Encyclopædia Britannica's Guide to Normandy 1944
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Normandy Invasion

D-Day, June 6, 1944 > The landings
Photograph:Their gun barrels covered against the spray, U.S. infantrymen gaze from their landing craft toward …
Their gun barrels covered against the spray, U.S. infantrymen gaze from their landing craft toward …
National Archives, Washington, D.C.
Video:A U.S. Office of War Information newsreel reports on naval support of the D-Day landings, June 6, …
A U.S. Office of War Information newsreel reports on naval support of the D-Day landings, June 6, …
National Archives, Washington, D.C.

The airborne troops were the vanguard, and their landings were a heartening success. The American 82nd and 101st airborne divisions, dropping into a deliberately inundated zone at the base of the Cotentin Peninsula, suffered many casualties by drowning but nevertheless secured their objective. The British 6th Airborne Division seized its unflooded objectives at the eastern end more easily, and its special task force also captured key bridges over the Caen Canal and Orne River. When the seaborne units began to land about 6:30 AM on June 6, the British and Canadians on Gold, Juno, and Sword beaches overcame light opposition. So did the Americans at Utah. The U.S. 1st Division at Omaha Beach, however, confronted the best of the German coast divisions, the 352nd, and was roughly handled by machine gunners as the troops waded ashore. During the morning, the landing at Omaha threatened to fail. Only dedicated local leadership eventually got the troops inland—though at a cost of more than 2,000 casualties.

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