D-Day: the Normandy landings

Date

6 June 1944

Category

Military & conflict

Region

Western Europe (France)

Era

Modern

Significance

On 6 June 1944, Allied forces under Supreme Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower launched Operation Overlord, the amphibious invasion of German-occupied France across five beaches in Normandy.

Around 156,000 American, British, Canadian and other Allied troops landed by sea and air on the first day, supported by extensive naval and air forces, in the largest seaborne invasion in history. Despite heavy casualties, particularly at Omaha Beach, the Allies secured a foothold and built up forces for a breakout that liberated much of France over the following months. The landings opened a major Western Front against Germany, compelling it to fight a large-scale war on two fronts and hastening the collapse of Nazi control in Western Europe.

Empires active in 6 June 1944

• Soviet Union
  1922 CE – 1991 CE
• Empire of Japan
  1868 CE – 1947 CE
• French Colonial Empire (Second)
  1830 CE – 1962 CE
• British Empire
  1583 CE – 1997 CE
• Spanish Empire
  1492 CE – 1976 CE
• Portuguese Empire
  1415 CE – 1999 CE

Related military & conflict events

• Fall of France
  May–June 1940
• Verdun and the Somme: the war of attrition and total war
  21 February – 18 December 1916 (Verdun and the Somme)
• Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
  6 & 9 August 1945
• Battle of Stalingrad
  23 August 1942 – 2 February 1943
• Attack on Pearl Harbor
  7 December 1941
• Operation Barbarossa: German invasion of the Soviet Union
  22 June 1941

Further reading

The Longest Day: June 6, 1944

If you read one book

The Longest Day: June 6, 1944

Cornelius Ryan

The classic minute-by-minute account of D-Day.

Get it on Amazon →

Also worth reading

• D-Day: The Battle for Normandy — Antony BeevorAmazon →
• The Bedford Boys: One American Town's Ultimate D-Day Sacrifice — Alex KershawAmazon →

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