This military map illustrates the invasion plan for Operation Overlord, the code name for the Normandy Invasion. Americans and British prepared for the D-Day invasion of Normandy in June 1944. Poole, a town located just a few miles from Bournemouth, was an important staging ground for sailors and soldiers launching the invasion across the English Channel. For ten-year-old Jane, it must have seemed a miracle that all the thousands of Allied soldiers were able to keep the Invasion of Normandy a secret from the German spies living in England. Click to view the image at full size.