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Germany’s final grave error came on June 6, 1944 during the Allied invasion of Normandy; Operation Overlord. Hitler was actually correct in believing the Allied invasion was to come at Normandy, whereas von Rundstedt and Rommel, among others, had been deceived into believing that the invasion across the English Channel would come at the port city of Calais. General George Patton’s 3rd Army was positioned in southern England, which was a strategically logical point from which to launch the invasion at Calais. Further, the Allied commanders issued false intelligence reports that they knew would be intercepted by the German spy network. Finally, Normandy was not a port city and therefore seemed unlikely as an invasion site. This choice created a great amount of additional work and challenges for the Allies; however, the deception was successful.<ref>Lyons, 248-49.</ref>
[[File:dday map.jpg|thumbnail|250px|left|Distribution of Allied troops for invasion, 1944.]]
Once the invasions forces left England, Hitler altered his opinion and agreed with von Rundstedt that the invasion would come at Calais. While Rommel saw that the forces were targeting Normandy, Hitler believed it was a ruse due to the relatively small number of troops initially deployed by the Allies. With paratroopers from the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions dropping behind German lines, the invasion was under way underway and General Rommel strongly urged Hitler and von Rundstedt to deploy all of the German forces possible to Normandy. Hitler refused and retired to his bed on the night of June 5, 1944.
Upon further consideration, von Rundstedt agreed with Rommel yet refused to act without the Führer’s permission. Hitler was sleeping at the time of the D-Day invasion and not one of his subordinates would act autonomously nor wake him. As a result, the German Army did not deploy men and equipment for twelve hours after the invasion began. They did have sixty divisions positioned at Normandy; however, thirty of these divisions were reserve troops with no combat experience.<ref>Lyons, 249-50.</ref>
As a result of Hitler’s inability to wage a successful military campaign, the Allies were able to land 150,000 troops in just one day. With the success of Operation Overlord, the Allied troops created a formidable second front with which the Germans had to contend, thereby facilitating the Soviet Army in its advance to the west. When the invasion was completed, 2,876,000 men, 11,000 aircraft, and 5,000 ships had been utilized by the Allied forces. By June 13, the Allies held sixty miles of beach. The port city of Cherbourg was secured on June 27, the rail junction of St. Lo was held on July 8, Caen was taken on July 18, and on August 26, Paris was at last liberated. The Allied success at Normandy was due to the refusal of Hitler to heed the advice of perhaps his greatest general.<ref>Toth, November 17, 2011.</ref>
