1. D-Day and Island Hopping
Chapter 14 Section 4

2. Landing in France
Roosevelt and Churchill had been planning an invasion of France (remember, France is now occupied by Germany)
So they met in Cairo, Egypt to discuss the matter.

3. Landing in France
The code name for this landing was Operation Overlord
Originally, Roosevelt planned to choose Gen. George C. Marshall to command the invasion, but this man was essential for military advise to the president, so he could not be sent.

4. Landing in France
Instead the President selected General Eisenhower to command the invasion.

5. Planning Operation Overlord
Hitler knew the Allies would eventually invade France, so he had fortified the coast.
Even though the defenses were strong, the Allies had the weapon of surprise working in their favor.

6. Planning Operation Overlord
Hitler’s forces had no idea when or where the Allies would land.
The Allies staged an elaborate “fake” landing at Pas-de-Calais so German spy planes would think a landing had already happened. The real target…Normandy.

7. Planning Operation Overlord
Spring 1944—Everything was ready for invasion.
1.5 million American soldiers
12,000 planes
more than 5 million tons of equipment Only one thing was left to do—pick the date and give the command to go.

8. Planning Operation Overlord
The invasion had to begin at night to hide the ships crossing the English Channel.
Before anyone could invade the beach, paratroopers would have to be dropped behind enemy lines.

9. Planning Operation Overlord
Perhaps most important of all—the weather had to be good.
A storm would ground the planes and high waves would swamp the landing craft.

10. Planning Operation Overlord
Given those conditions, there were only a few days each month that a landing could be made.
The first opportunity would be between June 5-7th, The invasion day would be called D-day.

11. Planning Operation Overlord
The 5th was too stormy to land
Finally, after checking the weather reports one last time, shortly after midnight on June 6, 1944 the order was given by Eisenhower: “Ok, we’ll go.”

12. The LONGEST DAY
As dawn broke on June 6, 1944, the warships in the Allied fleet let loose with a tremendous barrage of fire.
Thousands of shells rained down on the beaches, code-named “Utah”, “Omaha”, “Gold”, “Sword”, and “Juno”

13. The LONGEST DAY The landing at Utah beach went well.
In less than three hours American troops had captured the beach
Less than 200 casualties.

14. The LONGEST DAY Omaha Beach, however, was a different story.
intense German gunfire
As General Omar Bradley watched the carnage, he began making plans to evacuate.

15. The LONGEST DAY
Slowly, however, the American troops began to knock out the German defenses.
Nearly 2500 Americans were killed or wounded that day, but the invasion was a success.

16. MEANWHILE…
Meanwhile, in the Pacific, American forces were planning a strategy to defeat Japan.
It called for a two-pronged attack.
The Pacific Fleet under Nimitz would island hop closer and closer to Japan.
MacArthur would focus on re-taking the Philippines.

17. MEANWHILE…
While Nimitz was “island-hopping”, Douglas MacArthur’s troops would be making an attempt to recapture the Philippines.

18. Island-Hopping
Slowly, with many casualties, Nimitz and his men hopped their way closer and closer to Japan.
Soon the Americans captured the Mariana Islands, which would be crucial for being able to bomb Japan.