Basket.

June 6th, 2004. Sixty years ago this day, over 155,000 British, American, Canadian and Allied troops of various other nationalities stepped ashore on Normandy, France, in Operation Overlord, is still the largest amphibious operation ever in history. They were supported in their endeavour by more than eight hundred warships and 10,000 aircraft.

Within less than a year (but after much hard fighting still; the merits of Eisenhower's "broad front" strategy have been debated to death by both professional and amateur historians - "end the way in '44"?), Nazi Germany had surrendered. Three months later, it was followed by its ally, Imperial Japan, after the first (and so far only) use of atomic bombs in modern history (Atlantis had the bomb?). The curtain was brought down on the most destructive conflict mankind had yet seen; upwards of fifty million dead and most of the Eurasian continent utterly devastated.

This is a day to remember the pity of war, and the men and women who fought and sacrificed for their countries, on all sides, in the most horrific conflict ever to convulse mankind.

Rest in peace.