No hail of bullets lighting up the sky this time. 26 Dakota aircraft flew across French skies on Tuesday to mark the 75th anniversary of the D-Day offensive. The planes – known "Daks," or DC3s – dropped around 280 paratroopers over Normandy in a re-enactment of the original Operation Overlord that took place overnight on June 6th, 1944.

‍American paratrooper Sargeant Stephen Patterson traveled from Georgia to join the jump. "I get emotional just thinking about it, because it means a lot to me. So, it's an honor, it's an absolute honor to be asked to do this," he said. "I related it to being a scared-to-death 19-year-old on the night of June 5th and June 6th, 1944, flying over the English Channel, getting shot at and not knowing if life was going to end that night or not. Those boys must have been terrified."

The paratroopers dropped out of the planes into a field at Sannerville, one of the original four D-Day drop zones, with authentic World War II parachutes and uniforms. Astonishingly, among them were a handful of veterans who had made the same drop 75 years ago.

It was also the largest gathering of the vintage Dakota planes since the end of the war. The "Daks over Normandy" event was the brainchild of Dutchman Peter Braun, who helped bring the aging aircraft together for this unique memorial flight from all over the world. Around half of the fleet flew over from the U.S. in short stages via Canada, Greenland, and Scotland. 

The project has been in the works for two years and in this time the aging planes have been lovingly restored, some with their original dark green color and distinctive black and white Allied markings. "In the D-Day invasion, there were more than 800 involved in the landings on 4th, 5th and 6th of June, with the British Armed Forces and the American Armed Forces," Braun said. "They transported all the paras to Normandy. It was the mainstay – anything that you could think of that was cargo, para, airborne, wounded troops relief goods, wounded troops – anything."

Peter believes the role these planes played in D-Day should never be forgotten. Certainly, the spectacular flight has attracted huge interest from aviation enthusiasts and the general public alike. 

The planes have been on display at the Imperial War Museum at Duxford, near Cambridge since Sunday, where they have been put through their paces ahead of their starring role at the official D-Day anniversary events. "It's all hands on. And I can tell you by experience, flying a DC3 is not an easy task. It is hard work," Braun said. 

On Tuesday, that hard work paid off when the fleet completed the cross-channel flight information. They will remain in Normandy for the rest of the D-Day memorial events.