Changes

{{Mediawiki:kindleoasis}}

[[File:Into_the_Jaws_of_Death_23-0455M_edit for my series headline photo.jpg|thumbnail|300px|]]

Most of the world recognizes June 6, 1944 as D-Day; the pivotal event of World War II. Novels and motion pictures have portrayed the massive invasion as Allied troops storming the beaches amid a hail of German firepower before progressing beyond the German lines, through France, and ultimately to Berlin. In essence, that is exactly what transpired. The actual event; however, was a massive and complex series of engagements that occurred in three stages; the break-in, the buildup, and the breakout. If any of these phases was unsuccessful, Operation Overlord would have failed and the outcome of the Second World War would have differed greatly. To fully comprehend the three stages of the attack, the planning of the operation must first be understood.

== The Teheran Conference ==

Soviet leader Josef Stalin was clamoring for the Allied invasion of Europe since early 1943. In order to relieve some of the pressure in their battle with Germany, the Soviet Army needed their allies to engage Hitler’s army from the western side of Germany’s border. By opening a second front in Western Europe, Germany would be forced to re-allocate troops, supplies, and equipment from their battle lines on the east, thereby affording the Soviets a slight reprieve in their tenacious battle with the Germans. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill; however, was adamant that the Italian and Mediterranean campaigns retain the highest priority. United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was also hesitant of a 1943 invasion as German U-boats continued to fiercely patrol the Atlantic Ocean.<ref>Michael J. Lyons,''World War II: A Short History,'' 5th ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2010), 246. For an excellent account of the discussion of a second front in 1943, see Walter S. Dunn,'' Second Front Now ̶ ̶ ̶ 1943'' (University of Alabama Press, 1980).</ref>