Victory in Europe Day: 7 important Allied victories against the Nazis
5. The Invasion of Normandy – June 6, 1944
The largest amphibious invasion in military history, the invasion of Normandy, involved more than 160,000 Allied troops crossing the English Channel to liberate occupied France.
The multinational force gradually established a beachhead, with several additional objectives beyond the coastline being taken in the days to come as the Axis defenses fell.
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German losses through the operation were about 400,000, while British and Canadian forces suffered 84,000 casualties, and the American military suffered around 125,000 casualties.
Within a couple of months after the landings, Paris would be liberated.
"D-Day and the Battle for Normandy are often seen as the beginning of the end for Hitler," explained the National Army Museum, based in the United Kingdom.
"Germany's defeat would probably have occurred even without Operation Overlord, given the huge casualties sustained fighting the Soviets on the Eastern Front. But the landings certainly hastened the end of the war in Europe, drawing in forces that might otherwise have slowed the Soviet advance to Berlin."
