June 6The day is also known as Allied Landing Observances Day . It marks the start of the Allied invasion of occupied France in 1944, which led to the final defeat of Hitler's Germany the following May. The assault, led by U.S. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, was carried out by airborne forces and the greatest armada the world had ever known. About 3,000 ships transported 130,000 British, Canadian, and American troops across the English Channel to land on the beaches of Normandy, which are known historically by their invasion code names: Utah Beach, Omaha Beach, Gold Beach, Juno Beach, Sword Beach.
Airborne troops began parachuting into Normandy at 15 minutes past midnight on June 6, and Landing Craft Transports plowed through the surf to spill troops onto the beaches starting at 6:30 a.m. About 10,000 troops were killed or wounded that day. Each year, simple ceremonies at the Normandy cemeteries commemorate the men who fell.
CONTACTS:
Normandy Tourist Board
14, rue Charles Corbeau
Evreux, 27000 France
33-2-3233-7900; fax: 33-2-3231-1904
www.normandie-tourisme.fr/normandy-tourism-109-2.html
National World War II Museum
945 Magazine St.
New Orleans, LA 70130
504-527-6012; fax: 504-527-6088
www.ddaymuseum.org
SOURCES:
AmerBkDays-2000, p. 422
AnnivHol-2000, p. 97
DictDays-1988, p. 29
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