D-Day Landings
Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy in the largest seaborne invasion in history
June 06, 1944
The Longest Day
On June 6, 1944, Allied forces launched Operation Overlord — the largest seaborne invasion in history. More than 156,000 American, British, and Canadian troops crossed the English Channel and stormed five beaches along the coast of Normandy, France. They were supported by 13,000 aircraft and over 5,000 ships. The assault had been planned for nearly two years and kept secret through one of history's most elaborate deception operations.
The Cost of the Beaches
The fighting was ferocious, especially at Omaha Beach where American troops faced heavy machine gun fire from fortified German positions on the cliffs above. About 2,000 Americans died at Omaha alone on that first day. Across all five beaches, Allied casualties on D-Day totaled roughly 10,000 killed, wounded, or missing. German defenders suffered similar losses. By nightfall, the Allies had established a foothold on the European continent that Hitler's forces would never dislodge.
Turning the War
D-Day was not the end of the war in Europe — that took nearly another year. But it opened a second front that stretched German forces to breaking point. Combined with Soviet advances from the east, the Normandy landings set in motion the liberation of Western Europe and the eventual fall of Nazi Germany. The war ended in Europe on May 8, 1945 — less than a year after those beaches were taken. Use the date calculator to see how far apart those days were.