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Week two – Planning for D-Day

Week two – Planning for D-Day

In the second week of our course on D-Day and the Normandy Campaign, historian and broadcaster Taylor Downing explores the huge scale of the preparations required to ensure an Allied victory

Published: August 21, 2024 at 11:35 AM

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Taylor Downing: With the decision taken to launch an invasion of occupied Europe, the planning could begin. And what a mammoth task that would prove to be.

A large team grew up in London to start thinking about the key military issues – when would the invasion be launched? Where would it take place? And how would it be organised? ‘

When’ had largely been decided at the Casablanca Conference – the invasion would take place in the spring of 1944. ‘Where’ was an enormous decision to take – the planners had the choice to land anywhere on the whole coast of Occupied Europe from Norway to south-west France.

‘How’ depended upon the number of landing craft and men available for what would become the biggest and most complex amphibious operation of the war. Join me this week to see how decisions were reached that would change the shape of the Second World War.

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HistoryExtra Academy video lecture: Planning for D-Day. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

In the second week of our course on D-Day and the Normandy Campaign, historian and broadcaster Taylor Downing explores the huge scale of the preparations required to ensure an Allied victory
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The road to D-Day: the masterplan. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Landing successfully in Normandy and conquering Europe would require more than brute force. If the Allies stood any chance of success on D-Day, it would also take the combined efforts of scientists, military tacticians and the French Resistance to plot the route to victory – long before any bullets could be fired | By Paul Reed
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Exclusive podcastPeter Caddick Adams on whether D-Day could have failed. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

In this lecture recorded at BBC History Magazine’s 2019 History Weekends, historian Peter Caddick-Adams explores the key threats to the assault of 6 June 1944
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Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt: the big three’s war of words. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Winston Churchill, Josef Stalin and Franklin Roosevelt exchanged almost 700 messages during the Second World War. David Reynolds – who has co-authored a new book on this correspondence – reveals what six of these letters can tell us about relations between the three leading figures in the epic struggle against Nazism
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In defence of Monty: James Holland on the Allied commander's D-Day decisions. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

For 50 years, historians have lined up to attack the architect of D-Day. But, writes James Holland, their criticisms are misguided
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HistoryExtra Academy D-Day and the Normandy Campaign quiz: week two. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

How much did you learn about D-Day history this week? Test your knowledge in our quiz

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