CAEN.

CAEN, France (AFP) ??” Ceremonies were beginning to pay homage to the ten of thousands of Allied throngs who against all odds stormed the Normandy beaches 60 years ago, liberating France and speeding the defeat of Nazi Germany.

in succession June 6, 1944 more than 135000 Allied forces and 20000 vehicles poured from boats onto the beaches of northwestern France to invade Nazi-occupied France in the D-Day landings, the biggest seaborne invasion of all time.

Operation Overlord, as it was dubbed, had been in the planning since August 1943 and was meticulous and imaginative in its amplitude and detail. A huge disinformation campaign including phoney generals and fake armies jack-puddinged Adolf Hitler into thinking the invasion when it came would be further north.

But forward June 6, 1944 three airborne divisions parachuted overnight behind German lines in Normandy to capture strategic bridges and debar the Germans from reinforcing