National Archives: General Dwight Eisenhower give the order of the Day. "Full victory-nothing else." To paratroopers in England, just before they board their planes to particiapate in the first assult of the invasion.—June 6, 1944
"The planning for the invasion of Europe began over a year ago in March of 1943, and was directed by Lieutenant General Frederick Morgan, commander of Britain's I Corps. The first step was to choose where the invasion would come. An obvious choice was the Pas de Calais, the narrowest stretch of the English Channel. Only twenty miles separated the Dover Cliffs of England from Calais, a French port. However, the Germans also saw this as a likely striking ground and barricaded with big guns and heavy troop concentrations.
The alternative plan was the Normandy coast. An invasion on the Normandy shores would involve a hundred-mile journey, but the winds there weren’t as strong, and it wasn’t as fortified as Calais.
Early this year, an ambitious plan had been written up. Five infantry divisions will invade the shore – two American, two British, and one Canadian. Two American airborne divisions including the 101st will be involved. The invasion front will stretch for sixty miles.
On June 5, 1944, a fleet of more than five thousand vessels would invade the shores, along with an array of warships.
Countless men, awaited their orders to invade, whispered prayers, and pondered their fate."
"We shipped out of Swancia, Wales on the eve of the invasion. When we got out to sea, they said the invasion was on…definitely!"—John Cieply
