From the Mirror archives

June 6, 1944

Our photo shows a stream of US soldiers moving up the beach on D-Day. Codenamed Operation Neptune, D-Day was the largest seaborne invasion in history involving 24,000 Allied troops. The 50-mile stretch of Normandy coast was divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword. American troops were assigned Utah and Omaha beaches, with Omaha the most heavily defended by the Germans. Some 2,000 US soldiers of the 1st and 29th Infantry Divisions lost their lives in the battle for Omaha beach.