NARRATOR: On June 6, 1944,
stormed the beaches of Normandy.
23,400 more landed from the skies.
It became known as D-Day, the major turning
point of World War II.
But it almost never happened.
Why?
Well, try getting three of the biggest
personalities in history to agree
on something at the same time.
In September of 1939, Britain officially
entered World War II.
In 1940, Winston Churchill became Prime Minister, standing
alone against Nazi Germany.
Across the sea, Britain's close ally, the United States,
remained neutral.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
yearned to support his friend, but for the American people,
it was a different story.
Traumatized by the Great Depression and the horrors
of World War I, most Americans favored
isolationism over intervention.
But they couldn't remain isolated for long.
On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.
Neutrality was no longer an option.
Less than 24 hours later, Congress declared war on Japan.
By the end of the week, Germany had declared war on the US.
From the beginning, US President Franklin Roosevelt
and British Prime Minister Winston
Churchill agreed on one thing--
an Allied victory would require a massive invasion
of mainland Europe.
They just needed to get their other ally, Russia's
leader Joseph Stalin, on board.
Back in the Soviet Union, Stalin was
getting slammed, fighting the Nazis in the eastern theater.
Attacking mainland Europe and diverting
Nazi troops to the west could ease
pressure on the Soviet army.
So Stalin was in.
But opening a front in the West was easier said than done.
Internal pressures, lack of resources,
and constantly changing circumstances
pushed back the date for a Western invasion.
And there was another problem--
Japan.
The US had its own war in the Pacific
that required ships, landing crafts, and troops.
They just couldn't provide resources to launch
a successful attack in Europe.
Instead, Roosevelt's advisors proposed
Operation Sledgehammer, a plan to seize ports along France's
northwest coast and then conduct a major invasion
in the spring of 1943.
Churchill's team countered with Operation Torch.
The Americans would invade Northwest
Africa, relieving British forces defending the Suez Canal.
Churchill argued this would improve relations
with the increasingly impatient Soviets and lift Allied morale.
The Americans agreed.
A large scale attack on mainland Europe would have to wait.
But it couldn't wait long.
Stalin was getting desperate.
If Churchill and Roosevelt took too long
to offer military relief for Russia,
Stalin might call for a peace agreement with Hitler.
Roosevelt still couldn't commit to a mainland invasion.
But in January of 1943, he agreed to invade
the soft underbelly of Europe--
Sicily.
The Allies overran the island, but once they crossed
into mainland Italy, they were bogged down with high costs
draining resources.
The rough terrain with fierce German resistance in
southern Italy eroded morale.
In November 1943, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met.
They could no longer wait to invade France.
The time was now.
Allied generals Dwight Eisenhower and Bernard
Montgomery suggested a plan--
Operation Overlord.
A full-on invasion of Normandy.
Stalin saw it as the only way.
Churchill was skeptical.
He feared it would be a heavy and hazardous adventure, paid
for with human life and blood.
But he agreed.
The plan was risky.
It hinged on cooperative weather and the element of surprise.
If the Nazis caught wind of their plan,
the Allies would undoubtedly suffer a violent defeat.
Hitler knew an invasion of France was coming.
It was only a matter of when, where, and how many.
So the Allies set up an elaborate campaign
of disseminating misinformation in an effort
to trick the Nazis.
On June 6, 1944, Hitler was caught off-guard.
132,600 American, British, and Canadian forces
landed on five beaches along the Normandy coast of France,
in the largest amphibious military assault in history.
An additional 23,400 troops landed
inland by parachute or glider.
The fighting lasted until September.
While the plan was an ultimate success, Churchill was right.
On D-Day alone, over 4,000 Allied
troops were confirmed dead, and thousands
were wounded or missing.
The total casualties for the invasion
included nearly 37,000 Allied dead.
Their efforts were not in vain.
By the end of September, 1944, all of northern France
was liberated.
Seven months later, Allied forces would
finally defeat Nazi Germany.