Parachute training at an RAF station in Britain, May 1944 (b/w photo)

Parachute training at an RAF station in Britain, May 1944. Official photograph, CH 15194, World War Two (1939-1945), 1944. In the months leading up to D-Day and the Allied invasion of France, airborne troops honed their skills and trained for their role in the operation. On D-Day (6 June 1944), airborne forces were dropped behind the landing beaches and on their flanks to slow down German counter-attacks. Bridges, road crossings and coastal batteries were seized to help the amphibious forces advance inland. From a collection of 33 British official photographs mounted on card with original associated typescript captions. Photographs chiefly relate to D-Day and the Battle of Normandy, 1944.