A History in Photos: D-Day and Storming the Beach

1 - 10
11 - 19

A History in Photos: D-Day and Storming the Beach

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.

By Daniel Bonfiglio

Published 10 months ago in Wow

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.

5
Apprehensive GIs load onto a British landing craft for the invasion of Normandy.

6
U.S. Army troops crowded on a landing craft.

8
Joint American OSS and British SOE Jedburgh Team that infiltrated prior to D-Day to conduct sabotage and guerrilla operations against German forces, 1944.

9
Some of the first American Troops in Higgins boats approaching Omaha Beach.

10
American Liberty ships were deliberately scuttled to provide a makeshift breakwater during the early days of the invasion.

11
After victory.

13
British War Department locomotive being unloaded at Normandy.

14
Canadian soldiers from the 9th Brigade land with their bicycles at Juno Beach.

15
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.