D-Day: The Anglosphere Victory

Amphibious assaults are one of the most difficult military operations to perform, even for one united army. But on D-day, there were two unique and very different armies, the US and the British/Canadians.

While the Brits and Canadians had the same equipment, training, and structure, the US Army was very different. American divisions were larger and organized differently. The individual soldiers were trained differently and the Army as a whole had a doctrine that reflected its unique experiences. Although some equipment was shared, such as the M4 Sherman tank, most of the American equipment was different from their British and Canadian counterparts.  Attempting a complex military operation such as 'Overlord' with such divergent forces greatly reduced its chances for success. But succeed it did.

The fact that the Anglo-American forces could overcome these differences and form a cohesive fighting force is a reflection of how much similarity there is between the nations of the Anglosphere. During the war the Germans and Italians could not do it and the allies never attempted to do it with the Russians.  It is very difficult to find anything similar to it in history.  Whenever battles were fought with multiple allies, they tended to fight as separate forces.  There was never a joint command and if there was cooperation it was because one force was subordinate to the other.  This was not the case on D-Day.  Both the British and Americans shared the same level of authority and one was not subordinate to the other.  Only the Anglo-American Combined Staff could create such effective unity from such a divergent force. 

So for me, D-day is not only a symbol of the Anglosphere's fight against tyranny, but also what can be achieved when English-speaking nations put aside their differences and unite for the betterment of mankind. Then miracles, like D-Day, can happen.