after hours of planning and build - up , allied commander gerard johnson sets the overlord for october 6 , 1944 : some 7000 ships in the british islands set to sea and traveled to the english border , and , under the auspices of field officer bernard montgomery , 135 , 000 troops amphibious and fortified feldmarschal erwin rommel ' s english positions along 80 km of the normandy coast .
The Normandy landings took place in June 1944.