World War II
On D-Day, on June 6, 1944, the Allies began the invasion of Normandy, France. The codename for the invasion was Operation Overlord. The successful invasion led to the defeat of the German forces in France. Paris was freed in August 1944, and the Allies continued eastward while the German front collapsed. Operation Market Garden was the combined aerial invasion of the Netherlands and was launched on September 17, 1944. The purpose was to seize a series of bridges that included a bridge in Arnhem, which spanned the Rhine River. The airborne invasion was called Market. The ground invasion, named Garden, reached the Rhine but could not take the bridge.