On this day in History...

On this day in History, June 6th, 1944, the "D-Day" invasion of Europe took place during World War Two as Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, France.

The D-Day invasion involved 5,000 ships carrying men and vehicles across the English Channel as well as 800 planes dropping over 13,000 men in parachutes. A further 300 planes dropped bombs on German troops defending the beaches. Over 100,000 Allied troops made it to shore that day.

Prior to D-Day, the Allies conducted a large-scale deception campaign designed to mislead the Germans about the intended invasion target. By late August 1944, all of northern France had been liberated, and by the following spring the Allies had defeated the Germans. The Normandy landings have been called the beginning of the end of war in Europe.

There are 9,386 graves in the American cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer. Each grave faces west, toward America.

307 of those graves contain the remains of "unknown" soldiers.

1,557 names are listed in The Garden of the Missing for those who were never found.

4,868 British dead are buried in the Bayeux Cemetery.

1,837 British names are listed at Bayeux for those who were never found.

There were 946 Canadian casualties in the Normandy campaign.

21,500 German dead are buried at LaCambe.