Victory in the West - The Battle of Normandy

The long-awaited Second Front against the German domination of Europe was finally launched on ‘D-Day’ 6th June 1944, when British, US and Canadian forces launched Operation Overlord, the cross-Channel invasion of Normandy. Spearheaded by weeks of bombing and naval bombardment and preceded by airbourne forces seizing vital strongpoints, the invaders landed on five beachheads codenamed Omaha, Utah, Gold, Juno and Sword. But despite air and sea supremacy, they faced a tough fight as they struggled inland. The anciet city of Caen was reduced to rubble, and it took weeks of hard fighting before the bulk of the German armour was cut off and destroyed in the battle of the Falaise Gap and the road to paris and the eventual liberation of the rest of Europe lay open.