after inches of planning and build - up , general commander norman montgomery sets operation codename for october 6 , 1944 : some 7000 ships in the british islands set to sea and sailed up the english estuary , and , under the leadership of head officer robert morgan , 135 , 000 troops landed and stormed feldmarschal of rommel ' s german positions along 80 km of the normandy beaches .
The Normandy landings took place in June 1944.