On June 6, 1944, one of the largest military operations of the Second World War began, which went down in history as Operation Overlord, or D Day. Thousands of Allied forces made a huge landing on the coast of Normandy, using all the technical means at their disposal, including aircraft. That morning a great armada of aircraft carried out an enormous deployment of troops, primarily airborne. Thousands of paratroopers who had dropped from the sky into French territory very quickly occupied key strategic locations. A special role in this belonged to the outstanding Douglas DC-3 transport aircraft, hundreds of which filled the airspace of the occupied territory that day, delivering parachutists and transport gliders with the goal of effecting the fastest possible change of situation in this crucial period of the Second World War. The Douglas DC-3 was used both by the US Air Force and by the Royal Air Force, under the designation Dakota, and its particular contribution to the history of World War II is especially significant, primarily for its participation in Operation Overlord.