Battleships in World War II part of Operation Neptune, in support of the D-Day landings in June 1944. D-Day also saw the deliberate sacrifice of two old dreadnoughts ( and ), which were scuttled as part of the breakwater around the Allied Mulberry harbours. The sinking of "Prince of Wales" and "Repulse" off the coast of Malaya in 1941 demonstrated that even the most modern battleships could not hold off aerial attacks without decent aerial defenses. The British HACS fire control system had been rendered inoperable by the extreme heat and humidity of the Malaya tropical climate, and the anti-aircraft artillery had managed to shoot
Australian contribution to the Battle of Normandy (EATS), were stationed in the United Kingdom (UK) and took part in operations against Germany. The Australian Government had very little influence over where Australian graduates of EATS were posted, and many were assigned directly to British units. As of 6 June 1944, 1,816 Australian airmen (including 584 pilots) were posted to RAF squadrons. Many of the thousands of Australian ground crew in the UK at this time were also serving with RAF units. In addition, ten RAAF flying squadrons were stationed in the UK. These included one regular RAAF unit, No. 10 Squadron, and nine temporary "Article XV squadrons,"