D-Day

DDay.Center – Your Independent Guide to D-Day

The aim of our website is to offer an accessible, easy-to-follow guide to D-Day and the Battle of Normandy, whilst providing some useful advice and opinion to help people discover the battlefields and landing beaches of Normandy for themselves. We also want to try and highlight the many physical reminders of Operation Overlord – many of them now overlooked or their relevance forgotten.

D-Day.Center is also a great place to keep up-to-date with the annual D-Day Anniversary commemorations. We compile listings from numerous sources and believe we are able to provide the most comprehensive overview of forthcoming events being held not just in Normandy but those taking place in the UK, Canada, and the United States. Every year around five million people visit the D-Day sites. Through education, exploration and remembrance we want to help keep alive the story of Normandy Landings and of D-Day Veterans.

Operation Overlord

What Was Operation Overlord
What Was Operation Overlord

Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, represented the largest amphibious military assault in history and the pivotal turning point of World War II in Europe. Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel that day to storm five code-named beaches, beginning the arduous campaign that would ultimately breach Hitler’s Atlantic Wall, liberate France, and deliver the fatal blow to Nazi Germany’s western defenses.

What Was Operation Overlord Operation Bodyguard (D-Day Deception)
Operation Neptune (D-Day Assault) Battle of Normandy (The Beginning of the End)
D-Day Facts And Figures Timeline of D-Day Events
Technology Used at D-Day D-Day Glossary
Utah Beach Landing Zone Omaha Beach Landing Zone
Gold Beach Landing Zone Juno Beach Landing Zone
Sword Beach Landing Zone D-Day Strategic Operations: Complete Codename Index
Pegasus Bridge Pointe du Hoc

WW2 Cemeteries in Normandy

Aerial View of Normandy American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer
Aerial View of Normandy American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer

The immaculately maintained war cemeteries of Normandy stand as solemn testimonies to the enormous human cost of liberation, where over 110,000 Allied and German soldiers lie in carefully tended grounds overlooking the landscapes they fought to claim. From the sweeping rows of white crosses at the American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer to the stark stone markers of La Cambe German Cemetery, these hallowed grounds offer visitors profound spaces for reflection on the sacrifice of a generation and the terrible price of freedom.

Normandy American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer Brittany American Cemetery at Saint-James
Banneville-La-Campagne War Cemetery Bayeux War Cemetery
Brouay War Cemetery Cambes-en-Plaine War Cemetery
La Délivrande War Cemetery Fontenay-le-Pesnel War Cemetery
Hermanville War Cemetery Hottot-les-Bagues War Cemetery
Jerusalem War Cemetery, Chouain Ranville War Cemetery
Ryes War Cemetery St. Charles de Percy War Cemetery
St. Désir-de-Lisieux British War Cemetery St. Manvieu War Cemetery
Secqueville-en-Bessin War Cemetery Tilly-sur-Seulles War Cemetery
Tourgeville Military Cemetery Bény-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery
Bretteville-Sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery Nécropole Nationale des Gateys
Champigny-Saint-André German War Cemetery La Cambe German War Cemetery
Marigny German War Cemetery Mont-de-Huisnes German War Cemetery
Orglandes German War Cemetery St-Désir-de-Liseux German War Cemetery
Urville-Langannerie Polish War Cemetery

WW2 Museums in Normandy

WW2 D-Day Museums in Normandy
WW2 D-Day Museums in Normandy

Normandy’s world-class WWII museums preserve the artifacts, stories, and memories of D-Day through powerful exhibits that range from imposing tanks and aircraft to deeply personal items carried by soldiers who stormed the beaches. The region boasts over two dozen specialized museums, including the comprehensive Memorial de Caen, the immersive Utah Beach Museum housed in a former German bunker, and the Airborne Museum at Sainte-Mère-Église, each offering unique perspectives on different aspects of the invasion that changed the course of history.

Airborne Museum Sainte-Merè-Église Arromanches 360° Circular Cinema
Batterie d’Azeville Batterie de Crisbecq
Maisy Battery Musee de la Batterie de Merville
Big Red One Assault Museum D-Day Experience (Dead Man’s Corner)
Mémorial de Caen Juno Beach Centre
Le Mémorial de Falaise – Les Civils dans la Guerre Liberators Museum – Normandy 1944
Marcouf 44 Mémorial de Montormel
Mémorial Pegasus Musée 44 La Percée du Bocage
Musée America Gold Beach Musée D-Day Omaha
Musée de la Bataille de Tilly-sur-Seulles Musée de la Libération Cherbourg
Musée des Epaves Sous-Marines Musée du Débarquement – Arromanches-les-Bains
Utah Beach Museum Musée du Mur de l’Atlantique
Musée Juin 44 L’Aigle World War II Museum Quinéville
Museum of the Battle of Normandy Museum Commando No. 4
Omaha Beach Memorial Museum 1944 Radar Museum
Normandy Victory Museum Overlord Museum

Normandy’s D-Day Historic Towns

Normandy's D-Day Historic Towns
Normandy’s D-Day Historic Towns

The historic Norman towns that witnessed the D-Day landings and subsequent liberation battles now blend peaceful coastal charm with profound wartime heritage, their streets and buildings bearing both visible scars and commemorative markers of their pivotal role in history. From Sainte-Mère-Église, where paratrooper John Steele famously dangled from the church steeple, to Bayeux, the first major town liberated by Allied forces, these communities maintain a deep connection to their wartime past while serving as living memorials to the soldiers who fought house-by-house to free them from occupation.

Bayeux Arromanches-les-Bains
Sainte-Mère-Église Caen
Saint-Lô Colleville-sur-Mer
Vierville-sur-Mer Longues-sur-Mer
Cherbourg Ouistreham
La Cambe Courseulles-sur-Mer
Villers-Bocage Isigny-sur-Mer
Argentan Montebourg
Avranches Bernières-sur-Mer
La Roche-Guyon Pont-l’Évêque
Falaise Mortain
Bénouville Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer
Ranville

Normandy Today

Normandy Today
Normandy Today

Normandy today balances its profound World War II heritage with the timeless charm of its rolling countryside, half-timbered architecture, and world-renowned culinary traditions centered around apples, dairy, and seafood. Visitors discover a region that has gracefully integrated its solemn historical sites into a landscape of picturesque fishing ports, medieval towns like Bayeux with its famous tapestry, beautiful accommodations, and dramatic coastlines punctuated by landmarks like Mont Saint-Michel, creating an experience that honors the past while celebrating Normandy’s enduring cultural richness.

Normandy, France Travel Guide Where to Stay in Normandy
Historic D-Day Towns WW2 Cemeteries in Normandy
WW2 D-Day Museums in Normandy D-Day Commemorations
Annual D-Day Anniversary Events Free Overlord Routes and Map
Preserving D-Day History Preserved Historic WW2 Ships
Preserved Historic WW2 Aircraft Relics & Reminders

As you explore our website dedicated to the D-Day landings and Battle of Normandy, we hope you’ll gain a deeper appreciation for this pivotal chapter in world history and the extraordinary individuals who participated in it. Whether you’re planning your own journey to the beaches where history was made, researching a family connection to these events, or simply seeking to understand the scale and significance of Operation Overlord, we thank you for taking the time to remember and honor the sacrifices that secured our freedom. The beaches of Normandy may now be peaceful, but they forever hold the footprints of heroes—and in preserving their stories, we ensure that the courage displayed on those shores will never be forgotten.

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