The D-Day invasion began with a dangerous attack by American paratroopers. Dropped behind enemy lines to soften up the German troops and to secure needed targets, the paratroopers knew that if the accompanying assault by sea failed -- there would be no rescue.
1. D-Day was the start of Operation 'Overlord' - the Allied invasion of Occupied Europe. EA 51048. Troops of the US 7th Corps wading ashore on Utah Beach. On D-Day, 6 June 1944, Allied forces launched a combined naval, air and land assault on Nazi-occupied France. Codenamed Operation 'Overlord', the Allied landings on the Normandy beaches marked the start of a long and costly campaign to liberate north-west Europe from German occupation. The Invasion of Normandy was the invasion by and establishment of Western Allied forces in Normandy, during Operation Overlord in 1944 during World War II; the largest amphibious invasion to ever take place. D-Day, the day of the initial assaults, was Tuesday 6 June 1944. The following major units were landed on D-Day (6 June 1944). A more detailed order of battle for D-Day itself can be found at Normandy landings. 1  British 6th Airborne Division. 2  British I Corps, 3rd British Infantry Division and the British 27th Armoured Brigade. D-Day was scheduled for June 5, 1944. But on the eve of the invasion, as the air and sea armada began to assemble, a storm arose in the English Channel. It threatened the success of the operation. The plan for Operation Overlord entailed landing nine divisions of sea and airborne troops, over 150,000 men, along a 60-mile stretch of coast in just 24 hours. On D-Day, three airborne divisions, one British and two American, would drop behind the landing beaches. D-Day is a special anniversary in some countries, including the United States (U.S.), to remember Allied forces’ invasion of Normandy, France, in the Second World War. D-Day in United States. Select another year-range: D-Day is observed in the U.S. in memory of the Normandy landings in France on June 6, 1944, in which American soldiers and other Allied forces fought to end World War II in Europe. The D-Day invasion began with a dangerous attack by American paratroopers. Dropped behind enemy lines to soften up the German troops and to secure needed targets, the paratroopers knew that if the accompanying assault by sea failed -- there would be no rescue.  The Normandy American Cemetery, overlooking Omaha Beach and the English Channel, was established on June 8, 1944, as the first U.S. cemetery in Europe during World War II. It holds the graves of more than 9,300 U.S. servicemen who died in the D-Day invasion or subsequent missions. The invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history and required extensive planning. Prior to D-Day, the Allies conducted a large-scale deception campaign designed to mislead the Germans about the intended invasion target. The Army began using the codes H-hour and D-day during World War I to indicate the time or date of an operation's start. Military planners would write of events planned to occur on H-hour or D-day -- long before the actual dates and times of the operations would be known, or in order to keep plans secret. And so the D may simply refer to the day of invasion. The invasion of France on June 6, 1944 was a triumph of intelligence, coordination, secrecy, and planning. The bold attack was also a tremendous risk. Ultimately it succeeded because of individual soldiers' bravery in combat. Learn some of the basic facts about D-Day Allied forces rehearsed their D-Day roles for months before the invasion. On 28 April 1944, in south Devon on the English coast, 638 U.S. soldiers and sailors were killed when German torpedo boats surprised one of these landing exercises, Exercise Tiger. The following major units were landed on D-Day (6 June 1944). A more detailed order of battle for D-Day itself can be found at Normandy landings. 1  British 6th Airborne Division. 2  British I Corps, 3rd British Infantry Division and the British 27th Armoured Brigade. The Normandy landings (codenamed Operation Neptune) were the landing operations on 6 June 1944 (termed D-Day) of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. With this action, the last of the D-Day goals of the British 6th Airborne Division was achieved. They were reinforced at 12:00 by commandos of the 1st Special Service Brigade, who landed on Sword Beach, and by the 6th Airlanding Brigade, who arrived in gliders at 21:00 in Operation Mallard.
http://www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-10-things-you-need-to-know-about-d-day https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Normandy http://www.nationalww2museum.org/learn/education/for-students/ww2-history/d-day-june-6-1944.html http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/d-day http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/dday/sfeature/sf_paratrooper.html http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/dday/sfeature/sf_info.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Normandy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normandy_landings
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