Was Overlord co-ordinated with the Russians for maximum effect?

[Naddoður]

In the Tehran Conference, Stalin promised to launch a major offense to follow Operation Overlord. So when the Operation Overlord happened on June 6, 1944, Stalin planned Operation Bagration for the end of June.

Military Conclusions of the Tehran Conference

(1) Agreed that the Partisans in Yugoslavia should be supported by supplies and equipment to the greatest possible extent, and also by commando operations:

(2) Agreed that, from the military point of view, it was most desirable that Turkey should come into the war on the side of the Allies before the end of the year:

(3) Took note of Marshal Stalin's statement that if Turkey found herself at war with Germany, and as a result Bulgaria declared war on Turkey or attacked her, the Soviet would immediately be at war with Bulgaria. The Conference further took note that this fact could be explicitly stated in the forthcoming negotiations to bring Turkey into the war:

(4) Took note that Operation OVERLORD would be launched during May 1944, in conjunction with an operation against Southern France. The latter operation would be undertaken in as great a strength as availability of landing-craft permitted. The Conference further took note of Marshal Stalin's statement that the Soviet forces would launch an offensive at about the same time with the object of preventing the German forces from transferring from the Eastern to the Western Front:

(5) Agreed that the military staffs of the Three Powers should henceforward keep in close touch with each other in regard to the impending operations in Europe. In particular it was agreed that a cover plan to mystify and mislead the enemy as regards these operations should be concerted between the staffs concerned.

 

[perseus]

In the Tehran Conference, Stalin promised to launch a major offense to follow Operation Overlord. So when the Operation Overlord happened on June 6, 1944, Stalin planned Operation Bagration for the end of June.

Indeed that's the point I am getting at. This would benefit Stalin not Eisenhower! Perhaps if Stalin could have kept the German Divisions occupied from day one, the Western allies could have broken out of Normandy in June and have overun the Ruhr by September, bringing a swift end to the war.

 

[chukahleong]

Frankly, there is a political background to this issue, in my view.

Stalin and his Red Army, from what I know, decided to postpone further Soviet major offensives until Operation Overlord had commenced so as to engage in an effective cooperation with the Allies, who were tasked with staging an invasion on the Western Front.

As a result, the Nazis were able to allocate resources and manpower from the Eastern Front to reinforce the initial army countering the Allied offensive on Normandy in June 1944. Nevertheless, Stalin wasn't all-out concerned about how the Allied were doing in Normandy, as long as they fulfilled their objectives, regardless of how much they had to counter and how long they had to do so.