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21 February 2014

D-DAY : 1944-2014

“Operation Overlord” was the codename of the most impressive military offensive that  Allied commands planned during the WWII. The strategic goal was very clear :  to  open a second front in Europe in order to go straight to the heart of Germany.  The German forces would be surrounded by Allied Forces from the South and West and by the Russians from the east. It was set up as the fastest way to obtain the unconditional surrender of German Forces and reduce, as much as possible, the number of human losses. The date chosen to begin the military operation based on the amphibious landing on the beaches of Normandy, in Northern France,   will remain historically known as “D-Day” : the 6th June 1944. However the Normandy invasion started with overnight parachute and glider landings behind the enemy lines to make secure the main communication lines and bridges and to destroy the most dangerous German strongholds and artillery bunkers. The American 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions and the British 6th Airborne Division were fully involved by Allied Commanders during the first day. Unfortunately the weather conditions and the strong winds negative affected the effectiveness of launches and a lot of planned landing zones were not immediately reached.





Stirling Mk IV and AS 51 Horsa used by British Airborne Division


 
C-47 Skytrain : the “workhorse” used by 101st and 82nd American Airborne Divsions


In the early morning, after that warships provided supporting fire for the land forces, the amphibious landings on five beaches codenamed Juno, Gold, Sword, Omaha and Utah  began. During the landing on Omaha Beach, the 1st U.S. Infantry Division suffered the greatest losses caused by the strong German resistance and the low effectiveness of Allied naval supporting fire.


 

The landing in our scale model kits artworks


The  cliff-top gun emplacement at Point du Hoc was the target of the American Ranger during the first phase of landing. They had the duty to attack and destroy the German 15,5 cm coastal defence guns were firing on Omaha. However the landing was a success and progressively the Allied forces, consolidated the bridgeheads and started the occupation of Normandy. After the D-Day, in the following weeks, the Normandy campaign took places and the Allied forces occupied successfully the most strategic points of Normandy and Northern France such as Caen and Cherbourg. 


Click here to download our leaflet dedicated to the D-Day series 1944-2014 scale model kits.


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