Airborne troops were dropped behind enemy lines in the early hours, while thousands of ships gathered off the Normandy coast for the main attack.

Shortly after midnight gliders landed as Allied troops seized key locations on the flanks of the Normandy beaches.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Ten miles inland in Normandy a former policeman from Oxford – Maj Howard – and his men from the 2nd Battalion of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire light infantry, are waiting for more reinforcements to arrive.

Overnight, landing by gliders, they successfully captured two bridges over the Caen canal and the River Orne.

During the course of the morning they have seen off German counter attacks.

Now, fearing another incursion, there’s an anxious wait for backup.

Major Howard’s daughter, Penny Bates, said they were able to buy themselves some time.

A massive bombproof pipeline went from the Isle of Wight to France to fuel the Allies' frontline after the beaches were secured on D-Day.

The Pluto pipeline was a huge technological innovation carried out by top wartime engineers in total secrecy.

Image source, Getty Images

Many of the troops landing off Normandy’s beaches this morning have reported experiencing seasickness on their crossings from the south coast.

The choppy waters have also caused problems for some of the landing craft.

The seaborne assault known as Operation Neptune is the largest in history involving more than 7,000 vessels.

It was planned by Sir Adm Bertram Ramsay at Southwick House near Portsmouth.

Bad weather meant D-Day was postponed by a day, and it was at Southwick House that the decision was made to go on the 6 June.

Soldiers from the 5th Battalion of the Royal Berkshire Regiment have successfully destroyed German defences on the beach codenamed Juno beach.

They followed Canadian troops onto the beach to secure it for further landings of troops and supplies.

After coming up against fire from German pillboxes on the shore, they have successfully fought back against the enemy.

One of their officers is Reading man Major Basil Tarrant, his son Chris Tarrant is speaking today.

In the small Berkshire village of Hurley, a team of more than 100 American secret agents are monitoring radio broadcasts from a network of operatives in occupied France.

The team, based at the top secret communications centre - codenamed Station Victor, has the job of deciphering coded messages from spies behind enemy lines.

News that the invasion has happened has added to the sense of urgency of their mission.

Local historian Phil Mullins uncovers the story of Station Victor...

The skies above the Solent are very busy as a vital air spotting operation in support of the invasion of Normandy swings into action.

HMS Daedalus airfield at Lee-on-Solent is the base for this. Working in pairs, 159 aircraft are involved in the mission.

The job of the pilots is to pinpoint German defences from the air to improve the accuracy of the naval bombardment from the ships located off the beaches.

Dr Seb Ritchie is from the RAF’s Air Historical Branch.

The Halifax bomber aircraft which towed those first six gliders into France took off from RAF Tarrant Rushton in Dorset.

That was followed by further sorties from the airfield in the early hours of this morning. All of the aircraft have landed safely back at base.

The air crews have been given debriefing sessions and are trying to rest ahead of their next operation later today.

Bob Seymour’s father, Robert, is one of the navigators on the bombers – known as tugs.

Details are emerging about the first person to be killed in action on D-Day.

Lt Den Brotheridge of the 2nd Battalion Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry was killed during the capture of the bridges over the Caen Canal and River Orne.

After landing in gliders and storming the bridges shortly after midnight, Lt Brotheridge was hit by German machine gun fire.

Margaret Brotheridge is his daughter.

Soldiers from the 1st Buckinghamshire Battalion of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry are among troops who’ve landed on the beach code named Sword.

The first men disembarked an hour ago.

They are with the 6th Beach Group, responsible for defending the beach from German counter-attacks and securing it for reinforcements to arrive.

American troops who have been stationed for some months in Dorset are also involved in the landings - 34,000 soldiers left from Weymouth and Portland overnight, headed for the beach codenamed Omaha.

They landed there two hours ago but things are not going to plan, with some landing craft arriving in the wrong positions.

Derek Luckhurst, founder of the Castletown D-Day Centre in Portland, said: "It all went wrong initially."

He told BBC South's Jo Kent the weather and strong current of the sea meant very few troops were where they should have been.

He explained: "By the time they actually hit the beach, they were already wet, cold, sick and the tanks, they all sank in the high waves.

"So there was no armoured support, there were no impact craters to hide in and all of the defences were completely intact.

"So as the doors of the Higgins boats oepned, they were just mown down by the German machine guns."

The seaborne invasion is the largest in history, comprising more than 7,000 vessels and the delivery today of more than 160,000 troops to the five Normandy beaches.

It’s been planned by Adm Sir Bertram Ramsay at the naval headquarters at Southwick House, near Portsmouth.

The majority of the ships gathered at the south-east point of the Isle of Wight ahead of the crossing, at a point nicknamed Piccadilly Circus.

In the last half hour, soldiers from the 5th Battalion of the Royal Berkshire Regiment have landed in Normandy as part of the allied invasion force.

They are following the Canadian assault on the beach, codenamed Juno, at Bernieres sur Mer.

Operating as a beach group, they are tasked with destroying remaining German defences and securing the beach so supplies and reinforcements can be landed.

One of their officers is Reading man, Maj Basil Tarrant.

His son, TV and radio presenter Chris Tarrant, reads his father’s description of the landings...

American troops, who have been stationed in Berkshire for the past seven months, have also been involved in the airborne operation.

Soldiers from the 502nd Parachute Infantry Battalion were among 13,000 US paratroopers dropped into France overnight.

Some left on a series of flights from the Berkshire airbases of Greenham Common, Membury and Aldermaston.

They were watched as they flew from Greenham by General Eisenhower.

This morning, the base is preparing to send reinforcements.

The six Horsa gliders used in that assault carried a total of 181 men.

They took off from RAF Tarrant Rushton in Dorset, landing in France shortly after midnight.

Crews from the Dorset base were then involved in Operation Tonga, dropping paratroopers and airborne troops in gliders near to the city of Caen.

The gliders were towed by Halifax bombers, known as tugs, and the planes have safely returned to base but there were some issues with the gliders.

Meanwhile, 10 miles inland in Normandy, former Oxford policeman Maj John Howard and his men from the 2nd battalion Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry have been successful in capturing two bridges over the Caen Canal and the River Orne.

In a daring and skillful overnight mission, they landed in gliders very close to their targets and had captured the bridges within 10 minutes.

The men are currently defending the bridges and waiting for reinforcements.

Troops from the UK, the US, Canada, and France attacked German forces on the coast of northern France, on 6 June 1944.

D-Day was the largest military naval, air and land operation ever attempted, and marked the start of the campaign to liberate Nazi-occupied north-west Europe.

From 06:30, the first five assault divisions were delivered to their beaches under cover of a naval bombardment.

Image source, IWM/Getty Images

Image source, EPA

Image source, IWM/Getty Images