Hour by Hour
A Complete Timeline
From the order to embark on the evening of June 5 to the fall of darkness on June 6, this is the day that broke the Atlantic Wall — minute by minute.
June 5, 1944 — The Crossing
- 21:30
The Fleet Sails
The first of nearly 7,000 ships of all classes weigh anchor from southern English ports and set course south through the Channel. Operation Neptune is under way.
- 22:15
Pathfinders Take Off
British and American pathfinder paratroopers board their aircraft at airfields across England. Eisenhower visits the 101st Airborne at Greenham Common.
- 23:30
Glider Force Launches
Major John Howard's coup-de-main force takes off in six Horsa gliders, bound for the bridges over the Caen Canal and the Orne River.
June 6, 1944 — Before Dawn
- 00:16
Pegasus Bridge Seized
Howard's gliders crash-land within yards of the Caen Canal bridge. In ten minutes of fighting, the bridge — later renamed Pegasus — is captured intact.
- 00:30
The Drops Begin
The 82nd and 101st U.S. Airborne Divisions and the British 6th Airborne Division begin parachute drops behind the invasion beaches. Scattered by wind and flak, paratroopers fight in small bands across the Cotentin and the Orne.
- 01:30
Sainte-Mère-Église
Elements of the 82nd Airborne descend into the burning village. Pvt. John Steele's parachute catches on the church steeple; he hangs through the night, feigning death.
- 02:00
Resistance Sabotage
French Resistance cells, alerted by BBC code phrases from Verlaine's poem, sever rail lines, cut telephone wires, and ambush German reinforcements moving toward the coast.
- 03:00
Bombers Over the Wall
More than 2,200 RAF and USAAF heavy bombers begin saturation attacks on coastal batteries, beach defenses, and inland junctions. Cloud cover causes many bombs to fall long.
- 04:30
Merville Battery Falls
Lt. Col. Terence Otway's understrength 9th Parachute Battalion storms the Merville Battery, neutralizing the guns threatening Sword Beach at heavy cost.
- 05:00
Loading the Landing Craft
Seasick soldiers, soaked and freezing, climb down nets into landing craft in heavy swells offshore. Several craft swamp and sink before reaching the line of departure.
- 05:30
Naval Bombardment Opens
Battleships HMS Warspite, Ramillies, USS Texas and Nevada, along with cruisers and destroyers, open fire on German positions. The horizon becomes a wall of muzzle flashes.
June 6, 1944 — The Landings
- 06:30
H-Hour — Utah & Omaha
The first American waves touch down. At Utah, currents push the 4th Infantry a mile south of its target — a fortunate error that lands them on a weakly defended sector. At Omaha, the bombardment has missed; the 1st and 29th Divisions land into uncut wire and grazing machine-gun fire.
- 06:30
Pointe du Hoc Assault
Lt. Col. James Rudder's 2nd Ranger Battalion fires rocket-propelled grapnels up the 100-foot cliffs. Rangers climb under grenades and small-arms fire, only to find the casemates empty — the guns have been moved inland.
- 07:25
Gold Beach
The British 50th Northumbrian Division lands at Gold. Hobart's specialized armour — flail tanks, AVREs, DD swimming Shermans — clears beach obstacles and minefields under fire.
- 07:35
Juno Beach
The Canadian 3rd Infantry Division comes ashore at Juno. The high tide hides obstacles; landing craft strike them and detonate mines. The Canadians fight house to house in Courseulles and Bernières.
- 07:25
Sword Beach
The British 3rd Infantry Division, with No. 4 Commando and Free French commandos under Cdt. Kieffer, lands at Sword. Lord Lovat's piper Bill Millin plays them ashore.
- 08:30
Omaha at the Brink
Bradley considers evacuating Omaha. Bodies and burning vehicles choke the surf. Small groups of riflemen, engineers, and a handful of officers begin clawing up the bluffs through draws E-1 and D-3.
- 09:00
Eisenhower's Communiqué
SHAEF announces the landings to the world: 'Under the command of General Eisenhower, Allied naval forces, supported by strong air forces, began landing Allied armies this morning on the northern coast of France.'
- 10:00
Rommel Returns
Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, away in Germany for his wife's birthday, learns of the invasion and races back to Normandy. The crucial Panzer reserves remain frozen by Hitler's standing order.
June 6, 1944 — Afternoon
- 12:00
Beachhead Linked at Gold
British troops from Gold push inland and meet Royal Marine Commandos coming from Juno. The two beachheads merge into a continuous front.
- 13:30
Foothold on Omaha
American infantry have fought their way to the top of the bluffs. Vierville, Saint-Laurent and Colleville remain contested, but the beach is no longer a killing ground.
- 14:00
21st Panzer Counterattack
The only Panzer division able to react that day, the 21st Panzer, drives toward the coast between Sword and Juno. Stopped short of the sea by anti-tank fire, it withdraws as Allied gliders pour into the landing zones behind them.
- 16:00
Pointe du Hoc Holds
Of Rudder's 225 Rangers, fewer than 90 are still fit to fight. They will hold the position for two more days against repeated counterattacks before relief arrives.
- 18:00
Bayeux in Sight
Forward elements of the British 50th Division come within sight of Bayeux. The town will be liberated the next day — the first French city freed from German occupation.
June 6, 1944 — Nightfall
- 21:00
Glider Reinforcements
Operation Mallard delivers the 6th Airlanding Brigade by glider to reinforce the British airborne east of the Orne. Hundreds of Horsas and Hamilcars line the fields at dusk.
- 23:00
The Foothold
By the end of the day, more than 156,000 Allied troops are ashore across a fifty-mile front. The five beachheads are not yet linked, and Caen — a D-Day objective — remains in German hands. But the Atlantic Wall is broken.
- 23:59
Eisenhower at His Desk
In his pocket Eisenhower still carries the note he wrote that morning, taking full blame should the landings fail. He will never have to read it. The longest day is ending; the longest war in living memory has begun to turn.