D-Day in pictures

[DawgHammarskjold]

A U.S. tank unit in England getting ready for D-Day; (L-R) Captain Leonard Brusky, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Sergeant Wilfred F. Thomas, Wisconsin; Sergeant Frank L. Niner, Louisville, Kentucky; Pfc Harry H. Smith, Louisville, Kentucky.

 

[DawgHammarskjold]

The Bazooka Boys, a squad of tank maintenance men, march through a collection of General Sherman tanks on May 9, 1944, as the tank crewmen watch, while final invasion preparations are made for D-Day. The range was maintained by the British Royal Armored Corps.

 

[DawgHammarskjold]

Canadian snipers do some last-minute training in England on May 9, 1944.

(Pictured, L-R) J. J. Showers, Montreal; C.H. Gerrard, Tottenham, Ontario; W.G. Bettridge, Brampton, Ontario; W.A. Lyons, Toronto; and L.H. Oddy, Toronto.

 

[DawgHammarskjold]

The first landings were made in France by the Airborne Forces. The men are seen making last-minute preparations on June 1, 1944.

 

[DawgHammarskjold]

Lieutenant Harrie W. James, USNR, of New York, briefs officers and men who participated in landing operations during the invasion of Southern France on June 5, 1944, on the day before D-Day.

 

[DawgHammarskjold]

Landing craft, escorted by ships of the Royal Navy, sail to the invasion of Normandy on June 5, 1944. In the background, between two landing craft, a supply ship is flying the balloon which she has already carried on many coastal convoys.

 

[DawgHammarskjold]

In this June 5, 1944 photo, Supreme Commander Dwight Eisenhower gives the order of the day "Full victory - nothing else" to paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division at the Royal Air Force base in Greenham Common, England, three hours before the men board their planes to participate in the first assault wave of the invasion.

 

[DawgHammarskjold]

Fully equipped and each carrying large amounts of ammunition, American troops climb aboard a landing craft somewhere in England on June 6, 1944, for the cross-channel invasion of France. Other landing craft can be seen in the background.

 

[DawgHammarskjold]

A barge, tightly packed with helmeted soldiers, approaches the shore at Normandy, during initial Allied landing operations on June 6, 1944. These barges ride back and forth across the English Channel, bringing wave after wave of reinforcement troops to the Allied beachheads.

 

[DawgHammarskjold]

Men and assault vehicles storm the Normandy Beach, as allied landing craft arrive at their destination on June 6, 1944.

 

[DawgHammarskjold]

The first wave beach battalion duck under the fire of Nazi guns on the beach of southern France on D-Day. One invader operates a walkie-talkie directing other landing craft to the safest spots for unloading.

 

[DawgHammarskjold]

Under the cover of naval shell fire, American infantrymen wade ashore from their landing craft during the initial Normandy landing operations on June 6, 1944.

 

[DawgHammarskjold]

U.S. infantrymen wade through the surf as they land at Normandy. An allied ship loaded with supplies and reinforcements waits on the horizon.

 

[DawgHammarskjold]

Troops from the 48th Royal Marines at Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer on Juno Beach, Normandy.

 

[DawgHammarskjold]

U.S. paratroopers fix their static lines before a jump over Normandy before dawn on June 6, 1944. The decision to launch the airborne attack in darkness instead of waiting for first light was probably one of the few Allied missteps on June 6. Improvements were called for after the invasion; the hard-won knowledge would be used to advantage later.

 

[DawgHammarskjold]

American shock troops huddle behind the protective front of a landing craft as it nears the beachhead on the Normandy coast of France, Omaha Beach, in front of Vierville-sur-Mer on June 6, 1944.

 

[DawgHammarskjold]

Wounded British troops from the South Lancashire and Middlesex regiments are being helped ashore at Sword Beach on June 6, 1944.

 

[DawgHammarskjold]

British commandos advance inland to gain the first Normandy village, on June 7, 1944.

 

[DawgHammarskjold]

A group of American assault troops take time out for food on June 8, 1944.

 

[DawgHammarskjold]

Troops on Utah Beach in Normandy on June 9, 1944, take shelter behind a sea wall while awaiting orders to move inland during the invasion by Allied troops.

 

[DawgHammarskjold]

Allied ships, boats and barrage balloons off Omaha Beach after the successful D-Day invasion at Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, on June 9, 1944.

 

[DawgHammarskjold]

Soldiers keep warm atop a truck on board on June 12, 1944.

 

[DawgHammarskjold]

An American paratrooper and a French woman enjoy a joke in the shell-torn streets of Sainte-Mère-Église on June 20, 1944.

 

[DawgHammarskjold]

Two children watch an American Army jeep driving through the ruins of Saint-Lo in August 1944. The town was almost totally destroyed by 2,000 Allied bombers when they attacked German troops stationed there during Operation Overlord.

 

[DawgHammarskjold]

U.S. Army Air Forces photo reconnaissance group fly to photograph landing operations on Aug. 7, 1944.

 

[DawgHammarskjold]

U.S. infantrymen make their way past a wrecked German truck on the way to Avranches on Aug. 9, 1944

 

[DawgHammarskjold]

Rows of American troops parade through the Arc de Triomphe and down the Champs Elysees as crowds throng the sidewalks during the liberation of Paris on Aug. 25, 1944.

 

[mitchelldawg]

thanks!

 

[deadduckdawg]

A group of American assault troops take time out for food on June 8, 1944.

Great post. The guy in that pic is just a kid. Unbelievable that so many Americans don't recognize the debt we owe them. Shameful.