On June 6, 1944, Allied forces launched the largest amphibious invasion in the history of warfare. Operation Overlord committed nearly 160,000 troops, 5,000 ships and landing craft, and 13,000 aircraft against the German-held coast of Normandy, France — a gamble that would ultimately determine the outcome of the war in Europe.
Planning and Deception
The invasion had been in preparation for more than two years. Operation Fortitude, an elaborate Allied deception plan, convinced German commanders that the real attack would come at Pas-de-Calais rather than Normandy. Dummy tank formations, fictitious army groups, and carefully managed double agents persuaded Hitler to hold his Panzer reserves in place long after the landings began — a strategic blunder that proved fatal to the German defense.
The Five Beaches
Allied planners divided the 50-mile Normandy coastline into five assault sectors. British and Canadian troops hit Gold, Juno, and Sword beaches in the east, while American forces stormed Utah and Omaha beaches in the west. Utah Beach saw relatively light casualties; Omaha became a slaughterhouse. The first waves of the 1st and 29th Infantry Divisions were cut down on the sand by German machine guns, artillery, and mortars. Of the roughly 34,000 Americans who landed on Omaha that day, approximately 2,000 were killed or wounded.
The Airborne Drop
Before the seaborne assault, some 24,000 American, British, and Canadian paratroopers dropped behind enemy lines under cover of darkness. The American 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions secured the western flanks around Sainte-Mère-Église and the causeways behind Utah Beach. The British 6th Airborne Division seized the vital Pegasus Bridge over the Caen Canal in a glider assault — the first Allied action of D-Day — and held the eastern flank against German counterattack.
The Naval Bombardment
The US Navy and Royal Navy provided massive fire support, with six battleships, 22 cruisers, and dozens of destroyers pounding German shore defenses beginning in the pre-dawn hours. At Omaha, destroyers came so close inshore that their keels scraped the bottom in order to bring direct fire on the bluffs pinning American troops on the beach. Naval gunfire was often the decisive factor in silencing German strongpoints and allowing infantry to move inland.
Securing the Beachhead
By nightfall on June 6, the Allies had landed approximately 156,000 troops and secured a tenuous foothold on the Continent. The German high command, still expecting the “real” invasion at Pas-de-Calais, delayed committing reserves. Within weeks, the Allies had landed over a million men in Normandy. Paris was liberated on August 25, 1944. The campaign that began on a stormy June morning with men wading through surf under fire had broken Hitler’s Atlantic Wall.
The slideshow below covers the landings in detail with archival photographs and narration. NOTE: The text only slides in the beginning are longer so you can read them. After that, it moves along.