Normandy

Overlords objectives were met on August 24 - D + 79 - when the line outlining the “lodgment area” was reached, although historians normally consider Eisenhower’s assumption of command on September 1 as the logical end of the campaign.

By September, the Allies had suffered nearly 210,000 casualties, including almost 37,000 dead. Thirty-eight Allied divisions were on the continent facing 51 German “divisions” whose actual combat strength SHAEF computed at 33 divisions. German losses have been variously estimated between 400,000 and 500,000, with at least 1,500 tanks and 3,500 guns destroyed.

With an Allied force rapidly growing to eight divisions moving up from southern France, most of France was free. Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands were days away from freedom for some of their populations. The war, however, was far from over. Neither Holland nor France would be totally freed until the end of the Rhineland campaign the following spring. Luxembourg and Belgium would be liberated and then fought over again during the bloody Ardennes campaign in December and January.

Normandy, however, was the essential starting-point on the road to liberation. The “Second Front” long awaited by the Soviets and the “Cross-Channel Attack” that was the center piece of Americas direct approach strategy to destroy Hitler, spelt doom for the Third Reich.

Neither the strategic bombing offensive that contributed so much, the essential efforts of the Allied navies and merchant marine, nor the valiant campaigns fought in the Mediterranean, North Africa, nor even the Eastern Front, could have brought victory by 1945 without Overlord. Within a year of the invasion, Nazi Germany was smashed, and Western Europe was free.

History’s judgements on Overlord, its contributions, and its personalities will long continue. Historical research never ends; each generation seems to have the need to reevaluate and assess in the light of its values. Perhaps Overlords epitaph should follow the symbolism represented on the shoulder sleeve insignia of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force.

The insignia featured a crusader’s sword of liberation representing avenging justice to break Nazi power in Europe, on a sable shield representing the oppression that had fallen over Europe. Atop the shield is a rainbow representing the colors of the Allied national flags, under an azure field representing the peace and tranquility that the United Nations would attempt to restore to Europe’s people.

The accomplishments of the Allied Force that marched, flew, or sailed under SHAEF’s command matched in deeds what the symbolism of SHAEF’s insignia represented. So many years after the event, history has to record that SHAEF’s objectives were met.