Beacon lightings and services were held across Thanet yesterday (June 6) to mark the 80th anniversary of World War Two’s D-Day operations.
The Normandy landings, referred to as Operation Overlord and Neptune (for the planned amphibious attack), but collectively known as D-Day was meticulously planned and involved allies from all over the world, including sailors, soldiers, and airmen from the USA, Canada, Australia, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland and others.
The invasion on June 6, 1944, is now described as a turning point in the war and often credited for shortening the war by several years.
The Allies used over 5,000 ships and landing craft to land more than 150,000 troops on five beaches in Normandy.
The landings began the liberation of German-occupied France from Nazi control and laid the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front.
