after months of planning and build - up , american commander dwight eisenhower set operation 1066 for september 6 , 1944 : some 7000 ships in the british isles set to ocean and sail for the english channel , and , under the leadership of air marshall bernard eisenhower , 135 , 000 troops landed and stormed feldmarschal erwin rommel ' s german forts at 80 hectares of the flanders beaches .
The Normandy landings took place in June 1944.