| Today’s 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings is an opportunity to remember a great military victory against the Nazis but also – on the day European elections start – an important reminder to voters of the values that were fought for, which become the basis of the EU. D-Day, codenamed Operation Overlord, was the biggest invasion by sea in history. The sheer scale was unprecedented, involving over 100,000 soldiers, tens of thousands of aircraft, and thousands of ships. The majority of troops landing at the five beaches in Normandy were from the US, UK, and Canada. But military personnel from over 30 allied countries were also involved, including many from Nazi-occupied countries. Many came from further afield, like Gilbert Clarke from Jamaica, Karun Krishna ‘Jumbo’ Majumdar from India, and Lam Ping-yu from China, making the liberation of Europe a truly global effort. Thousands of women also played vital roles in intelligence analysis, operational support, code-breaking, medical assistance, and combat as part of the French resistance. Of course, D-Day wasn’t the only major military operation in Europe in 1944: Russians paid a terrible price fighting on the Eastern front. And thousands of Allied troops had already landed in Italy, fighting to liberate the country from Benito Mussolini’s fascists and German troops. But the importance of D-Day was that it marked the beginning of the end of Nazi tyranny across Europe. | 