Changes

The movie does over-dramatize the landings in Sainte-Mère-Eglise. The film also shows how dummies made to appear as paratroopers were dropped as part of an elaborate decoy strategy by the allies. This is historically correct and there was indeed a decoy parachute drop when dummies dressed in American jumpsuits were dropped to fool the Germans<ref> Ryan, p. 325</ref>.

The D-Day landings were the first stage in the liberation of Western Europe after 4 years of German rule. The French played a major role in the success of D-Day. The French Resistance is shown in the movie as playing a key role in the run-up to the landings. They are shown as gathering intelligence for the allies and relaying it back in secret to London. The intelligence that was secured by the French Resistance was very important and they identified the location of German lines of defense and troops movements. This was all a great help to the planners of D-Day.