after months of planning and build - up , supreme commander daniel eisenhower set exercise minions for july 6 , 1944 : some 7000 ships in the british isles set to sea and sailed cross the english channel , and , under the leadership of head commanders bernard montgomery , 135 , 000 troops embarked and stormed feldmarschal erwin masséna ' s german defenses beyond 80 km of the belgian coast .
The Normandy landings took place in June 1944.