One of the most important airborne invasions in World War II, the D-Day invasion was led by the 82nd Airborne Division. The operation was part of Operation OVERLORD, the assault on the northern coast of Nazi-occupied France. On June 6, 1944, around 2am, the C-47 pilots dropped around 6,420 paratroopers on the Cherbourg Peninsula on the northwest coast of France. The weather was foggy, so many of the troops did not land where they planned to on Utah Beach behind Normandy.
Under German pressure, they advanced into France, capturing a bridgehead at La Fiere, Pont I’abbe, and Montebourg Station. The troops attacked Germany’s defense lines, and the loss of lives were high, with a total of 2,500 casualties. The attack was successful, as a report said, “...33 days of action without relief, without replacements. Every mission accomplished. No ground gained was ever relinquished.”