Rehearsal for D-Day

30th March 1944: The cold waters of Scotland provide a realistic if uncomfortable substitute for the English Channel

The US 10st Airborne Division stages a mass paratroop drop at Lambourn in Berkshire during a visit by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, March 1944

The Prime Minister addressing American paratroops

First Sergeant Christopher McGuire (centre) and other men of the US 5th Infantry Division listen to an address by Lieutenant General George Patton while on manoeuvres in Northern Ireland, 30 March 1944.

Preparations for the invasion of Europe were now accelerating. Hundreds of thousands of new troops were arriving from the United States and Canada. Most of those now arriving were destined for the follow-up waves that would travel to France following D-Day itself.

Using smokescreens as cover, US troops storm ashore from landing craft during an invasion exercise in the UK, November 1943.

The training intensified for those destined for the seaborne invasion itself. Everyone was expected to take part in exercises that rehearsed the process of embarking on landing craft, travelling by sea and disembarking.