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World War II

Photos from D-Day give glimpse into historic World War II invasion 79 years ago

Wyatte Grantham-Philips
USA TODAY

Tuesday marks the 79th anniversary of the historic D-Day operation.

In the midst of World War II on June 6, 1944, Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy in Nazi-occupied France. More than 156,000 troops, notably from the United States, Britain and Canada, confronted Nazi forces on D-Day forever reshaping the war, according to the Department of Defense.

D-Day began the assault phase (codenamed Operation Neptune) of the wider Allied invasion of northwest Europe led by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, known as Operation Overlord. According to Britannica, by the end of August 1944, all of northern France was liberated from Nazi control.

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How many people died on D-Day?

The exact number of people killed in the fighting is unknown, but research by the U.S. National D-Day Memorial Foundation estimates there were over 4,000 Allied deaths and between 4,000 and 9,000 German losses on D-Day.

More than 100,000 Allied and German soldiers died during the full Battle at Normandy and around 20,000 French civilians were reportedly killed in the bombings.

D-Day photographs

U.S. sailors and civilians gathered around a French sailor holding a newspaper headlined u0022Invasionu0022 at Powell and Market streets in San Francisco on June 6, 1944. It was but a short time after Gen. Dwight Eisenhower's headquarters had announced that the long awaited invasion on the continent had begun.
U.S. troops of the 4th Infantry Division "Famous Fourth" land on Utah Beach as Allied forces storm the Normandy beaches on June 6, 1944.
Joseph Vaghi, center, a U.S. Navy ensign, chats with residents of Colleville-Sur-Mer, France, on June 6, 1944, after Allied forces stormed the Normandy beaches.
Allied forces' military planes bombing enemy boats in order to prepare the allied troops landing aimed at fighting the German Wehrmacht as part of the Second World War.
A photo taken June 6, 1944, shows the Allied forces soldiers landing in Normandy. In what remains the biggest amphibious assault in history, some 156,000 Allied personnel landed in France on that day. An estimated 10,000 Allied troops were left dead, wounded or missing, while Nazi Germany lost between 4,000 and 9,000 troops, and thousands of French civilians were killed.
Paratroopers of the Allied Army land on La Manche on the coast of France on June 6, 1944, after Allied forces stormed the Normandy beaches during D-Day.
A handout photo made available by the U.S. Army showing soldiers of the 16th Infantry Regiment, wounded while storming Omaha Beach, waiting by the chalk cliffs for evacuation to a field hospital for treatment on D-Day, June 6, 1944, in Normandy, France.
British paratroopers, their faces painted with camouflage paint, read slogans chalked on the side of a glider after Allied forces stormed the Normandy beaches during D-Day on June 6, 1944.
This file photograph taken on June 6, 1944, shows Allied forces soldiers during the D-Day landing operations in Normandy, north-western France.
American paratroopers, heavily armed, sit inside a military plane as they soar over the English Channel en route to the Normandy French coast for the Allied D-Day invasion of the German stronghold during World War II, June 6, 1944.
German troops surrender to US soldiers during the Allied Invasion of Europe, D-Day, in Normandy, France on June 6, 1944.
Canadian soldiers land on Courseulles beach in Normandy as Allied forces storm the Normandy beaches on D-Day.
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, left, reviews American troops at a base in England on the eve of D-Day, June 1944, during World War II. The initials AAAO on the steel helmets with a line across the As stands for "Anywhere, Anytime, Anyhow, Bar Nothing." The identification shoulder patches of the G.I.s are blotted out by the censor.
Some of the first British soldiers wounded in the French invasion coast fighting lie on stretchers somewhere in England, brought back the very day the assault started, June 6, 1944. Allied service men look with commiseration on their stricken comrades.

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Editor's note: A previous version of this story published in 2022.

Contributing: Camille Fine and Ryan Miller, USA TODAY

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