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Winston Churchill
and the American President Franklin D. Roosevelt recognised Eisenhower as
an excellent coalition commander.
Eisenhower was
appointed head of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force
(S.H.A.E.F.) and was given responsibility for Operation Overlord, the
invasion of Europe.
Eisenhower now had
the task of organizing around a million combat troops and two million men
involved in providing support services.
The plan drawn up
by Eisenhower, George Marshall, Bernard Montgomery, Omar Bradley, Bertram
Ramsey, Walter Beadle Smith, Arthur Tedder and Trafford Leigh Mallory,
involved assaults on five beaches west of the River Orne near the French
city of Caen.
The five beaches
were codenamed Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha and Utah.
The invasion was
preceded by a massive aerial bombardment of German Communications. This
resulted in the destruction of virtually every bridge over the River
Seine.
On 6th
June, 1944, 2,727 ships sailed to the Normandy coast and on the first day
landed 156,000 men on a front of 30 miles. It was the largest and most
powerful armada that has ever sailed. The invasion was a great success.
After the war
Eisenhower served briefly as U.S. member of the Allied Commission
governing Germany.
On 20th
January, 1953, Eisenhower became the first soldier president of the U.S.A.
Dwight David
Eisenhower passed away on 28th March, 1969. |
