Ever since the disastrous raid upon Dieppe in 1942, when the assaulting troops had been cut down by well-protected German gun positions, Allied amphibious operations had been supported by heavy naval bombardments.

Now, for D-Day, the biggest landing of all, the bombardment force comprised 5 battleships, 2 monitors, 20 cruisers and 65 destroyers. But this was only part of the total force of 2,700 seagoing vessels and 1,900 smaller craft which were deployed in support of Operation 'Neptune', the naval side of the Normandy landings.

This huge armada was divided into two naval task forces and five assault forces, one for each of the main landing beaches. Each of the assault forces was in turn supported by its own naval bombardment force. HMS Belfast was  responsible for supporting the British and Canadian assaults on 'Gold' and 'Juno' beaches and, at 5.30 am on 6 June 1944, was one of the very first ships to open fire on German positions in Normandy.