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Pathfinders with 82nd Airborne in front of a C-47 transport before takeoff for D-Day landing. During World War II, the pathfinders were a group of volunteers selected within the Airborne units who were specially trained to operate navigation aids to guide the main airborne body to the drop zones.

At 21.30 hours on June 5, about 200 pathfinders began to take off from North Witham, for the Cotentin Peninsula, with 20, C-47 aircraft of 9th Troop Carrier Command Pathfinder Group. They began to drop at 00.15 on June 6, to prepare the drop zones for the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. They were the first US troops on the ground on D-Day.