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01:29But it was an attack Hitler had long been expecting.
01:35His problem was knowing when, and above all, where, it would come.
01:40The stage was set for one of the greatest battles of World War II, D-Day, the Allied landings along the Normandy coast of France.
01:59Since the early years of the war, Britain's Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, had always been certain that at some point, an Allied invasion of Northern Europe would be necessary.
02:15The only questions were when, where, and how.
02:21To test the waters, British forces had already mounted a number of practice operations.
02:29In December 1941, British commandos raided the Wargso Islands off the coast of Nazi-occupied Norway.
02:53It was an attempt to probe German defences and tie down Hitler's troops in the north.
02:59The fish oil factory and coastal defences were blown up before the commandos withdrew.
03:14Eight months later, Canadian and British troops were sent in to mount a more ambitious raid on the French port of Dieppe.
03:21It, too, was designed to test the defences, and also to provide combat experience for the Canadians.
03:35But this time, it was a catastrophe.
03:38As landing craft approached the main beach, they were met by withering fire.
03:56Those troops that made it ashore were immediately pinned down.
04:00Behind them, the supporting tanks became bogged down in the shingle.
04:15Few managed to scale the seawall.
04:17Over 3,000 Allied soldiers were killed or taken prisoner.
04:30Britain had learned an important lesson.
04:33Never attempt a direct assault on a German-occupied port.
04:36Equally importantly, the Dieppe disaster reinforced the British view that an invasion of Europe could not be rushed.
04:55Churchill understood it would require careful planning.
04:58Eventually, in April 1943, at an Allied conference in Washington,
05:06Churchill and the U.S. President, Franklin Roosevelt, agreed upon a date.
05:18D-Day, or Operation Overlord, as the seaborne invasion of France was formerly called,
05:23would take place in the summer of 1944.
05:31But by now, the Germans were preparing for it in earnest.
05:38Since the winter of 1941, they had been building an Atlantic wall.
05:47It was a massive series of fortifications running along the European coast from Denmark to the Spanish.
05:53the British border.
05:56Gun emplacements had been constructed at likely landing sites.
06:04Beaches had been mined and covered in barbed wire.
06:10Obstacles had been placed in strategic places to block landing craft.
06:14Hitler had boasted,
06:19Hitler had boasted,
06:20I am the greatest builder of fortifications of all time.
06:29In the summer of 1942,
06:32in the wake of the Dieppe attack,
06:34work on the Atlantic wall had been stemmed up.
06:39Hitler had also ordered an increase in troop numbers in the region.
06:42The German overall commander in the West,
06:47Field Marshal Geert von Rundstedt,
06:50had been given 15 further divisions.
06:53But the Western European coast stretched for some 2,000 miles.
06:57He didn't have the numbers to man the entire length.
06:58Von Rundstedt faced a difficult decision.
07:01Where should he position his over-stretched forces to maximise their effect?
07:06The question led to bitter arguments inside the German leadership.
07:10Von Rundstedt proposed holding a large force of panzers in reserve,
07:29north-west of Paris.
07:31He could then send it in against an invasion once he knew where it was happening.
07:47But the hugely respected Field Marshal Erwin Rommel,
07:51commander of the troops covering the sector from Holland along the French coast to the Loire,
07:55had a different view.
08:03Rommel's concern was Allied air power.
08:08He'd seen it first-hand when he'd fought the British in North Africa,
08:12and it had left a profound depression.
08:17He feared that any counter-attack would be broken up by Allied aircraft
08:21long before it could go into action.
08:29Rommel had also inspected Hitler's Atlantic wall
08:32and found much of it wanting.
08:38It had forced him to the conclusion
08:40that the best place to position the panzers
08:42was as close as possible to the most likely landing sites.
08:46That way, an invasion could be immediately pushed back
08:50before it got a foothold.
08:56Hitler compromised.
09:00Rundstedt was given a small force he could hold in reserve,
09:03though Hitler himself would have the final say
09:06as to when it could be used.
09:08The rest of the additional troops
09:13were scattered along the entire Atlantic seaboard
09:15in accordance with Rommel's wishes.
09:22It would turn out to be the worst of all the solutions.
09:26There were neither enough reserves
09:27nor enough tanks near the coast.
09:29But in the autumn of 1943,
09:36none of this was clear.
09:43In Britain, the Allied planners
09:45were also grappling with the problem of location.
09:48Where was the best place to land?
09:54Their chief planner, General Frederick Morgan,
09:57quickly realised there were two principal options,
10:01the Pas de Calais and Normandy.
10:06The Pas de Calais was clearly the favourite.
10:10It offered the shortest sea crossing
10:12and it offered the shortest
10:14and most direct way to Germany.
10:20But it was also the most obvious route
10:22and Morgan was sure the Germans were expecting it.
10:27So he decided to wrong-foot them.
10:32Morgan would land in Normandy.
10:36It was the beginning of a huge gamble
10:39on which the fate of hundreds of thousands of soldiers
10:42would depend.
10:43In the autumn of 1943,
10:58Allied photo-reconnaissance aircraft
11:00swept over the beaches of northern France.
11:07It was part of a huge planning operation
11:09for the seaborne invasion of Europe.
11:15The fortifications of the Atlantic Wall
11:18were monitored by the French resistance.
11:22Men crept ashore to collect sand samples
11:25to test whether armoured vehicles could be landed.
11:28Northern France became the most reconnoitered coastline
11:37in the history of warfare.
11:42It soon became clear any landing
11:44would need some kind of port facilities.
11:46But the disaster at Dieppe
11:52had shown that it was too dangerous
11:54to attempt a direct assault
11:56on a German-occupied port.
12:07Britain's planners were forced
12:08to come up with an ingenious alternative.
12:10giant, hollow concrete boxes
12:21were constructed in Britain
12:22that could later be towed
12:24to the French coast.
12:28There they would be sunk
12:30to form an artificial harbour.
12:33They were known by their codename,
12:36mulberries.
12:36The mulberries would be supplied with fuel
12:46by a pipeline
12:47unwound from giant reels
12:49and dropped on the seabird.
12:54It would run for a hundred miles.
13:02The pumping station on the Isle of Wight
13:04was disguised as an ice-cream parlour.
13:10But the raid on Dieppe
13:11had also revealed a second problem.
13:16How to get the first wave of troops
13:18off the beaches
13:19and through the German fortifications.
13:25The man told to solve that question
13:27was General Percy Hobart,
13:30one of the pioneers of armoured warfare.
13:34Hobart came up with a series
13:38of ingenious devices.
13:41The troops called them the Funnies.
13:45They included such extraordinary machines
13:47as flamethrowers and floating tanks.
13:54Flail tanks for clearing mines.
13:58The bobbin for laying firm paths
14:02across sand or shingle.
14:03An armoured ramp
14:08for climbing sea walls.
14:18The fascine carrier
14:20for tackling ditches.
14:27And the bridging tank
14:29for wider obstacles.
14:36That left just one problem.
14:38How to stop the Germans rushing in
14:40over whelming reinforcements
14:42before the Allies had established a foothold.
14:44The answer was to keep them guessing
14:51until the very last moment
14:53as to where the invasion would take place.
14:57Operation Bodyguard was a massive
14:59and complex deception campaign.
15:01German double agents in Britain
15:04German double agents in Britain
15:05now began sending back to Germany
15:07huge amounts of carefully coordinated
15:10false information.
15:12This emphasised that the main landings
15:14would be in the Pas de Calais.
15:16Although a faint attack
15:18might be launched in Normandy.
15:20To muddy the waters still further
15:26the Allied military
15:28created a fictitious army unit
15:30the so-called
15:31First US Army Group
15:33or FUSAC.
15:36It was stationed
15:37very obviously
15:38in Ket
15:39bang opposite
15:41the Padakale.
15:42The man in charge of it
15:48was the pistol-toting
15:50US General
15:50George Patton
15:52who'd been removed
15:53from action in Sicily
15:54after slapping
15:55shell-shocked soldiers.
16:02Patton was rated by the Germans
16:04as the Allies'
16:06best attacking general.
16:08Just the man they expected
16:09to command the invasion
16:11of Western Europe.
16:13Basher 5-2
16:14this is Basher 1-1
16:15on Alpha.
16:16Radio transmissions
16:17mimic the wireless traffic
16:19of an army.
16:23For the benefit
16:24of any Luftwaffe
16:24reconnaissance aircraft
16:26flying over Britain
16:27the fields of Kent
16:28were filled with
16:29inflatable tanks
16:30and carefully faked
16:32track marks.
16:41there were dummy aircraft
16:45made of wood
16:46and canvas.
16:50Harbours along the Kent coast
16:52were filled with
16:53dummy landing craft.
17:00There were even troops
17:02though these were
17:03in reality
17:04backup units.
17:05in late 1943
17:10the Allies appointed
17:11US General
17:12Dwight Eisenhower
17:13as Supreme
17:14Allied Commander
17:15for the invasion
17:16of Europe.
17:21British General
17:22Bernard Montgomery
17:23would be in overall
17:25command of the initial
17:26assault troops.
17:30D-Day was fixed
17:31for June 5th
17:321944.
17:43Two months
17:44before the landing
17:45Eisenhower launched
17:47an elaborate air offensive
17:48to disrupt German links
17:50to the coast.
17:59Once again
18:00it was carefully planned
18:01to give the impression
18:02the Allies' target
18:03was the Pas-de-Calais region.
18:10As the date
18:11of the invasion
18:12approached
18:12Allied troop numbers
18:14in England
18:14reached over 2 million.
18:18They were supported
18:19by more than
18:203,000 tanks
18:21and 12,000 aircraft.
18:25The Germans
18:30were well aware
18:31an invasion
18:32was imminent.
18:34But they had been
18:35completely taken in
18:36by the Allies'
18:37phony preparations
18:38in Kent
18:38and were convinced
18:40the most likely
18:40landing spot
18:41was the Pas-de-Calais.
18:50Everything
18:50seemed to be
18:51going the Allies' way.
18:55The troops
18:57were briefed.
19:00Then the weather
19:01turned against them.
19:07Rain lashed down.
19:09Visibility was poor
19:10and the channel
19:12was stormy.
19:12on June 4th, 1944
19:21the assault troops
19:23boarded their landing ships
19:24and the armada
19:25of more than
19:265,000 vessels
19:27set sail.
19:34But the rain
19:35continued to lash down
19:37and later that day
19:38the invasion
19:39had to be postponed.
19:40The ships returned
19:45to port
19:45and the assault troops
19:47faced a nerve-shredding
19:48weight.
19:56Early the next morning
19:58the military leadership
19:59met again.
20:02The naval commanders
20:04were keen to go ahead
20:05but the air chiefs
20:09were doubtful.
20:10They worried
20:11the visibility
20:11would still be too poor
20:13to provide
20:14effective air support.
20:19After a long silence
20:21Eisenhower looked up.
20:25Let's go
20:26he said.
20:27Operation Overlord
20:37the greatest
20:38sea-borne invasion
20:39ever
20:39was underway.
20:42D-Day
20:42had begun.
20:43at 1.15
20:57in the morning
20:57of June 6th, 1944
20:59British aircraft
21:01towing gliders
21:02arrived over the coast
21:04of northern France.
21:05then the gliders
21:09were released
21:10and plunged down
21:11to capture
21:12vital bridges
21:12over the
21:13Con Canal
21:13in eastern Normandy.
21:18The Allies
21:19had launched
21:20their great gamble
21:21to invade
21:22Hitler's empire
21:23in Western Europe.
21:2450 miles
21:31to the west
21:32US paratroops
21:33came down
21:34around the village
21:34of Saint-Mère-Eglise.
21:42There was
21:43a fierce firefight.
21:51But three hours
21:53later
21:53the village
21:54was in US hands.
21:59One of the most
22:00crucial battles
22:01of World War II
22:02was underway.
22:08An hour later
22:09horrified
22:10German sentries
22:11along the Normandy
22:12coast
22:13saw a vast
22:14armada
22:15appear
22:15out of the mist.
22:19They had had
22:20no warning.
22:23The Allied fleet
22:29had sailed
22:29under cover
22:30of darkness.
22:33Moreover,
22:34Allied countermeasures
22:35had confused
22:35the German radar
22:36into believing
22:37the main weight
22:38of the attack
22:39was approaching
22:39the French coast
22:40further east
22:41at the Pas-de-Calais.
22:42Allied warships
22:50off the Normandy coast
22:51now began
22:52pounding
22:52the German
22:53defensive positions.
22:54wave after wave
23:08of aircraft swept
23:09overhead.
23:10under cover of the bombardment
23:23assault troops
23:24headed for the shore.
23:25under cover of the
23:27attack.
23:27But as they closed
23:33in, German artillery
23:35and machine guns
23:36opened fire.
23:37A number of the landing
23:45craft were hit.
23:46others fell foul
23:51of underwater
23:51obstructions.
23:55But at 6.30
23:57in the morning
23:57the first waves
23:59of troops
23:59hit the beaches.
24:00at the far western end
24:17the U.S. 4th Infantry Division
24:19came ashore
24:20near at what they called
24:21Utah Beach.
24:28Within two hours
24:30as it was linking up
24:30with the U.S. paratroopers
24:32who'd landed
24:33at San Mariglis.
24:41Next door
24:42at Omaha Beach
24:43it was more difficult.
24:46The beach
24:46was a defender's dream
24:47with high cliffs
24:48and few ways inland.
24:56As the U.S. 1st Infantry Division
24:59waded ashore
25:00they were mown down
25:01by German machine guns.
25:08To make matters worse
25:10the Americans'
25:11amphibious tanks
25:13were swamped.
25:18The troops
25:19were trapped
25:20on the beach.
25:24Disaster
25:24danger was looming.
25:33But finally
25:34a few of the soldiers
25:36managed to scale
25:37the cliffs.
25:46Against all the odds
25:48the Americans
25:49hung on
25:50to the beach
25:50to the beachhead.
25:58Further east
26:00in the centre
26:00of the landing area
26:01Britain's 50th Infantry Division
26:04came ashore
26:05at Gold Beach.
26:11They too
26:13met savage fire.
26:14But now
26:24the British
26:25deployed their funnies.
26:32The troops
26:33were soon
26:33moving inland.
26:34at the adjoining
26:40at the adjoining landing spot
26:40Juneau Beach
26:41the Canadian
26:423rd Infantry Division
26:44faced a similar situation.
26:52Here too
26:53Britain's funnies
26:54were vital
26:55in helping the troops
26:56off the beach.
27:03Finally
27:04on the far left flank
27:06at Sword Beach
27:07the British
27:083rd Infantry Division
27:09met only
27:10patchy resistance.
27:17Within hours
27:18its commandos
27:19had linked up
27:19with the glider-borne troops
27:20at the Con Canal.
27:26By early afternoon
27:30the Allies
27:31had successfully
27:31established
27:32all of the beachheads.
27:39The timing
27:41of the invasion
27:41had caught
27:42the Germans
27:42completely by surprise.
27:45They'd expected
27:45the Allies
27:46to wait
27:46until the weather
27:47had cleared.
27:51Rommel
27:51the operational
27:52German commander
27:53for the whole
27:53of the northwest
27:54French coast
27:55had taken
27:56the opportunity
27:56of bad weather
27:57to visit
27:58his family
27:58in Germany.
28:02His immediate
28:03subordinate
28:04in Normandy
28:05and Brittany
28:05General Friedrich
28:07Dolman
28:07was over
28:08a hundred miles
28:09away
28:09taking part
28:10in a war game
28:11exercise.
28:16Only the overall
28:17German commander
28:18for the whole
28:19of Western Europe
28:20Field Marshal
28:21Geert von Rundstedt
28:22was at his HQ.
28:26but he needed
28:28Hitler's permission
28:29to move
28:30his Panzer
28:31reserves
28:31to the battlefield.
28:35However,
28:37Hitler
28:37was asleep
28:38and his
28:38aides
28:39wouldn't wake him.
28:42It wasn't
28:43until midday
28:44that the Fuhrer
28:45finally learnt
28:46about the invasion
28:47but he didn't
28:48take it seriously.
28:51He was still
28:52convinced
28:53the main attack
28:53would come
28:54in the Pas de Calais.
28:56Normandy,
28:56he believed,
28:57was just a fate.
29:04Finally,
29:04in the late afternoon
29:05when the scale
29:06of the invasion
29:07was becoming
29:07all too clear,
29:09Hitler unleashed
29:10his reserves.
29:11troops.
29:18But they were
29:19too far away
29:20to provide
29:20immediate support.
29:31Despite
29:32stubborn German
29:33resistance,
29:35the beachheads
29:35around Utah,
29:37Gold and Juno
29:38and Sword
29:39were secured.
29:41only at Omaha
29:45was a situation
29:45more precarious.
29:51Here,
29:52German resistance
29:53had prevented
29:54the U.S. troops
29:55moving more than
29:55a mile inland.
29:56by nightfall
30:10on June
30:10the 6th,
30:11over a hundred
30:12thousand
30:12Allied troops
30:13had been
30:14landed in Normandy.
30:15It had been
30:23an extraordinary
30:24feat of planning,
30:26ingenuity
30:26and courage.
30:30The first day
30:31of the Allies'
30:32great gamble
30:33had paid off.
30:36But it was
30:37just the beginning.
30:38Now,
30:39they had to build up,
30:41break out
30:41and push on
30:43into Europe.
30:56As the second day
30:57dawned on the greatest
30:58seaborne invasion
30:59ever attempted,
31:01thousands of Allied troops
31:02had broken out
31:03of their beachheads
31:04and were moving inland.
31:11But they found
31:12the Normandy countryside
31:13hard going.
31:17The patchwork
31:18of woodland
31:19and small fields
31:20provided ideal terrain
31:22for German tanks
31:23and machine guns.
31:37The Allies suffered
31:38heavy casualties.
31:47Allied airpower
31:48provided crucial support.
31:51When von Rundstedt's
31:52panzer reinforcements
31:53arrived,
31:54they'd been so depleted
31:55by the air attacks
31:57that they were unable
31:58to mount a major
31:59counterattack.
32:03The German reinforcements
32:05were also hampered
32:06by French resistance
32:07fighters operating
32:09behind German lines.
32:17They ambushed
32:19troop convoys
32:20and blew up bridges.
32:22As a result,
32:26the Das Reich
32:27SS panzer division
32:28took over two weeks
32:30to make a journey
32:31which should have lasted
32:31a mere three days.
32:35Its troops
32:36took out their fury
32:38on the French
32:39civilian population.
32:45The village
32:46of Orodur-sur-Glan
32:47and its 642 inhabitants
32:50were wiped out.
32:52after four days
33:04of fighting,
33:05all the Allied beachheads
33:06were finally
33:07able to link up.
33:14But they'd still
33:15only managed
33:16to penetrate
33:16ten miles inland.
33:28Eventually,
33:28six days after the landing,
33:31the British commander,
33:32General Montgomery,
33:33launched a major assault
33:34on the strategically
33:35important town of Caen.
33:37the British 7th Armored Division,
33:42the Desert Rats,
33:43advanced.
33:49But its spearhead
33:51ran into four German Tiger tanks.
33:53The Allies' Sherman tanks
34:01were completely outclassed.
34:04Their guns were outranged
34:06and their shells
34:07unable to penetrate
34:08the German armor.
34:11They were particularly vulnerable
34:13because many ran
34:14on petrol fuel
34:15and were liable
34:16to burst into flames
34:17when hit.
34:18The Germans nicknamed
34:21the Sherman
34:22the Ronson
34:22after the cigarette lighter
34:24or, more macabrely,
34:26the Tommy Cooker.
34:31In less than five minutes,
34:33more than ten British tanks
34:34were destroyed.
34:38The attack on Caen
34:40stormed.
34:40Outmatched by the German tanks,
34:52the Allies relied
34:53on air power
34:54and artillery.
34:59But it wasn't enough.
35:01The Desert Rats retreated.
35:06Caen remained
35:07in German hands.
35:10Meanwhile,
35:19further west,
35:21U.S. forces advanced
35:22on the equally important port
35:23of Sherbro.
35:34It would take them
35:35nearly ten days
35:36to get close to them.
35:40They weren't helped
35:45by the weather.
35:50During the first week
35:51of the invasion,
35:52it had been relatively calm
35:54and supplies
35:55and reinforcements
35:56had poured in
35:57through the mulberry
35:58artificial harbours.
35:59But now the weather
36:03turned.
36:04Gales swept
36:05the English Channel.
36:09The U.S. mulberry
36:11harbour at Omaha
36:12was destroyed.
36:15The other mulberry
36:17in the British sector
36:18was badly damaged
36:19and put out of action
36:21for several days.
36:22The flow of reinforcements
36:27slowed.
36:29It meant the port
36:30of Cherbourg
36:30was an even more
36:32vital objective.
36:37As the U.S. forces
36:38now approached it,
36:40the German garrison
36:41resisted.
36:42There was fierce
36:53house-to-house
36:54fighting.
37:00It would take
37:01the Allies a week
37:02to secure the city.
37:03But the port
37:12had been trashed
37:13by the fleeing Germans.
37:16It would take
37:17a further month
37:18before it could be
37:19brought back
37:20into service.
37:28Meanwhile,
37:29Montgomery
37:30launched another
37:31assault on Kong.
37:33But the storms
37:39had turned the fields
37:40into a sea of mud.
37:42Low cloud meant
37:43air support
37:44was impossible.
37:55To make matters
37:56worse,
37:57the newly arrived
37:58elite German
37:592nd SS Panzer Corps
38:01was thrown into
38:02the defence of the city.
38:03After four days,
38:10the British were
38:11again
38:11forced to halt.
38:19Then,
38:20as the clouds cleared,
38:22nearly 500
38:23Allied bombers
38:24devastated Kong.
38:25British troops
38:37fought their way
38:38into the north suburbs.
38:44But the ruins
38:45made ideal defensive
38:46positions for the Germans.
38:48Allied casualties
38:58Allied casualties
38:59mounted.
38:59Allied casualties
38:59mounted.
39:05After 48 hours,
39:08the attack
39:08was,
39:09yet again,
39:10called off.
39:11three weeks later,
39:17Montgomery tried
39:18for a fourth time.
39:22The plan
39:23was to capture
39:24the remaining
39:24German strongholds
39:26and then push on
39:27south,
39:28deeper into France.
39:29after two more days
39:42of fighting,
39:43the city was
39:44finally won.
39:48The way
39:49now seemed open
39:50for the British tanks
39:51to move south,
39:52deeper into France.
39:53But the Germans
40:01were waiting
40:02with a large
40:03force of panzers.
40:11The British advance
40:12stopped again.
40:19The Americans
40:20in the west,
40:21however,
40:22were having
40:22an easier time.
40:24The fighting
40:25around Caen
40:26had sucked in
40:27the majority
40:27of the German defenders.
40:32As the American forces
40:34prepared to thrust
40:35further into France,
40:36they faced only
40:37scattered opposition.
40:39The scene was set
40:41for the Allied forces
40:42to break out
40:43at last.
40:53at 9.30 in the morning
40:56of July 25th, 1944,
40:59over 1,800 Allied aircraft
41:01carpet-bombed
41:03a four-mile stretch
41:04of the German front line
41:05south of Cherbourg.
41:06It was the beginning
41:10of Operation Cobra,
41:12the US breakout
41:13into France.
41:19The German defenders
41:20were stunned
41:21by the size
41:22of the assault.
41:25So, too,
41:26were some of the US soldiers.
41:30The plan had been
41:31for the bombers
41:32to fly in
41:32from the east
41:33parallel to the US
41:35front line
41:35to minimise the risk
41:37of bombing American troops.
41:43But most of the aircraft
41:45came in over the top
41:46of the US lines.
41:50Bombs fell short.
41:53Over 100 US troops
41:55were hit and killed.
42:02Yet, despite the ferocity
42:04of the bombardment,
42:05when the US forces
42:06later picked themselves up
42:08and moved forward,
42:09they found,
42:10to their astonishment,
42:11substantial numbers
42:12of German troops
42:13had survived.
42:19The survivors
42:20mounted a stubborn resistance.
42:25as fighting raged,
42:29it looked as though
42:30the Americans
42:30would fail
42:31to break through
42:32the German lines.
42:43But then,
42:44the German defences
42:46crumbled.
42:55The next morning,
42:57US tanks broke through
42:58and moved forward
43:00into open country.
43:03There was now
43:04almost no German resistance
43:06left,
43:07and the Americans
43:08quickly pushed
43:09deeper into France.
43:13The hill town
43:15of Coutances fell.
43:20Then the crossroads town
43:22of Averanche.
43:25As the Allies
43:29pressed forward,
43:30they were helped
43:31by change and confusion
43:32in the German High Command.
43:37At the beginning of July,
43:38three weeks after
43:39the D-Day landings,
43:41Hitler dismissed
43:42the German commander-in-chief,
43:44Field Marshal
43:44Geert von Rundstedt,
43:46for defeatism.
43:49Von Rundstedt
43:50had made little attempt
43:51to hide his belief
43:52that Germany faced
43:53an unwinnable struggle.
43:55He was replaced
44:01by Field Marshal
44:02Gunther von Kluge,
44:03fresh from the Eastern Front,
44:05but with little knowledge
44:06of northwestern France.
44:12Two weeks later,
44:14Rommel,
44:15the second most senior
44:16German officer
44:17on the front,
44:18was severely injured
44:19when his staff car
44:20was strafed
44:20attacked by a British fighter.
44:29Then,
44:30with the Nazi command
44:31already in confusion,
44:33there was an assassination
44:34attempt
44:34on Hitler's life.
44:37On July 20,
44:381944,
44:39a disillusioned
44:40aristocratic war hero,
44:42Colonel Klaus Schenk,
44:44Graf von Stauffenberg,
44:46planted a bomb
44:47in the planning hut
44:47at Hitler's headquarters
44:49in East Prussia.
44:50four officers were killed.
44:58But Hitler was sheltered
45:01by a heavy,
45:02solid oak conference table
45:03and escaped
45:04with only minor injuries.
45:06The plot was swiftly
45:11and brutally put down.
45:16Von Stauffenberg was shot
45:18and his principal collaborators
45:20put on trial.
45:23They would later be hanged.
45:28Hitler put a brave face on it
45:31and visited some of the wounded
45:32in hospital.
45:36But it hardened still further
45:39his distrust
45:40of his senior officers.
45:43He would,
45:44despite his many
45:45earlier misjudgments,
45:46demand even greater control
45:48over events
45:49on the battlefield.
46:01Back in France,
46:03General George Patton,
46:04back in charge of a real
46:06fighting force,
46:07ordered his troops
46:08to fan out.
46:10They took Rennes,
46:12Mayenne,
46:13and headed for Le Mans.
46:19They were now moving round
46:21behind the German forces,
46:23still battling it out
46:24with the British
46:25and Canadians near Cannes.
46:26with the Americans
46:34to their south
46:35and the British
46:36to their north,
46:37it seemed the German forces
46:39in Normandy
46:39would be surrounded.
46:46Hitler issued
46:47his usual order
46:49that there should be
46:50no retreat,
46:51but as the Allies
46:52squeezed in on them,
46:53the Germans began
46:54to flee.
47:00They were remorselessly
47:01harried by Allied aircraft
47:03and artillery.
47:04The casualties
47:17were appalling.
47:23Finally,
47:24on August 20th, 1944,
47:27the Allied forces
47:28moving in
47:28from both the north
47:29and south
47:30met up.
47:31the so-called
47:34Falaise Gap,
47:35named after the nearby
47:36French village,
47:37had been closed.
47:42Large numbers
47:43of Germans
47:44were trapped.
47:55Over 10,000
47:57more Germans
47:58caught in the
47:59Allied pincer
47:59died.
48:01a further
48:0650,000
48:07were taken
48:07prisoner.
48:19The German army
48:20in Western Europe
48:21was in chaos.
48:22Meanwhile,
48:31far to the south,
48:32on the French
48:32Mediterranean coast
48:34near Cannes,
48:35there was a second
48:36Allied seaborne invasion.
48:40U.S. troops
48:41came ashore
48:42virtually unopposed.
48:45They were helped
48:46by paratroopers
48:47from the Free French Army,
48:49men who had escaped
48:50from German-occupied
48:51French territory
48:51in Europe
48:52and North Africa.
48:57The landing
48:58had always been
48:58opposed by the British,
49:00who regarded it
49:01as a diversion.
49:04But the United States
49:06had long regarded it
49:07as an essential part
49:09of clearing the Germans
49:10out of France.
49:11the troops were greeted
49:20by an ecstatic
49:21civilian population.
49:22It was soon
49:33advancing rapidly
49:34up the Rhone Valley.
49:35Lyon was liberated
49:46on September 3rd, 1944.
49:54Ten days later,
49:56they reached Dijon
49:57and made contact
49:58with Patton's forces
49:59advancing from
50:00Western France.
50:01German units
50:07stationed across
50:08the region
50:09fled.
50:09in barely three weeks
50:21of headlong advance,
50:23the Allied invasion
50:24of Europe
50:24had liberated
50:26most of France.
50:28That left Paris,
50:31where French resistance
50:32fighters now rose up
50:33against the German occupation.
50:35There seemed little
50:39to prevent
50:40the Allied onrush
50:41from continuing
50:42to the German border.
50:44to the National decided
50:49that they were
50:54to the German
50:54who closed the
50:56had Rabin
50:58the 11th
50:59ofesperm
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51:04effect
51:04that they及
51:04the Cold
51:05and closer
51:06to the German
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51:07the millennia
51:08and CBS
51:09against the
51:09ofых
51:10before
51:11the
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