The sixth day of June 1944 was D-Day. That day starting just after 0001 hours, the first Canadian, British, and American paratroopers jumped out of their transport aircraft into the black darkness over Normandy Their task was to open the long-expected attack against Hitler's Fortress Europa, an assault designed to liberate Western Europe from the oppressive, brutal, deadly, humanity-crushing rule of Nazi Germany. The paratroopers of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, a strong part of the combined Canadian-British force that jumped out of the Dakota and Albemarle aircraft, were the first Canadian troops to land on French soil on D-Day Notwithstanding the horrendous handicap of the darkness and the confusion, the Canadians, while suffering major casualties, succeeded in gaining their assigned objectives east of the Orne River and north of Caen. H-Hour was the time designated for the landing of Canadian, British, and American troops at their assigned beaches, starting from the Orne on the east and reaching miles to the west to Sword (British), Juno (Canadian), Gold (British), Omaha (American), and Utah (American).
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