:00:00. > :00:08.Good morning. I'm Leah with loads on
:00:09. > :00:12.the 70th anniversary of on one of the most important battles of World
:00:13. > :00:13.War II on the way plus. New research that could explain how
:00:14. > :00:25.our moon was formed. First to the 70th anniversary of the
:00:26. > :00:29.biggest seaborne assault in military history and a major turning point in
:00:30. > :00:33.World War II. The D-Day landings saw troops from Britain, America and
:00:34. > :00:38.Canada join together in a mission to defeat Nazi Germany and its leader
:00:39. > :00:42.Adolf Hitler. Thousands of troops lost their lives and today the last
:00:43. > :00:45.surviving veterans are commemorating the event. Nel sent us this special
:00:46. > :00:53.report from one of the beaches where the D Day landings took place.
:00:54. > :00:59.I'm on the north coast of France. 70 years ago today this beach would
:01:00. > :01:03.have looked very different to what it does now. On D-Day it was known
:01:04. > :01:07.as gold and it was one of the beaches that the British soldiers
:01:08. > :01:11.landed on. 150,000 soldiers landed here on this coastline on a single
:01:12. > :01:15.day mounting a huge operation that would change the course of World War
:01:16. > :01:23.II. NEWSREEL: As dawn broke on that grey
:01:24. > :01:27.June morning, the Greats armada of ships the world has seen filled the
:01:28. > :01:33.narrow waters. France and parts of Europe are under
:01:34. > :01:37.the control of German forces. After years of careful top-secret
:01:38. > :01:44.planning, America, Britain and Canada came up with a plan to begin
:01:45. > :01:48.invading Europe. The day it began will forever be known as D-Day.
:01:49. > :01:54.NEWSREEL: Once again, we were back on the soil of France. In the early
:01:55. > :01:59.hours of 6th June, around 7,000 ships carrying British, American and
:02:00. > :02:03.Canadian forces arrived here off the coast of Normandy in the English
:02:04. > :02:09.Channel. It was to be the largest gathering of an invading force in
:02:10. > :02:15.history. It was the worst experience of my life. I was scared. It was on
:02:16. > :02:20.that beach, I was scared. I never moved until we got to France because
:02:21. > :02:26.it was so rough and there was ships on fire each side of us. You
:02:27. > :02:31.survive. Hu to, you had no choice. By midnight over 100,000 troops are
:02:32. > :02:38.taking control of the area, fighting through heavy German defences. What
:02:39. > :02:43.they did that day had a huge impact on the Second World War. To defeat
:02:44. > :02:47.Nazi Germany, you had to get to Germany and the only way you can do
:02:48. > :02:53.that is by getting into France which is the biggest country and sweeping
:02:54. > :02:57.eastwards. But it was at a cost, nearly 3,000 British troops alone
:02:58. > :03:04.lost their lives on D-Day and ever since, those who fought return here.
:03:05. > :03:10.There is terrific comradeship through your life. If you say you
:03:11. > :03:18.are a Normandy veteran you can talk to anybody. It's great. You come
:03:19. > :03:29.back for the comradeship really. It's like a reconnection. Friends.
:03:30. > :03:35.We'll have more from Nel in half an hour as she speaks to some of the
:03:36. > :03:40.brave soldiers who were involved on that day. And you can also head over
:03:41. > :03:42.to the Newsround website to find out more about what happened during the
:03:43. > :03:49.D-Day landings. German researchers believe they've
:03:50. > :03:53.discovered the planet that crashed into earth called Theia and helped
:03:54. > :03:56.form the moon billions of years ago. After studying bits of lunar rock
:03:57. > :03:59.they say it shows traces of the planet and confirms that the Moon
:04:00. > :04:03.was created by the massive collision. The discovery has
:04:04. > :04:10.impressed researchers at the Natural History Museum in London.
:04:11. > :04:16.People been looking for this for a long time and the scientists in
:04:17. > :04:19.Germany say they think they've found it.
:04:20. > :04:22.History Museum in London. In sport, England boss Roy Hodgson
:04:23. > :04:26.says he's optimistic that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will be fit to
:04:27. > :04:29.play in the World Cup. The Arsenal injured his knee in Wednesday warm
:04:30. > :04:32.up with Ecuador and left the team hotel yesterday with a heavy
:04:33. > :04:37.strapping on it. But Hodgson says he'll leave it until the day before
:04:38. > :04:39.England first World Cup game versus Italy to decide whether to replace
:04:40. > :04:57.him. We will have more on how animals in
:04:58. > :04:58.Japan are preparing for the big kick off.
:04:59. > :04:59.You will