[asheshouse]

D-Day was about the efforts to liberate Western Europe by the French, British, Canadians and the US. The Russians had no role in what took place in France nor in Italy.

As Moggy has noted, if the bulk of the German army had not been committed to the eastern front it is debatable whether the D-Day landings would have been successful without a massive increase in resources. So the Russians had a big role in creating the right strategic environment to make D-Day possible. To increase resources in Europe might have required the US to scale back operations in the Pacific where major amphibious operations were proceeding at the same time.

In their turn the Western Allies drew away significant German resources from the Eastern Front easing the task of the Soviet forces from 1943 onwards.

Ashe