A beachhead is a temporary line created when a

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

unit reaches a landing beach by sea and begins to defend the area as other reinforcements arrive. Once a large enough unit is assembled, the invading force can begin advancing inland. The term is sometimes used interchangeably (both correctly and incorrectly) with '' bridgehead'' and '' lodgement''. Beachheads have been important in many military actions; examples include operations such as '' Operation Neptune'' during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

(especially at Inchon), and the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. Although many references state that ''Operation Neptune'' refers to the naval operations in support of ''

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The ope ...

'', the most reliable references make it clear that ''Overlord'' referred to the establishment of a large-scale '' lodgement'' in Normandy, and that ''Neptune'' referred to the landing phase which created the beachhead; ''Neptune'' was therefore the first part of ''Overlord''. According to the D-Day Museum: Once an amphibious assault starts, victory tends to go to the side which can reinforce the beachhead most quickly. Occasionally, the amphibious forces do not expand their beachheads quickly enough to create a ''lodgement'' area before the defenders can reinforce their positions; in these cases, the defending forces tend to be victorious. This is exemplified by the landing at Suvla Bay in the Gallipoli Campaign during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and the amphibious landing at Anzio (during

Operation Shingle The Battle of Anzio was a battle of the Italian Campaign (World War II), Italian Campaign of World War II that commenced January 22, 1944. The battle began with the Allies of World War II, Allied amphibious landing known as Operation Shingle, an ...

) as part of the Italian Campaign of World War II.

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{{Wiktionary Military geography

See also

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