1 min.
Wading into history
On 6 June 1944, the fight was taken to the beaches. The enormously complex and secretive invasion of Normandy saw 156,000 British, American and Canadian troops joined by soldiers from other allied nations, and depended on many other factors.
“It involves tides, wind, waves, and visibility, as well as the combined employment of land, air, and sea forces in the highest degree of intimacy and interdependence,” British Prime Minister Winston Churchill explained of Operation Overlord.
This hugely evocative and now historically significant picture captures the danger, uncertainty and bravery of the day. The photograph, called Into the Jaws of Death, was taken by Robert F Sargent, a 20-year-old photographer’s mate, at 7.40am local time on a US landing craft as soldiers waded towards Omaha Beach.
A range of commemorative events are taking place…