The 80th anniversary of D-Day: Remembering the Normandy Landings

Planning for D-Day had begun as early as 1941. By early June 1944, over two million troops from 12 different nations were gathered on British shores in preparation for 6^th June.

On the day itself, the largest invasion force ever assembled crossed the English Channel. 7,000 Allied vessels and 160,000 troops pushed into Normandy, northern France. Of that number, around 4,000 Allied men lost their lives, with 6,000 wounded.

Although Allied troops sustained greater losses than German forces, D-Day irreversibly changed the course of WWII, advancing the Allies towards victory.

D-Day commenced the Allied operation to take back Western Europe from Nazi control. The ensuing Battle of Normandy would last into August, costing many more lives on both the German and Allied sides.

Within a year, Hitler would be dead, and his forces diminished. D-Day was a decisive first step in ensuring Allied success in WWII.

Technically, D-Day marked the beginning of Operation Neptune, which was itself the amphibious assault phase of the wider Operation Overlord. In military terms, ‘D-Day' designates the day that an operation will begin. Over the course of World War II, there were many D-Days. However, 6^th June 1944 was the largest seaborne invasion in the history of warfare, and the name has therefore come to be synonymous with this historically significant event.

There were a number of reasons why D-Day was such a success for Allied forces. Although German counterattacks were regular, they were infrequent and no match for the Allied invasion.

Equally important was a campaign of deception called Operation Fortitude, which had confused the Nazis for up to a year before 6^th June 1944. Its success convinced Hitler that an Allied attack was coming later than planned, leaving the German army unprepared.

The D-Day assault had originally been planned for 5^th June 1944, but bad weather caused Supreme Commander of Allied Forces, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, to postpone the invasion by 24 hours. There’s no way of knowing what might have happened had D-Day failed, but its success was a fundamental turning point for the Allied victory in WWII.

2024 marks the 80th anniversary of 6^th June 1944. There are a number of ways you can remember the beginning of the liberation of Western Europe.

You can visit ‘Legacies of D-Day’ at the site of the British Normandy Memorial in France and the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. The exhibition will be open to the public from 6^th June, with online previews available on the Royal British Legion’s (RBL) website from 13^th May. The RBL will also be hosting events around the UK and Normandy on 5^th and 6^th June.

Alongside the traditional anniversary service at Bayeux Cathedral, a service of Remembrance will be held in conjunction with the exhibition at the National Memorial Arboretum on 6^th June at 2pm. A similar service of commemoration will mark D-Day 80 at the Bayeux War Cemetery in France on 5^th June at 5pm. Along with the Ministry of Defence, the RBL will host a British National Event to mark D-Day 80 on 6^th June at the British Normandy Memorial. This event will also be broadcast on UK National Television.

The RBL has helpful resources for members and supporters looking to commemorate D-Day 80 with their own community on 6^th June 2024.

The UK city of Portsmouth will also host a major national commemorative event to mark D-Day 80 on 5^th June 2024. Thousands of members of the public will be invited to attend alongside D-Day veterans, Armed Forces personnel and VIP guests. The event will be broadcast live for those who can’t attend in person.

You can also use the Ministry of Defence’s recently launched D-Day 80 website. You’ll find details on official commemorations in both the UK and Normandy, and can discover how to sign up for information and registration.