A view of the cliffs on May 6, 2014 in Pointe du Hoc, France. Overlay: After the assault at the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc by the 2nd Ranger Battalion (D, E and F Company) Colonel James E. Rudder establishes a Post Commando on June 1944.

The scale of destruction unleashed in Normandy on and after D-Day beggars the imagination. On the 70th anniversary of Operation Overlord, TIME commemorates that epic invasion through a series of images that combine photographs taken seven decades ago along with contemporary pictures made by Getty photographer Peter Macdiarmid. As leaders throughout the world gather in Normandy Friday, the result is an uncanny mixture of past and present.