normandy landings

aka d-day. by the spring of 1944, the countryside of great britain had been transformed into a gigantic armed camp and supply depot. the allies were now prepared for operation overlord. allied troops would cross the english channel and invade occupied france. this would force hitler to fight a two-front war, since the russian allied force was keeping most of the german army busy in eastern europe. over the previous year, the americans and british had gained the upper hand over german u-boats in the atlantic, and their planes had destroyed much of hitler's air force. now the allies faced their greatest challenge – cracking hitler's land defenses in europe.