Veterans, families mark 74 years since Allied D-Day landings

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COLLEVILLE-SUR-MER, France (AP) — Families of fallen soldiers and dwindling numbers of veterans of the D-Day invasion gathered on the Normandy shore Wednesday to mark 74 years since the massive military operation that helped change the course of World War II.

Powerful gusts of wind blew through a heavy mist as relatives and others paid respects at the American military cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer, above the sandy expanse known as Omaha Beach.

On this day in 1944, Operation Overlord, better known as D-Day started. It was the largest seaborne invasion in history. #DDay pic.twitter.com/FdudJW2dgc
— Marina Amaral (@marinamaral2) June 6, 2018

Ceremonies have been held this week at memorial sites along the cliffs and sandy expanse where Allied forces landed in Nazi-occupied France.

Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped, and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely. pic.twitter.com/9g4AXURaVB
— Marina Amaral (@marinamaral2) June 6, 2018

Colourised by @marinamaral2

American troops help their wounded comrades to move up under the intense German fire at Omaha beach. Normandy, France.

June 6th 1944.#WWII #DDay74 pic.twitter.com/j2jFbc54Jl
— World War II Photos (@WWIIPhoto) June 6, 2018

Thousands of U.S., British, Canadian and French troops launched a combined naval, air and land assault as dawn was breaking on June 6, 1944. The invasion weakened the Nazis' hold on Western Europe after they suffered a punishing defeat in Stalingrad in the east.

Under the cover of naval shell fire, American infantrymen wade ashore from their landing craft during the initial Normandy landing operations in France, June 6, 1944. (AP Photo/Peter Carroll)

U.S. reinforcements wade through the surf from a landing craft in the days following D-Day and the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France at Normandy in June 1944 during World War II. (AP Photo/Bert Brandt)

Carrying full equipment, American assault troops move onto a beachhead code-named Omaha Beach, on the northern coast of France on June 6, 1944, during the Allied invasion of the Normandy coast. (AP Photo)

American tourists and Dutch military history enthusiasts were among those visiting the memorial sites Wednesday, mingling with families of victims of the Battle of Normandy buried in cemeteries sprinkled around the region.