D-Day
The 6th June 1944 was D-Day, the day that thousands of United States, British and Canadian troops invaded northern France during World War II, driving German forces inland. The Normandy landings were originally scheduled for 1st May 1944 but were delayed a month so that the Allies could garner more troops and equipment. They also had to time the landings with a full moon and the right weather and tides.

The landings were kept as secret as possible and a deception plan, Operation Fortitude, was created, leading the Germans to believe they would attack further east. Despite this there were many casualties – an estimated 550,000 troops were either killed, injured or missing during the landings. This photo was taken by Robert F Sargent, showing the view from inside one of the landing craft. The troops on the shore are lying flat under German machine gun resistance.