AUSTRALIA'S ROLE IN D-DAY AND THE NORMANDY LANDINGS:
* Operation Overlord and the subsequent fighting in Normandy was borne mostly by US, British, Canadian and French forces.
* Soldiers, sailors and airmen from other countries, such as Australia, New Zealand and Poland were also involved on the allied side.
* Australia's involvement in Overlord was limited. By June 1944, most Australian service personnel were engaged in the southwest Pacific opposing the Japanese, but estimates suggest some 3000 Australians played a part in D-Day.
* Australia's main contribution was in the air. Some 2000 to 2500 Australian airmen serving in Royal Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force Squadrons took part in operations associated with the invasion.
* Australian aircrew served in transport and glider-towing squadrons which delivered airborne troops on D-Day, in fighter and fighter-bomber squadrons which operated directly over the beaches, and in heavy bomber squadrons which dropped thousands of tonnes of bombs in support of the landings.
* Some 500 Australian sailors served on Royal Navy vessels, from battleships and corvettes to motor torpedo boats and landing craft.
* About a dozen Australian soldiers were also attached to British army formations to gain experience in preparation for amphibious operations in the Pacific later in the war.
* Fourteen Australians are known to have been killed on D-Day: two members of the Royal Australian Navy and 12 members of the Royal Australian Air Force. Many other Australian airmen lost their lives in operations directly related to the invasion of France in the period leading up to 6 June 1944 and in the days that followed, as allied air crew flew in support of ground troops engaged in the bitter Normandy fighting.
Source - Department of Veterans Affairs
