The Normandy landings on D-Day, 6th June 1944, marked the opening of the Western Front.  See where the key events of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy took place.

The D-Day & Normandy 1944 Video Collection

Operation Overlord, the Allied assault on the beaches of Normandy, France on 6th June 1944 was the largest single military action in history; a feat that will never be repeated. 

The scale of the events which began with the landing of a British glider 50m from the Orne Canal bridge close to Ranville at 00.14 on 6th June 1944 are beyond comparison.  The numbers simply amazing:

Allied troops landed on D-Day:  156,000 troops in Normandy;

(73,000 American: 23,250 on Utah Beach, 34,250 on Omaha Beach, and 15,500 airborne troops.  83,115 in British and Canadian sector, 83,115 troops were landed (61,715 of them British): 24,970 on Gold Beach, 21,400 on Juno Beach, 28,845 on Sword Beach, and 7900 airborne troops.

11,590 aircraft were available to support the landings.

On D-Day, Allied aircraft flew 14,674 sorties, and 127 were lost.

In the airborne landings on both flanks of the beaches, 2395 aircraft and 867 gliders of the RAF and USAAF were used on D-Day.

Operation Neptune (the naval side of the landings) involved huge naval forces, including 6939 vessels: 1213 naval combat ships, 4126 landing ships and landing craft, 736 ancillary craft and 864 merchant vessels. Some 195,700 personnel were assigned to Operation Neptune: 52,889 US, 112,824 British, and 4988 from other Allied countries.

By the end of 11 June (D + 5), 326,547 troops, 54,186 vehicles and 104,428 tons of supplies had been landed on the beaches.

(Source: D-Day Museum Portsmouth)

Each file contains short video clips (all .wmv files) which can easily be transferred into a video editing package (such as Windows Moviemaker which comes with all Windows XP and Windows Vista personal computers), to produce educational video documentaries and essays.

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 Full list of contents

The main features of each location have been recorded including close ups and pans (moving the camera left to right etc), the aim being to produce a wide range of useable clips which could be edited together to tell a story.

Each location has been split into smaller sections so that the file, containing video clips, photographs and site information (maps, diagrams, leaflets etc), is more manageable and easier to use. 

In addition a small Google Earth file is included for each location which pin-points the exact position of the subject matter  In order for this to work the user must already have the free Google Earth application installed on their personal computer.

IMPT NOTE:  The video files are all .WMV format for use on Windows XP and Windows Vista computers.  The files have not been designed for use on MAC computers.