In the early hours of 6 June 1944, Allied forces began landing on the shores of Normandy, the first step in a long-planned invasion of German-occupied France, known as operation Overlord.
In the early hours of 6 June 1944, Allied forces began landing on the
shores of Normandy, the first step in a long-planned invasion of German-occupied
France, known as operation Overlord.
Parachutists were dropped near Sainte Mère-Eglise and Pegasus Bridge, and sea-borne assaults were made along a string of code-named beaches.
US troops landed on Utah and Omaha in the West, while British and Canadian
troops, which included a contingent of Free French commandos, landed at Juno,
Gold and Sword.
Fifty years later, the beaches are still referred to by their code names.
Pegasus Bridge, where the first French house was liberated, is a natural starting point for a tour around the sites and memorials. Further west, evocative ruins of the artificial harbour towed across from England survive at Arromanches-les-bains.
There are British, German and American war cemeteries at La Cambe, Ranville and St Laurent-sur-Mer. War museums at Bayeux, Caen, Ste Mère-Eglise and Cherbourg provide background on D-Day and the ensuing Battle of Normandy.