EYES IN THE SKY

D-Day was an enormous gamble for the Allies. Success would lead to the end of the war, while failure would impose a long delay, if not something worse. The cost to the free nations of the world, not to mention those under the yoke of Nazi tyranny, was unthinkable.

One advantage the Allies held was the ability to photograph occupied Europe almost at will, something the Germans could not do over England due to a lack of air superiority. In the months and weeks before D-Day, Canadian, British, and American aircraft conducted thousands of flights to learn everything they could about the enemy defences as well as to understand the possible response to an invasion.

Aerial reconnaissance flights continued during operations. The imagery gave commanders a view of the battlefield that was otherwise inaccessible to them. Surviving photos provide us with an invaluable insight into the past.