For the first time ever, we cover every detail of the Invasion of Normandy. Indeed, few people really know how much Normandy suffered following 6 June 1944. 20,000 inhabitants of Normandy were killed, that is a third of all French civilians killed during the Second World War. Towns were razed to the ground in mass bomb attacks, battles as fierce as those on the Eastern front raged, civilians were subjected to terrible suffering and many were evacuated, the German army fled and was pursued.
Operations started on the night of 5/6 June, with airborne troops being parachuted down while heavy bombers pounded the coastal artillery batteries deemed to present the greatest danger. Meanwhile, an armada of 5000 ships (including a thousand battleships) crossed the English Channel and took up position off the beaches without being spotted by the Germans, who were battered by the storm that still raged and weakened by the loss of their radar stations, which had been destroyed over the previous few weeks. The surprise was therefore total.
At 5:45 a.m., the battleships opened fire on the Atlantic Wall defences, while the landing craft carrying the first assault waves drew nearer their targets.