<Ul> <Li> Jedburgh </Li> <Li> Pluto </Li> <Li> Mulberry </Li> <Li> Dragoon </Li> </Ul> <Ul> <Li> Cemeteries </Li> </Ul> <P> The Normandy landings were the landing operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II . Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D - Day, it was the largest seaborne invasion in history . The operation began the liberation of German - occupied northwestern Europe from Nazi control, and laid the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front . </P> <P> Planning for the operation began in 1943 . In the months leading up to the invasion, the Allies conducted a substantial military deception, codenamed Operation Bodyguard, to mislead the Germans as to the date and location of the main Allied landings . The weather on D - Day was far from ideal and the operation had to be delayed 24 hours; a further postponement would have meant a delay of at least two weeks as the invasion planners had requirements for the phase of the moon, the tides, and the time of day that meant only a few days each month were deemed suitable . Adolf Hitler placed German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in command of German forces and of developing fortifications along the Atlantic Wall in anticipation of an Allied invasion . </P>

Area of france where the allied invasion force landed