D-Day
Photography played a big part in recording the D-Day invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944 when Allied troops crossed the English Channel in ships (with aerial protection) and attacked the beaches of Normandy to start the liberation of Europe. Five Normandy beaches were stormed by British, Canadian and American troops. The beaches were codenamed Sword (British troops), Juno (Canadian troops), Gold (British troops), Omaha (US troops) and Utah (US troops). It took three months to capture Normandy and approximately 215,000 Allied soldiers, and roughly as many Germans, were killed or wounded during the battles that ensued.
The Normandy Landings were also known under the code names Operation Neptune and Operation Overlord. It started with an air assault landing of American, British and Canadian airborne troops shortly after midnight, followed by an amphibious landing at 6:30am on the beaches of Normandy.