D-Day, one of the most important days in US history, marked "the beginning of the end of the war in Europe" (D-Day 1). Operation Overlord, otherwise known as D-Day, began on June 6, 1944 and lasted until August 1944. American, British and Canadian forces combined to storm the beaches of Normandy, France to help end the Nazi German rule over the West. Europe. General Dwight D. Eisenhower and his team spent countless hours planning the battle that would ultimately end in Allied victory. The preparation for D-Day was a long strategic process. Many different invasions and/or battles were designed to improve "the planning of large-scale amphibious operations and cooperation between land, sea, and air forces and between various Allied chains of command" (Samules 4). United States General Dwight D. Eisenhower was chosen as Supreme Allied Commander in December 1943 and oversaw all plans that were to be executed during Operation Overlord. A major deception plan used to deceive the Germans about their whereabouts and The time of the attack was Operation Body Guard. A fake base has been assembled at the bottom end of Europe, just above France, equipped with fake equipment, fake missions, and a ghost army led by George Patton. The Allies did this to make it appear to the Germans that they would invade near “Pasde Calais in northern France, and that Norway and the Balkans would also be attacked” (Samuels 6). With this simulation of a base in southern Europe fulfilling the role of a fully functioning base, German forces began to feel threatened. The Germans began to move more armed forces into the northern regions of France to strengthen the protection forces. This quote from Hitler's action... half the paper... some 156,000 Allied soldiers had successfully stormed the beaches of Normandy. By some estimates, more than 4,000 Allied soldiers lost their lives during the D-Day invasion, with thousands more wounded or missing” (D-Day 3). On June 11, the beaches were declared completely safe and the Allies sent troops, vehicles and equipment to Normandy. Allied forces fought through France and drove the Germans out. When the Allies reached the Seine, Paris was finally liberated and the Allies declared victory in August 1944. After the D-Day victory, the Allies accepted the surrender of Nazi Germany on May 8, 1945. Operation Overlord, or D- Day, gave confidence to the Allies and showed them that they could indeed win World War II. Therefore, D-Day is seen as the Allied invasion of Normandy that led to the final victory of the merciless war in Europe.