It was 79 years ago today, just after 9 o’clock in the morning, when news began to filter out of England that the long waited allied invasion of Normandy was underway.  D-Day (known as Operation Neptune) had begun.

Along with their British and American counterparts, nearly 14,000 Canadian soldiers came ashore at Juno Beach and over the next 18 hours, pushed the Nazi’s back into France to the point the Canadians were ordered to halt to allow the remaining forces to catch up.

Today, World War II veterans, officials and visitors are commemorating D-Day on Normandy beaches to honour those who fought, and in many cases died, in the largest naval, air and land operation in history.

D-Day spelled the beginning of the end for Hitler’s Third Reich.  The war in Europe ended almost a year later on May 8th, 1945.