Ask Our Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
Normandy Invasion
Table of Contents
References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
Images, Videos & Interactives
Normandy Invasion Normandy banner Adolf Hitler
See how German troops parachuted behind the Maginot Line as part of the blitzkrieg against Allied forces
Explore facts and statistics about the Normandy Invasion of June 6, 1944
Learn how Nazi panzers wedged between French and British troops and trapped the latter at Dunkirk
Tehrān Conference: Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill Henri Giraud, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Charles de Gaulle, and Winston Churchill; Casablanca Conference Erwin Rommel Allied Expeditionary Force commanders
For Students
Germany invades Poland, September 1, 1939, using 45 German divisions and aerial attack. By September 20, only Warsaw held out, but final surrender came on September 29.
Pop Quiz: 17 Things to Know About World War II
Normandy Invasion
Normandy Campaign summary
Quizzes
U.S. marines raising the American flag over Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, in February 1945
World War II Quiz
Louis IX of France (St. Louis), stained glass window of Louis IX during the Crusades. (Unknown location.)
World Wars
Encyclopaedia Britannica thistle graphic to be used with a Mendel/Consumer quiz in place of a photograph.
41 Questions from Britannica’s Most Popular World History Quizzes
Related Questions
Read Next
Lead image for "10 Infographics that Explain the Normandy Invasion During World War II" list
10 Infographics that Explain the Normandy Invasion During World War II
American soldiers in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge.
9 Questions About World War II Answered
Bar graph of the United States Death Toll during major events. Infogram chart.
U.S. Death Toll During Major Events
Beach obstacles and generalized Omaha profile. Normandy invasion, World War II, WWII, D-Day
What Allied Troops Encountered at Omaha Beach During the Normandy Invasion
Estimated battle casualties, Normandy invasion, World War II. WWII, D-Day
Estimated Battle Casualties During the Normandy Invasion and Campaign to Liberate Paris (June–August 1944)
Discover
Aspirin pills.
7 Drugs that Changed the World
Ethel Rosenberg arrested in August 1950. Photograph dated Aug. 8, 1950. American civilians executed for espionage. Spies, communists, Julius Rosenberg
Spies Like Us: 10 Famous Names in the Espionage Game
Internet http://www blue screen. Hompepage blog 2009, history and society, media news television, crowd opinion protest, In the News 2009, breaking news
Who Invented the Internet?
Drinking water is poured into a glass.
Water Fluoridation: Just the Facts
Portrait of a mountain gorilla at a short distance. gorilla close up portrait.The mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei)
Falling Stars: 10 of the Most Famous Endangered Species
Periodical Cicada, Adult, Magicicada spp. Requires 17 years to complete development. Nymph splits its skin, and transforms into an adult. Feeds on sap of tree roots. Northern Illinois Brood. This brood is the largest emergence of cicadas anywhere
Why Do Some Cicadas Appear Only Every 17 Years?
King Cobra snake in Malaysia. (reptile)
9 of the World’s Deadliest Snakes

Normandy Invasion: Facts & Related Content

verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://www.britannica.com/facts/Normandy-Invasion
Written and fact-checked by
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of  Encyclopædia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them.
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Also Known As D-Day • Operation Overlord • COSSAC
Date June 6, 1944 - July 9, 1944
Location France • Normandy
Participants Allied powers
Context Vichy France • World War II

Photos and Videos

Normandy Invasion
Adolf Hitler
Explore facts and statistics about the Normandy Invasion of June 6, 1944
Tehrān Conference: Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill
Henri Giraud, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Charles de Gaulle, and Winston Churchill; Casablanca Conference
Erwin Rommel
Allied Expeditionary Force commanders
training for the Normandy Invasion
B-17 Flying Fortress
cross section of Omaha Beach during the Normandy Invasion
See how German troops parachuted behind the Maginot Line as part of the blitzkrieg against Allied forces
Learn how Nazi panzers wedged between French and British troops and trapped the latter at Dunkirk
Inside the Normandy Invasion of 1944
The impact of the German chain of command on D-Day
Learn about the Normandy Invasion planned by Dwight Eisenhower to give Allied powers a foothold in France
See All Videos, Images, Audio and Interactives →

Related Topics and References

Topics
Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic

Timeline

Samuel Bak: Smoke
Holocaust
1933 - 1945
Learn how the Third Reich utilized U-boats in the Battle of the Atlantic to destroy Allied supply convoys
Battle of the Atlantic
September 3, 1939 - May 8, 1945
Nazi leaders in Paris
Battle of France
May 10, 1940 - June 25, 1940
Dunkirk evacuation
Dunkirk evacuation
May 26, 1940 - June 4, 1940
North Africa campaigns of World War II
North Africa campaigns
June 1940 - May 13, 1943
the Blitz
Battle of Britain
July 1940 - September 1940
German bombing of London during the Blitz
the Blitz
September 7, 1940 - May 11, 1941
German soldiers during Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
June 22, 1941
Pearl Harbor attack
Pearl Harbor attack
December 7, 1941
Wake Island
Battle of Wake Island
December 8, 1941 - December 23, 1941
U.S. troops advancing on Tarawa, Gilbert Islands, in 1943
Pacific War
December 8, 1941 - September 2, 1945
Bataan Death March
Bataan Death March
April 9, 1942
Doolittle Raid
Doolittle Raid
April 18, 1942
Battle of Midway
Battle of Midway
June 3, 1942 - June 6, 1942
eastern New Guinea, from the 10th edition of Encyclopædia Britannica, c. 1902
Kokoda Track Campaign
July 1942 - January 1943
Battle of Guadalcanal
Battle of Guadalcanal
August 1942 - February 1943
Battle of Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
August 22, 1942 - February 2, 1943
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
April 19, 1943 - May 16, 1943
Allied invasion of Sicily
Allied invasion of Sicily
July 9, 1943 - August 17, 1943
Italian Campaign, World War II
Italian Campaign
July 9, 1943 - May 2, 1945
Battle of Anzio
Battle of Anzio
January 22, 1944 - June 5, 1944
Normandy Invasion
Normandy Invasion
June 6, 1944 - July 9, 1944
Cowra, New South Wales, Australia
Cowra breakout
August 5, 1944
Battle of Leyte Gulf
Battle of Leyte Gulf
October 23, 1944 - October 26, 1944
Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
December 16, 1944 - January 16, 1945
Battle of Iwo Jima
Battle of Iwo Jima
February 19, 1945 - March 26, 1945
U.S. Marines on Okinawa
Battle of Okinawa
April 1, 1945 - June 21, 1945
Battle for Castle Itter
May 5, 1945
Atomic bombing of Hiroshima
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
August 6, 1945 - August 9, 1945

Key People

Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.
United States military officer
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
president of United States
Erwin Rommel
Erwin Rommel
German field marshal
John Clifford Hodges Lee
United States Army officer
Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg
Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg
German military officer
Bernard Law Montgomery
Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery
British military commander
Léo Major
Canadian soldier
Trafford Leigh-Mallory, British commander of Allied air forces used in the Normandy Invasion.
Trafford Leigh-Mallory
British air marshal
James Alward Van Fleet
United States military commander
Omar Bradley
Omar Bradley
United States general
World War II: liberation of Paris
Jacques-Philippe Leclerc
French general
Maxwell Taylor, 1962.
Maxwell Davenport Taylor
United States army officer
Miles Dempsey, commander of the British Second Army during World War II.
Miles Christopher Dempsey
British general
James Martin Stagg
British meteorologist
Frederick Edgeworth Morgan, the British officer who drew up the original plan for Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy.
Frederick Edgeworth Morgan
British officer
(Left) Henry Crerar, commander of the First Canadian Army, and (right) Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, World War II.
Henry Duncan Graham Crerar
Canadian general
Matthew B. Ridgway, 1951.
Matthew Bunker Ridgway
United States general
Sperrle, Hugo
Hugo Sperrle
German military officer
Bertram Home Ramsay, naval commander in chief of Operation Overlord, the Normandy Invasion.
Bertram Home Ramsay
British officer
Salmuth, Hans von
Hans von Salmuth
German military officer

Related Quizzes and Features

Quiz
Louis IX of France (St. Louis), stained glass window of Louis IX during the Crusades. (Unknown location.)
World Wars
U.S. marines raising the American flag over Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, in February 1945
World War II Quiz
Encyclopaedia Britannica thistle graphic to be used with a Mendel/Consumer quiz in place of a photograph.
41 Questions from Britannica’s Most Popular World History Quizzes
Germany invades Poland, September 1, 1939, using 45 German divisions and aerial attack. By September 20, only Warsaw held out, but final surrender came on September 29.
Pop Quiz: 17 Things to Know About World War II
List
Lead image for "10 Infographics that Explain the Normandy Invasion During World War II" list
10 Infographics that Explain the Normandy Invasion During World War II
American soldiers in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge.
9 Questions About World War II Answered