Normandy landings paved way for victory

AROUND 4,400 Allied soldiers paid the ultimate price for ensuring D-Day was one of the most successful military operations the world has ever seen.

With the simple words “Okay, let’s go” General Dwight Eisenhower set in motion the greatest military attack in history.

On June 6, 1944, some 156,000 British, American and Canadian troops landed and parachuted on to French soil in an effort to free Europe from Nazi tyranny. Many thousands more served on board the 6,000 troop ships, landing crafts and barges off the Normandy coast in northern France.