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00:00October 1940, Winston Churchill to the defeated French people.
00:18Good night then. Sleep to gather strength for the morning, for the morning will come.
00:26Brightly will it shine on the brave and true. Kindly on all who suffer for the cause.
00:34Vive la France. Allons, bonne nuit. Dormez bien. Rassemblez vos forces pour l'aube, car l'aube
00:49viandra. Now at last, after nearly four years, that dome was about to break. The invasion
00:58of the continent was at hand.
01:05In the last, after nearly four years, the invasion of the continent was at hand.
01:11I must agree.
01:14I will never stop there again.
01:19I will never stop there again.
01:54The first major attempt to land Allied troops in France was a disaster. Almost half the assaulting force of 7,000 was lost, trying to storm the port's powerful defences.
02:19Many troops never got beyond the beaches. Hundreds of others walked straight into captivity.
02:29We learned so much from Dieppe that I think it was quite invaluable as far as the final invasion was concerned.
02:37I think everything that could go wrong went wrong with that operation. And the result of it was that by the end, one was appallingly impressed by the dangers and the hazards of any kind of combined operation on that kind of scale.
02:55We'd never attempted to do a combined operation on that scale before, and rarely nobody knew how to do it.
03:02There are three conditions necessary for a successful invasion. First, obviously, to get ashore against no matter what opposition.
03:11Secondly, having got ashore, to stay ashore no matter what the weather conditions.
03:16And thirdly, to stop the enemy from building up his forces against you quicker than you can, otherwise he'd throw you back into the sea.
03:24Given these essentials, the two likeliest landing areas were the Pas de Calais, across the English Channel at its narrowest point, and Normandy to the west.
03:34The choice between them was the first task of Lieutenant General Frederick Morgan and his special Allied staff, known as Cossack, appointed in 1943 to frame the initial invasion plans.
03:49Tentative invasion planning had gone on since 1941. Cossack's choice in the end was Normandy, a 50-mile stretch of shore just east of the Cherbourg Peninsula.
03:59Normandy had several advantages over the Pas de Calais. Though farther from England, it was less strongly fortified.
04:11Its beaches, mostly without cliffs and with a minimum of clay and depressions, were more suited to the landing of troops and supplies and to rapid deployment inland.
04:23And it was close to Cherbourg and the Brittany ports.
04:29At Quebec, in August 1943, Cossack's outline plan for invasion was approved by Churchill and Roosevelt.
04:41The cross-channel assault was now at last to become reality.
04:45Its code name, Overlord. Its target date, May 1944.
04:50The springboard for invasion would be England.
04:57Britons, displaced once by Hitler's bombs, were on the move again.
05:02This time to make way for the great invasion armies.
05:06For many, this meant upheaval, financial loss, personal problems.
05:10But the cause was momentous.
05:14The long-awaited Second Front.
05:15Already from the United States, the packed troop ships were streaming across the Atlantic.
05:38By now, the number of Americans in Britain approached one and a half million.
06:06And London's streets displayed every known Allied uniform.
06:12In this great floating barracks, morale was all important.
06:23We've had some grand trips.
06:25But it's been wonderful. I'm very thrilled to be here.
06:27I really have nothing new to report from the States.
06:29You know, the States, that's where Churchill lives.
06:31But he really travels, doesn't he?
06:39Boy, he's been around. He's been to Casablanca more than Humphrey Bogart.
06:42On a different stage, another American, General Dwight David Eisenhower, named by Roosevelt, Overlord's Supreme Commander.
06:54Eisenhower had commanded the Allied North African expedition in 1942.
06:58As well as generalship, he would need the finesse of a diplomat, because he was now to lead a huge multinational force.
07:07I think you always had problems, but General Eisenhower, being the Supreme Allied Commander, he had this wonderful knack of getting along with people of all different nationalities.
07:21He didn't think of himself as an American.
07:23He didn't think of himself as British or French or Polish or anything.
07:28He just thought what was best for the whole Allied effort.
07:34Best known of Ike's commanders-to-be was General Montgomery, Victor of Alamea.
07:40Famous for his plane speaking to his troops, Monty now urged the war workers to maximum effort.
07:45Why is it, why is it that today, the tide has turned, and we are beating the Germans, and we're coming towards the final climax of the war?
08:02I'll tell you why it is.
08:04It's because we've got far the best equipment, and we've got far the best men.
08:10And women, too.
08:12Far the best.
08:12It's the battlefront and the homefront.
08:22Really get down to it.
08:23This year, we can get the thing almost finished.
08:26We can get it so tight that next year we just topple it over.
08:32Goodbye to you all.
08:33Thank you, sir.
08:34Monty's buoyant optimism was infectious, but Britain, like America, was already working at full pressure,
08:40with or without music.
08:42The massive effort was straining towards the final overlord targets.
09:02Aircraft, 13,000.
09:04Tanks and vehicles, 17,000.
09:07Parachutes, 90,000.
09:09Bombs and shells in millions.
09:11Good night.
09:31Good night.
09:32And Overlord will also need 4,000 assault and landing craft.
09:53But at first, they simply weren't there.
09:55Well, the absolutely crucial thing for an invasion
09:58is to get the troops across the water.
10:01So with that, you want landing ships and landing craft.
10:03They had to be designed.
10:04They had to be built in large quantities at a time
10:07when all shipbuilding facilities were required
10:09to fight the battle of the Atlantic.
10:13By the spring of 1944, the landing craft, too,
10:16were built and ready for intensive,
10:18constantly rehearsed invasion training
10:20in tough battle conditions.
10:31Many Overlord troops would invade for the air.
10:48More than 20,000 were earmarked
10:50for the biggest airborne operation of the war so far.
10:52Some assault troops would have to scale cliffs.
11:00Training in rough channel waters
11:01could be as deadly as the real thing.
11:15Across those same waters,
11:17von Rundstedt and Rommel
11:18had divided views on how to meet the invasion.
11:24Von Rundstedt, the commander-in-chief,
11:26wanted a mobile reserve kept back to fight inland.
11:30Rommel, commander of the anti-invasion forces,
11:33wanted to repel the assault on the beaches.
11:35But Hitler's Atlantic Wall,
11:40a chain of steel and concrete fortifications
11:42planned to stretch from Denmark
11:44to the Spanish border, was incomplete.
11:53Rommel made belated efforts to fill the gaps
11:55by laying lines of formidable underwater obstacles,
11:58including millions of hidden mines.
12:05To overcome these defenses,
12:13the Allies evolved various ingenious contraptions
12:17to help tanks over sand and mud and concord,
12:22the Swiss roll and the carpet layer.
12:24The Panjandrum,
12:39supposed to destroy beach obstacles,
12:42was not successful.
12:43Luton, pipelines under the ocean.
13:09A flexible pipeline miles long.
13:11Pluto would minimize the hazards
13:15of transporting petrol to France by tanker.
13:20It could carry over a million tons of fuel
13:22daily to the continent underwater.
13:27Shore pumping stations
13:28were innocently camouflaged.
13:34Still more remarkable
13:36was Mulberry,
13:38two artificial harbors,
13:40each the size of Dover Harbour.
13:43All the components
13:44had to be towed across the channel.
13:47The problem
13:48of staying ashore
13:50is a very difficult one
13:51because of the weather conditions
13:53in the channel.
13:54You couldn't expect
13:55more than three or four consecutive days
13:56of weather fine enough
13:57to supply across the beaches.
13:59So obviously,
14:00we thought we'd have to take a port.
14:02That's why we tried Dieppe.
14:04But we found in Dieppe
14:05that we couldn't actually capture a port
14:07without using such heavy bombardment
14:09as would destroy the facilities
14:10we wanted to use.
14:12So the obvious thing was
14:13to bring our own artificial harbour with us,
14:16which we called Mulberry
14:17and which everybody thought
14:19was absolutely crazy.
14:22Eisenhower met constantly
14:23with his commanders
14:24to coordinate strategy.
14:26His deputy,
14:28Air Chief Marshal Tedder,
14:30Admiral Ramsey,
14:31Generals Bradley and Montgomery,
14:34and Air Marshal Lee Mallory.
14:36A major preoccupation
14:37was the weather
14:38that could be expected
14:39for the start of Overlord.
14:42General Eisenhower
14:43made it clear quite early
14:44that he wanted
14:46to build up confidence
14:47not only in what we could do
14:49as forecasters,
14:52and I in particular
14:53for him personally,
14:56but he wanted to know
14:58what reliance he could put
15:00on the very words I used
15:04and the tone of voice I used.
15:06He could tell
15:07even before I presented the forecast
15:11almost each time
15:12what I was going to say.
15:15He used my face, I think,
15:17as a kind of hall barometer.
15:18Deception plans
15:21also occupied Supreme Command.
15:24Among the most elaborate
15:25were fake preparations
15:26for an attack on Norway
15:27to be launched from Scotland
15:29and, more credibly,
15:32for a main assault
15:33on the part of Calais
15:34from the southeast ports.
15:36Also crucial
15:37was the bombing plan
15:38to cut German communications
15:39to the invasion areas,
15:41interdiction.
15:43What one had to do
15:44was to interfere
15:46with the communication.
15:47And again,
15:48I think this was
15:49a lesson learned
15:49from Dieppe
15:50that we hadn't
15:52realized at Dieppe
15:54how absolutely essential
15:56it was to have
15:57an absolutely overwhelming
15:59weight of firepower
16:01both from the air
16:02and from the land.
16:04The result of this was,
16:05and I think this caused
16:06a good deal of difficulties
16:07at high level,
16:09was that
16:10Air Marshal Harris,
16:13who still thought
16:14that he could win
16:15the war on his own,
16:16had to be persuaded
16:17to use his heavy bombers
16:19to attack
16:20the German road and rail
16:23communications.
16:25And I think he resisted
16:26very strongly
16:27because he thought
16:28it was really a diversion
16:30from the whole point
16:31of the war.
16:32But he was made to do it
16:33and it was done
16:34enormously effectively.
16:36Spring 1944
16:47saw widespread air attacks
16:49on road and rail targets
16:50and on airfields.
16:52at the same time
17:00all over the south of England
17:02camps were springing up
17:03ready for the tens of thousands
17:05of invasion troops.
17:10The staging areas
17:12for Overlord
17:13were spread the length
17:14of England's south coast
17:16round the ports
17:17of Falmouth,
17:18Dartmouth,
17:19Weymouth,
17:20Portsmouth,
17:22and New Haven.
17:34All was now prepared
17:36for the great move south.
17:38The lines were cleared
17:39for invasion traffic.
17:40.
17:44.
17:51.
17:55.
18:03.
18:06.
18:08.
18:10.
18:10.
18:10Amid the rash of military notices, one tell-tale sign stood up.
18:40The vast concentration reached its Channel Rendezvous.
19:04Some wit claimed that only the barrage balloons floating overhead kept Britain from sinking.
19:10Late May 1944, the assault troops were sealed within their marshalling areas ready to go.
19:23Now, a pause.
19:26Fear feeds on delay, of course, and we didn't really know just when we were going.
19:33I shot crap, played cards, lost all our money.
19:38Some people won money. I lost all mine. Didn't do me any good. I had no place to spend it when I got on the beach.
19:46Rations, currency, ammunition, kit, packing and repacking, checking equipment.
19:54The exact invasion date was not yet revealed, and most men still did not know the beaches they were going to attack.
20:01Only officers and NCOs had been told the precise landing areas.
20:05A hundred miles across the Channel in Normandy, these landing areas comprised five beaches.
20:13New East, Utah and Omaha waited for the Americans, gold, Juneau and sword for the British and Canadians.
20:20But all now depended on the weather.
20:26On the evening of that Wednesday, the 31st of May, even then I advised General Eisenhower that conditions for the oncoming weekend,
20:34especially over Sunday night and Monday morning, the crucial times for Overlord were going to be stormy.
20:42But we went on with the meetings.
20:46I had to go before General Eisenhower and his commanders, who met for nothing else twice a day during those fateful days, 1st, 2nd and 3rd of June.
20:57On the 3rd of June, despite Supreme Command's concern about the weather, embarkation went ahead.
21:05The troops knew nothing of a possible hitch, though some men thought it was just another exercise.
21:14When we first went aboard ship, we had no knowledge of the actual day.
21:18We had been aboard ship so many times, you see, that for about six months we were just constantly on and off ships.
21:24In the ports and harbors of England's Channel Coast, the vast and complex process of loading and embarkation went on.
21:36But in the Channel, the worsening weather now faced the Supreme Commander with a grave crisis.
21:43It was a time of dreadful tension.
21:47We all knew that there could be only one day's deferment.
21:52If there had to be another day, then all the landing craft would need to return to base so that it couldn't be done on a second day's postponement.
22:01It would have to be deferred for a whole fortnight until the next tides were right.
22:07And at that time, our charts were so black in the Atlantic that there didn't seem to be any prospect of getting this operation going at all.
22:17We didn't know how long it was going to be postponed because the weather looked so bad.
22:22We wondered if it would ever clear up and whether the whole thing would be called off and we would be taken back off the ship.
22:34Troops primed for action.
22:37An armada ready to sail.
22:40And then anticlimax.
22:42We were then told that the invasion had been put back for at least 24 hours.
22:50Of course, this increased our apprehension.
22:53And we used to have these long conversations with each other about the kind of things that might happen, whether we'd ever get off the beach alive.
23:02Routine continued under the cloud of uncertainty.
23:10All the troops could do was wait.
23:12People were then tied for the sunshine.
23:18They would've stopped when they wouldε
23:40She's excited and gay
23:46She might have won the best yet more
23:52But she's without you
23:58Don't get a end up anymore
24:02Don't get around now
24:07As the hours passed
24:17It seemed that only a miracle could get Overlord going
24:20Then, mercifully, almost unbelievable happened
24:26About midday on that Sunday
24:29We spotted that there might be an interlude between two depressions
24:34By the evening, my own confidence in the forecast for this quieter period
24:43Had so increased from further reports that had come in
24:47That I convinced General Eisenhower and his commanders
24:51That it would indeed arrive later on Monday
24:56After the storm of Sunday night and Monday morning
24:59It would indeed arrive late on Monday
25:02And continue through Tuesday and probably into Wednesday
25:06The next morning, early on the 5th of June
25:11They met again to confirm this decision
25:14And when I could tell them that we were even more confident
25:18Than we had been the previous night
25:20That the fine or improved quieter interlude would indeed come along
25:26The joy on the faces of the Supreme Commander
25:30And his commanders after the deep gloom of the preceding days
25:35Was a marvel to behold
25:39I remember it very well
25:414.15am on the morning of the 5th of June
25:46I wasn't at the meeting, but I drove in there
25:50And he came out
25:51And he really looked so serious as he got in the car
25:54And he said, D-Day is on
25:57Nothing can stop us now
25:59It was an historic decision
26:05Overlord's further postponement might have meant total cancellation
26:09The troop commander read a message from General Eisenhower
26:16You know, Godspeed and all that sort of stuff
26:19We read this great message from Monty
26:23About good hunting in the fields of Europe
26:25And all this rubbish
26:26And naturally being a soldier
26:28We thought what a load of old cods it was
26:30Never had Channel Water seen such a mighty force
26:35Heading for France
26:37Were some 6,500 vessels of all types
26:40Marshaled and escorted by the Allied navies
26:42Glider fleets were waiting
26:45Wearing their D-Day markings
26:47The 1st Division would go in by glider and parachute
26:51Dropping behind the invasion beaches
26:53Their losses were expected to be as high as 7 out of every 10 men
26:59As Eisenhower well knew
27:01They all had their blackened faces
27:05Because they were going to jump Nazi-occupied Europe in a very short time
27:08And you kept thinking, I wonder how many are going to come back
27:11Later then, General Eisenhower, when he said
27:13You know, Kay, it is very hard to look a soldier in the face
27:17Knowing you might be sending him to his death
27:20In the last hours of the 5th of June
27:28The airborne troops set out for France
27:31Butterflies in your stomach
27:35And you're wondering what you're doing here
27:36Why am I here?
27:38Why did I volunteer?
27:39Am I crazy?
27:40Everything is going through your mind
27:41And you're worried
27:42You know it's coming up soon
27:44I was afraid
27:51I was 19 and I was afraid
27:53Many men were afraid that night
27:56They were storming Hitler's vaunted
27:59Festung Europa
28:01Fortress Europe
28:03Across the water the Germans waited
28:06Not knowing when or where the blow would fall
28:09D-Day
28:16Ahead the Normandy beaches
28:19After four years
28:21This was the road back
28:23It was a fantastic sight
28:27To see so many ships
28:29Of all shapes and sizes
28:31And all going one way
28:33Quite a few boys wrote letters
28:39And gave it to friends
28:40So that they'd take them home
28:42Or see that their parents got them
28:44That was their farewell letter
28:45The sea was rough
28:50And it put their gas capes over them
28:52To keep dry
28:53And it made them sick
28:54Because they didn't get enough fresh air
28:56I had several men get seasick
29:02And they up chucked
29:03And they had to use their helmets
29:04To catch it in
29:06And we throwed them over the side
29:07And they were washed out
29:08And given back to the men
29:09One felt absolutely dreadful physically
29:13And just wishing to God
29:15That the whole thing would be over
29:17Or at least that we could get onto dry land
29:19At 5.30 the armada was off the French coast
29:34After a massive air assault
29:37A devastating naval bombardment
29:49As far as your eye could see
29:54You were surrounded with a craft of some sort
29:57And it was just sending out
29:58Shell after shell out of its turrets
30:01The Germans were surprised and stupefied
30:07But some batteries soon recovered
30:09It was fired just more than sickness
30:20The men loaded their pants
30:21And everything else
30:22I had barely seen that before
30:24I know the men were sick
30:26Many were very sick
30:27By this time the waves were pitching the craft
30:41Up and down I would say
30:42Six or seven feet
30:43A lot of the boys got caught in the nets
30:49But we had quite a time getting them loose
30:51Their legs got caught in there
30:53Smoke, smoke
30:57Heard a lot of shells coming over
30:58It's awesome
31:00Blacksmith
31:01Just like a volcano from afar
31:03As one would see in the movies
31:27The run-in to the beaches
31:296.30 for the Americans
31:317.30 for the British and Canadians
31:33After all the waiting
31:35The training
31:37The toughening
31:38This was it
31:40We were the first attacker
31:45We were the initial wave
31:46There's always great losses
31:48In the initial wave
31:49So each of us had been given
31:52At least 30 minutes
31:53To live on the beach
31:54Protected by total air supremacy
32:12The first assault waves
32:13Raced and scrambled
32:15For the five invasion beaches
32:16The soldiers were so glad
32:19To get off the landing craft
32:21To escape the seasickness
32:23That they were just ready
32:25To go anywhere by that time
32:27With the men of the five assault divisions
32:35Those first hours of D-Day
32:37Were hours of death
32:38Fear
32:39Courage
32:40Of plans gone wrong
32:43Of rapid improvisation
32:45We expected a clear beach
32:51With an indication
32:52As to exactly how we should proceed
32:54We were even told
32:54The military police
32:55Would be there to greet us
32:56It became quite obvious
32:58That the beach
32:58Was in a considerable state of chaos
33:00On the run-in
33:02The craft ran into
33:03Underwater obstacles
33:04And into mines
33:05One of them went over a mine
33:07And the front half of the craft
33:09With the personnel in
33:10Literally went straight up in the air
33:12The sea was quite a different colour
33:13Where that craft blew up
33:15Some units landed in the wrong area
33:23Some met unexpectedly light resistance
33:26Others were cut down
33:27Almost on the shoreline
33:29The Americans got the worst of it
33:32I didn't think I would make it
33:36You know
33:36I didn't think there was any way
33:37That you could get across that beach
33:39And survive
33:40I mean, you know
33:41I really thought it was my last day
33:43The first man
33:53There was a sergeant
33:54Raised up to see
33:55How far we had to go
33:57To reach land
33:58And fell back dead
34:00We had been told
34:04That the air force
34:05Was going to come in
34:06With the heavy bombers
34:07And that we were going to
34:08Cradle the beaches for us
34:09To give us a place to hide
34:11And this did not take place
34:13It was bloody awful
34:20Every time I got up
34:21I thought that
34:22It was just pure terror
34:23That was making my knees buckle
34:25Until I finally hit the shale
34:26And I realized
34:27That I had about
34:28A hundred pounds of sand
34:29In those pockets
34:30I remember distinctly
34:39Taking my trench knife
34:40And pressing it
34:42In people's backs
34:42To see if they were alive
34:43If they were alive
34:44I'd kick them
34:45Or say, let's go
34:45Later on
34:46It dawned on me
34:47After I checked
34:47Two or three
34:48That some of them
34:48Were alive
34:49But they wouldn't turn around
34:50Just absolute terror
34:51On the three British and Canadian beaches
35:04Opposition varied
35:05On gold
35:07While one unit was hammering
35:09At a strong point for eight hours
35:10Another was off the beach
35:12In forty minutes
35:13On Juneau
35:15The Canadians suffered heavy losses
35:18But advanced
35:19On sword
35:21The fighting was bloody
35:22But brief
35:23Many defenders
35:25Emerged from their bunkers
35:27To surrender
35:27And on Utah
35:29By the end of the day
35:30The Americans were doing well
35:32They'd taken prisoners
35:34Established a firm foothold
35:36Driven five miles inland
35:38But on Omaha
35:43The Americans ran into difficulties
35:45Rough seas
35:47Strong defenses
35:48And a newly arrived
35:50German fighting division
35:52From where I was
35:56It seemed a failure
35:57At that time
36:00There were just so many people
36:02On the beach there
36:02That you could literally
36:03Walk on the bodies
36:04From one end to the other
36:05Either the dead
36:06Or the wounded
36:07I saw people
36:09Laying out there
36:10With their no head
36:11And some with arms blown off
36:13And some of my friends
36:15Pretty sickening
36:16At Omaha
36:22It had taken the whole day
36:23With Grievous losses
36:24To gain a beachhead
36:25A mile deep
36:26It was the most
36:29Heartrending experience
36:30That I ever had
36:32I hope I never have
36:33Another one like it
36:34Look back
36:37And see the remains
36:38Of a crack battalion
36:39Strewn over the beach
36:41The men floating
36:43In the water
36:44Face up
36:44Perhaps it was better
36:48That we were green
36:49Because if I'd have known
36:51Then what I know now
36:52I'd probably got on that boat
36:53And went back to England
36:54A day of continuous thinking
37:04Thoughts of home
37:05A day of prayer
37:09And without a doubt
37:11The longest day of my life
37:13You feel that you're
37:21Well you've accomplished something
37:24That you didn't think
37:26You would probably end up
37:27Being around after it was done
37:29I think we were proud
37:31In some way
37:32That we'd done it
37:34And that the army
37:36We'd been in
37:37For so long
37:38And with all sorts of experiences
37:41Of how they could bungle things
37:43Had actually managed
37:46This invasion
37:47Oh we feel
37:50Very happy
37:51Very happy
37:52Ah the best day of life
37:55I think so
37:56La plus grande joie
37:59How do you say in English
38:00The biggest joys
38:02In our life
38:04And we admired
38:06Those courageous soldiers
38:08They came from so far away
38:11To liberate us
38:12And we gave to them
38:15Everything we could
38:16Give them
38:17Cider
38:18Also
38:18Calvados also
38:21And our
38:24Our friendship
38:26And
38:29It was very
38:31Emotional
38:33And
38:35We feel
38:38We became free
38:39By midnight
38:41A hundred and thirty thousand
38:43Troops had got ashore
38:44Footholds had been gained
38:46On all five beaches
38:47Casualties
38:49Nine thousand
38:50D plus one
38:56Saw the first laying
38:58Of the mulberry harbors
38:59The early build up
39:01Of supplies
39:01Was vital
39:02For the success
39:03Of Overlord
39:04It was essential
39:05To pour in
39:06The reinforcements
39:07Of men and material
39:08Faster than the enemy
39:09And pour in
39:11Than they did
39:11By D plus seven
39:24Miles of vehicles
39:25Were ashore
39:26Stretching inland
39:27From the beaches
39:28Bumper to bumper
39:29At some points
39:30Traffic jams
39:31Extended fifteen miles
39:33At this critical phase
39:37Mulberry's two harbors
39:39Arromanche
39:40For the British
39:40Saint Laurent
39:41For the Americans
39:42Were the only ports
39:44Available to the Allies
39:46In the four days
39:48Before the 18th of June
39:50The average daily landings
39:52Were troops
39:52Nearly thirty-five thousand
39:54Vehicles
39:55Five thousand
39:56Stores
39:57Twenty-five thousand
39:58Tons
39:59If a single device
40:04Invented for Overlord
40:05Produced results
40:06It was mulberry
40:08Only the insistence
40:15Of Eisenhower
40:16And the king himself
40:17Had stopped Churchill
40:18From coming over
40:18On D-Day
40:19Now within days
40:21Of the landing
40:21He was there
40:22To see how things
40:23Were going
40:23The top commanders
40:25Were aware
40:26That the Overlord
40:27Timetable
40:27Was falling behind
40:28They were anxious
40:30Now about phase two
40:31Of the operation
40:32The battle
40:33Of the bridgehead
40:34The Allies
40:54Were fighting bitterly
40:55For space
40:56To deploy
40:56The mass of men
40:57And materials
40:58Assembling behind them
40:59It was a slow
41:01Dogged advance
41:02Against an enemy
41:03Who had recovered
41:04Strongly
41:05The close-hedged
41:14Boccage countryside
41:15Was difficult
41:16For the Allied tanks
41:17By the 10th of June
41:20The Allies were opposed
41:22By only three
41:23Panzer divisions
41:23The other seven
41:25Available divisions
41:26Had not been released
41:27To Rommel
41:27By the German
41:28High Command
41:29Despite this
41:30The invaders
41:31Were little more
41:31Than inching forward
41:32By the 12th of June
41:46The five beachheads
41:47Had been linked
41:47To give a lodgment
41:4860 miles long
41:50And up to 20 miles deep
41:52The ancient town
41:54The ancient town of Bayeux
41:55Now welcomed
41:56The leader
41:57Of the free French
41:58General de Gaulle
41:59Setting foot in France
42:01For the first time
42:02Since 1940
42:04The 19th of June
42:10And the unpredictable
42:11English channel
42:12Struck again
42:12For four days
42:18For four days
42:18A raging storm
42:19The worst in June
42:20For over 40 years
42:21Battered Mulberry
42:22Almost to destruction
42:23Vessels dragged anchor
42:26Vital equipment
42:27Vital equipment founded
42:28Unloading was drastically curtailed
42:31Tonnage was down
42:32By four fifths
42:34Frantic efforts were made
42:38To repair the damage
42:39For the disruption
42:40Had threatened
42:41The very continuance
42:42Of Overlord
42:42Soon the traffic
42:44Was rolling again
42:45The Overlord lifeline
42:49Was restored
42:50A prime objective
42:56To supplement
42:57The Mulberry harbors
42:58Was the port of Cherbourg
42:59In the American sector
43:00By the 19th of June
43:02The Americans
43:03Had cut off
43:03The Cherbourg peninsula
43:04And were driving north
43:05Towards the port
43:06Cherbourg was strongly fortified
43:10The Germans hoped
43:12To delay the Allies
43:13By staging a long resistance
43:14There
43:14But by the 21st
43:16After tough fighting
43:17The Americans reached
43:19The port's outskirts
43:20On the 26th
43:35The garrison surrendered
43:36Leaving only a few
43:37Strong points
43:37To be mocked up
43:38Prisoners streamed out
43:41Among them
43:42The garrison commander
43:43Cherbourg was the first
43:54Major objective
43:54To be captured
43:55In the campaign
43:5625,000 prisoners
43:59Were taken
43:59In the Cherbourg area
44:00Some French women
44:10Were losing
44:11Their German lovers
44:12Right across the front
44:21From Cherbourg
44:21Was the town of Caen
44:23Caen
44:24Was the centre
44:25For German troops
44:26Moving to the beachhead
44:27Montgomery had been
44:29Attacking towards it
44:30Since D-Day
44:30Now at last
44:36In early July
44:37He prepared for the assault
44:39First the bombers went in
44:43On the 18th of July
44:45Over 2,000 heavy
44:47And medium bombers
44:48Hit Caen
44:48With nearly 8,000 tons
44:50Of high explosive
44:51And fragmentation bombs
44:53It was the heaviest
44:59And most concentrated
45:00Air attack
45:01In support of
45:01Ground forces
45:02Ever attempted
45:03In the 18th of July
45:04In the 18th of July
45:33In the 18th of July
45:37Caen was christened
45:38The crucible
45:39When it fell
45:41The troops entered
45:42A bomb cratered town
45:44Choked with rubble
45:45Half of it was destroyed
45:50Several thousand
45:52Of its inhabitants
45:53Killed or wounded
45:54The people of Caen
46:08It was liberation
46:09At a grievous price
46:12Now after seven
46:25Grinding weeks
46:25The start of the breakout
46:27The Americans broke
46:29Through at Avranches
46:30They fanned out
46:32West and south
46:32Into Brittany
46:33And east to Mortin
46:34And swept up
46:36To Argentan
46:37From the north
46:40The British and Canadians
46:42Edged south
46:43Towards Falaise
46:44In an attempt
46:44To close the neck
46:45Of a bag
46:46Now threatening
46:46To trap
46:47The German forces
46:48There were very great
46:53Practical difficulties
46:55In this closing
46:56Of the Falaise gap
46:57Quickly
46:58And it was difficult
47:00For the one side
47:01British, Canadian, Polish
47:02To appreciate
47:05The point of view
47:06Of the other side
47:07The Americans
47:07We were coming down
47:09From the north
47:10Launched from
47:13The congested
47:14Bombed
47:15And difficult areas
47:16Of the core sector
47:17Secondly
47:19The Germans
47:20Facing us
47:21On that north side
47:23Of the corridor
47:24They were trying
47:25To keep open
47:25For their escape
47:26Were in areas
47:29Where they had been
47:30Fighting against us
47:32For two months
47:33Or more
47:33The Americans
47:35Were coming up
47:36To meet us
47:37From the south
47:38In more open country
47:40And against much less
47:42Prepared and organised
47:43German resistance
47:44Falaise
47:48One of the bloodiest
47:49Battlegrounds
47:50Of the campaign
47:51This was Montgomery's
47:53Next target
47:54Hundreds of rocket
48:08Firing typhoons
48:09Straffed enemy
48:10Communications
48:11And transport
48:12Leaving a trail
48:13Of burning vehicles
48:14On the 6th of August
48:22The Canadians
48:23Were on the outskirts
48:24Of Falaise
48:25They entered the town
48:40On the 16th
48:41By now
48:51Only a narrow corridor
48:52Separated the Canadian
48:53And American spearheads
48:55The remnants of the German
49:007th Army
49:01Some 15 fighting divisions
49:03Were pressed into a tiny sack
49:05At last
49:08The trap closed
49:1010,000 died
49:1250,000 were captured
49:14For the Germans
49:16Falaise
49:17Was one of the worst
49:18Disasters
49:18Since Stalingrad
49:20The toll of prisoners
49:29Rubbed in the magnitude
49:30Of the defeat
49:31But 40,000 German troops
49:34Escaped
49:34And this caused
49:36Friction between the Allies
49:38Had the British
49:42And Canadian forces
49:43Been able to move faster
49:44We might have trapped
49:46Many more Germans
49:47Than the Falaise pocket
49:48Very little of their
49:50Equipment got out
49:51But quite a
49:52Quite a number
49:53Of the Germans
49:53Were able to escape
49:54Toward the Seine River
49:56And this was too bad
49:59It
50:00I think
50:01Perhaps the basic
50:02Reason was
50:04That
50:04Britain had been
50:06In the war
50:06For much longer
50:08Than we
50:08And had taken
50:09Very heavy casualties
50:10And the Americans
50:13Were fresh
50:13And they had had
50:15Practically no casualties
50:16In comparison
50:17So while we were anxious
50:19To drive forward
50:20And were not too concerned
50:22About the casualties
50:23As long as we could
50:24Get our objectives
50:25It was natural
50:26I think
50:27That the British
50:27And Canadian forces
50:28Did it in a more
50:30Orderly
50:30Pacing
50:31Way
50:32And perhaps
50:33This was part of
50:35Monty's characteristic
50:36And one of his
50:36Drawbacks
50:37In other words
50:38That he
50:39He never did
50:40Quite drive
50:41The way
50:42The American
50:43Commanders did
50:44This was part
50:45Of his nature
50:46I guess
50:46He was a more
50:47Cautious man
50:48Combined with the fact
50:50That he couldn't
50:50Afford the casualties
50:51That we could take
50:53If it was necessary
50:53To take them
50:54Palaise
51:02Palaise earned the name
51:03Of the killing ground
51:05The carnage and destruction
51:09Were appalling
51:10Eisenhower
51:18Eisenhower visited
51:19The battlefield
51:19And wrote
51:20It was literally
51:21Possible
51:22To walk
51:23For hundreds
51:23Of yards
51:24At a time
51:24Stepping on
51:26Nothing but
51:26Dead
51:27And decaying
51:28Flesh
51:28That he
51:57Paris. The main Allied drive was going to bypass the French capital. The Parisians under Nazi domination for four years sensed liberation at last. As the Germans began to pull out, the resistance forces emerged into the open to take their revenge.
52:15Remembering the oppression, indignity, humiliations, Parisians gave vent to long-stored hatred.
52:35In 1940, they had seen Paris fall without a shot. Now they made up for it and a burst of violence not seen in Paris throughout the war.
52:46Parisians had one fall, reprisal against the enemy, the settlement of old score.
53:05Morning had come.
53:15Morning had come.
53:17Morning had come.
53:21THE END
53:51THE END
54:21THE END
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