WE SHALL FIGHT THEM ON THE BEACHES

HOW OPERATION OVERLORD'S DRAMA UNFOLDED MINUTE-BY-MINUTE

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JUNE 5, 1944 22:00: Operation Neptune, a seaborne force of five assault groups consisting of 130,000 men, leaves the English coast in 6,939 vessels, negotiating channels cleared by minesweepers.

JUNE 6, 1944, D-DAY

00:05: Coastal batteries between Le Havre and Cherbourg are bombed.

00:16: The first gliders head through the darkness to Benouville, before crash-landing so soldiers can aim for their target bridges.

00:20: British airborne troops begin attacking bridges at Benouville, including Pegasus, capturing them in just 15 minutes.

01:11: German General Erich Marcks hears reports that paratroopers have landed in the area. He decides to wait to see if this is the invasion.

01:50: In Paris, German Admiral Karl Hoffman hears increasingly alarming reports and fires off the message to Germany: "Report to the headquarters of the Fuhrer that it is the invasion."

01:55: American paratroopers drop into the strategically important Sainte-Mere-Eglise near Cherbourg.

02:30-03:00: Allied combined bombardment and assault fleets arrive and anchor off the French coast.

03:00: US soldiers begin to embark on the beaches at Omaha and Utah while the Royal Air Force bombards its intended targets at Caen.

03:20: General Richard Gale, commander of the 6th Airborne Division, is parachuted with his staff above the "N" jump zone near Ranville, as part of Operation Tonga.

03:25: Lieutenant-Colonel Terence Otway, with only 170 British paras out of the 635 planned, is preparing to move towards the Merville Gun Battery.

03:35: Horsa gliders containing forces destined for the British 6th Airborne Division land as part of Operation Tonga in the Ranville area.