It is January 1944. Most of Europe is under the control of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. Britain is hanging onto freedom by the skin of its teeth, having survived a massive bombing campaign by the German air force. In the East, Stalin is threatening to pull his battered Russian troops out of the war if Britain and the United States don't open a western front to take the pressure off his army. The only hope of freeing Europe from the Nazi menace is for the Allies to launch a daring attack across the English Channel. Remember D-Day is the story of that invasion and the careful planning and brave soldiers who ensured its success.Surprise was the key to an Allied victory. They had to keep the Germans guessing about where and when the invasion would take place. Since the obvious choice for the landing was the French port of Pas de Calais, at the narrowest crossing of the Channel, the British and Americans relied on elaborate deception schemes to convince the Germans that this was their target destination. Meanwhile they planned the real invasion to take place along the coast of Normandy. Readers will learn about Operation Doublecross in which German spies were captured and turned into double agents charged with delivering false information to their German commanders. One such agent-Garbo-had 20 different identities! Kids will marvel at the creative genius of the British who, by ordering skis, cold-weather gear, and snowshoes, convinced Hitler to send precious troops to Norway to block an invasion by Britain's fictitious 4th Army. Even more amazing, they will discover the Allied solution to the problem of how to re-supply the troops once they landed on beaches that had no ports. The answer was Operation Mulberry: man-made ports that could be towed across the Channel!Readers find out that before the invasion could begin, bridges and roads to the beaches had to be secured so the Germans couldn't get supplies and reinforcements to their troops. Readers will listen as members of a British glider unit called the Ox and Bucks transmit their "ham and jam" message, signaling their success in securing two bridges. Members of two American airborne divisions-the Screamin' Eagles and the All Americans- recount how they became sitting ducks for German sharpshooters as they drifted down out of the sky toward the towns they were to occupy. A young German private describes what it was like to be the target of the Allied bombing raids over the beaches early on the morning of June 6 and to look through a break in the clouds and see "an endless fleet" poised offshore. As landing craft bring American, British, and Canadian troops within reach of the beaches, readers relive the invasion through the stories of some of the survivors.Dramatic archival photographs, artifacts from the D-Day Museum, and a detailed yet easy-to-read map of the invasion help bring the drama to life, and a time line will allow readers to understand D-Day in the overall context of World War II.