On 6 June 1944, Allied forces from the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and other countries landed on the beaches of Normandy in France to fight the Nazis. This day has become known as D-Day. 

This education pack, commissioned by the Normandy Memorial Trust and developed in partnership with the British Council and GCHQ, was created to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day. It contains information and resources to help pupils in both the UK and France develop a deeper knowledge and understanding of key historical events and their impact on the people and places involved in D-Day, and the Battle of Normandy. These events led eventually to the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Europe.

Your pupils can find out about the sequence of events leading up to D-Day, the roles played by the Allied forces, French Resistance and the intelligence services along with the impact of the campaign on French civilians, particularly in the Normandy village of Tilly-sur-Seulles.

Pupils can investigate primary sources including photographs, letters and documents, carry out research and commemorate the brave people involved in the conflict. They might also have a go at practising their language skills, codebreaking and a creative writing activity inspired by the part played by animals in these wartime events.

The resources are designed to be flexible and adaptable and can be used as starting points for individual lessons or activities, or form part of a larger cross-curricular project with a partner school in France. If you do not already have a partner school in France, you can register for our free School Partner Finder database and search by country. Find out more about why and how you can partner with a school in a different country.

The British Normandy Memorial

Aerial view of the British Normandy Memorial, Ver-sur-Mer in France

Opened on 6 June 2021, the British Normandy Memorial records the names of the 22,442 servicemen and women serving under British units who fell on D-Day and during the Battle of Normandy in the summer of 1944. The site also includes a French Memorial, dedicated to the memory of French civilians who died during this time. 

On 6 June 2024 ’The Winston Churchill Centre for Education and Learning’ will open to help tell the lessons of the past to generations of the future. The Memorial site is free to visit; find out more about the Memorial and discover stories of the fallen at britishnormandymemorial.org or via The British Normandy Memorial app. If you would like to plan a school visit to the Memorial, get in touch via contact@britishnormandymemorial.org.

 Download the education pack

Download the English version Download the Welsh version

 

'Meet a D-Day Veteran' online session (in partnership with the British Normandy Memorial)

In this session, Normandy veteran Ken Hay shared his experience as a Private in the 43rd Essex Regiment for just a few days before being captured by the Nazis. 

Check out the recording here

Find out more about Ken here.

'D-Day 80 Assembly' event (in partnership with the British Normandy Memorial)

Watch our recording to learn about the roles of codebreaking, secret information and the French Resistance at this historical moment, as well as a sharing by a D-Day veteran. 

Check out the recording here