Battle of Normandy
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The Battle of Normandy was fought in 1944 between the German army and the Allied forces as part of World War II. Sixty years later, the Normandy invasion, codenamed Operation OVERLORD, is the largest invasion by sea in history, involving almost three million troops crossing the English Channel from England to Normandy in then German-occupied France.
The main Allied forces came from the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada, but a total of twelve nations contributed units, the rest being Australia, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Poland.
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[edit] The Landings
[edit] Sword Beach
Sword Beach was the easternmost beach on D-Day, and was attacked by the British 2nd Army. It was mostly successful.
[edit] Juno Beach
Juno Beach was the next beach to the west. It was attacked by the Canadian 3rd Division. It was also mostly successful.
[edit] Gold Beach
Gold Beach was the "middle" beach, lying between Sword, Juno, Omaha, and Utah beaches. It was attacked by the British 50th Division.
[edit] Omaha Beach
Omaha Beach was the second western-most beach. It was attacked by the American 1st Division. The bombardment before the assault was successful on every beach except Omaha, so German bunkers and artillery still remained. The battle was hard, but eventually the Americans won.
[edit] Utah Beach
Utah beach was the western-most beach. It was mostly successful, and it was attacked by the American 4th Division.
