80 years ago today, June 6th 1944, 156,000 Allied troops stormed five beaches in Normandy, France in hopes of freeing Europe from fascist tyranny.
80 years ago today, June 6th 1944, 156,000 Allied troops stormed five beaches in Normandy, France in hopes of freeing Europe from fascist tyranny. 4,414 Allied troops were killed storming the beaches, 2,501 of them Americans, but the brazen assault proved one of the greatest victories in military history.
73,000 men would die in the ensuing battles, but the operation "planned as a victory" and "without any alternatives" by General Eisenhower was the turning point of the war.
Here are 26 harrowing photos to help us remember that fateful day 80 years ago, and those who lost their life on it, fighting for the world's freedom.
3
BBC War Correspondent Robin Duff makes a recording during the D-Day landings, 1944.
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Apprehensive GIs load onto a British landing craft for the invasion of Normandy.
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U.S. Army troops crowded on a landing craft.
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Omaha Beach, About 7 in the morning.
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Paratroopers just before they took off for the initial assault of D-Day. Eisenhower's D-Day order in hands of paratrooper in foreground.
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Joint American OSS and British SOE Jedburgh Team that infiltrated prior to D-Day to conduct sabotage and guerrilla operations against German forces, 1944.
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Some of the first American Troops in Higgins boats approaching Omaha Beach.
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American Liberty ships were deliberately scuttled to provide a makeshift breakwater during the early days of the invasion.
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British War Department locomotive being unloaded at Normandy.
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Canadian soldiers from the 9th Brigade land with their bicycles at Juno Beach.
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The 101st Airborne Division’s “Filthy Thirteen” volunteer pathfinders preparing to parachute into France just after midnight on June 6, 1944. They were among the first allied troops to set foot on French soil on D-Day. Their mission was to mark drop zones for the airborne assault.
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Us troops evacuate an injured soldier.
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A LCA just launched off HMCS Prince Henry carrying Canadian troops towards the Normandy beaches.
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British and Canadian troops guard German prisoners.
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Canadian soldiers from the 3rd Division land on Juno Beach.
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Medical transport craft for men wounded in the first wave of American troops.
24
Three of eleven surviving picture of LIFE Magazine photographer Robert Capa.
