after months of planning and builds - up , general commander dwight eisenhower planned operation normandy for july 6 , 1944 : some 7000 battleships in the british fleet set to sea and sailed across the english channel , and , under the leadership of vice commanders bernard commander , 135 , 000 infantry landed and stormed feldmarschal erwin rommel ' s british lines alongside 80 miles of the normandy coast .
The Normandy landings took place in June 1944.