To mark the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings, Monnaie de Paris has minted a collection paying tribute to the soldiers of the four major Allied nations. French commandos, British airborne troops and American and Canadian infantrymen are honoured in this historic collection.
Richard, a British Glider with the Airlanding Brigade, was part of the 6th Airborne (British and Canadian). He landed on the night of June 6, 1944, in a glider to the east of Sword Beach. Here he poses in front of Pegasus Bridge after the successful completion of Operation Deadstick including the capture of Pegasus Bridge and the bridge over the River Orne, as well as the destruction of the Merville battery.
The reverse of these coins depicts a spiral of all the Allied nations that took part in the landings, whether on land, sea or in the air. The stars under the flags are also a tribute to the Liberty Road, the milestones marking the route taken by the 3rd American Army to liberate France, as far as Luxembourg.
