<p>Arguably the most famous date of the Second<em> </em>World War is the 6th June 1944, better known<em> </em>as D-Day, the date on which the Allies returned<em> </em>to the continent of Europe in <em>Operation Overlord, </em>the greatest amphibious assault ever<em> </em>mounted in the history of warfare. In the first<em> </em>two hours alone 156 000 Allied troops went<em> </em>ashore, forming the vanguard for the army of<em> </em>over two million men that was to follow. Although<em> </em>the officers who planned the invasion<em> </em>predicted that the Allies would suffer a tremendously<em> </em>high casualty rate, the inescapable fact<em> </em>was that in order to come to grips with the<em> </em>German Army and destroy it, sooner or later it<em> </em>would be necessary to invade the mainland of<em> </em>Europe. The enthusiasm with which this concept<em> </em>was embraced usually varied in proportion<em> </em>to the distance of the individual from the potential<em> </em>invasion coast.</p>