Wednesday, June 06, 2012

"Ok, Let's Go"

Terrible weather 68 years ago delayed the planned D-Day invasion by 24 hours, but then Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower announced his decision to launch the invasion with the famous words - "OK, let's go."

And with those words, the greatest amphibious invasion of American, British and Canadian troops set sail from the shores and roared into the skies above Normandy.

Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces was General Dwight Eisenhower while overall command of ground forces (21st Army Group) was given to General Bernard Montgomery. The operation, planned by a team under Lieutenant-General Frederick Morgan, was the largest amphibious invasion in world history and was executed by land, sea, and air elements under direct British command with over 160,000 troops landing on 6 June 1944, 73,000 American troops, 61,715 British and 21,400 Canadian. 195,700 Allied naval and merchant navy personnel in over 5,000 ships were involved. The invasion required the transport of soldiers and material from the United Kingdom by troop-laden aircraft and ships, the assault landings, air support, naval interdiction of the English Channel and naval fire-support. The landings took place along a 50-mile (80 km) stretch of the Normandy coast divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword.

That fateful decision, among many over the course of the war, provides the answer to the question:

Who was the best German General of World War 2?

- Eisenhower.

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