--- title: D-Day Anniversary: Battle of Normandy Stories description: Here are five essential TIME stories to commemorate the anniversary of the allied invasion of Normandy, more commonly known as D-Day canonical: https://time.com/4354086/d-day-normandy-invasion-stories/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-05T16:00:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2024-01-24T12:46:40.000Z article:section: History og:title: 5 Essential D-Day Stories og:description: Here are five stories to mark the anniversary of the invasion at Normandy og:url: https://time.com/4354086/d-day-normandy-invasion-stories/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt09e89d315eb14d07/6988960da988ca4ded6b8168/normandy-stories.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Allied Landing In Normandy og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 5 Essential D-Day Stories twitter:description: Here are five stories to mark the anniversary of the invasion at Normandy twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt09e89d315eb14d07/6988960da988ca4ded6b8168/normandy-stories.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 5 Essential D-Day Stories ## Video: The Iconic Photo of D-Day [Watch (HLS stream): The Iconic Photo of D-Day](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/8CmPFMLD.m3u8) (4:56)  _Published 2011-02-10. Robert Capa's LIFE photos of the invasion of Normandy -- and a lone soldier near the beach -- are icons of WWII, and were almost destroyed_  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Updated: Jan 24, 2024 12:46 PM UTCPublished: Jun 5, 2016 4:00 PM UTC  American soldiers, their feet in water, land on a Normandy beach on June 6, 1944. American soldiers, their feet in water, land on a Normandy beach on June 6, 1944.Keystone-France—Gamma-Keystone/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Updated: Jan 24, 2024 12:46 PM UTCPublished: Jun 5, 2016 4:00 PM UTC _June 6 marks the anniversary of the allied invasion of Normandy during World War II, more commonly known as D-Day. To commemorate the anniversary, h_ _ere are five essential TIME stories about the invasion:_ **A diplomatic endeavor:** A [2014 story marking the 70th anniversary](http://time.com/2814428/d-day/) of the Battle of Normandy examined the diplomatic negotiations between Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin that preceded the D-Day victory. --- > “” --- **Early reports:** The first issue of TIME after D-Day—[published on June 12, 1944](http://time.com/vault/issue/1944-06-12/page/1/)—included several stories about the invasion, [one of which focused](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,774987-1,00.html) on how Americans reacted to early news that the “greatest military undertaking in history” had launched. --- > “” --- [_Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter_](http://time.com/newsletter) **Strategy and chaos:** A TIME [cover story](http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19840528,00.html) published on May 28, 1984, ahead of the 40th anniversary of the invasion, detailed the myriad dangers that Allied troops encountered by land, sea and air. The story also examined the German errors that affected the outcome of the military operation. --- > “” --- **An iconic photo:** Robert Capa was one of only four American photographers credentialed to land on the beaches of Normandy alongside American troops. This [story and video](http://time.com/120751/robert-capa-dday-photos/) detail how Capa captured an iconic photo of a soldier in the water at Normandy and then helped bring him to shore, all while preserving his film. Capa’s is some of the only film from that day that survived. --- > “” --- **Historical context:** In 2014, historian Douglas Brinkley looked back on the invasion and [its unique role in history](http://time.com/102141/dday-longest-day/): --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4354086/d-day-normandy-invasion-stories/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4354086/d-day-normandy-invasion-stories/"},"headline":"5 Essential D-Day Stories","datePublished":"2016-06-05T16:00:27.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-24T12:46:40.000Z","description":"Here are five stories to mark the anniversary of the invasion at Normandy","url":"https://time.com/4354086/d-day-normandy-invasion-stories/","keywords":["conflict","France","Media","World War II","D Day"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt09e89d315eb14d07/6988960da988ca4ded6b8168/normandy-stories.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt09e89d315eb14d07/6988960da988ca4ded6b8168/normandy-stories.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Allied Landing In Normandy","caption":"Allied Landing In Normandy","creditText":"Keystone-France—Gamma-Keystone/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/conflict/","name":"conflict"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4354086/d-day-normandy-invasion-stories/","name":"5 Essential D-Day Stories"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Iconic Photo of D-Day","description":"Robert Capa's LIFE photos of the invasion of Normandy -- and a lone soldier near the beach -- are icons of WWII, and were almost destroyed","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/8CmPFMLD/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2011-02-10T18:16:21.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/8CmPFMLD.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4354086/d-day-normandy-invasion-stories/","duration":"PT4M56S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4354086/d-day-normandy-invasion-stories/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```