this is much the greatest thing we have ever attempted
On the 6th of June 1944 at and before dawn, 156,115 American, British, Canadian, and many other nations’ troops invaded Normandy in France. Some 6,939 ships and landing vessels, 2,395 aircraft, and 867 gliders were committed to Operation Overlord.
This was the start of one of the 5 great battles of WWII.
24,000 airborne troops began the liberation of France just after dawn
the beaches; Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, Sword
M4 Sherman medium tank
Hawker Typhoon wearing Invasion Stripes
The landings succeeded, but as Wellington remarked after the Battle of Waterloo, ‘it was a damn close run thing’.
~
jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
The venerable Hawker Hurricane was still flying in 1944
JackCollier7 
Yet another fine history post. Well done. Oh, and my dad’s only comment on flying the B29 was that it was so much better to fly than the B17. His favorite aircraft was the AT6 Texan, the single engine trainer plane in which the Army taught him to fly.
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Wonderful commentary and photographs of a historic, watershed day without which we might today live in a quite different world … very moving. 💗
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Came after 5 years of war for us. Bad and bloody days. 🌹
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