Operation Neptune, the maritime landing element of Operation Overlord - known colloquially as D-Day - was spread across 5 landing zones spanning roughly some 70km of the Cotentin Peninsula between Barfleur in the West and Ouistreham in the East. The landings were split between 5 landing zones split between the Allied forces. Across such a front, landing forces faced a variety of different beaches. The British forces coming ashore at Sword Beach, the easternmost landing zone, found themselves, in essence, assaulting Ouistreham directly, while Canadian forces to their West on Juno beach faced a similar situation in Bernieres-sur-Mer and Courselles-sur-Mer. West again, British forces landing on Gold beach faced more open countryside inland.

Perhaps naturally, American pop-culture in the form of movies, television and now games has focused mostly on the two American beaches, Omaha and Utah. Omaha is the beach that has most directly impacted American pop-culture, as this was the beach where casualties were heaviest, and landing operations faced the most difficulty. This is the narrow beach hemmed in by steep cliffs seen in material such as Saving Private Ryan and Medal of Honour: Allied Assault. Utah Beach was the Westernmost landing zone, and was a far wider and less heavily defended beach than Omaha, with very flat countryside inland.