D-Day History

On June 6, 1944 the The first troops land just from the air after midnight. British airborne troops capture the bridges at Benouville (Pegasus Bridge) and Ranville to the east of the landing beaches, while on either side of the beaches, British and US airborne pathfinders parachute in to mark the drop zones for their comrades, due to arrive over the next hours. Within about six hours, the first troops will be landing on the beaches. This is the 1738th day of the Second World War..

The Normandy beaches were chosen by planners because they lay within range of air cover, and were less heavily defended than the obvious objective of the Pas de Calais, the shortest distance between Great Britain and the Continent. Airborne drops at both ends of the beachheads were to protect the flanks, as well as open up roadways to the interior

The AIRBORNE ASSAULT into Normandy was the largest use of airborne troops up to that time. Paratroopers of the U.S. 82d and 101st Airborne divisions, the British 6th Airborne Division, the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, and other attached Allied units took part in the assault. Numbering more than 13,000 men, the paratroopers were flown from bases in southern England to the Cotentin Peninsula in approximately 925 C-47 airplanes. An additional 4,000 men, consisting of glider infantry with supporting weapons and medical and signal units, were to arrive in 500 gliders later on D-Day to reinforce the paratroopers. The parachute troops were assigned what was probably the most difficult task of the initial operation -- a night jump behind enemy lines five hours before the coastal landings.The paratroopers were divided among five beaches: Gold Beach, Juno Beach , and Sword Beach.

By nightfall on June 6th 1944-D-Day, Hitler's Atlantic Wall on the coast of Normandy had been breached. The Allies, at a cost of 9,500 casualties compared with 4-10,000 Germans, were ashore in Fortress Europe.

June 7, 1944: The 12th SS Panzer Division launches a...