1. The Liberation of Europe

2. By mid-1944, the Allies were ready to invade German-occupied Europe. Why?  They had already occupied most of Italy.  They had almost complete air superiority over Germany.  The Russians were pushing the Germans back in Eastern Europe.

3. How?  The Allies used their naval and aerial superiority to bombard German positions near the coast of Northern France (Normandy).  After months of bombing, the Allies invaded on June 6, 1944.  This day is known as D-Day, and is the first day of Operation Overlord.

5. German Reaction:  The Germans did not react effectively.  Their meteorologists had concluded that the weather was too rough for the Allies to try an invasion on that day.  The details of the attack had been kept secret.  The invasion was too massive and too well supported from the sea and the air to be defeated.

14. Canada’s Role:  Canada was a major contributor to Operation Overlord.  On D-Day, we contributed 14,000 troops, 100 ships, and 36 bomber squadrons.  Canadian troops were responsible for attacking 1 of the 5 beaches that were attacked on D-Day.  At Juno Beach, we captured more land than any of the Allied attacks that day.

18. After D-Day:  Within a month, over 1 million Allied soldiers were in France, along with over 200,000 vehicles.  D-Day and the battles that followed led to the final defeat of the Germans in Europe.  These were also the bloodiest battles in the war against Germany, resulting in over 20,000 Canadian casualties.

26. Effect on Germany:  The success of Operation Overlord was a disaster for the Germans. Why?  They had no more soldiers or resources to call upon, while the Allies seemed to have an endless supply.  At this point, the defeat of the Germans became a matter of time.  Hitler began a desperate search for miracle weapons that might help him win the war.

32. The end of the war in Europe:  In May of 1944, the Allies, including the Canadians, liberated Holland.  The Germans continued to fight hard. Progress was slow as the Allies were fighting house to house.  In April of 1945, the Allies and the Soviets finally met in Germany.  On April 30, 1945, as Russian troops approached his hideout in Berlin, Hitler committed suicide.  The last German troops surrendered on May 8, 1945 (VE Day), and the war in Europe was over!