The Pros And Cons Of D-Day

Operation Overlord and Doomsday are two common labels for the notorious battle that took place in Normandy, France, on June 6th, 1944 (Foster). The labels are one way to remember the battle, but possibly the most important thing that D-Day is known for, is that it was the first step to winning the Second World War. The British, American, and Canadian Allies managed to liberate Western Europe of Nazi control with weapons, tanks, and ships (Foot), but the cost of human lives proved to be expensive. The battle resulted in 10,000 deaths from the three Allied nations and German soldiers, as well as innocent French civilians (Foot). Not to mention that the attack could have failed and all the money and gruelling hard work to plan this attack would

Although D-Day was in fact a risk of a lifetime and the ultimate end of over 10,000 lives (Foot), if it had never occurred, the allied forces would never have gained control of the Second World War, a young Canada would not have gained a new found identity, and certain war strategies may never have made a debut. One can conclude that the occurrence of D-Day was worth the negative drawbacks because all the benefits that arose from it. D-Day can be known as the greatest sea-battle of all time (Foster), but in regards to winning the Second World War, it was much more than that. Western Europe, and more specifically the beaches of France were laced with Nazi troops, barbed wire, and deadly landmines. Germany had completely taken over this section of Europe all within a four-year time span. The allies knew that in order to take the control of the war away from the Nazis, they would have to liberate these areas of Europe completely.

It set standards for military planning that are still used to this day. Although D-Day began on June 6th and ended the same day, the planning and dedication that was required was strenuous. The one-day attack took one year to plan. All supplies from troops, boats, tanks, and weapons were transported, troops trained and rehearsed attacks repeatedly to perfect everything, and Fuel was even transported under the ocean via secret pipeline, all within one year (Government of Canada). Most of this year was invested in keeping the attack as secret as possible as well as fooling the Germans. “The allies were determined to keep their plans a secret. They wanted to convince the Germans that their intended target was Pas de Calais, just 50 Kilometres from the English coast. But the real invasion was to take place at Normandy…” (Quinlan et al 122). The Allies’ key to success was fooling the Germans. They constructed fake planes and tanks to fool the Nazi troops and in the months leading to the attack, bombs were dropped in Pas de Calais. This lead the Nazis to set up camps and troops in this area of Europe when in reality, the Allies would have the power to surprise attack them (Quinlan et al 122). The secret, year long plans that the allies executed proved to be on the next level in the military of that time. It set high standards for attack planning that are still in use today around the world.