Thursday will mark 80 years since the historic D-Day landings in Normandy. On June 6th, 1944, after years of meticulous planning, Allied forces launched a massive invasion of northern France to breach the heavily fortified German defenses and pave the way for the liberation of Europe. American, British, and Canadian troops arrived by air and sea in the early hours, fighting to secure the beachheads. Their success on these beaches set the stage for the Allied advance into Germany over the following year.

Visiting the Normandy area, with its beaches, battlefields, cemeteries, and remnants of wartime machinery, underscores the immense scale and intensity of the invasion. For most of us, our understanding of what the troops endured comes from movies, books, and firsthand accounts, which provide only a glimpse of the true experience.

Today, we’ll explore the work of the photographers who accompanied the soldiers on that day, documenting the action and risking their lives to give us a harrowing look at the realities of D-Day.

Robert Capa

Probably the most well-known of D-Day photographers, Robert Capa landed on Normandy beach with the first wave of troops in the early morning. His photos show the chaos as troops spill from the boats and into the water. Unfortunately, most of Capa’s film was destroyed due to a darkroom mishap but the remaining images have become legend over the past 8 decades. Be sure to check out a full story and more images by Robert at Magnum Photos here.

Frank Scherschel

Working for Life magazine at the time, Frank’s photos were mainly known for capturing the days leading up to the invasion and the devastation. He captured some beautiful and haunting images in full color of soldiers in England and the liberation and destruction of small towns in the vicinity of Normandy. You can check out the full gallery here.

U.S. Army Corps, the AFPU, and Canadian Army

While there were many notable D-Day photographers on the beaches that day, most of the photographers never gained recognition. Members of the US Army Corps, the AFPU, and the Canadian army captured various images throughout the invasion which have made up thousands of images in multitudes of archives. Here are some of our favorites. You can look at the rest of the images here.

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