Stanley W Henson III: D-Day, World War III and the Soviet Union

"The first 24 hours of the invasion will be decisive, the fate of Germany depends on the outcome for the Allies, as well as Germany, it will be the longest day." Field Marshall Erwin Rommel. On June 6 1944, the armies of "Britain, the Empire, and America,"supported by mighty naval and air forces, were hurled across the English Channel to "exterminate" Nazi tyranny. During the preceding night, paratroopers and glider-born assault troops had boldly landed behind the invasion beaches. Allied naval flotillas comprising 7 battleships, 25 cruisers, 105 destroyers, 4,021 landing ships, landing craft, and barges, and with two prefabricated artificial harbors in tow, were unchallenged by the meager German naval units remaining in occupied France. The thousands of fighters and bombers of the western allies controlled the skies over the channel and far inland as well, making daylight movement by enemy ground units perilous. This titanic endeavor was, and remains, history's greatest amphibious invasion, but despite the overwhelming allied superiority on land, sea, and air, success was far from certain. Realizing the invasion could fail, General Eisenhower famously prepared a message accepting responsibility for the defeat of Operation Overlord. Thankfully, that message proved unnecessary. What many in the west fail to acknowledge is the central role played by the USSR in the allied victory on D-Day and throughout the war. On 6 June 1944, nearly two thirds of the German Army was far from Normandy, on the defensive and hard pressed by the Red Army and Red Air Force.