The successful landings on D-Day created a major breach in Hitler’s “Atlantic Wall” defenses. Although the battle begun in Normandy on June 6, 1944, was an Allied victory, it was not the end of the war. Over the next eleven months, Eisenhower conducted several important military campaigns in Western Europe. They, together with Allied advances on other fronts, eventually brought the downfall of the Nazi regime.
Most of the Allied casualties suffered in Western Europe in World War II occurred after mid-September 1944. The largest and costliest battle fought by Eisenhower’s forces was the Battle of the Bulge, from mid December 1944 to mid January 1945. During this battle, 19,000 American soldiers were killed in action or died of wounds. It was also at this time that Eisenhower learned he would be promoted to General-of-the-Army (five stars), causing him to quip, “Every time I get promoted, I get attacked.” By late 1944 there were about 2,700,000 serving under Eisenhower in the European Theater of Operations.
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