June 6, 1944, is a special date in American history. It is synonymous with D-Day, the Allied invasion of Normandy, which took place 79 years ago today. The largest amphibious assault in human history, immortalized in pop culture by epic films such as “The Longest Day” and “Saving Private Ryan,” initiated the World War II battle for France and the downfall of Hitler’s Third Reich in the Western theater of operations in May 1945.
In this episode of History As It Happens, military historian Cathal Nolan discusses the events that took place after D-Day, the difficulties encountered by U.S., British and Canadian armies as they drove east toward the Rhine. The Allies didn’t cross the Rhine until March 1945 – a testament to the strength of German resistance, Allied logistical challenges, mistakes by Allied commanders, and the typical vagaries of war fought on a massive scale. The war, contrary to contemporary hopes, would not end by Christmas 1944.
The D-Day invasion may have been a turning point in WWII, but the brutal slog across Normandy over the next seven weeks is a reminder for current generations that victory over Germany was not assured in summer 1944. And the price of victory was immense. Tens of thousands of inexperienced GIs were chewed up in the impenetrable bocage of northern France and then in the sinister forests along the German border.
“The Battle of Normandy alone took another seven weeks [after D-Day]. The vast majority of the casualties remain to be suffered and inflicted following D-Day. And it took 11 months for the combined Soviet-Western Allies’ attack on Germany to bring the way to an end,” said Mr. Nolan, the author of “Mercy: Humanity in War.”
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SEE ALSO: History As It Happens: What went wrong on D-Day (and how the Germans almost won)
