D-Day

June 6,1944

• On june 5th at 3am 5,000 allied soldiers took away 119 enemy aircraft.

• The day that 150,000 Allied soldiers landed on the shores of Normandy.

Airborne Landing Begins

• Landing by parachute and glider, British and American paratroops deployed on the flanks of the invasion zones to seize important bridges and road junctions.

Heavy Bombing Raids

• Allied bombers launched massive raids against German defensive positions in Normandy.The complete air superiority of the Allies meant that the bombers were almost entirely unchallenged as they chose their targets.

Allied Invasion Fleet Arrives

• The Allied armada of 3,000 landing craft, 2,500 other ships, and 500 naval vessels arrived off the coast of Normandy at 04:00 hours.

• The warships, including seven battleships and eighteen coastal cruisers, commenced bombardment of coastal defenses in the region of the five beaches selected as landing sites.

U.S. Landings Begin

The Allies would attempt to land on five beaches in the early stages of D-Day, codenamed Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword.

British and Canadian Landings Begin

• At Gold, the British 50th Northumbrian Division had to fight hard to finally overcome German defenses. By midday, all three beaches were secure and reinforcements, including the 7th ‘Desert Rats’ Armored Divisions, began to unload.

British and Canadian forces push inland

Allied troops were beginning to push inland from the beaches at four of the five landing zones. At Omaha, however, things had gone badly wrong.

Hitler Authorizes German Counter-Attack

• Because British armor was still en route, caught up in the traffic jams on the beaches, it was left to British anti-tank gunners to repel the German attack. This they achieved, but there was now no question of reaching Caen that day.

D-Day Ends

• By the end of D-Day, the Allies had landed 130,000 troops by sea and 29,000 troops by air. Determined resistance, German counter-attacks and bottlenecks at beach exits prevented the Allies achieving all objectives.

Airborne troops jump into Normandy 60 years to the day in 1944 for the D-Day invasion on June 6. Joint Chiefs Chairman Richard Myers told veterans and their families at a June 5 memorial tribute in Sainte-Mere-Eglise, France, "we can scarcely imagine how history would have unfolded had the Allied effort (in World War II) failed.