The Meeting: It was know as Operation Overload. And it would become the largest invasion in the history of the world’s armies. It began on June 6, 1944 – known as D-Day – and ended on August 30 that same year when German armies began their eastward retreat from France, across the River Seine, back toward Germany. Operation Overlord had all the components of a large-scale movement:
The meeting. The operation began with a meeting, the Trident Conference, thirteen months before D-Day in Washington D.C. It was a meeting between the leaders of the United States and the United Kingdom to discuss the involvement of both nations in confronting the fascist designs of Hitler and Mussolini. Operation Overlord – a multi-nation invasion of Western Europe – was a primary topic of discussion.
The Men: While Eisenhower established overall direction, other leaders like British General Bernard Montgomery, undertook heavy responsibility. But the ultimate responsibility for fulfilling the mission fell to the two million plus Allied soldiers who were in France by the end of August in 1944.
The Mission: The mission of Operation Overlord was clear: Defeat the Axis powers, led by Germany’s Adolf Hitler, who were threatening to conquer Europe. Or, said a different way, the mission was to free the inhabitants of Europe from a brutal, racist, totalitarian future.
The Means: When we look at what the Allied forces accomplished, it seems hard to believe given the military and communications technologies available today. The logistics of the D-Day landing on the beaches of Normandy alone were staggering: more than 5,000 naval vessels, 160,000 troops, 1,200 aircraft plus all the support resources needed to keep an invading army fed and field-ready for a indefinite future.
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Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
Jesus Saved Mankind 