Page 6 - Cause & Effect: World War II

Our attack will be relentless and increasing.

Emerging from these cordial conferences we look with confi -
dence to the day when all peoples of the world may live free
lives, untouched by tyranny, and according to their varying de-
sires and their own consciences.

We came here with hope and determination. We leave here,
friends in fact, in spirit and in purpose. 27

Assault on Five Beaches

Many months before the Tehran Conference, the Allies commenced
a massive troop buildup, and by early 1944 some 3.5 million Allied
troops were camped in Great Britain, awaiting orders for the invasion.
Meanwhile, in January 1944 US Army general Dwight D. Eisenhow-
er assumed command of Allied troops in
“No power on
earth can prevent Europe and ordered fi nal plans drawn up
our destroying the for Operation Overlord.
German armies by Military planners targeted the inva-
land, their U-boats sion for fi ve beaches near the French town
by sea, and their of Caen in a region of France known as
war plants from the Normandy. Th e landing site was selected
air. Our attack will
be relentless and because of the nature of the terrain be-
increasing.” 27 yond the beaches—the fi elds and pastures
would provide easy access for the Al-
— Joint statement by lied troops to the French interior. Units
US president Franklin
D. Roosevelt, British of the British and Canadian militaries
prime minister Winston would land at beaches code-named Gold,
Churchill, and Soviet
leader Joseph Stalin Sword, and Juno. Th e Americans would
assault the beaches code-named Omaha
and Utah. More than just an amphibious landing, the invasion would
consist of bombardments of German positions by navy ships, bomber
strikes over the Normandy coastline, commandos fl own in by gliders,
and paratroopers dropped behind enemy lines. D-day, as the invasion
came to be known, was set for May 1.
As May 1 approached, though, Eisenhower decided the troops
needed more time to prepare. He rescheduled the assault for the fi rst

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