On June 6, 1944, the Allies invade Western Europe in the largest amphibious attack in history.

During World War II, the Battle of Normandy, which lasted from June 1944 to August 1944, resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control. Codenamed Operation Overlord, the battle began on June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day, when some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region.

The invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history and required extensive planning. Prior to D-Day, the Allies conducted a large-scale deception campaign designed to mislead the Germans about the intended invasion target. By late August 1944, all of northern France had been liberated, and by the following spring the Allies had defeated the Germans. The Normandy landings have been called the "beginning of the end" of war in Europe.

View of American troops as they board an LCVP (Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel), Weymouth, England, early June, 1944. The men are in preparation for the invasion of France, the Normandy Landings, which began on June 6, 1944.

Operation Overlord Normandy, Private Clyde Peacock, 1st Military Police (MP) Platoon of the 1st Infantry Division of the United. States Army. June 1944. The 1st Division was one of the two divisions that stormed Omaha Beach on D-Day suffering high casualties. Dorset, United Kingdom.

Operation Overlord Normandy, United States Army troops train for bomb squad and safety proceedings in preparation of the invasion of Normandy, France. May 1944. In a landing exercise in Lyme Bay, 749 soldiers were killed by German submarines 28th April 1944. United Kingdom.

Operation Overlord Normandy, Soldiers of the United States Army are boarding a Landing Craft Transport (LCT) in Southern England. 30th May 1944. They will participate in the invasion of Normandy at Omaha Beach, France. Portland, United Kingdom.

US troops on the Esplanade at Weymouth, Dorset, on their way to embark on ships bound for Omaha Beach for the D-Day landings in Normandy, June 1944.

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