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Barbara Jane Hannon’s Letters from World War II is a highly recommended novel set in World War II. It will take you through the war at a very intimate and personal level. Letters from World War II is another brilliant glimpse at one of humanity’s darkest periods.

One of the most pivotal moments of the Second World War was in the summer of 1944. While there had been great strides toward the Allied victory, the tumultuous landscape of the war seemed etched on the horizon. Without an end in sight. Until… Operation Overlord.

By then, the war had raged on for almost five years–and in those five years, battles devastated the world, and the scale of human suffering reached new heights. The Allied powers, led by the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union, were working towards the final phase of the European front and ending the Axis threat there once and for all.

The Normandy Landings

The Allied strategy to defeat Germany involved a two-pronged attack: there would be a massive invasion of Western Europe and a relentless bombing campaign before that to soften up the Axis forces. This was one of the most colossal undertakings of human military history. Nations became singularly focused, striving toward the final goal of truly ending the war. The planning done before Operation Overlord could be greenlit–tens of thousands of people worked behind the scenes–must’ve been unfathomable, and when it was finally conducted, the coordinated effort for everything to run smoothly could have moved mountains.

June 6 was to be the date of the invasion.

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This would become a day that would forever be commemorated in history as D-Day and remembered as the turning point of the war. This was it, and there was no turning back after it. While the war might have ultimately been won by the Allies even if Operation Overlord did not succeed, there is no doubt that the world as we know of it today would have been quite different if it actually didn’t.

The Turning Point of the War: The Invasion Force

As one of the largest amphibious invasions in history, the forces mustered for Operation Overlord were massive–to say the least. The Allies together assembled tens of thousands of troops and gathered thousands of ships and innumerable aircraft. Almost every nation of the Allied forces contributed one way or another, each one motivated by the singular goal of finally liberating Europe from the hands of the Nazis.

The invasion was divided into five assault phases, each targeting a specific beach. The waves were code-named Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. While the beaches of Normandy possessed similar ecologies and terrain, each presented its own unique challenges when the Allies landed, from the German fortifications to the tides themselves. During the whole the initial stages, it seemed like the world was conspiring against them!

The Turning Point of the War: The Storming of the Beaches

There was tense anticipation in the early hours of June 6, 1944. This was to decide the course of the war. When dawn broke, the first waves of troops, carried by landing crafts that had to maneuver heavy German gunfire, stormed the beaches of Normandy. Operation Overlord had begun in earnest. One can only imagine the chaos and the carnage as the Allies fought the Germans and their allies.

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While the invasion caught the Germans unprepared, the beaches of Normandy were still heavily fortified, and its defenders were armed and ready. The initial assault was a disaster for the Allied forces, with the majority of deaths during the first waves. The fiercest fights were on Omaha Beach, where American forces encountered heavy aggression from the Germans.

The Turning Point of the War: The Cost of Victory

While there were many deaths–thousands lost their lives–and many more wounded, the invasion of Normandy was the turning point of the war. Having established a foothold in Europe, the Allied forces were now within striking distance of Axis home-territory. The liberation of Europe was now clearer on the horizon, and the end of the war ever closer.

Barbara Jane Hannon’s Letters from World War II is sold in all major online bookstores, but if you want to grab a copy now, click this link.