Then And Now: Photos Of D-Day Landings (Part 2)

On June 6, 1944, allied soldiers descended on the beaches of Normandy for D-Day – an operation that turned the tide of the Second World War against the Nazis, marking the beginning of the end of the conflict.

Today, as many around the world prepare to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the landings, pictures of Normandy’s now-touristy beaches stand in stark contrast to images taken around the time of the invasion. 

Reuters photographer Chris Helgren compiled a series of archive pictures taken during the 1944 invasion and then went back to the same places, to photograph them as they appear today. (Reuters)

A Cromwell tank leads a British Army column from the 4th County of London Yeomanry, 7th Armored Division, inland from Gold Beach after landing on D-Day in Ver-sur-Mer, France, on June 6, 1944. (REUTERS/US National Archives)

A couple walk inland from the former D-Day landing zone of Gold Beach where British forces came ashore in 1944, in Ver-sur-Mer, France August 23, 2013. (REUTERS/Chris Helgren)

U.S. Army paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division drive a captured German Kubelwagen on D-Day at the junction of Rue Holgate and RN13 in Carentan, France, June 6, 1944. (REUTERS/US National Archives)

Girls run across the street at the junction of Rue Holgate and RN13 in the Normandy town of Carentan, France, June 21, 2013. (REUTERS/Chris Helgren)

The body of a dead German soldier lies in the main square of Place Du Marche after the town was taken by U.S. troops who landed at nearby Omaha Beach in Trevieres, France, June 15, 1944. (REUTERS/US National Archives)

Tourists walk across the main square of Place Du Marche near the former D-Day landing zone of Omaha Beach, in Trevieres, France August 23, 2013. (REUTERS/Chris Helgren)

Canadian troops patrol along the destroyed Rue Saint-Pierre after German forces were dislodged from Caen in July 1944. British and Canadian troops battled reinforced German troops holding the area around Caen for about two months following the D-Day landings in Normandy. (REUTERS/US National Archives)

Shoppers walk along the rebuilt Rue Saint-Pierre, which was destroyed following the D-Day landings, in Caen August 23, 2013. British and Canadian troops battled reinforced German troops holding the area around Caen for about two months following the D-Day landings in Normandy in 1944. (REUTERS/Chris Helgren)

A crashed U.S. fighter plane is seen on the waterfront some time after Canadian forces came ashore on a Juno Beach D-Day landing zone in Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer, France, in June 1944. (REUTERS/US National Archives)

Tourists enjoy the sunshine on the former Juno Beach D-Day landing zone, where Canadian forces came ashore, in Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer, France, August 23, 2013. British and Canadian troops battled reinforced German troops holding the area around Caen for about two months following the D-Day landings in Normandy in 1944. (REUTERS/Chris Helgren)

Please click for: Then And Now: Photos Of D-Day Landings (Part 1)

Then And Now: Photos Of D-Day Landings (Part 1)

On June 6, 1944, allied soldiers descended on the beaches of Normandy for D-Day – an operation that turned the tide of the Second World War against the Nazis, marking the beginning of the end of the conflict.

Today, as many around the world prepare to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the landings, pictures of Normandy’s now-touristy beaches stand in stark contrast to images taken around the time of the invasion. 

Reuters photographer Chris Helgren compiled a series of archive pictures taken during the 1944 invasion and then went back to the same places, to photograph them as they appear today. (Reuters)

The 2nd Battalion U.S. Army Rangers, tasked with capturing the German heavy coastal defense battery at Pointe du Hoc to the west of the D-Day landing zone of Omaha Beach, march to their landing craft in Weymouth, England, on June 5, 1944 in this handout photo provided by the US National Archives. (REUTERS/US National Archives)

Tourists walk along the beach-front in the Dorset holiday town of Weymouth, England, July 13, 2013. The port was the departure point for thousands of Allied troops who took part in the D-Day landings. (REUTERS/Chris Helgren)

U.S. troops wade ashore from a Coast Guard landing craft at Omaha Beach during the Normandy D-Day landings near Vierville sur Mer, France, on June 6, 1944. (REUTERS/US National Archives)

Tourists take part in a land sailing class on the former D-Day landing zone of Omaha beach near Vierville sur Mer, France August 22, 2013. (REUTERS/Chris Helgren)

U.S. Army troops congregate around a signal post used by engineers on the site of a captured German bunker overlooking Omaha Beach after the D-Day landings near Saint Laurent sur Mer June 7, 1944. (REUTERS/US National Archives)

Tourists walk past a former German bunker overlooking the D-Day landing zone on Omaha Beach near Saint Laurent sur Mer, France, August 24, 2013. (REUTERS/Chris Helgren)

U.S. Army reinforcements march up a hill past a German bunker overlooking Omaha Beach after the D-Day landings near Colleville sur Mer, France, June 18, 1944. (REUTERS/US National Archives)

Youths hike up a hill past an old German bunker overlooking the former D-Day landing zone of Omaha Beach near Colleville sur Mer, France, August 23, 2013. (REUTERS/Chris Helgren)

U.S. Army troops make a battle plan in a farmyard amid cattle, which were killed by artillery bursts, near the D-Day landing zone of Utah Beach in Les Dunes de Varreville, France, on June 6, 1944. (REUTERS/US National Archives)

Farmer Raymond Bertot, who was 19 when allied troops came ashore in 1944, poses on his property near the former D-Day landing zone of Utah Beach in Les Dunes de Varreville, France, August 21, 2013. (REUTERS/Chris Helgren)

Please click for: Then And Now: Photos Of D-Day Landings (Part 2)

Photos Of The Ruins of Normandy

War is bad and it hurts a lot of people.

People, animals and plants were killed and injured, buildings were destroyed and damaged to rubble and dust.

And it will take a long, long time and lots of money to build up the place again.

The ruins left behind after warfare speak a language of their own.

And no matter where the conflict has taken place, the destruction is very often the same.

All we see are sad pictures of destroyed buildings and twisted, rusting, abandoned vehicles. 

Please look at these pictures, do we want all these to happen to the beautiful places where we live?

Please click the photos for larger images:

American troops clear wreckage in Saint-Lô, Normandy, 1944.

Beached shipping, Allied beachhead, Normandy, summer 944.

Ruined tank near St. Gilles (or perhaps Hambye), France, 1944.

Jeeps (including a press vehicle) in the town square, Marigny (Manche), Normandy, 1944.

Ruins, northwestern France, summer 1944, after D-Day.

Ruins of a town in northwestern France, summer 1944.

American troops in courtyard of ruined building, northwestern France, summer 1944.

Armored vehicles on the move past civic buildings in Avranches, summer 1944.

An amphibious “duck” comes ashore from its landing craft, Normandy, summer 1944.

Unloading vehicles and supplies from an LST (landing ship, tank) at Normandy beachhead, summer 1944.

Ruined tank near St. Gilles (or perhaps Hambye), France, 1944.

Saint-Lô, Normandy, summer 1944.

American troops, northwestern France, summer 1944.

Ruined building and sign in French and German, northwestern France, summer 1944.

Post-D-Day destruction, northern France, 1944.

Destroyed town in northwest France, summer 1944.