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50+ Stunning Color Photos Of D-Day That Show Historic Invasion During WWII

On 6 June 1944, some 156,000 allied troops landed on five Normandy beaches which eventually led to the defeat of Nazi Germany. It was the largest seaborne invasion in history, with nearly 5,000 landings and assault craft, 289 escort vessels, and 277 minesweepers. Before the D-Day invasion, the Allies conducted a large-scale deception campaign to mislead the Germans about the date and location of the main Allied landings. By late August 1944, all of northern France had been liberated, and by the following spring, the Allies had defeated the Germans. Look at these stunning colored photographs that show before launching and landing allied forces on Normandy beaches.

#1 US Army band leading a procession during birthday celebrations honoring William Shakespeare.

#2 British Airborne Pathfinders check their watches on the night before the invasion.

#3 Members of the 22nd Independent Parachute Company, 6th Airborne Division attend a briefing ahead of the D-Day invasion.

#4 An American corporal stacks cans of gasoline in preparation for the upcoming invasion of France, Stratford-upon-Avon, England.

#5 A Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel (LCVP) is approaching Omaha Beach, Normandy, France, 6th June 1944. To the right is another LCVP.

#6 Oxford Street in London shortly before the launching of the D-Day invasion of France during WWII.

#7 American combat engineer soldiers eating meals atop boxes of ammunition being stockpiled for the impending D-Day invasion of France.

#8 Ammunition stockpiled in the town square for the impending D-Day invasion of France.

#9 Ammunition stored in the town square shortly before D-Day.

#10 The astonishing scale of the invasion can be seen in this image taken of the American forces arriving on Utah Beach.

#11 U.S. troops from the USS Joseph T. Dickman wait to disembark from their landing craft as they approach Utah Beach.

#12 A craft from the USS Samuel Chase lands troops of the US Army First Division on Omaha Beach.

#13 Glider pilots take the opportunity for a quick cigarette as they are crowded onto a landing craft.

#14 Royal Marines descend from landing craft with their heavy backpacks, weapons and equipment on Juno beach.

#15 American troops arrive on a Normandy beach in a lengthy procession from their landing crafts.

#16 British troops show their true grit as they help injured comrades onto Sword Beach.

#17 US Army Fourth Infantry Division troops take a breather after making their way onto Utah Red Beach.

#18 Reinforcements arrive by sea to bolster U.S. troop numbers on the Normandy front.

#19 The USS LST-21, manned by the U.S. coastguard unloads British Army tanks and trucks onto a Rhino barge in the opening hours of their invasion of Gold Beach.

#20 Troops load U.S. LSTs with artillery equipment, vehicles and troops in Brixham, England before they head for Normandy.

#21 Nazi General Erwin Rommel inspects defences ahead of D-Day. On the actual day of the invasion he was away from the front celebrating his wife’s birthday.

#22 German troops camouflage a Panzer VI Tiger tank with undergrowth in the Normandy village of Villers-Bocage.

#23 Troops establish a radio communications post after landing.

#24 An American tank crew takes a breather on the way through the town of Avranches, Normandy

#25 Troops searching ruined homes in western France after D-Day.

#26 View of the ruins of the Palais de Justice in the town of St. Lo, France.

#27 From D-Day until Christmas 1944, German prisoners of war were shipped off to American detention facilities at a rate of 30,000 per month. Above: Captured German troops, June 1944

#28 A P-38 fighter plane sits in the background as the pilot arrives in a captured German vehicle, France

#29 Life after the French capital was liberated in August 1944.

#30 Free French General and military governor of the French capital Pierre Koenig, left, pictured during ceremonies held the day after the liberation of Paris, August 1944

#31 View of American troops as they board an LCVP (Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel), Weymouth, England, early June, 1944.

#32 Operation Overlord Normandy, Private Clyde Peacock, 1st Military Police (MP) Platoon of the 1st Infantry Division of the United. States Army.

#33 Operation Overlord Normandy, United States Army troops train for bomb squad and safety proceedings in preparation of the invasion of Normandy, France.

#34 Operation Overlord Normandy, Soldiers of the United States Army are boarding a Landing Craft Transport (LCT) in Southern England.

#35 US troops on the Esplanade at Weymouth, Dorset, on their way to embark on ships bound for Omaha Beach for the D-Day landings in Normandy, June 1944.

#36 Operation Overlord Normandy, United States Army soldiers are sitting on top of several M4 half-track armored personal carriers.

#37 Operation Overlord Normandy, United States Army troops train in the English countryside in preparation of the invasion of Normandy, France.

#38 In England, American soldiers, having loaded their equipment and supplies onto an LCT (Landing Craft, Tank) await the signal to begin the D-Day invasion.

#39 Planes of the 344th Bomb Group, which led the IX Bomber Command formations on D-Day.

#40 United States Rangers from E Company, 5th Ranger Battalion, on board a landing craft assault vessel (LCA) in Weymouth harbour, Dorset.

#41 United States Army First Infantry Division disembarking from an LCVP (landing craft) onto Omaha Beach during the Normandy Landings on D Day

#42 Operation Overlord – On a pebble beach at Omaha Beach U.S. soldiers deal with injuries.

#43 Allied troops exiting a landing craft in trucks on a beachhead during the D-Day landings in Normandy, France.

#44 US troops travel the English Channel on a barge en route to Normandy, France for the D-Day Invasion.

#45 UTAH BEACH, FRANCE: US soldiers gather around trucks disembarking from landing crafts shortly after D-Day.

#46 Operation Overlord Normandy, German Prisoners of War (POW) have been put behind barbed wire on Omaha Beach.

#47 American troops with German prisoners of war on board a Liberty ship in the English Channel during the Allied invasion of Normandy.

#48 Operation Overlord Normandy, The Saskatchewan Regiment of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division is landing at Juno Beach on the outskirts of Bernieres-sur-Mer on D-Day.

#49 Operation Overlord Normandy, Three American soldiers from the 1st Engineer Special Brigade are looking at photos from home.

#50 A Canadian soldier directs traffic in front of the Notre-Dame Nativity church, in Bernieres-sur-Mer.

#51 Operation Overlord Normandy, Soldiers of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division are trying to set up an anti-aircraft gun.

#52 Operation Overlord Normandy, Two American soldiers are watching two United States Army jeeps driving through the ruins of the center of Saint-Lo.

#53 Operation Overlord Normandy, Two children are watching an American Army jeep driving through the ruins of Saint-Lo.

#54 Operation Overlord Normandy, A United States truck is entering a Landing Craft Tank (LCT) in a port in Southern England.

#55 American troops load onto LSIs at a port in Britain where barrage balloons have been anchored for protection against strafing and low level bombings.

#56 These American troops are marching through the streets of a British port town on their way to the docks where they will be loaded into landing craft for the big assault.

#57 Jeeps being driven into the open doors of an LCT at a port in Britain in preparation for D-Day.

#58 Men and equipment are massed together in landing craft in preparation for the big assault on the European continent. England.

#59 American troops at a British port descend into barges which will take them to troop ships from which they will launch the attack against Hitler’s Fortress Europe.

#60 Medics and litter bearers going up the ramp of an LCT which will take them to France for the assault against Hitler’s Europe.

#61 American infantrymen marching in an unident. park in England shortly before D-Day.

American infantrymen marching in an unident. park in England shortly before D-Day.

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Written by Aung Budhh

Husband + Father + librarian + Poet + Traveler + Proud Buddhist. I love you with the breath, the smiles and the tears of all my life.

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