More than 350 paratroopers jumped in Normandy today as part of the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the landing of Allied forces in Normandy, during the Second World War, the French radio Europe 1 (Europe) reported today on its website.
The jumps took place near the Mont-Saint-Michel monastery, because Saint Michel (Saint Michel) is considered the patron saint of paratroopers according to Catholic tradition.
The paratroopers, among whom there were amateurs and not professional soldiers, jumped from a height of 400 meters. They wore then allied uniforms and used old round parachutes, and some carried the flags of allied countries.
Other French media reported today that American soldiers also took part in the celebration, and that during the day a choir of airborne units of the United States Army (USA) will sing at the point of arrival of the paratroopers.
On Thursday, June 6, it will be exactly 80 years since the start of the operation known as D-Day, and one of the key battles for the victory over Nazi Germany.
The Normandy landings, codenamed "Operation Overlord", was the largest naval invasion in the history of warfare. Allied landing forces consisted of 73.000 American, more than 60.000 British and over 20.000 Canadian soldiers, supported by French commandos.
The landings along the 80-kilometer coast began with a night parachute landing of 23.000 men, a large-scale artillery attack from the air and sea, which was followed on June 6, 1944 by a successful amphibious landing on the strategically important Pegasus Bridge, near Caen, a city in northwestern France.
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