When Allied forces went ashore at Diego Suarez, Oran, Sicily and Salerno, they did so covered by Fleet Air Arm aircraft flying from Royal Navy aircraft carriers. The landings in Normandy, however, were different. Fighters and gunnery spotters were the only naval aircraft seen over the beaches themselves, with the strike arm of the naval air service seemingly absent. The truth, however, was that more than a third of the Fleet Air Arm's operational torpedo-bomber-reconnaissance (TBR) strength would be in action during the first months of fighting in Normandy, and naval strike squadrons continued to support the invasion until the end of the war in Europe. Meanwhile, even more of the FAA's strength was borrowed to facilitate the Allies' advance into north-western Europe, mostly without the floating bases the service was chiefly associated with.
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