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Remembering D-Day: Key facts and figures about epochal World War II invasion

Tuesday marks 79 years since Normandy invasion

Associated Press

Tags: World news, Politics, Military, Veterans, D-Day
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FILE - U.S. infantrymen wade through the surf as they land at Normandy in the days following the Allies' June 1944, D-Day invasion of occupied France. (AP Photo/Bert Brandt, File)
FILE - In this photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, a U.S. Coast Guard landing barge, tightly packed with helmeted soldiers, approaches the shore at Normandy, France, during initial Allied landing operations, June 6, 1944. The D-Day invasion that helped change the course of World War II was unprecedented in scale and audacity. Veterans and world dignitaries are commemorating the 79th anniversary of the operation. (U.S. Coast Guard via AP, File)
FILE - This is the scene along a section of Omaha Beach in June 1944, during Operation Overlord, the code name for the Allied invasion at the Normandy coast in France during World War II. The D-Day invasion that helped change the course of World War II was unprecedented in scale and audacity. Veterans and world dignitaries are commemorating the 79th anniversary of the operation. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - U.S. reinforcements wade through the surf from a landing craft in the days following D-Day and the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France at Normandy in June 1944 during World War II. The D-Day invasion that helped change the course of World War II was unprecedented in scale and audacity. Veterans and world dignitaries are commemorating the 79th anniversary of the operation. (Bert Brandt, Pool via AP, File)
FILE - German prisoners of war are led away by Allied forces from Utah Beach, near Sainte-Mere-Eglise, on June 6, 1944, during landing operations at the Normandy coast, France. The D-Day invasion that helped change the course of World War II was unprecedented in scale and audacity. Veterans and world dignitaries are commemorating the 79th anniversary of the operation. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - U.S. reinforcements wade through the surf as they land at Normandy in the days following the Allies', D-Day invasion of occupied France in June 1944. The D-Day invasion that helped change the course of World War II was unprecedented in scale and audacity. Veterans and world dignitaries are commemorating the 79th anniversary of the operation. (Peter J.Carroll/U.S. Coast Guard via AP, File)
FILE - Members of an American landing unit help their comrades ashore during the Normandy invasion on June 6, 1944 near Sainte-Mere-Eglise. The D-Day invasion that helped change the course of World War II was unprecedented in scale and audacity. Veterans and world dignitaries are commemorating the 79th anniversary of the operation. (Louis Weintraub/Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Under heavy bombardment by German 88mm guns, American soldiers flatten themselves on the sand as they move up the shore, during Allied landing operations in Normandy, France, June 12, 1944. The D-Day invasion that helped change the course of World War II was unprecedented in scale and audacity. Veterans and world dignitaries are commemorating the 79th anniversary of the operation. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - American troops pack a landing craft underway to a beachhead at the northern coast of France, during the Allied invasion of Normandy, June 19, 1944. The D-Day invasion that helped change the course of World War II was unprecedented in scale and audacity. Veterans and world dignitaries are commemorating the 79th anniversary of the operation. (AP Photo, File)

1944 AP

FILE - U.S. infantrymen wade through the surf as they land at Normandy in the days following the Allies' June 1944, D-Day invasion of occupied France. (AP Photo/Bert Brandt, File)

OMAHA BEACH – The D-Day invasion that helped change the course of World War II was unprecedented in scale and audacity. As veterans and world dignitaries commemorate the 79th anniversary of the operation, here’s a look at some details about what happened:

WHO TOOK PART

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Nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed in Normandy on June 6, 1944. Of those, 73,000 were from the United States, 83,000 from Britain and Canada. Forces from several other countries were also involved, including French troops fighting with Gen. Charles de Gaulle against the Nazi occupation.

They faced around 50,000 German forces.

More than 2 million Allied soldiers, sailors, pilots, medics and other people from a dozen countries were involved in the overall Operation Overlord, the battle to wrest western France from Nazi control that started on D-Day.

WHERE AND WHEN

The sea landings started at 6:30 a.m. local time, just after dawn, targeting five code-named beaches, one after the other: Omaha, Utah, Gold, Sword, Juno.

The operation also included actions inland, including overnight parachute landings on strategic German sites and U.S. Army Rangers scaling cliffs to take out German gun positions.

Around 11,000 Allied aircraft, 7,000 ships and boats, and thousands of other vehicles were involved in the invasion.

VICTIMS ON ALL SIDES

A total of 4,414 Allied troops were killed on D-Day itself, including 2,501 Americans. More than 5,000 were wounded.

In the ensuing Battle of Normandy, 73,000 Allied forces were killed and 153,000 wounded. The battle — and especially Allied bombings of French villages and cities — killed around 20,000 French civilians.

The exact German casualties aren't known, but historians estimate between 4,000 and 9,000 men were killed, wounded or missing during the D-Day invasion alone. About 22,000 German soldiers are among the many buried around Normandy.

SURVIVORS

A few thousand D-Day veterans may be still alive; the youngest are in their late 90s. A few dozen are in Normandy for the 79th anniversary. Charity organizations and local French residents helped organize their trip back to the beaches of D-Day, including providing travel and housing to ensure they could make the journey.

Next year, world leaders are expected for major commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of the invasion.

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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