On June 6, 1944 – now known as D-Day – Operation Overlord, the long-awaited
invasion of Northwest Europe, began with Allied landings on the coast of
Normandy. The task was formidable, for the Germans had turned the coastline
into an interlinked series of strongpoint, each with guns, pillboxes, barbed
wire, land mines, and beach obstacles. Following an extensive bombardment of
the assault areas, the Allies launched a simultaneous landing of U.S., British,
Canadian and French forces on five separate beaches code named:
Sword Beach (British)
