Today is the anniversary of D-Day, on 6 June 1944 the Allied landing in Normandy changed history
The extremely risky operation opened the way for the allies to free Europe from Nazism
The codename was Operation Overlord. On June 6, 1944, an ambitious plan and the sacrifice of many soldiers made it possible to land in Normandy, France, which went down in history as D-Day.
Europe on fire
Prior to the June 6 military operation, Germany had invaded France and was expanding across Europe. The allies decided to risk everything, organizing the landing on the beaches of northern France. Men and vehicles left Great Britain, where troops and equipment had been gathered in the previous weeks. The activity did not remain a secret to Germany, but, with skillful strategic work, the Allies led the enemy to believe that they would attack the Pas de Calais and not five beaches along the Normandy coast.
A multi-stage attack
The first attack was launched by paratroopers, who, once landed, began destroying strategic targets, such as bridges. Then it was the turn of aviation. Bombs were dropped on the German army also with the support of warships, which bombed the beaches from the sea. The road was thus opened for the arrival of more than six thousand ships carrying soldiers, weapons and tanks.
The D-Day
At 6.30am on June 6, 1944, the troops began to land. In all, 156,000 soldiers landed including Americans, British and Canadians. The Americans landed on the beaches called Omaha and Utah, while the British and Canadians occupied the Gold, Juno and Sword beaches. The road opened by the soldiers of the Normandy landings was fatal for Hitler. In Normandy, the Allied forces lost more than ten thousand men.
° BLOG ° Gabriele Romano 