Thousands of airborne troops take off in gliders and land behind Nazi lines near the Riviera. Airborne forces establish contact with French partisans. The 454th Bomber Group is briefed before the invasion. Light and heavy bombers hit German strongholds in Southern France while fighter planes strafe ground targets. Allied naval vessels shell the southern coast of France.
French troops take part in the initial landings.
Supplies and reinforcements are quickly brought ashore. Allied forces capture German anti-invasion defenses. An Allied LST is hit by a German radio-controlled flying bomb. Engineers construct an airstrip in a vineyard. The original beachhead force fans out east and west.