Operation Husky and Operation Overlord

Every book I've read and show I've seen states that Operation Overlord was the biggest amphibious invasion in history up to that point, but from statistics I've seen stated that Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily, had 160,000 Allied troops, and Overlord had 156,000. Did Husky really feature more men in the initial invasion, or was that 160,000 over the course of a few days?

 

As someone who took party in Husky, I will also be interested to know if anyone can point to definitive figures regarding the amount of Allied troops who took part in that particular invasion.

My then unit, the 49th LAA Rgt. R.A. was part of the 78th British Infantry Div

Ron

Ps
A quick Google found these figures:
http://www.secondworldwarhistory.com/operation-husky-invasion-of-sicily.asp

The march towards Rome required a pit stop at the island of Sicily to which some 2,600 Allied ships and 478,000 Allied soldiers took part.

 

I always wondered whether or not they say "the largest amphibious invasion in history" based less on statistics and more of the grandiose symbol of the D-Day Invasion (the amount of forces, sea vessels, combined Allied effort, use of paratroops, deception, planning, logistics). Furthermore, the overall entrance of the U.S. and return of Allied forces into the continent via the French coast, is very symbolic.

Living in the states, this is memorialized and celebrated, and rightly so, as the largest venture of military force in our history. Is the D-Day invasion looked at the same way in other countries?

 

It depends on how you define "Biggest" Op Husky landed more troops over a greater frontage, but Op Overlord invovled more ships.

Op Husky, like most of the rest of the landings in the MTO was undertaken at night and relied heavily on surprise. H Hour was 02.00. Op Overlord was different because whatever the limitations of the Atlantic Wall, the defences were strong enough and the defenders vigilant enough to defeat an assault that tried to sneak ashore. That was evident after the Dieppe Raid, which forced a rethink of combined operations.

The Overlord plan assumed that the assault troops would need to be given fire support all they way, from a vast fleet of light craft, mainly converted LCTs. This is why there was a landing craft crisis in Jan 1944 and why the Op Overlord plans only included a modest three division seaborne invasion.

 

So Husky had a larger number of troops in one series of landings and airborne as opposed to the 5 beaches on Normandy with the paratroopers?