Landing: 07:30 am
Approximately 28,000 Britons are deployed across the Sword beaches. The 177 French "green berets" of the Kieffer commando also land in this area.
About thirty Sherman DD amphibious tanks also reach the shore.
The British Second Army disembarks on Sword Beach. The closest soldier to the lens is the unit’s bagpiper.
Landing: 08:10am
Canadian troops storm Juno Beach. The fog and the rising tide concealed anti-tank obstacles laid on the beach, leading the first barges to impale them.
These troops must take the beach, then meet with other British troops.
There are 21,400 soldiers, 878 will remain on the ground.
Canadian troops landing on Juno Beach
Landing: 07:30 am
The contingent tasked with seizing
the Gold Beach area is made up of almost 25,000 British soldiers.
Their first mission, after securing
the beach, is to connect with Canadian troops landed on Juno.
Taking the coastal municipality
of Arromanches is essential because an artificial harbour must be installed on the beach.
Soldiers of the 50th Infantry Division landing on Gold Beach
Landing: 06:45am
All hell breaks loose from the very start for allied troops heading for Omaha Beach. The rough sea overturns barges before they even arrive and soldiers with heavy equipment sink, as do military vehicles on board.
In total, more than 34,000 Americans
will be dumped on the sand, a thousand will be killed and 1,500 are injured.
Omaha will be the deadliest landing area
Landing: 07:45am
Soldiers of the US 4th Infantry Division invade Utah Beach. Targeted bombings had weakened German defences so allied troops face much less resistance than their comrades on Omaha.
Of the 23,250 men who landed, 200 will be killed or wounded.
Troops of the 4th Infantry Division
sheltering in a trench on Utah Beach
Parachute drops: between 01:00 and 02:00 am
10,000 paratroopers of Britain’s 6th Airborne Division jump near Sword Beach.
Their objective was to gather intelligence to facilitate the arrival of the waves of parachutists that came after them and help ground troops’ advance.
British Pathfinders synchronise their watches. These elite units, operating as scouts, were the first to land in France. Their mission was to mark the landing zones for other airborne units.
Parachute drops: between 01:00 and 02:00 am
About 13,000 American paratroopers are dropped behind the beaches. The 82nd and 101st Airborne divisions land on the Cotentin Peninsula.
It will take them less than
six hours to take Sainte-Mère-Eglise and hold all the land routes that lead to the coast.
American paratroopers before the assault. In the foreground, one of the soldiers holds the mission order.
Invasion fleet
6,939 warships took part in Operation Neptune, including:
-7 battleships
- 20 cruisers
- 221 destroyers, frigates and corvettes
- 495 speedboat
- 287 mine-sweepers
- 58 submarines chasers
- 2 submarines
A convoy of boats on the Channel en route to the landing beaches
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Deployment: 07:30am
Commandos of the US elite Ranger unit attack the Pointe du Hoc. They must destroy the German batteries installed on the cliffs because they threaten the beaches of Utah and Omaha below. The mission is successful but the price paid is costly: two-thirds of the troops fall.
American Rangers climbing the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc
German positions :
A little under 150,000 troops from the Seventh Army are stationed in Normandy and about 50,000 in the landing area.
- Armoured vehicles: the 21st Panzer Division, south of Caen, is the only armoured unit near the beaches
- Aviation: only a few dozens of bombers and fighter planes are left as most have travelled to the front
- Navy: 30 speedboats, 4 destroyers, 9 torpedo boats, 35 submarines.
Stationary gun (7.5cm calibre) on German positions near Omaha
Main German divisions
Main German defensive positions