[04:41.18]The assault on Normandy began at 12:15 a.m.,
[04:46.28]when the pathfinders for the American airborne airborne units letf their planes and parachuted to earth.
[04:53.64]Five minutes later,on the other side of the invasion area,the British pathfinders made their jump.
[05:01.53]The pathfinders were specially trained to find and mark the drop zones.
[05:07.70]The main airborne assault was to commence within the hour.
[05:12.87]The airborne attack became confused because of stiff winds and the evasive flying of the transport planes
[05:21.38]when they encountered anti-aircraft fire.
[05:25.41]As a result,the paratroopers were scattered over a wide area and most missed their drop zones,
[05:33.48]some by as much as 20miles.Other complications were caused by the terrain,and the worst terrain was on the CotentinPeninsula
[05:44.76]The Germans had laced the open fields with anti-personnel and glider stakes and flooded the low areas.
[05:53.10]The flooding caused the most trouble for the Americans of the101 st and82 nd Airborne divisions,
[06:01.14]with many of the troops drowned,laden down by their heavy equipment.
[06:06.84]The airborne units were to secure the flanks of the amphibious assault.That meant capturing bridges,
[06:15.38]crossroads and coastal batteries.After accomplishing those tasks,
[06:22.15]the paratroopers had to withstand any German couterattacks.
[06:27.06]As the airborne units struggled to achieve their goals,
[06:31.71]the great fleet made its way across the channel to its appointment with destiny.Leading that
[06:39.52]grand armada were the minesweepers.Behind them followed a vast array of naval vessels of every conceivable type.
[06:48.66]Never before had such a fleet been assembled.Including the landing craft carried on board,
[06:56.26]the combined Alliedinvasion armada numbered up to6,000ships.Approximately150,000men were to cross the English Channnel
[07:07.81]and land at assault beaches code-named"Utah,""Omaha,"Gold," "Juno"and"Sword."
[07:16.64]The first areas of French soil wrested from German control were a group of small islands
[07:23.35]located three miles off Utah Beach.
[07:27.43]Allied commanders were concerned that these islands could be used as sites for heavy guns.
[07:33.72]The men of the U.S.4th and 24th Cavalry squadrons were designated to take the islands prior to the main invasion.
[07:42.60]The assault teams found only land mines.The Germans had left the islands unoccupied.
[07:49.68]For the majority of the assault troops,however,the war had not begun yet.
[07:55.14]After spending as long as48 hours aboard the various transport ships as a result of the delay,
[08:02.32]many of the man were miserably seasick and in poor shape for the challenge ahead.
[08:08.52]The naval bombarment began around 5:45a.m.The air attack followed.The naval and air bombardments
[08:19.10]were designed to destroy the beach guns and obstacles,pin down the enemy and provide shelter for the ground troops
[08:28.24]on the open beaches by making craters.Both,however,largely failed in their objectives.Weather conditions had improved,
[08:38.95]but they were not perfect.Because of poor visibility caused by low cloud cover,
[08:46.03]it was decided that the bomber would delay the release of bombs 30seconds to avoid hitting the assaulting troops.
[08:53.84]As a result, the bombs fell inland and missed their targets.Although the naval bombardment was more accurate,
[09:03.35]it was not much more effective against the hardened German gun emplacements.
[09:09.43]The weather also was partially responsible for causing some of the assault craft to miss their assigned landing areas.
[09:17.37]Additionally,many of the landing craft and amphibious tanks foundered in the rough sea.In the Omaha area,
[09:26.78]most of the craft carrying artillery and tanks intended to support the incoming troops sank in the high waves.
[09:35.27]At Utah Beach,however,a strange stroke of good fortune occurred
[09:40.86]when the assault craft encoutered a southerly current that caused them to land in the wrong sector.
[09:47.78]The German shore batteries that would have contested a landing in the original area would undoubtedly have taken a heavy toll
[09:56.22]The landing at the new sector was virtually unopposed.
[10:01.23]Despite difficulties,Eisenhower's gamble with the elements was to pay off.
[10:07.11]The invasion forces succeeded in establishing a toehold on French soil.
[10:12.62]Reinforcements began to pour in,thrusting on deep into France.
[10:18.55]Within a year Hitler's empire,which he had boasted would last a thousand years,lay in ruins.
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