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The Normandy Landings (codenamed Operation Neptune) were the landing operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 (termed D-Day) of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. The largest seaborne invasion in history, the operation began the liberation of German-occupied northwestern Europe from Nazi control, and contributed to the Allied victory on the Western Front.

The amphibious landings were preceded by extensive aerial and naval bombardment and an airborne assault—the landing of 24,000 American, British, and Canadian airborne troops shortly after midnight. Allied infantry and armoured divisions began landing on the coast of France at 06:30.

When the seaborne units began to land about 06:30 on June 6, the British and Canadians on Gold, Juno, and Sword beaches overcame light opposition. So did the Americans at Utah. The U.S. 1st Division at Omaha Beach, however, confronted the best of the German coast divisions, the 352nd, and was roughly handled by machine gunners as the troops waded ashore. During the morning, the landing at Omaha threatened to fail. Only dedicated local leadership eventually got the troops inland—though at a cost of more than 2,000 casualties.

sgtgrunt0331-3

The D-Day display at the National Museum of the United States Army, shows an American G.I. resting his arm on the side of a Higgins boat as the rest of his platoon climb down a cargo net. The Higgins boat in this display actually landed at Utah beach on June 6, 1944.

Today, June 6, 2026, marks the 82nd anniversary of Operation Overlord. The so called, "Longest Day" when the Allies landed on the beaches of Normandy and began the liberation of France.

(Photo courtesy of sgtgrunt0331)

warhistoryonline

A makeshift monument to a fallen American soldier at Normandy, France, June 1944. https://wrhstol.com/2kWhaQ5

floridaboiler

thebeautyandthehorror

Scenes From D-Day, Then and Now On June 6, 1944, Allied soldiers descended on the beaches of Normandy for D-Day, an operation that turned the tide of the Second World War against the Nazis, marking the beginning of the end of the conflict. Reuters photographer Chris Helgren compiled archive pictures taken during the invasion and went back to the same places to photograph them as they appear today.

blackswaneuroparedux

You get your ass on the beach. I’ll be there waiting for you and I’ll tell you what to do. There ain’t anything in this plan that is going to go right.

- Colonel Paul R. Goode, in a pre-attack briefing to the 175th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division, Omaha Beach, Normandy D-Day June 1944