On 6 June 1944, BBC listeners heard some long-awaited news. 'Here is a special bulletin, read by John Snagge. D-Day has come. Early this morning the Allies began the assault on the north-western face of Hitler's European fortress...'

For people living in Britain, and in the war-torn regions throughout the world, the Allied invasion – code-named 'Overlord' – would mark the beginning of the end of the bitterest and most costly war the world had ever known. In the early hours of that morning, the first troops of the liberating armies had set foot in Normany. By nightfall, more than 150,000 soldiers had been landed on the beaches. By 12 June the Allies had secured a continuous bridgehead more than 60 miles long, but more than a month of heavy fighting would elapse before the armoured breakout, intended to mop up the remnants of the German Army in northern France, could take place. After the battle of Normandy and the liberation of Paris, there was never any doubt among those at home that the Allies would win the war in Europe – it was merely a question of when victory would come. These stamps are both an evocation of those heroic days and also a record of events that helped the tide of history.