World War II Sea War, Volume 13: New Guinea, Normandy and Saipan

Book excerpt: In April, May and June 1944, there were three major areas of naval conflict: In New Guinea: United States (US) and Australian forces landed at Aitape and Hollandia, then at Arare, Wakde and Biak Island. In Europe: The battle for the control of the English Channel heated up. The German navy attacked what they thought was an Allied convoy along the English southwestern coast. They had actually stumbled upon Operation TIGER, the Allied training exercise for the upcoming Normandy landing. RAF Bomber Command mined Biscay, Bretagne, La Pallice, Lorient, Brest, Cherbourg, Le Havre, Den Helder, Texel, the Friesian Islands, the German Bay, Kattegat, Kiel, Swinemünde, Gotenhafen, and Pillau. The Allies initiated Operation NEPTUNE to conceal the real Allied landing location from the Germans. All this culminated in the Allied landing in Normandy, France, in Operation OVERLORD. In the Pacific: The US landed on Saipan, considered Japanese territory, in Operation FORAGER, which caused the Battle of the Philippine Sea.