80th Anniversary of the D-Day landings

In a mammoth effort of planning and co-ordination by engineers, meteorologists, logisticians and many more specialists from the Allied nations, a force from 13 countries arrived in Normandy, France in a 5000-vessel armada.¹

The strategy was rolled out in phases. First up, in the early hours of D-Day, 24,000 paratroopers and glider-borne troops landed behind German lines to provide tactical support. Following that, massive naval and aerial bombardments attempted to supress the German defences and weaponry. ¹

Then a ground force of more than 130,000 troops came ashore on five beaches across a 50-mile stretch of Normandy coast, along the Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword beaches. By the end of D-Day there had been 10,000 allied casualties. Yet this was only the beginning. ¹

The ensuing Battle of Normandy was to last into late August and cost tens of thousands of lives as it defeated and repulsed the occupying German forces eastwards. ¹

It was a decisive success for the Allies despite the huge casualties and paved the way for the liberation of much of north west Europe¹ and ultimately led to the liberation of Paris itself.