Normandy and Aftermath

John Keegan illustrates how the D-day landings marked the beginning of the end of Germany's grip over Europe.

 French Resistance members and Allied paratroopers discuss the situation during the Battle of Normandy in 1944Until June 10th, 1944, the German defenders of Normandy still retained the chance of throwing the Allied invaders back into the sea. On that evening the British and Americans succeeded in consolidating their separate footholds into a continuous bridgehead. Thereafter they were safe from defeat in detail and vulnerable only to a major counter-attack. The Germans lacked the capacity to launch such a counter-attack until they rallied their forces from the rest of France - and that the Allies were determined to prevent them from doing.

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