After nearly five years of retreat, exile, and endurance, the Allies turned westward to reclaim the continent they had lost in 1940. The "Grass"—the gentle, pastoral landscape of northern France, with its hedgerows, apple orchards, and rolling bocage—was about to become the stage for the largest amphibious operation in history: Operation Overlord, the Normandy landings of June 6, 1944.
