Today marks the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings which began the liberation of Western Europe.
Remaining World War II veterans have travelled back to France eight decades after Allied troops waded ashore beaches on the coastline of Normandy France.
During the war, three Allied powers- Great Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union- formed a Grand Alliance to fight for freedom in Europe.
But World War II was a truly global war with some 70 nations taking part including Australia, Belgium, Greece, Holland, New Zealand, Poland, Norway and Czechoslovakia.
Today marks the 80th anniversary of D-Day
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Operation Overlord was ultimately successful with the Allies establishing a 60-mile front along Normandy and beginning their March through France.
Less than a year after the invasion on May 7, 1945, Germany surrendered and the war in Europe came to an end.
As soon as the war ended, debate began over who played the largest role in defeating nazi Germany.
According to a recent poll by YouGov, Britons are less likely to believe their country contributed the most to the war effort than Americans.
Only two in five Britons (39%) believed the UK did the most to end World War 2.
A May 2024 poll shows 39 per cent of Brits believe they contributed the most to ending the war while 59 per cent of Americans think it was them
YouGov
Meanwhile, three in five (59%) Americans say the United States was the key player in defeating Germany.
Some 20 per cent of Britons surveyed believe that the United States made the key contribution followed by the Soviet Union at 15 per cent.
According to Americans, the Brits did the least to contribute to the war effort with only six per cent of those surveyed crediting the UK while 13 per cent pointed to the Soviet Union.
The Germans and the French also placed Great Britain behind the Soviet Union and the United States.
The survey, conducted in May 2024, found that 47 per cent of French people believed the United States was the key player, followed by the Soviet Union at 17 per cent. Only 10 per cent thought the UK deserved the praise.
Britain’s air force contributed massively to the war effort winning the Battle of Britain in 1940
PA
Some 34 per cent of Germans believe the Americans did more than any other country followed by the Soviets (31%) over the UK (6%).
The three main Allies in the war all heavily pulled their weight.
The USSR suffered heavy losses with as many as 30 million Soviets estimated to have died from 1941 to the war’s end.
American industrial power also proved crucial with US factories churning out more aeroplanes, tanks, ships and shells than the UK and the USSR combined.
But as years go on and knowledge about the Second World War becomes hazy, Britain’s contribution to the war is easily downplayed.
In reality, the British contributed massively to the war effort and had Britain not survived Hitler’s onslaught in 1940, the war would have looked very different.
British army soldiers depart for Normandy as reinforcements during Operation Overlord in 1944
Getty
The Battle of Britain was a pivotal moment in Britain’s history when the UK stood alone against Hitler following the fall of France.
The pilots and aircrew of the Royal Air Force nicknamed “The Few” stood up to seemingly unstoppable waves of German fighters and bombers sending the message that Britain would not surrender.
Britain also played a major role in the production of Ultra signals intelligence which intercepted and decoded radio and cable messages sent by the Nazis to their networks in Europe and South America.
It wasn’t just on land that Britain made invaluable contributions to the war effort.
The USSR is credited for three-quarters of the total 4.7 million German military killed by the Allied forces during the warGetty
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At sea the Royal Navy played a key role in defeating the Axis powers from the first day to the final day of the war.
The Royal Navy kept Britain supplied with food, arms and raw materials while defending sea routes which enabled Allied troops to fight all over the world.
Together, the Allied troops won the war.
But the strength of Britain’s military and its empire fighting on land, sea and air in the European, African and Pacific campaigns was an invaluable contribution to ending World War II.