D-Day, the military term for the first day of the Normandy landings, was the largest amphibious invasion ever undertaken and laid the foundations for the Allied defeat of Germany in World War II. Today is the 75th anniversary of that day
The invasion took place on June 6th, 1944, and saw of tens of thousands of troops from the United States, the UK, France and Canada landing on five stretches of the Normandy coastline. Allied divisions began landing on the five beaches at 6:30am on June 6th.
In total, around 7,000 ships took part in the invasion, including 1,213 warships and 4,127 landing craft. Some 24,000 Allied troops were also dropped behind enemy lines shortly after midnight on the day of the invasion, and 132,000 men landed on the beaches. The troops were supported by 12,000 Allied aircraft, and 10,000 vehicles were delivered to the five beaches.
On D-Day alone, 4,414 Allied troops were confirmed dead, with more than 9,000 wounded or missing. The precise number of German casualties on the day is unknown, but they are estimated to be between 4,000 and 9,000.
The US troops were assigned to Utah beach at the base of the Cotentin Peninsular and Omaha beach at the northern end of the Normandy coast. The British subsequently landed on Gold Beach, followed by the Canadians at Juno, and finally the British at Sword, the easternmost point of the invasion.
By midnight on June 6th, the troops had secured their beachheads and moved further inland from Utah, Gold, Juno and Sword.
However, not all the landings were successful; US forces suffered substantial losses at Omaha beach, where strong currents forced many landing craft away from their intended positions, delaying and hampering the invasion strategy.
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