6 June 1944
Full Moon, 99% lit
D-Day
The largest invasion in history was scheduled around the Moon. It had to be a full one.
The airborne divisions needed moonlight to find their drop zones, and the landing craft needed a low spring tide at dawn to expose Rommel's beach obstacles. Those two conditions overlap on about three days a month, which is why 5-7 June was the window and why a storm on the 5th so nearly ruined everything.
- Date
- 6 June 1944
- Moon computed for
- 01:00 local time, UTC+2
- Phase
- Full Moon
- Illuminated
- 99%
Source: U.S. Army Center of Military History