D-Day Commemoration in Ruyton XI Towns

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Troops from the UK, the US, Canada and France attacked German forces on the coast of northern France, on 6 June 1944.
It was the largest military naval, air and land operation ever attempted and marked the start of the campaign to liberate Nazi-occupied north-west Europe.
D-Day involved the simultaneous landing of tens of thousands of troops on five separate beaches in Normandy. The beaches were code-named UTAH and OMAHA (the landing beaches of the American troops; GOLD and SWORD (the landing beaches of the British troops; and JUNO (the Canadian beach).

American soldiers managed to land on Utah Beach without major casualties. But at nearby Omaha beach, the US force suffered serious losses.

About 3000 Australians were involved in D-Day and the Normandy landings, with Australia's main contribution offering support in the air.

On D-Day alone, as many as 4,400 troops died from the combined allied forces. Some 9,000 were wounded or missing.
Total German casualties on the day are not known, but are estimated as being between 4,000 and 9,000 men.
Thousands of French civilians also perished, mainly as a result of bombing raids carried out by allied forces.

THE PITY OF WAR.