Best of D-Day

Assault landing. 1 of the first waves at Omaha. Company E, 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division. Source: U.S. National Archives, CG 2343.

Winston Churchill shows off his famous "siren suit" to General Dwight D Eisenhower, during a tour of Allied invasion forces in Kent. (May 12, 1944). Source: Imperial War Museums, # H 38458.

2 British Navy frogmen paddle 1 of the canoes; they were the underwater experts who blasted a hole in the Nazi's Atlantic Wall to enable invasion crafts to reach the Normandy beaches on D-Day. Source: Imperial War Museums, # A 30325.

Lance Corporal Walter Ray, Royal Engineers, shares with other Beach Group personnel a bottle of rum he found floating in the sea, Gold area. (June 6, 1944). Source: Imperial War Museums, # B 5260.

Film still showing commandos of No. 4 Commando, 1st Special Service Brigade, aboard a LCI(S) landing craft on their approach to Queen Red beach, Sword area. (June 6, 1944). Source: Imperial War Museums, # BU 1181.

Canadian troops of the North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment, 8th and 3rd Canadian Infantry Brigade disembark from a landing craft onto Nan Red Beach, Juno area at about 8:00 a.m. while under fire from German troops. (June 6, 1944). Source: Imperial War Museums, # IWM FLM 2570.

U.S. Army Rangers awaited the invasion signal in a landing craft in an English port; note the bazooka and the M1 Garand rifles. (Early June 1944). Source: U.S. National Archives, # USA C-741.

U.S. Army half-track antiaircraft machine gun vehicle backed into the well deck of a U.S. Navy LCT in prep for the Normandy invasion. (Late May or early June, 1944). Source: U.S. National Archives, # USA C-751.

Two Nuns and a French family examined the ruins of the bombed Church of St. Malo, in Valognes, France. Near Cherbourg. (July 1944). Source: U.S. National Archives, # USA C-2172.

U.S. Army weapons carrier moved through the surf toward Utah Beach, Normandy, after being launched from its landing craft. (June 6, 1944). Source: U.S. National Archives, # SC 190438.

Dead American soldiers of 3rd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division on Omaha Beach in Normandy. (June 6, 1944). Source: U.S. National Archives, # SC 189924.

U.S. Army soldiers recovering remains of comrades at Omaha Beach, Normandy, France. (June 6, 1944). Source: U.S. Library of Congress, Photographer: Walter Rosenblum.

German prisoners of war in a barbed-wire enclosure on Utah Beach, Normandy. (June 6, 1944). Source: U.S. National Archives, # SC 320897.

British airborne troops admiring the graffiti chalked on the side of their Horsa Mk I glider. (June 6, 1944). Source: Imperial War Museums, # 4700-37 H 39178, Photographer: Malindine.

Two Canadian soldiers looking at a German model of defenses at Courseulles sur Mer. Juno Beach, Normandy, France. (June 6, 1944). Source: World War II Database.

Troops of the Canadian Royal Winnipeg Rifles regiment approaching Juno Beach, Normandy, France aboard LCA landing craft. (June 6, 1944). Source: National Archives of Canada, # PA-132651.

Canadian soldiers on Juno Beach, Normandy, France. (June 6, 1944). Source: World War II Database.

German Obergefreiter inspects area with binoculars. France, the Atlantic Wall, south of the city of Bordeaux. (Spring 1944). Source: German Federal Archive, # Bild 1011-263-1580-13.

German Army Field Marshal Erwin Rommel at the Atlantic Wall near Ouistreham, Normandy, France. (May 30, 1944). Source: German Federal Archive, Bild 101I-300-1863-09.

Paratroops of 6th Airborne Division blackening their faces in front of an Albemarle aircraft at RAF Harwell. (June 5, 1944). Source: Imperial War Museums, # H 39066.

"Angels with dirty faces" --Airborne troops smile from their Horsa glider as they prepare to fly out as part of the second drop on Normandy on the night of D-Day. (June 6, 1944). Source: Imperial War Museums, H 39182.

Royal Marine Commandos of the 4th Special Service Brigade make their way onto the 'Nan Red' sector of Juno Beach at St. Aubin-sur-Mer, on the morning of D-Day. (June 6, 1944). Source: Imperial War Museums, B 5218.

Royal Engineers of the 693 Road Construction Co. line up at a Field Cashiers office in the UK to exchange English money for French currency. (June 1, 1944). Source: Imperial War Museums, B 5149.

German POWs being escorted along one of the Gold area beaches. (June 6, 1944). Source: Imperial War Museums, B 5257.

Members of the Womens Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) repair and pack parachutes for use by airborne troops during the Normandy invasion. (May 31, 1944). Source: Imperial War Museums, TR 1783.

An American soldier lends a hand to another American picking a small bit of metal from his face. Orchard Beach, France. (June 8, 1944). Source: U.S. National Archives, # 111-SC-190258.

Nazi boy soldier relishes a cup of coffee aboard the Coast Guard-manned LCI carrying him away from war across the channel to England. He reported that he was 13 years old. Source: U.S. National Archives, # 26-G-2444.

U.S. troops rescue men from a sunken landing craft on D-Day. (June 6, 1944). Source: U.S. National Archives, # SC 320869.

Group of U.S. soldiers from the 359th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division bound for Utah Beach on LCI(L)-326 on D-Day afternoon. Source: U.S. National Archives, # 26-G-2402.

A U.S. Coast Guard coxswain named "Jim" is at the helm of a landing craft vehicle carrying troops from the 4th Infantry Division toward Utah Beach on D-Day. Source: U.S. National Archives, # 26-G-2349.

U.S. troops landing at Normandy on D-Day. (June 6, 1944). Source: U.S. National Archives, # 195567.

This girl pays the penalty for having had personal relations with the Germans. Here, in the Montelimar area, France, French civilians shave her head as punishment. (August 29, 1944). Source: U.S. National Archives, # 111-SC-193785.

Troops in a landing craft approaching Omaha Beach. (June 6, 1944). Source: U.S. National Archives, # SC 320901.

Brian and Betty Fetch reunited after the war: On D-Day, Brian (then known as Bing) parachuted under heavy anti-aircraft fire when the Allies liberated Normandy. Source: Andrew Woolhouse.

American soldiers landing on Utah Beach. (June 6, 1944). Source: Regional Council of Lower Normandy, U.S. National Archives.

These two Canadian soldiers raise a Nazi flag which they captured in a quarry south of Hautmesnil, France. (August 10, 1944). Source: National Archives of Canada.

Wounded U.S. troops of the 3rd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st U.S. Infantry Division, receive cigarettes and food after they stormed Omaha Beach. Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, France. (June 6, 1944). Source: U.S. National Archives, SC 189910-S.

A British soldier in Caen gives a helping hand to an old lady amongst the scene of utter devastation. (1944). Source: Imperial War Museums, B 6794.

Final Embarkation: 3 British soldiers of 51st Highland Division in a landing craft pass the time by reading a booklet on France which they were issued before embarkation. (June 6, 1944). Source: Imperial War Museums, B 5207.

Troops wading ashore. (June 6, 1944). Source: Imperial War Museums, B 5092.

2 Ohio Coast Guardsmen (John R. Smith, on the left, and Daniel J. Kaczorowski) stand at their guns aboard a Coast Guard-manned invasion transport during the invasion of Normandy. Source: U.S. National Archives, 513179.

American troops marching through a British port town on their way to the docks. (June 1944). Source: Center of Military History.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower gives the order of the day: "Full victory-nothing else" to paratroopers in England. (June 5, 1944). Source: U.S. National Archives, # 111-SC-194399

A soldier gets a hair cut in France. (June 1944). Source: Veterans History Project, Bernard Horowitz.

Scrubbing sidewalks in France. (June 1944). Source: Veterans History Project, Bernard Horowitz.