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01:31The plans for Operation Overlord had blueprinted nearly every yard of the 65-mile-long coastline.
01:36But after waiting a day for the weather to clear, some of the men were already exhausted, and many more
01:41were seasick.
01:43Certainly all wondered what fate awaited them over that gray horizon.
01:49In the pre-dawn darkness, the British, American, and Canadian soldiers scrambled into the vessels that would take them ashore
01:56to start their assault on Hitler's Atlantic wall.
01:59But just getting into the landing craft was difficult enough.
02:03The sea was still choppy. The waves pitched the smaller landing craft against the transport ships as the troops tried
02:10to time their leap onto the wet deck.
02:13They may have gained some reassurance from the sight of bombers heading towards the enemy coast, vast formations led by
02:20the B-26s of the 344th Bomber Group.
02:23We got airborne about four that morning.
02:27And going across over the channel, we had the stable of the cloud level, and I was down about 4
02:33,000 feet.
02:34It was a sight to behold to see all those battleships and cruisers and landing barges.
02:43And they were so close together, they could just walk from one to the other. They were that close.
02:53Our group led the first invasion mission.
02:57We were the leaders going over the beach that day, and our target time was at 6.10, and we
03:05dropped our bombs at 6.10 in the morning.
03:17The Germans did throw up quite a bit of flack.
03:21Matter of fact, even the soldiers on the ground, you could see them aiming their rifle at you.
03:28And I think that they weren't really prepared for us, but I think they had an idea that something was
03:36happening about this time.
03:44And, of course, as we dropped our bombs, we made an immediate right turn to get away and going back
03:49toward it,
03:49and we could see the oncoming aircraft that were behind us.
03:55And it was just as far as I could see airplanes, formations and formations coming in behind us.
04:03At each hour minus 40 minutes, the bombers cleared their targets.
04:07The guns of 43 destroyers, 18 cruisers, and seven battleships opened fire on the German defenses.
04:23The British divisions would land at beaches codenamed Sword and Gold,
04:28the Canadians at Juneau, the Americans at Omaha and Utah.
04:32Two battalions of U.S. Army Rangers were tasked to assault Pointe d'Arc,
04:38a cliff jutting out from the coast between Omaha and Utah beaches.
04:43From atop this 100-foot perch, German gunners had a clear shot in beaches
04:48and could threaten any landing attempts.
04:51We were all supposed to land at 6.30 a.m. H-hour.
04:56Well, I don't think many outfits landed as planned.
05:00As we approached the cliffs of Normandy, we were headed for the wrong cliff.
05:06So in turning right and paralleling the cliffs several hundred yards off,
05:12we became sitting ducks for the machine gunners and riflemen and snipers of the Germans
05:16who kept up a steady fire on us in those few miles we had to go to get to the
05:21right point,
05:22Pointe d'Arc.
05:25Now, one of the men said, they're shooting at us.
05:28Well, the Germans were up on top of the cliff, and they were, they could see us by now.
05:34The dawn is up, and it's daylight.
05:37And they were just firing at the landing craft.
05:40There are two lone landing craft coming in side by side.
05:43And all of a sudden, I hear these pings on the side of the steel hull of the landing craft.
05:50And in the same time, there are these concentric circles around the landing craft.
05:56And I realized that these concentric circles was the mortar shells that were landing in the water around us.
06:04Fortunately, they didn't hit the landing craft, but it gave an eerie feeling.
06:10I think the only reason that we survived was that there were so many targets for the Germans to shoot
06:15at.
06:16I think they were just shooting at random and not spending enough time taking aim.
06:23So at that point, I think we were pretty lucky.
06:29As our ramp went down and we landed on the beach at Pointe d'Arc,
06:33I stepped up on the ramp, I caught a machine gun bullet through my right side.
06:37I spun around, went down, came up, and kept running right to the cliffs
06:41to grab the first ropes that I could to get up those cliffs.
06:47When I started running across the sand,
06:51a mortar shell landed behind me,
06:53and it hit me in the back and knocked me face forward.
06:58Well, I went down on the sand,
07:00and I thought, gee, I must be dead.
07:03And I'd never been in combat before.
07:06And it took probably a second or possibly a second or two,
07:13and my platoon sergeant came running up from his position,
07:18and I reached into my field jacket and was going to give him the maps.
07:22And at that instant,
07:24the sand started kicking up in my face,
07:27and it was machine gun bullets.
07:29And they were shooting the sand right in front of me,
07:32and the sand was kicking up in my face.
07:34And I said, boy, this is no place to be lying down.
07:36So I got up and ran the rest of the way.
07:41The Germans were firing down at us
07:44and trying to drive us back in the sea,
07:47trying to kill us, knock us off the rope.
07:48But we got to the top as quickly as possible.
07:51I would say my platoon, the 2nd Platoon of D Company,
07:54we were up those cliffs in 5 to 10 minutes.
07:57No more.
07:58When we got there,
08:00we found there were no guns on the top of Pointer Hock.
08:03The big emplacements had telephone poles sticking out,
08:07looking like a big gun from the air.
08:12The Allied Air Forces had been deceived by the dummy guns.
08:15A few days before D-Day,
08:17agents of the French Resistance reported
08:19that the guns were not in position
08:21and that the bunkers were indeed empty.
08:24But the information did not reach England in time.
08:27It really startled us and disappointed us in a way
08:30because we were psyched to do it.
08:32And we meant to do it if it killed every one of us.
08:36So our platoon, being the first ones in,
08:38decided to go for broke and go inland.
08:42The Rangers rushed across the farmland
08:44and set up a roadblock at a crossroads.
08:46Determined to continue his search for the guns,
08:49Sergeant Lamel and his buddy, Jack Kuhn,
08:52headed down a road deeper into the Hedgerow country.
08:54So we went down that road,
08:57leapfrogging, as we call it,
08:59protecting each other.
09:00And when it came my turn,
09:01I looked over to Hedgerow,
09:02and my goodness,
09:03there were five of those 155 howitzers,
09:08the guns of Pointer Hock,
09:11neatly camouflaged in a little apple orchard.
09:14Completely camouflaged.
09:15You couldn't see these guns.
09:16Maybe a barrel poking out or something.
09:19I motioned for Jack to come and see,
09:21and he, too, was startled as I was.
09:23The five guns were at the ready
09:25with all their ammunition stacked
09:26and their powder bags.
09:27Everything was in readiness for firing.
09:29A textbook scene.
09:31But off to the right front
09:34was about 75 men, Germans,
09:37in various states of dress.
09:40I mean, they were putting on
09:41just 8 o'clock in the morning
09:42at broad daylight.
09:43They were putting on jackets,
09:45and they were assembling
09:45in the corner of the pasture,
09:48100 yards away, maybe a little less.
09:51Unnoticed by the Germans,
09:53Lamel crept closer to the guns.
09:55He wanted to knock them out
09:56with thermite grenades.
09:59This was our silent, secret weapon.
10:02So I took my incendiary grenade
10:05and placed it in the traversing mechanism
10:07of the guns so they could not be moved
10:10right or left, and I only had one.
10:12I took the other one from Jack
10:14and put that in the traversing mechanism
10:15of the one next to it
10:17so it could not be traversed.
10:19These are special things.
10:21They make no noise, these grenades,
10:23these incendiary thermite grenades.
10:24It's a very silent pop.
10:27But when the air hits them
10:29and they're laying on gears
10:31or moving parts,
10:32they weld them all together.
10:34It's white, molten metal.
10:36And, of course, what that does
10:37is freeze everything
10:38and totally render the gun inoperable.
10:42It may look like there's nothing wrong with it,
10:44but it cannot be used.
10:45The two Rangers ran back
10:47along the hedgerows
10:48to their platoon at the crossroads.
10:52They gathered more thermite grenades
10:54and destroyed the other guns.
10:58We were at the right place
10:59at the right time.
11:00We were not heroes.
11:02We were good Rangers
11:04doing their job.
11:06What was expected of us.
11:07We don't look for any recognition
11:10as outstanding heroes
11:12of D-Day and that nonsense.
11:14What we're telling you is
11:15a simple thing that happened.
11:17We stumbled upon the guns
11:19and did what we were trained to do.
11:21That's it.
11:26D-Day, the total story
11:28will continue in a moment.
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13:26An A&E special presentation,
13:29Crusades,
13:30beginning June 5th
13:31on A&E.
13:34We now return
13:36to D-Day,
13:37the total story.
13:41At 6.30,
13:43H-hour,
13:43supported by final
13:44covering fire
13:45from rocket-firing
13:46assault craft,
13:47the first American troops
13:48began to land
13:49at Utah and Omaha.
13:52It didn't take long
13:54for the elaborate plans
13:55to fall apart.
14:06At Utah Beach,
14:07the 4th Entry Division
14:08came in a kilometer south
14:10of where it was supposed
14:10to be.
14:11General Teddy Roosevelt,
14:13President Theodore Roosevelt's
14:15son,
14:16was the assistant division
14:17commander
14:18of the 4th Entry Division.
14:19He was there
14:19with General Van Fleet.
14:22They came ashore
14:24and there was fire
14:25coming down on them,
14:2688 shooting at them,
14:27mortars coming in on them,
14:28and they looked at the maps
14:30and they looked
14:30at their landmarks
14:31and Teddy said,
14:32my God,
14:32we're not where
14:32we're supposed to be.
14:33We're supposed to be
14:34a kilometer up that way.
14:37Roosevelt and Van Fleet
14:38looked at the map,
14:38looked at each other
14:39and said,
14:39well,
14:40let's start the war
14:40from right here.
14:41Let's go.
14:41We're moving inland.
14:42They never hesitated
14:44to take the responsibility
14:45and make the decision
14:46on their own.
14:48At Utah,
14:49a lucky break
14:49brought the Americans
14:50ashore with less
14:51than 200 casualties.
14:52At Omaha,
14:54the invaders
14:55would confront
14:55the full force
14:56of German resistance.
14:58Rommel put to work
14:59at Omaha
15:00all the lessons
15:01Germany had learned
15:02in World War I
15:02about how to defend
15:03a position
15:03against a head-on attack.
15:07The beach obstacles
15:08were very extensive.
15:10The barbed wire,
15:12the mines,
15:13the mines up the hillside,
15:15trenches along the bluff,
15:16big guns,
15:1788 millimeters firing
15:18crisscross parallel
15:19to the beach.
15:20It really was
15:21an impregnable position.
15:22Or so at least
15:24Rommel thought.
15:28The plan at Omaha
15:29was to blast
15:30the holy hell
15:31out of these
15:32fixed defenses.
15:33The trenchers
15:34are going to be
15:35blasted out of existence.
15:36The fixed fortifications,
15:38if they're still standing,
15:40will have in them
15:41troops who have been
15:41so affected
15:43by the concussion
15:44and the dust
15:46and the debris
15:46that even if they're
15:47still alive,
15:47they're not going to be
15:48able to function.
15:49So what's going to happen,
15:50young man,
15:51when you hit that beach
15:52is you're not going
15:53to find any opposition.
15:55That's what they were
15:56told to expect.
15:59I was in the second wave
16:00on the beach
16:01and the first wave
16:02was pinned down
16:03on the beach
16:03so we had to come
16:05through the second wave
16:06and we had to make
16:07the assault
16:08on the beach
16:09and it was
16:10a tremendous amount
16:11of firepower on us
16:12in this particular area
16:13because the bunkers
16:14and the infantry
16:17that were in the trenches
16:18and so forth
16:19up there
16:19hadn't been wiped out.
16:26The air bombardment
16:28had gone too far inland
16:29and hadn't hit anything.
16:31The naval bombardment
16:32was too brief.
16:34The German defenders
16:35were not shell-shocked.
16:36They weren't suffering
16:37from concussion.
16:38They shook the dust
16:40and debris off them
16:40and came up
16:41and got to their guns
16:43and manned those guns
16:44and they brought
16:44a veritable wall of steel
16:46down on that beak.
16:54We got onto the beach
16:56while the men
16:57that were there
16:57were already pinned down
16:59and so we just had
17:00to keep on moving.
17:01There wasn't any place
17:01for us to stay
17:02on the beach
17:03and so we made the assault.
17:06There had been people
17:08who had tried
17:09to make the assault
17:10up the beach
17:10but they'd stepped
17:11on mines
17:12and things like this
17:12so you had bodies
17:13to the right
17:13and bodies to the left
17:14and just had to
17:15go on through.
17:20A lot of people
17:21in my company
17:22never even got
17:23out of the water
17:24and they lost their lives
17:26before they ever
17:27got within 30 yards
17:28of the beach
17:29or 40 yards
17:30of the beach.
17:31They were destroyed
17:31in the water
17:32and they drowned.
17:44The idea was
17:45to get off that beach
17:46don't say
17:47you stay on that beach
17:48you die.
17:49You get off that beach
17:49and you're going to live
17:50and we found that.
17:53You're scared as hell
17:55and know that
17:58that if you stay
17:59on that beach
17:59that you're going
18:00to get wiped out
18:01and there's no boats
18:02back there
18:02to back you up
18:03because they aren't
18:04going to take you off.
18:05They left you there
18:06so you've got to get inland
18:07and you've got to get up
18:08there and get covered
18:08and so forth.
18:09The only way to do it
18:10is to knock out the enemy.
18:13It was a matter
18:14of self-survival then.
18:16You know
18:16it's get off the beach.
18:17I couldn't help him
18:19and he couldn't help me.
18:20We had to get off
18:21of that beach.
18:25These junior officers
18:26that came ashore
18:27on Omaha Beach
18:27ran into a situation
18:29that they had not
18:29in any way
18:30been prepared for.
18:32Nothing they had been told
18:33in their briefing
18:34had happened.
18:35the plan
18:37was bonkers
18:38kaput
18:39gone.
18:40They had to exert leadership.
18:42They had to take command.
18:43They had to accept
18:44a responsibility.
18:45Had they been
18:46German officers
18:46brought up
18:47under the Führer principle
18:49they would have
18:49gotten on their radios
18:50and called back
18:51to headquarters
18:51and asked
18:52what the hell
18:52do we do now?
18:54Not one American officer
18:55did that.
18:56German soldiers
18:57were trained
18:58to respond
18:58only to instructions.
19:00any deviation
19:01from the plan
19:02required explicit
19:03permission
19:04from superior officers.
19:06At Omaha
19:07the Allied plan
19:08had fallen apart
19:09as soon as
19:10the first ramp
19:11went down.
19:12Men fell in scores
19:13along the water's edge.
19:20As Walt Ehlers
19:21and his squad
19:22struggled to safety
19:23his older brother
19:24Roland
19:25was about to come ashore.
19:27My brother
19:27was in a different company
19:28he landed on
19:31on this LCI
19:32one of these ships
19:33and his
19:36he was
19:36he had a mortar squad
19:38and he and his
19:39whole squad
19:40were on the ramp
19:41at the same time
19:43coming down
19:43and a German
19:4588
19:47shell
19:47hit the ramp
19:48and knocked out
19:49the whole squad
19:50at one time.
19:53I saw the ship
19:54get hit
19:54but I didn't know
19:55that he was killed
19:56in action
19:56until about the
19:57middle part
19:59of July.
20:00Nearly 2,000 soldiers
20:02perished on that
20:03stretch of sand
20:03beneath the German guns
20:05remembered by the
20:06survivors
20:07as Bloody Omaha.
20:10It was at Omaha Beach
20:12that American democracy
20:13and the army
20:14that the American people
20:16had built
20:17showed just how good
20:19they were
20:19and many people
20:21like Ernest Hemingway
20:22and A.J.
20:23Liebling
20:23who visited
20:23that beach
20:25Hemingway
20:26on the afternoon
20:26of D-Day
20:27Liebling
20:27the next day
20:30Ernie Pyle
20:31they all agreed
20:31it was a miracle
20:34that we were able
20:35to take Omaha Beach
20:36well it wasn't a miracle
20:37it was infantry
20:39that did it.
20:43D-Day
20:44the total story
20:45will continue
20:46in a moment.
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20:52Jane on plane
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21:50The Eagle has landed
21:52All the moments
21:53John F. Kennedy
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21:56one o'clock
21:56The shared memories
22:00The events
22:01will never forget
22:02Well I'm not a
22:03I'm not a
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23:21We now return
23:23to D-Day
23:24The Total Story
23:28The British
23:29and Canadians
23:30began their invasion
23:31at 725
23:32They headed
23:34for the eastern
23:34end of the front
23:39Unlike the
23:40almost deserted
23:41American beaches
23:42Sword, Juneau
23:43and Gold
23:43were dotted
23:44with small
23:45seaside hamlets
23:46and resort homes
23:47We anticipated
23:48it was going
23:49to be hard
23:50We thought
23:51we were really
23:52up against it
23:54and we were
23:55frightened
23:55We were frightened
23:56to death
23:57believe me
24:00Your fears
24:01sort of left you
24:02once you got
24:03underway
24:04because you
24:05were too busy
24:06You were too busy
24:07trying to get
24:08the job done
24:09You know
24:09Your fears
24:10never left you
24:11but at least
24:12you didn't
24:14dwell on them
24:15so much
24:15does she know
24:18There is a
24:19one single
24:21marvellous shot
24:22of film
24:23inside a landing
24:24craft
24:25just before
24:26the ramp
24:26goes down
24:28It's shot
24:29from the back
24:29You see the troops
24:30in front of you
24:31and one of them
24:32leans forward
24:32to pat his friend
24:34on the shoulder
24:35and the man's
24:37face turns
24:38and you can see
24:39it's sort of
24:40blanched
24:41strained
24:42and the thought
24:44passing across
24:45his features
24:46at that moment
24:46is
24:46for goodness sake
24:47don't take my
24:48mind off things
24:49He's so
24:50tensed up
24:51with the
24:53impulse
24:53to get out
24:54of the landing
24:54craft
24:54and get onto
24:55the beach
24:55and face the Germans
24:56that he doesn't
24:57want distraction
24:57and I think
24:58that probably
24:59is a very good
25:00vignette
25:01of how they felt
25:21I remember
25:22when I was
25:22standing there
25:23before
25:24going down
25:25the ramp
25:25I had no emotion
25:27at all
25:27just standing there
25:28no fear
25:30or anything
25:31I think it was
25:33because so much
25:34was happening
25:37and we rushed
25:38down the ramp
25:39and I felt
25:40sand under my feet
25:41and I'd landed
25:43on Gino Beach
25:45and suddenly
25:46I heard a voice
25:47almost in my ear
25:48saying
25:50where you off to
25:51and it was
25:52the beach master
25:53and I got my voice
25:56and I said
25:57we were with
25:58number 50
25:59mobile field hospital
26:00making our way
26:01to the assembly area
26:02and he came
26:03right up to me
26:04and I was
26:05with my battle dress
26:06and tin hat
26:07and the pack
26:08on my back
26:09and he looked
26:09right into my face
26:11and all he said
26:11was good God
26:13and he said
26:14oh I'll take you
26:16down here
26:16it was a sort of
26:18gun emplacement
26:20and he said
26:21you go down here
26:22he said
26:22and I'll get a jeep
26:23so we went
26:25down there
26:26and troops
26:27inside
26:27and when one
26:29of them saw us
26:30his typical
26:33British Tommy
26:34sense of humor
26:35he shouted
26:36watch out
26:36Adolf
26:37you've had it
26:38now
26:41the first waves
26:43of Canadians
26:43quickly cut through
26:45the German defenders
26:46the earlier
26:47aerial and naval
26:48bombardment
26:48had been on
26:49and destroyed
26:50most of the beach
26:51obstacles and gun
26:52emplacements
26:52at Juneau
26:54alongside the Canadians
26:55came commandos
26:57of the Free French Army
26:58they had trained
26:59in England
27:00preparing for their chance
27:01to help liberate
27:02their homeland
27:06you just don't realize
27:08when you're 20 years old
27:10the danger
27:11that's around you
27:12as soon as I hit
27:13the beach
27:14I was wounded
27:15by a motor shell
27:16but I could still hear
27:18all the other noises
27:19around me
27:20the soldiers
27:21and the guns
27:23I was wondering
27:24about the other waves
27:25behind me
27:26would they be able
27:28to come in
27:28and land
27:29or not
27:33the following waves
27:34did land
27:35the beach
27:36quickly became
27:36a jumble
27:37of landing craft
27:38men
27:38and equipment
27:39with more landing craft
27:41on the way
27:41there was no place
27:43to go
27:43but forward
27:44the great number
27:45of vehicles
27:46that are all
27:46trying to move
27:47through
27:48two
27:49three holes
27:50through the sea wall
27:51and you know
27:53what it's like
27:53in a traffic jam
27:54in a big city
27:55well this is the same thing
27:57one at a time
27:57had to go through
27:58this
27:59and as we got through
28:00there was this church
28:02at the end
28:02of Bernier-Shermer
28:04and to my dying day
28:06if there was ever a guide
28:08that took us through
28:09to where we wanted to go
28:10was that church steeple
28:12it was the guiding light
28:14that I think everybody
28:16will remember
28:18trying to get all of this traffic
28:21lined up
28:23on one road
28:24past that church
28:25and then break out
28:26into the open
28:29gold beach
28:30was the middle
28:30of the five
28:31allied beaches
28:32it was important
28:33for the British
28:3450th infantry division
28:35to achieve
28:36their objectives
28:37or the German army
28:38would divide the beachhead
28:39in two
28:41fortunately
28:41for the allies
28:42resistance
28:43at gold beach
28:44was extremely light
28:46I think it was
28:47because we had
28:48this
28:49strong fire support
28:51this
28:53supporting fire
28:54which actually
28:54helped the infantry
28:55to get on
28:55which was why
28:56we succeeded
28:56in getting our objectives
28:59and we also had
29:00our swimming tanks
29:01ashore too
29:03a lone anti-tank gun
29:04concealed in a bunker
29:05had opened fire
29:06on the exposed tanks
29:08and put the landing
29:09in jeopardy
29:11there was that pillbox
29:13which was firing
29:13down the beach
29:14that had already
29:14knocked out four tanks
29:16that gun was
29:17firing straight down
29:19the beach
29:19and causing absolute chaos
29:22so that was the thing
29:23which had to go
29:24it was up to you
29:25to use your initiative
29:26and get on
29:27and sort things out
29:29as best you could
29:30whatever situation
29:30came upon you
29:31and that's what we did
29:34we luckily managed
29:34to get round to the side
29:35with this field gun
29:37which is not normally
29:38designed to
29:40fire over open sights
29:41but it had to
29:42on this occasion
29:43for troops lucky enough
29:45to have missed
29:45the first wave
29:46the landings
29:47ended in anti-climax
29:50you were thinking
29:51you were not
29:54coming back again
29:56you were going to land
29:57and you were going to be
29:58shot up
29:59that's the feeling
30:00you get
30:01on the landing
30:03but we were very
30:04pleasantly surprised
30:05the few shells
30:07over had landed
30:08in the sea
30:08and it gave us
30:11a great lot
30:12of confidence
30:16that we were
30:17in one piece
30:17we were landing
30:19we were on
30:20we were on
30:20Normandy soil
30:22and you think
30:23what's all the trouble
30:24about
30:26the trouble
30:27was at Sword Beach
30:28the rising tide
30:29had carried
30:30many of the landing
30:31craft forward
30:32and pushed the ships
30:33and the men
30:33into the booby-trapped
30:35obstacles
30:38there was just
30:38a hodgepodge
30:39of seeing
30:41different things
30:42particularly the bodies
30:42the first time
30:43I'd seen dead bodies
30:44in my life
30:45and I was
30:47disturbed by them
30:49it kind of
30:50depressed me
30:51because there were
30:52bodies
30:53and some of them
30:54had badly hurt
30:56and some in the water
30:57and you know
30:58floating
30:59and you suddenly
31:01realize that
31:02it's not only the Germans
31:03that are going to
31:04become casualties
31:06these are our boys
31:07and you know
31:08at that age
31:09you sort of
31:10are disappointed
31:10that this happened
31:12the tanks
31:13that were supposed
31:14to accompany
31:14the soldiers
31:15had trouble
31:16landing
31:16on the narrow beach
31:18the infantry
31:19pressed forward
31:20alone
31:21we moved up
31:22on the beach
31:23and the road
31:25parallel with the water
31:26and crossed that
31:28and then it was
31:29still swampy land
31:30so it was still
31:30flopping around
31:32in water
31:32and we sort of
31:34formed up there
31:35to do the march
31:37inland
31:38and then we began
31:39to get a little
31:40organized
31:42the goal of the
31:43British division
31:44on D-Day
31:44was to advance
31:45inland 10 miles
31:46and capture calm
31:48the largest city
31:49in the invasion area
31:50and a valuable
31:51transportation center
31:52the Sherman tanks
31:54had finally caught up
31:55with the commandos
31:57but despite
31:58the delayed arrival
31:59of the tanks
32:00and some stubborn
32:00pockets of German
32:01resistance
32:02the British
32:03moved forward
32:04and narrowed
32:05the gap
32:05towards calm
32:11D-Day
32:12the total story
32:13will continue
32:14in a moment
32:18you're looking
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32:30with a kiss of kiwi
32:32passion fruit
32:33with a splash
32:34of pineapple
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32:36in just five calories
32:38tropical passion
32:40new from crystal light
32:43and now available
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32:46like all Americans
32:49I like big things
32:51big prairies
32:53big forests
32:56and mountains
32:59big wheat fields
33:02and everything else
33:18the A&E special
33:19presentation
33:20D-Day
33:21will continue
33:22after these messages
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34:19for an engaging look
34:20at television's best
34:28We now return to D-Day
34:31The Total Story
34:34Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
34:36the mastermind
34:37of the German defense
34:38of Normandy
34:39realized that the Allies
34:41had to be stopped
34:41at the beaches
34:42He had declared
34:44months ago
34:44that the first 24 hours
34:46of the invasion
34:46would be decisive
34:47for the Allies
34:48as well as for Germany
34:50It would be
34:51Rommel said
34:52the longest day
34:56But Rommel
34:57was not in Normandy
34:58He had returned
34:59to Germany
35:00to join his wife
35:01at a party
35:01June 6th
35:03was her 50th birthday
35:05With Rommel absent
35:07the German reaction
35:08to the landings
35:09was confused
35:09and poorly coordinated
35:13The most powerful unit
35:15in the area
35:16was the 21st Panzer Division
35:17with 127 tanks
35:20and over 12,000 men
35:21The division could have posed
35:24a major threat
35:24to the Allies
35:25but its obedient commander
35:27hesitated
35:29In that immediate area
35:31was Colonel Hans von Lutt
35:32commanding the 125th Regiment
35:34of the 21st Panzer Division
35:36He knew exactly
35:37where he wanted
35:38to send his tanks
35:39down what route
35:40to attack
35:40and what formation
35:41and had it all
35:43planned out perfectly
35:45But he had to wait
35:47for the Fuhrer
35:48to get permission
35:50Now nobody dared
35:51wake up the Fuhrer
35:52He was back
35:54in Berchtesgaden
35:55a thousand kilometers
35:56away from the battlefront
35:58So here was Von Lutt
35:59sitting there
36:00ready to attack
36:01knowing where he wanted
36:02to attack
36:03absolutely ready to do it
36:04having to wait
36:05for orders from on high
36:06If he'd have been
36:07an American commander
36:08he never would have hesitated
36:11Hitler's first response was
36:13well is it
36:14or isn't it
36:15the invasion?
36:17Field Marshal
36:18von Rundstedt
36:19commander-in-chief
36:20of the German forces
36:21in France
36:22ordered armored reserves
36:23stationed near Paris
36:24to the coast
36:26but the Fuhrer
36:27didn't approve
36:28that order
36:29and released the extra tanks
36:30until 3.40
36:32that afternoon
36:34This illustrates
36:35once again
36:36that Fuhrer principle
36:37and how big a price
36:39Germany paid
36:40for this
36:41unquestioning obedience
36:43that had been pounded
36:44into all of their officers
36:46and it just worked
36:47very much
36:47to their detriment
36:51My driver came to me
36:53and waked me up
36:54and said
36:55jeez
36:56they are coming
36:57that's all I knew
37:00then after
37:01one and a half hour
37:03the telephone rang up
37:05alarm
37:07while we prepared for
37:10going
37:10I didn't know
37:11too well
37:13and then came
37:15the reorder
37:16you stay
37:17where you are
37:19situation
37:20is in hand
37:23we believed it
37:28We formed up
37:30and they made
37:30an announcement
37:31that the invasion
37:32had begun
37:32so we returned
37:34to our encampment
37:35we regrouped
37:36and made preparation
37:37to depart
37:37it wasn't until
37:39two days later
37:40that we were told
37:40to proceed
37:41to the front
37:43the panzers
37:44made slow progress
37:46to the coast
37:46because of the high risk
37:48of attack
37:49from allied fighter bombers
37:50they traveled
37:51after dark
37:52and stayed off
37:53the main roads
37:55conspicuously absent
37:56from the defense
37:57of Normandy
37:58was the vaunted
37:59Luftwaffe
37:59We knew exactly
38:03what was going on
38:04but during the invasion
38:06the allies
38:07had 30 times
38:08the number
38:09of planes
38:12we would send up
38:1310 German fighters
38:14and they would come
38:15face to face
38:16with 300 American planes
38:24these were young pilots
38:2618, 19 years old
38:28and they had maybe only
38:3060, 70, 80
38:31100 hours of flight training
38:33when they came to us
38:34and 15 days later
38:37they were all gone
38:43in the months
38:44preceding D-Day
38:45the allied air forces
38:46had decimated
38:47the German air force
38:48and thinned its ranks
38:49of experienced pilots
39:08with no air cover
39:10the tanks of the 21st Panzer Division
39:12moved into position
39:13between the invasion beaches
39:15and the city of Kahn
39:16the British halted
39:18their advance
39:19and prepared
39:20to defend themselves
39:22the Germans
39:23then moved
39:24to recapture
39:24the bridges
39:25near Kahn
39:26that the 150 men
39:27of the British 6th Airborne Division
39:29had taken
39:30the night before
39:31when he heard
39:32the lead tank
39:32approach the bridge
39:33Wally Parr
39:34ran to the glider
39:35to recover
39:36the company
39:36anti-tank gun
39:37but he discovered
39:38that it had been damaged
39:39during the landing
39:41it was useless
39:43I just threw it down
39:45and that was it
39:45and I ran up
39:47with the grenades
39:47and the only thing
39:48I could think
39:49of was get up
39:49behind the hedge
39:50because for this time
39:51the tank was really
39:52coming back down
39:53towards the bridge now
39:54and all of a sudden
39:55there was a god almighty
39:57bang and an explosion
40:01Sergeant Wagger Thornton
40:03of V Company
40:04he waited until
40:05that tank
40:06was in 20 yards distance
40:08and he hit it
40:09dead on
40:10and there was
40:11the biggest firework
40:12display we'd seen
40:13for a long time
40:15the paratroopers
40:16weren't sure
40:17they could fend off
40:18another counter attack
40:19they had to hold on
40:21until reinforcements
40:22arrived
40:22from Sword Beach
40:25moving inland
40:26and doing very well
40:27we were being
40:29mortared
40:30and artillery fire
40:31was coming down
40:32and there were
40:33lots of minefields
40:35so we
40:35we had to
40:36pretty well
40:36stay on the road
40:37so we were
40:38bunching up terribly
40:39we were one behind
40:40the other
40:41and it made the
40:42progress very slow
40:44I thought
40:45sometimes we'd come
40:46to a dead halt
40:46and we'd be sitting
40:48there for a while
40:48you know
40:48while they cleared
40:49up front
40:51while we were doing
40:52that we did
40:53hit up against
40:54German
40:54Nebelwerfers
40:55which are kind of like
40:56a grinding organ sound
41:07and that was about it
41:13and apart from that
41:14I must say that
41:15the approach
41:16was very quiet
41:22I looked
41:23I looked
41:24over towards
41:24the T junction
41:26and marching
41:27down the road
41:27from the T junction
41:28was Lord Lovett
41:31and his commandos
41:32he was wearing
41:33a white
41:34roll neck pullover
41:36a pack on his back
41:38and marching
41:39to his right
41:40and two
41:41paces in front
41:42of him
41:42was a bloke
41:44playing the bagpipes
41:45and for some reason
41:47I dashed across
41:48the bridge
41:49to meet them
41:51I stopped short
41:53Lovett just
41:54already saying
41:54up like that
41:56and I saluted
41:58and I said
41:58we're very pleased
41:59to see you sir
42:01he said
42:02well done
42:02well done
42:04the drive inland
42:06and the link up
42:07with the British
42:07paratroopers
42:08at Pegasus Bridge
42:09as it came to be known
42:10secured the right flank
42:12of the invasion
42:13beachhead
42:16D-Day
42:17the total story
42:18will continue
42:19in a moment
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42:37hello
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42:39the History Channel
42:40has arrived
42:41and if you're not
42:42receiving it
42:42you're missing
42:43the best documentaries
42:44and movies
42:44that history
42:45has to offer
42:46so step into
42:47the past
42:48call your cable company
42:49and ask them
42:50to carry
42:50the History Channel
42:52when cars raced
42:54at an awesome
42:54five miles per hour
42:56Mobile Oil
42:57was there
42:57when a race car
42:59broke a hundred
43:00Mobile was in it
43:01Mobile was in the
43:03winner of the first
43:04race across America
43:05and just last year
43:07Mobile One
43:08had the most
43:08first, second
43:09and third place
43:10wins
43:11on the Indy circuit
43:12we've been helping
43:14engines last
43:14for a long time
43:16Mobile
43:17changing oil
43:18for over 125 years
43:31Mi amor
43:31parecés diferente
43:32esta noche
43:35que no terminé
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43:36el informe
43:37mensual de marketing
43:38es un plomo
43:40y me están
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43:46todavÃa no has oÃdo
43:47hablar
43:47del nuevo software
43:49de reconocimiento
43:50de voz
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44:01estoy anonadada
44:09ah y algo más
44:10el software
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44:11para reconocimiento
44:13de voz
44:13también comprende
44:14seis idiomas
44:15qué bárbaro
44:21un tiempo
44:22It was a time
44:23of holy wars
44:24of violence
44:25knocking on
44:26history's doors
44:27The new children
44:28of Israel
44:28slaughtered
44:29everyone they found
44:30The country
44:31is in ruins
44:31If you think
44:32life's tough
44:33now
44:33then you better
44:35stay away
44:35from the
44:3612th century
44:39Join Terry Jones for this breathtaking and completely different look at the Crusades.
44:45An A&E special presentation, Crusades, beginning June 5th on A&E.
44:53We now return to D-Day, the total story.
44:59On the western end of the invasion front,
45:02the paratroopers of the American 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions
45:06banded together and tried to reorganize their units.
45:11The night before, in the confusion of the airdrop,
45:13they had been mistakenly scattered across a wide area.
45:18The lightly armed paratroopers could have been overrun,
45:21but their dispersion had an unforeseen advantage.
45:27That confused the holy hell out of the Germans,
45:29who were getting telephone and radio reports of landings here, here, here, here,
45:34and as they looked at their maps, paratroopers were landing all over the place around them.
45:37And they didn't know in what strength these landings were coming ashore,
45:41so the Germans grossly exaggerated the strength of the Allied airborne troops.
45:48And this tended to paralyze the Germans, not knowing where to go and how to act.
45:54Even though they operated as small groups,
45:57they accomplished some of their most important objectives,
46:00including the liberation of the town of Saint-Mer-Eglise.
46:06By each hour, they knew relief was on the way.
46:10We could hear the naval guns, and we knew what that was.
46:15Those were big guns booming away.
46:18So that was a mighty welcome sound to know that the Navy was coming in
46:22and that those guys were coming up on the beaches.
46:27We knew that there was a lot of firing going on,
46:30but we had no way of knowing what was going on or who was winning what.
46:34We could tell that our gun sounds were getting closer to us,
46:38but for the first day, it was just utter confusion.
46:47We figured out where we were by talking to a couple of the Frenchmen there,
46:50and we knew now that the Chef DuPont was straight ahead to our right
46:56across some causeways, which was another one of our objectives.
47:00So we started moving in that direction,
47:02and every time we would move from one hedgerow to the other,
47:05we were fired at from both ends by the Germans.
47:09We crossed all of the hedgerows down to the next road,
47:13and every time we moved in any direction,
47:15they opened up with us with machine guns.
47:17We dug foxholes there along the hedgerows,
47:20with some of us on this hedgerow and some of them back here,
47:23so that we were some facing one way and some facing the other,
47:27and no one wanted to give up.
47:28So we were determined to stay there.
47:34Picking up stragglers along the way,
47:36some of the men made their way to the landing beaches.
47:39We headed out the way we thought the beach was,
47:42which we were going the right direction,
47:45and gradually accumulated more fellows.
47:49And managed to, over the next few hours,
47:55finally get down to the beach, the beach area.
47:59And there was probably 20 or 25 of us together by that time.
48:04And I remember, by that was daylight,
48:09and there were infantry troops coming up from the beach.
48:14And I hollered over at the guy heading the column.
48:17I said, hey, Mac, what outfit is that?
48:20Not that it made that much difference,
48:22but that was a friendly way to greet some other Americans.
48:26And he hollered back and told me what it was.
48:28And they came on up as they got closer.
48:31I realized he was either a full colonel or a brigadier general.
48:36And I had called him Mac.
48:38I felt a little sheepish, but he was real friendly.
48:40He didn't take offense under those occasions of being called Mac, apparently.
48:45After the successful destruction of the big guns of Pointe-de-Hoc,
48:48the Rangers reinforced their positions near the emplacements and the roadblock.
48:55It was our orders to stop any Germans attempting to get from Utah Beach to Omaha Beach.
49:01And we established a perimeter and a quadrangle sort of thing among the hedgerows
49:07for our defensive position to hold the land
49:10and that position around the guns and the roadblock through the night.
49:14We had a total of 85 Rangers holding that inland battle position.
49:19We fought off three horrendous counterattacks with over 300 Germans.
49:27Not only were we so outnumbered by a superior force,
49:34they had a heavier firepower than we did.
49:39And in the process of those three attacks,
49:43we took some heavy casualties and the Germans took a lot too.
49:46But we have to stay put in our position because we have the roadblock.
49:52It is our responsibility.
49:53And these were the orders we were following out
49:56to hold that roadblock to the last man.
50:00And suddenly, things were quiet.
50:03I don't know why, but the Germans withdrew.
50:08For I don't know what reason,
50:10maybe they felt it was a wasted effort
50:14because they took heavy casualties too.
50:16But we didn't, we were still there
50:19and we weren't given an inch.
50:24The paratroopers trapped in the hedgerow with O.B. Hill
50:27prepared to defend their ground against all odds.
50:31They had no choice but to wait for reinforcements to arrive.
50:35The afternoon of the fifth day,
50:38we saw this platoon of men
50:41and the first words we heard
50:43was the sergeant yelling for him to bring up the bazooka.
50:46And that's not exactly the way he asked for it,
50:48but that's what the message was.
50:50All of us stood up and cheered.
50:52Well, of course, he thought we were all going to be shot on the spot
50:55because we were right out in the open.
50:57But at that point,
50:58we were so happy to see people that it didn't really matter
51:00because we were out of ammunition.
51:02We had down to our last one or two cliffs
51:05and we couldn't have made it much more.
51:07We wouldn't have made it that night.
51:09The ones of us that were in that field
51:11still referred to that as hell's half acre.
51:14And there's not a better description.
51:25Walt Ehlers, whose brother was killed in action on the beaches,
51:29risked his own life for the men he was tasked to lead.
51:34In order to get my squad back,
51:35I stood up and fired continuously all around me
51:41so that the squad could withdraw back down
51:43one of the hedgerows back to the next hedgerow.
51:46And then one of my men got wounded.
51:48And so I helped him off the field of fire.
51:53And up to that time,
51:54I never lost a man in my squad from D-Day.
51:58I didn't have a man get killed on the beach.
52:00I had lost a man up to that time.
52:07So I thought I was trying to save the lives of my men
52:11as far as I was concerned, I guess,
52:13and to get them back undercover.
52:15And then I would make it the best I could, you know.
52:17I just never thought about myself.
52:20I probably was thinking more of them than anybody.
52:24But that's the way it is in combat.
52:27You don't really think about yourself.
52:29You're thinking about what's going to happen to the other guy.
52:32For this brave, unselfish act,
52:34Walt Ehlers was awarded the Medal of Honor.
52:40It was touch and go for a long time after D-Day,
52:43I think, in the minds of the Allies.
52:46The first moment that they could feel confidence
52:51that the landing was actually going to work
52:55was six days later, June the 12th,
52:57when the five independent beaches were all linked up.
53:02And you've got a continuous line of Allied positions
53:05from the British on the extreme right
53:08to Utah on the extreme left.
53:10There was a single bridgehead.
53:13Of the 156,000 troops that landed on D-Day,
53:1710,000 had become casualties.
53:20Although they hadn't reached the majority
53:22of their D-Day objectives,
53:24the likelihood that the Allies would be pushed back
53:26into the sea was fast receding.
53:30Hitler had countered on it, Ronald had countered on it,
53:33that the Atlantic Wall was going to stop the Allies cold,
53:35that they were not going to get inland at all.
53:38The Atlantic Wall held up the British at their beaches
53:41and the Canadians at their beach.
53:43for less than two hours.
53:45It held up the 4th Infantry Division
53:47at Utah Beach for less than an hour.
53:50It held up the 29th and 1st Divisions
53:52at Omaha Beach for about half a day.
53:55The Atlantic Wall has to be considered
53:57the greatest plunder in the whole of military history.
54:06Victory or defeat on a battlefield is most often decided by example.
54:11Men driven to act by the behavior of those around them.
54:16The bravery of one man on those beaches
54:18may have inspired the man at his side
54:20or the platoon behind him.
54:22The individual soldier, not the mighty divisions,
54:25determined the outcome of D-Day.
54:27On June 6th, the failure of the plans,
54:30the loss of critical equipment,
54:33and the collapse of elaborate timetables
54:35had been redeemed
54:37an inch at a time
54:38by the men in the sand.
54:48June 6th, 1944.
54:51The mightiest armada ever assembled
54:53set out on its historic mission.
54:55Now, from A&E Home Video,
54:56you can own this three-video cassette edition
54:58of D-Day, the total story.
55:01Call 1-800-423-1212.
55:03And for only $49.95 plus shipping and handling,
55:07relive the days of preparation that led up to D-Day,
55:09the anticipation of H-hour,
55:11and the push to end the longest day.
55:13Call now.
55:141-800-423-1212.
55:27Now, an all-out effort
55:29was the Allies' only chance
55:31to head inland and survive.
55:33The A&E special presentation, D-Day,
55:36continues next on A&E.
55:38It's time well spent.
55:48It's time well spent.
56:29It's time well spent.
56:47It's time well spent.
56:48It's time well spent.
56:50It's time well spent.
56:53It's time well spent.
56:54It's time well spent.
56:55It's time well spent.
56:56It's time well spent.
56:56It's time well spent.
56:56It's time well spent.
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