D-Day 70th Anniversary 1944-2014
Located near Colleville-sur-Mer ( Calvados ) in Normandy, the 172.5-acre site contains the graves of 9,387 U.S. military dead and the names of 1,557 of the missing.
The Normandy Campaign
The massive Allied assault on the Normandy coastline on June 6, 1944, aimed to liberate France and drive into Nazi Germany.
Before dawn on June 6, three airborne divisions landed by para chute and glider behin targeted beaches. Allied naval forces, including the U.S. Coast Guard, conveyed assault forces across the English Channel . Beginning at 06.30 hours, six divisions U.S.,Canadian and British landed on Utah , Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword Beaches in history’s greatest amphibious assault.
The U.S. Infantry Divisions battled German resistance over beaches bristling with obstacles. To reach the village of Colleville, troops fought across an open area of up 200 yards, and attacked up steep bluffs . By days’ end, the Americans held fragile control of Omaha Beach.
Over the next three months, the Allies battled German troops throughout Normandy. British and Canadians freed Caen. Americans liberated Cherbourg and staged a dramatic breakout near Saint-Lô. Allied troops, joined by French and Polish units, encircled and annihilated German troops at the Falaise pocket while surviving units fled eastward . The way was now open to advance toward Paris and then to Germany.
Click in the images to enlarge them.
U.S. National Archives
Regional Council of Basse-Normandie-U.S. National Archives
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Please share your thoughts, all feedback is appreciated….
I have been following your blog with great interest and it’s very inspiring to see the work you have put into it. So because of this I have nominated you for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award, and I look forwards to more posts about a beautiful country 🙂
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It is a sincere pleasure to meet you. Outstanding photos.
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Excellent.
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Reblogged this on “weggieboy’s blog”, with added comment. I appreciate the fact the people of France honor the young men who died 70 years ago to help them regain their freedom.
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Reblogged this on The First Gates and commented:
Wonderful pictures of the site of a world changing event that unfolded 70 years ago.
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I had no idea this existed. Very moving.
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amazing composition!
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Beautiful photography work and wonderful presentation. Thank you for posting this.
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Great post. We must never forget what these men did for us. 😀
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Great photos and post. Without this action we probably wouldn’t be here today or the world would be a hugely different place. 😀
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an unusual perspective
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Reblogged this on This Got My Attention and commented:
We should never forget, we should never discount so casually, the sacrifices made by so many to defeat tyranny.
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