Live Chat6 June 1944 is a significant date in military history.
On that day the armies, navies and air forces of Britain, the United States, Canada and Australia, and other Allied nations, mounted the largest sea-land invasion in the history of the world.
After months of secrecy, and training, almost a quarter of a million soldiers and sailors and aviators took part in the invasion, landing forces along the sandy beaches of Normandy, France, supported by airborne infantry and commando attacks that had taken place the night before.
The aim of the invasion - codenamed OVERLORD - was to liberate Western Europe - France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark - from the occupying German and Axis armies, and then to push on into Germany itself, to meet up with our allies, the Russian Red Army, and end the sadistic ambitions of Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime.
The invasion was a massive success.
Espionage efforts had misdirected the German attention away from Normandy. Airborne and commando units caused huge levels of disruption behind the German lines. Naval and air power provided overwhelming fire support. And the grit of the marines and soldiers who spearheaded the beach landings can not be overstated.
10,300 men of the allied force died in the invasion.
In many areas the allied forces captured or forced back the German defenders quickly, and with little loss. But some sections of the German defence were more committed, and better protected, most tragically on 'Omaha' beach, where over 2,000 American soldiers lost their lives (famously depicted in the film Saving Private Ryan) and another 3,000 seriously wounded.
But the sacrifices of those who died, and of those who survived, will never be forgotten. The invasion allowed for a new front to be created against the Nazi war machine, and led to the liberation of France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Just under a year later Adolf Hitler lay dead, his evil empire utterly destroyed.
