Yesterday (Thursday) marked the 70th anniversary of D-Day, when the Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy, France as part of Operation Overlord; a concerted and successful attempt to liberate Europe from German occupation under Hitler. The invasion of Normandy (codename Operation Neptune) was a massive amphibious assault involving 7,000 ships and 11,000 aircraft. A decoy plan, Operation Fortitude, led the Germans to believe the main target was Pas de Calais. It was a major milestone in securing victory for the allied forces. Tenby, Saundersfoot, Amroth and Laugharne had already experienced their own version of the Normandy landings - in practice form. The beaches were the location for an extensive two-week-long practice, Exercise Jantzen (Operation Jantzen). The exercise commenced on July 22, 1943, and was, thankfully, the only land invasion of Wales during World War II. See our sister paper, the Tenby Times, for more about Exercise Jantzen.