Operation Overlord was the largest amphibious military operation ever launched. The greatest armada the world had ever seen was assembled to transport the Allied invasion force of over 150,000 soldiers across the Channel and open the long-awaited second front against Hitler's Third Reich. Just after dawn on June 6, 1944, the Allied troops assaulted the Normandy beaches, against stiff German resistance. Coordinated with the amphibious landings were the airborne and glider landings, carrying out their crucial orders to take key areas, enable the vital link up between the beaches and secure the bridgehead. - Jacket flap.