1. December 7, 1941
   June 6, 1944
2. July 4, 1776

Few dates of the 20th century matter more. June 6, 1944, found the Allies making their long-awaited charge onto the European continent. If their plan had failed, the history of the Third Reich may have unfolded in a very different manner.

1. A-Day
   B-Day
2. D-Day

D-Day might be the most famous single day in military history. Everyone knew it was coming, but only the Allies knew when and where they'd strike back against the empire of the Third Reich.

1. About 1 million troops stormed the beaches.
   All ships used a top-secret cloaking device.
2. It was the largest amphibious invasion ever.

D-Day featured the biggest amphibious landings in human history. Altogether, about 156,000 Allied troops gathered themselves for a charge onto the European continent.

1. Operation Neptune
   Case Red
2. Operation Torch

Operation Neptune was the code name for the D-Day landings themselves. This landing operation was the culmination of years of Allied planning.

1. Case White
   Desert Storm
2. Operation Overlord

The Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France was part of Operation Overlord, which started that June and lasted until August 1944. Overlord was a linchpin of Allied success in the European Theater.

1. Sword
   Idaho
2. Omaha

There was no Idaho beach on D-Day. The five iconic code named beaches were Utah, Omaha, Sword, Juno and Gold.

1. three months of carpet bombing
   10 minutes of light naval bombardment
2. an aerial assault

In the hours before the beach landings, Allied paratroopers dropped into areas just inland of the beaches. Their goal was to secure areas for invading troops as they moved from beaches to the inland

1. Their biggest ship ran aground.
   Most of their landing craft were sunk.
2. They landed at the wrong place.

Strong currents pushed the ships carrying the U.S. 4th Infantry more than 1 mile from their original destination. But it worked in their favor -- the beach where they landed was lightly guarded, giving them a much easier task than on the other beaches.

1. Omaha
   Sword
2. Juno

U.S. troops of the 29th and 1st Divisions landed at Omaha Beach. They had the misfortune of wading into the worst of the German defenses that day, and incurred the highest casualties of the five landing areas.

1. The Americans units were unprepared.
   German submarines sank 10 troop carriers at Omaha beach.
2. Naval bombardments were ineffective.

Bombers and navy ships pounded German troops at Omaha Beach … but to no avail. The ineffective bombs meant that heavy-duty German fortifications were still intact and ready to repel invaders.

1. They planned to stop any attacks right on the beaches.
   They hoped to draw Allied troops 10 miles inland into a major ambush.
2. They wanted to sink all Allied ships even before they left English ports.

German commanders planned their defenses around the beachhead. They wanted to destroy all Allied units before they could even begin to move inland.

1. to aid soldiers to shore
   to drop explosions on German lines
2. to interfere with enemy planes

Barrage balloons were sent aloft, and they had long steel cables as tethers. Their purpose? To make it harder for enemy planes to zoom around landing craft and troops below.

1. incredibly dense forests
   tall cliffs
2. a raging river

The men who survived the initial assault had to deal with relentless enemy machine guns … and tall cliffs. Those cliffs made it very slow going, and exposed many Allied troops to German bullets.

1. Salt dogs
   Higgins boats
2. Jump ships

Ten of thousands of Higgins boats were made by Higgins Industries during the war. These boats lowered a bow-mounted ramp, which troops used to run down into the water and onto the beaches.

1. about 36
   about 10
2. about 120

Higgins boats had enough capacity for a platoon, or about 36 troops. Some of the landing craft sank even before reaching the beaches.

1. shortage of ammunition
   poor weather
2. suspected intelligence leaks

High winds and low clouds meant that Allied ships and planes wouldn't be able to attack on June 5. Thus, the landings were pushed back a day, and still, the weather wasn't optimal.

1. USSR
   Britain
2. Finland

British troops, along with those from the Netherlands and Poland, were tasked with capturing Gold Beach. They were ordered to secure the beachhead and then rendezvous with U.S. troops who were told to take Omaha Beach.

1. in the middle of the tall cliffs
   at the high water mark
2. 2 miles offshore

German commanders figured Allied troops would attack at high tide to minimize troop exposure on the beaches. So they placed obstacles like barbed wire and booby traps at the high water mark to make it much harder for troops to storm ashore.

1. about 1 mile
   about 200 yards
2. about 10 feet

Allied troops waded ashore, soaked with seawater and under fire from the Germans. Many of them had to run or stumble 200 yards to reach the relative safety of the tall cliffs near the beach. Many of them didn't make it.

1. at low tide
   at high tide
2. at the stroke of midnight

The Army wanted a high-tide landing in order minimize the amount of ground infantry had to cover on the beaches. But German defenses were optimized for high tide. Instead, the Allies landed at low tide, when most beach obstacles were visible.

1. about 2 hours
   about 17 hours
2. two weeks

For some troops, it felt like an eternity. The rough waves that day meant that many troops were suffering terrible seasickness after the 17-hour journey from English ports to Normandy. Many of them were so nauseous they were happy to face German troops rather than the ocean.

1. about 150
   about 700
2. about 23,000

About 700 Allied warships assisted the beach landings. Thousands of other small ships and landing craft were critical to Operation Neptune's success.

1. The Germans had far fewer planes than the Allies.
   German and Allied planes were nearly equal in number.
2. Germany had twice as many planes as the Allies.

Numerically, the Allies had far greater air power during D-Day, with more than 9,500 warplanes in the vicinity. German forces had only around 800.

1. 5
   29
2. all of them

Between the high waves and enemy guns, the tanks bound for Omaha Beach were doomed. Only five of the 32 tanks reached the shores.

1. Low clouds hid many targets.
   Allied pilots were too inexperienced.
2. German SAMs shot down many Allied planes.

Allied bombers did their best to soften German defenses at Omaha Beach, but dense low clouds made it impossible to find their targets. Thus, German guns were intact and ready to counter the initial assault.

1. The exercise went flawlessly.
   German U-boats attacked and killed hundreds of sailors.
2. Tigers literally ate three troops.

In April 1944, less than two months before D-Day, Allied troops practiced their beach landing skills with Operation Tiger. But German U-boats interrupted with an attack. Around 750 Allied troops were killed, and the incident wasn't reported in order to protect the secrecy of D-Day.

1. Commanders moved D-Day back by nearly six months.
   Officials nearly called off D-Day.
2. Authorities redesigned the boats used for D-Day.

The epic failure that was Operation Tiger put Operation Neptune in serious jeopardy. Officials nearly called off D-Day for fear that one of Tiger's missing sailors may have been captured, thus endangering the secrecy of D-Day.

1. They were busy surfing.
   It was Christmas Day.
2. The Germans thought the weather was too poor for an attack.

The weather wasn't great on D-Day, with churning seas and high winds that morning. But the Allies decided to risk it, and in doing so, they caught the Germans off guard.

1. 0
   5
2. 55

At Omaha Beach alone, 55 Higgins landing craft were destroyed in battle, taking with them many American lives. Altogether around 80 of the specially designed boats were lost at the time of D-Day.

1. about 4,400
   about 21,000
2. about 700

Around 4,400 men were killed storming the beaches of Normandy. It was one of the bloodiest days of the war for the Allies.