to be stopped, thousands of soldiers
were going to walk into hell and accept a high prob-
ability that they’d never walk back out.
The Normandy Landings rank among the boldest
initiatives ever undertaken by a military force. The
entire plan hinged on a basic subterfuge. The NA-
ZIs could not know where the landings were to take
place.
“ In addition, they led the Germans to believe that
Norway and other locations were also potential in-
vasion targets,” History.com reported “Many tactics
were used to carry out the deception, including fake
equipment; a phantom army commanded by George
Patton and supposedly based in England, across
from Pas-de-Calais; double agents; and fraudulent
radio transmissions.”
With a strong weather report for June 6, the at-
tack was launched.
“You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade,
toward which we have striven these many months.
The eyes of the world are upon you,” Gen. Dwight
Eisenhower told his troops.