Invasion of Normandy captured in amazing colourised pics show both the camaraderie and horror of war – from laughing GIs to devastated villages
Troops share a joke during a darts game as the scale of the utter devastation in northern France is brought vividly to life
THESE incredible colourised photos depicting the allied invasion of Normandy shows both the camaraderie of troops and the utter devastation they faced.
American GIs share a joke during a game of darts as haunting aerial shots of the village of Saint-Lo lay bare its utter destruction.
Elsewhere joyful Canadian soldiers pose with a Nazi flag they recovered after German troops fled north.
A Sherman tank crew takes the time to rest and recuperate under glorious cloud-free skies ahead of the battle to liberate Caen in July 1944.
The human scale of the devastation is brought home in one image where a pair of nuns and children gaze at the ruins of a Saint Malo church - reduced almost entirely to rubble in the intense fighting.
The collection also brings to life vividly the preparations for the invasion.
Troops are shown in Weymouth harbour on board ships before making their way across the English Channel.
Their arrival on Juno beach is also captured on camera as they cross its flat, wide sands before pushing further into Normandy.
On D-Day - June 6 1944, Allied forces launched a combined naval, air and land assault on Nazi-occupied France.
Codenamed Operation Overlord ground troops landed across five assault beaches.
Over 1.4million American servicemen arrived in Britain during 1943 and 1944 to take part in the landings which were masterminded by General Dwight D. Eisenhower.
By 1944, over two million troops from 12 countries were in Britain ahead of the invasion.
The largest naval, air and land operation in history it began with 18,000 paratroopers dropped into the invasion area.
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Nearly 7,000 naval vessels were responsible for escorting and landing over 132,000 ground troops on the beaches.
By the end of August 1944 the German Army was in full retreat from France, but it wasn’t until March 1945 that British and American troops crossed the Rhine.
Germany eventually surrendered in May 1945.
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