CAMILLE BOHANNON

On May 19, 1943, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (left)
and U.S.  U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt (right) set a date for
the cross-Channel landing that would become D-Day, May 1, 1944 
but, that date would prove a bit premature, as bad weather became
a factor.

Addressing a joint session of Congress, Churchill warned that the
real danger at present was the “dragging-out of the war at enormous expense” because of the risk that the Allies would become “tired or bored or split”—and play into the hands of Germany and Japan. He pushed for an early and massive attack on the “underbelly of the
Axis.” 

CAMILLE
BOHANNON

On June 6, 1944, Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower
gave the go-ahead for the largest amphibious military operation in history: Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of northern France, commonly
known as D-Day. 

By daybreak, 18,000 British and American parachutists were already on
the ground. An additional 13,000 aircraft were mobilized to provide air cover
and support for the invasion. At 6:30 a.m., American troops came ashore at
Utah and Omaha beaches. 

The British and Canadians overcame light opposition to capture Gold, Juno
and Sword beaches; so did the Americans at Utah. The task was much
tougher at Omaha beach, however, where the U.S. First Division battled high
seas, mist, mines, burning vehicles—and German coastal batteries, including
an elite infantry division, which spewed heavy fire. Many wounded Americans ultimately drowned in the high tide. British divisions, which landed at Gold,
Juno, and Sword beaches, and Canadian troops also met with heavy German
fire.

Allied forces Supreme Commander General Dwight D Eisenhower
(left) speaks with US Army paratroopers of Easy Company, 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment (Strike) of the 101st Airborne Division,
at Greenham Common Airfield in England June 5, 1944.

CAMILLE BOHANNON

The D-Day invasion of Europe took place on the beaches of
Normandy, France on this day in 1944. A total of 400,000 Allied
American, British and Canadian troops were involved.

Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower gives orders to paratroopers on D-Day.

U.S. paratroopers attached to the static line just prior to jumping
during the invasion of Normandy.