By May 1944, 1.5 million American troops had arrived in the United Kingdom. Most were housed in temporary camps in the south-west of England, ready to move across the Channel to the western section of the landing zone. British and Canadian troops were billeted in accommodations further east, spread from Southampton to Newhaven, and even on the east coast for men who would be coming across in later waves. Minesweepers began clearing lanes on the evening of 5 June, and a thousand bombers left before dawn to attack the coastal defenses. Some 1,200 aircraft departed England just before midnight to transport three airborne divisions to their drop zones behind enemy lines several hours before the beach landings. The US 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions were assigned objectives on the Cotentin Peninsula west of Utah. The British 6th Airborne Division was assigned to capture intact the bridges over the Caen Canal and River Orne. Infantry began arriving on the beaches at around 06:30. In the month of May and in the beginning of June USAAF and RAF have obtained complete control of the sky over France. After the success of the landings and the liberation of Paris the advance of the Allied troops was halted in December with the German offensive in the Battle of the Bulge, when the Wehrmacht was able to recapture Antwerp thus cutting British and American supply lines. While the Allied were recovering from the defeat in the spring and summer of 1945 the German were able to use some of their secret weapon such as the V2 Rockets and new jet fighters such as the Focke Wulf TA183. The allied were able to slowly advance due to their sheer advantage in numbers as the Germans had to fight also the Soviets on the eastern front. By March 1946 the front was stalled on the river of the Rhine River.
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