1 00:00:11,970 --> 00:00:14,304 (narrator) October, 1940. 2 00:00:14,389 --> 00:00:18,183 Winston Churchill to the defeated French people: 3 00:00:18,268 --> 00:00:20,394 (Churchill) Good night, then. 4 00:00:20,478 --> 00:00:24,398 Sleep to gather strength for the morning. 5 00:00:24,482 --> 00:00:26,775 For the morning will come. 6 00:00:26,860 --> 00:00:30,571 Brightly will it shine on the brave and true, 7 00:00:30,697 --> 00:00:35,075 kindly on all who sufter for the cause. 8 00:00:35,160 --> 00:00:37,244 Vive la France! 9 00:00:39,247 --> 00:00:41,749 Allons, bonne nuit. 10 00:00:42,667 --> 00:00:44,752 Dormez bien. 11 00:00:44,878 --> 00:00:49,798 Rassemblez vos forces pour l'aube, car l'aube viendra. 12 00:00:52,010 --> 00:00:55,220 (narrator) Now, at last, after nearly four years, 13 00:00:55,305 --> 00:00:57,848 that dawn was about to break. 14 00:00:57,932 --> 00:01:01,685 The invasion of the Continent was at hand. 15 00:02:02,122 --> 00:02:04,164 (narrator) Dieppe, 1942. 16 00:02:05,583 --> 00:02:11,713 The first major attempt to land Allied troops in France was a disaster. 17 00:02:13,424 --> 00:02:16,718 Almost half the assaulting force of 7,000 was lost 18 00:02:16,803 --> 00:02:20,013 trying to storm the port's powerful defences. 19 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:26,228 Many troops never got beyond the beaches. 20 00:02:26,312 --> 00:02:30,440 Hundreds of others walked straight into captivity. 21 00:02:30,525 --> 00:02:34,945 (man) We learnt so much from Dieppe that l think it was quite invaluable 22 00:02:35,029 --> 00:02:38,240 as far as the final invasion was concerned. 23 00:02:38,324 --> 00:02:42,286 l think everything that could go wrong went wrong with that operation. 24 00:02:42,370 --> 00:02:45,706 The result of it was that, by the end, 25 00:02:45,790 --> 00:02:48,959 one was appallingly impressed 26 00:02:49,043 --> 00:02:52,129 by the dangers and the hazards 27 00:02:52,213 --> 00:02:54,423 of any kind of combined operation 28 00:02:54,507 --> 00:02:55,966 on that kind of scale. 29 00:02:56,050 --> 00:03:00,470 We'd never attempted to do a combined operation on that scale before. 30 00:03:00,555 --> 00:03:02,764 And, really, nobody knew how to do it. 31 00:03:02,849 --> 00:03:06,810 There are three conditions necessary for a successful invasion. 32 00:03:06,895 --> 00:03:11,481 First, obviously, to get ashore against no matter what opposition. 33 00:03:11,566 --> 00:03:13,400 Secondly, having got ashore, 34 00:03:13,526 --> 00:03:16,862 to stay ashore no matter what the weather conditions. 35 00:03:16,946 --> 00:03:18,488 Thirdly, to stop the enemy 36 00:03:18,615 --> 00:03:22,201 from building up his forces against you quicker than you can, 37 00:03:22,285 --> 00:03:25,078 otherwise he'll throw you back into the sea. 38 00:03:25,163 --> 00:03:27,623 (narrator) Given these essentials, 39 00:03:27,749 --> 00:03:30,792 the two likeliest landing areas were the Pas-de-Calais, 40 00:03:30,919 --> 00:03:34,213 across the English Channel at its narrowest point, 41 00:03:34,297 --> 00:03:36,131 and Normandy to the west. 42 00:03:36,216 --> 00:03:39,885 The choice was the first task of Lieutenant General Frederick Morgan 43 00:03:39,969 --> 00:03:43,555 and his special Allied staft, known as COSSAC, 44 00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:48,727 appointed in 1943 to frame the initial invasion plans. 45 00:03:48,811 --> 00:03:52,814 Tentative invasion planning had gone on since 1941 . 46 00:03:52,899 --> 00:03:55,692 COSSAC's choice in the end was Normandy, 47 00:03:55,777 --> 00:04:00,989 a 50-mile stretch of shore just east of the Cherbourg peninsula. 48 00:04:02,617 --> 00:04:06,453 Normandy had several advantages over the Pas-de-Calais. 49 00:04:06,537 --> 00:04:11,541 Though farther from England, it was less strongly fortified. 50 00:04:11,626 --> 00:04:14,127 lts beaches, mostly without clifts 51 00:04:14,212 --> 00:04:17,130 and with a minimum of clay and depressions, 52 00:04:17,215 --> 00:04:20,384 were more suited to the landing of troops and supplies 53 00:04:20,468 --> 00:04:22,928 and to rapid deployment inland. 54 00:04:23,012 --> 00:04:27,683 And it was close to Cherbourg and the Brittany ports. 55 00:04:32,438 --> 00:04:35,440 At Quebec, in August, 1943, 56 00:04:35,525 --> 00:04:41,280 COSSAC's outline plan for invasion was approved by Churchill and Roosevelt. 57 00:04:41,364 --> 00:04:44,992 The cross-Channel assault was now, at last, to become reality. 58 00:04:45,076 --> 00:04:50,497 lts codename - Overlord. lts target date - May, 1944. 59 00:04:54,377 --> 00:04:57,671 The springboard for invasion would be England. 60 00:04:57,755 --> 00:05:01,758 Britons, displaced once by Hitler's bombs, were on the move again. 61 00:05:01,843 --> 00:05:06,179 This time, to make way for the great invasion armies. 62 00:05:06,639 --> 00:05:11,101 For many, this meant upheaval, financial loss, personal problems. 63 00:05:11,185 --> 00:05:13,562 But the cause was momentous - 64 00:05:13,688 --> 00:05:16,523 the long-awaited second front. 65 00:05:16,607 --> 00:05:19,359 (♪ Little Brown Jug) 66 00:05:34,208 --> 00:05:36,043 Already from the United States, 67 00:05:36,127 --> 00:05:39,421 the packed troop ships were streaming across the Atlantic. 68 00:06:02,153 --> 00:06:04,488 By now, the number of Americans in Britain 69 00:06:04,614 --> 00:06:06,740 approached one and a half million, 70 00:06:06,824 --> 00:06:10,786 and London's streets displayed every known Allied uniform. 71 00:06:12,580 --> 00:06:17,918 ln this great floating barracks, morale was all-important. 72 00:06:23,049 --> 00:06:24,716 We've had some grand trips. 73 00:06:24,801 --> 00:06:27,636 But it's been wonderful. l'm very thrilled to be here. 74 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:30,055 l have nothing new to report from the States. 75 00:06:30,139 --> 00:06:33,183 You know, the States - that's where Churchill lives. l... 76 00:06:37,313 --> 00:06:40,023 But he really travels. Boy, he's been around. 77 00:06:40,108 --> 00:06:44,277 He's been to Casablanca more than Humphrey Bogart. 78 00:06:45,029 --> 00:06:47,823 (narrator) On a difterent stage, another American, 79 00:06:47,907 --> 00:06:49,866 General Dwight David Eisenhower, 80 00:06:49,951 --> 00:06:54,162 named by Roosevelt Overlord's supreme commander. 81 00:06:54,247 --> 00:07:00,127 Eisenhower had commanded the Allied North African expedition in 1942. 82 00:07:00,211 --> 00:07:04,089 As well as generalship, he would need the finesse of a diplomat 83 00:07:04,173 --> 00:07:09,177 because he was now to lead a huge multinational force. 84 00:07:09,804 --> 00:07:12,639 You always have problems, but General Eisenhower, 85 00:07:12,723 --> 00:07:16,977 being the supreme Allied commander, he had this wonderful knack 86 00:07:17,061 --> 00:07:20,856 of getting along with people of all difterent nationalities. 87 00:07:20,982 --> 00:07:23,442 He didn't think of himself as an American, 88 00:07:23,526 --> 00:07:29,156 he didn't think of himself as British or French or Polish or anything. 89 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:32,826 He just thought what was best for the whole Allied eftort. 90 00:07:34,287 --> 00:07:37,038 (narrator) Best known of lke's commanders-to-be 91 00:07:37,123 --> 00:07:39,749 was General Montgomery, victor of Alamein. 92 00:07:39,834 --> 00:07:42,419 Famous for his plain speaking to his troops, 93 00:07:42,503 --> 00:07:46,882 Monty now urged the war workers to maximum eftort. 94 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:53,972 Why is it... why is it that today the tide has turned 95 00:07:54,056 --> 00:07:57,350 and we are beating the Germans 96 00:07:57,435 --> 00:08:01,938 and coming towards the final climax of the war? 97 00:08:02,023 --> 00:08:08,236 l'll tell you why it is. lt's because we've got far the best equipment 98 00:08:08,321 --> 00:08:13,325 and we've got far the best men. And women too. Far the best. 99 00:08:17,955 --> 00:08:24,252 lf the battle front and the home front really get down to it this year, 100 00:08:24,337 --> 00:08:27,005 we can get the thing almost finished, 101 00:08:27,131 --> 00:08:32,302 we can get it so tight, that next year we just topple it over. 102 00:08:32,386 --> 00:08:34,554 Goodbye to you all. Thank you very much. 103 00:08:34,639 --> 00:08:38,558 (narrator) Monty's optimism was infectious, but Britain, like America, 104 00:08:38,643 --> 00:08:43,021 was already working at full pressure with or without music. 105 00:08:43,606 --> 00:08:46,024 (♪ "Calling All Workers" by Eric Coates) 106 00:08:58,329 --> 00:09:02,249 The massive eftort was straining towards the final Overlord targets. 107 00:09:02,333 --> 00:09:04,584 Aircraft - 13,000. 108 00:09:04,669 --> 00:09:07,128 Tanks and vehicles - 17,000. 109 00:09:07,213 --> 00:09:11,925 Parachutes - 90,000. Bombs and shells in millions. 110 00:09:48,921 --> 00:09:53,300 And Overlord would also need 4,000 assault and landing craft. 111 00:09:53,384 --> 00:09:55,719 But, at first, they simply weren't there. 112 00:09:55,803 --> 00:09:59,055 (Mountbatten) The absolutely crucial thing for an invasion 113 00:09:59,140 --> 00:10:01,182 is to get the troops across the water. 114 00:10:01,267 --> 00:10:03,560 For that you want landing ships and craft. 115 00:10:03,644 --> 00:10:06,104 They had to be built in large quantities, 116 00:10:06,188 --> 00:10:08,773 at a time when all ship-building facilities 117 00:10:08,899 --> 00:10:11,651 were required to fight the Battle of the Atlantic. 118 00:10:13,779 --> 00:10:17,115 (narrator) By the spring of 1944, the landing craft were built 119 00:10:17,199 --> 00:10:21,286 and ready for intensive, constantly rehearsed, invasion training 120 00:10:21,370 --> 00:10:24,080 in tough battle conditions. 121 00:10:44,769 --> 00:10:47,854 Many Overlord troops would invade from the air. 122 00:10:47,938 --> 00:10:50,023 More than 20,000 were earmarked 123 00:10:50,107 --> 00:10:53,276 for the biggest airborne operation of the war so far. 124 00:10:56,947 --> 00:11:00,116 Some assault troops would have to scale clifts. 125 00:11:00,201 --> 00:11:06,247 Training in rough Channel waters could be as deadly as the real thing. 126 00:11:15,383 --> 00:11:18,843 Across those waters, Von Rundstedt and Rommel 127 00:11:18,928 --> 00:11:22,555 had divided views on how to meet the invasion. 128 00:11:24,058 --> 00:11:26,351 Von Rundstedt, the commander-in-chief, 129 00:11:26,435 --> 00:11:30,188 wanted a mobile reserVe kept back to fight inland. 130 00:11:30,272 --> 00:11:33,274 Rommel, commander of the anti-invasion forces, 131 00:11:33,401 --> 00:11:35,777 wanted to repel the assault on the beaches. 132 00:11:38,656 --> 00:11:42,826 But Hitler's Atlantic Wall, a chain of steel-and-concrete fortifications 133 00:11:42,910 --> 00:11:46,913 planned to stretch from Denmark to the Spanish border, was incomplete. 134 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:55,505 Rommel made belated eftorts to fill the gaps 135 00:11:55,589 --> 00:11:58,508 by laying lines of formidable underwater obstacles, 136 00:11:58,592 --> 00:12:00,927 including millions of hidden mines. 137 00:12:12,189 --> 00:12:18,111 To overcome these defences, the Allies evolved various ingenious contraptions. 138 00:12:18,195 --> 00:12:22,031 To help tanks over sand and mud and concrete, 139 00:12:22,116 --> 00:12:25,201 the Swiss Roll and the Carpet Layer. 140 00:12:37,673 --> 00:12:44,512 The Panjandrum, supposed to destroy beach obstacles, was not successful. 141 00:13:05,326 --> 00:13:09,120 Pluto - PipeLines Under The Ocean - 142 00:13:09,246 --> 00:13:11,998 a flexible pipeline miles long. 143 00:13:13,918 --> 00:13:19,756 Pluto would minimise the hazards of transporting petrol to France by tanker. 144 00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:26,763 lt could carry over a million tons of fuel daily to the continent, underwater. 145 00:13:26,847 --> 00:13:31,434 Shore pumping stations were innocently camouflaged. 146 00:13:35,105 --> 00:13:38,149 Still more remarkable was Mulberry, 147 00:13:38,234 --> 00:13:43,238 two artificial harbours each the size of Dover harbour. 148 00:13:43,322 --> 00:13:47,826 All the components had to be towed across the Channel. 149 00:13:47,910 --> 00:13:51,329 (Mountbatten) The problem of staying ashore was a difticult one, 150 00:13:51,413 --> 00:13:53,873 because of weather conditions in the Channel. 151 00:13:53,999 --> 00:13:57,043 You couldn't expect more than three or four consecutive days 152 00:13:57,127 --> 00:13:59,796 of weather fine enough to supply across the beaches. 153 00:13:59,880 --> 00:14:02,549 So, obviously, we thought we'd have to take a port. 154 00:14:02,633 --> 00:14:04,133 That's why we tried Dieppe. 155 00:14:04,218 --> 00:14:06,970 But we found in Dieppe that we couldn't capture a port 156 00:14:07,096 --> 00:14:09,305 without using such heavy bombardment 157 00:14:09,390 --> 00:14:12,058 as would destroy the facilities we wanted to use. 158 00:14:12,142 --> 00:14:16,271 So the obvious thing was to bring our own artificial harbour with us, 159 00:14:16,355 --> 00:14:21,317 which we called Mulberry, and which everybody thought was absolutely crazy. 160 00:14:22,194 --> 00:14:25,530 (narrator) Eisenhower met constantly with his commanders 161 00:14:25,614 --> 00:14:27,156 to coordinate strategy. 162 00:14:27,241 --> 00:14:31,327 His deputy, Air Chief Marshal Tedder, Admiral Ramsay, 163 00:14:31,412 --> 00:14:33,788 Generals Bradley and Montgomery, 164 00:14:33,873 --> 00:14:36,291 and Air Marshal Leigh-Mallory. 165 00:14:36,375 --> 00:14:39,711 A major preoccupation was the weather that could be expected 166 00:14:39,795 --> 00:14:41,838 for the start of Overlord. 167 00:14:41,922 --> 00:14:44,924 (man) General Eisenhower made it clear quite early 168 00:14:45,009 --> 00:14:47,802 that he wanted to build up confidence, 169 00:14:47,928 --> 00:14:52,140 not only in what we could do as forecasters, 170 00:14:52,224 --> 00:14:56,436 and l in particular for him personally, 171 00:14:56,520 --> 00:14:59,772 but he wanted to know what reliance 172 00:14:59,857 --> 00:15:04,319 he could put on the very words l used 173 00:15:04,403 --> 00:15:06,696 and the tone of voice l used. 174 00:15:06,780 --> 00:15:10,992 He could tell, even before l presented the forecast, 175 00:15:11,076 --> 00:15:15,288 almost each time what l was going to say. 176 00:15:15,414 --> 00:15:19,042 He used my face, l think, as a kind of hall barometer. 177 00:15:20,085 --> 00:15:23,838 (narrator) Deception plans also occupied Supreme Command. 178 00:15:23,923 --> 00:15:28,009 Among the most elaborate were fake preparations for an attack on Norway, 179 00:15:28,093 --> 00:15:30,178 to be launched from Scotland. 180 00:15:30,262 --> 00:15:34,098 And, more credibly, for a main assault on the Pas-de-Calais 181 00:15:34,183 --> 00:15:36,100 from the southeast ports. 182 00:15:36,185 --> 00:15:38,353 Also crucial was the bombing plan 183 00:15:38,437 --> 00:15:43,191 to cut German communications to invasion areas - interdiction. 184 00:15:43,275 --> 00:15:47,654 What one had to do was to interfere with the communications. 185 00:15:47,738 --> 00:15:50,615 Again, l think this was a lesson learned from Dieppe. 186 00:15:50,699 --> 00:15:54,661 That we hadn't realised at Dieppe 187 00:15:54,745 --> 00:15:56,746 how absolutely essential it was 188 00:15:56,830 --> 00:16:01,334 to have an absolutely overwhelming weight of firepower 189 00:16:01,418 --> 00:16:05,296 both from the air and from the land. The result of this was, 190 00:16:05,381 --> 00:16:09,384 and l think this caused a good deal of difticulties at high level, 191 00:16:09,468 --> 00:16:12,971 was that Air Marshal Harris, 192 00:16:13,055 --> 00:16:16,224 who still thought that he could win the war on his own, 193 00:16:16,308 --> 00:16:19,894 had to be persuaded to use his heavy bombers 194 00:16:19,979 --> 00:16:25,066 to attack the German road and rail communications. 195 00:16:25,150 --> 00:16:28,152 And l think he resisted very strongly. 196 00:16:28,237 --> 00:16:32,031 He thought it was really a diversion from the whole point of the war. 197 00:16:32,116 --> 00:16:37,537 But he was made to do it, and it was done enormously eftectively. 198 00:16:45,796 --> 00:16:48,965 (narrator) Spring 1944 saw widespread air attacks 199 00:16:49,091 --> 00:16:52,343 on road and rail targets and on airfields. 200 00:16:59,393 --> 00:17:03,563 At the same time, all over the South of England, camps were springing up, 201 00:17:03,647 --> 00:17:08,609 ready for the tens of thousands of invasion troops. 202 00:17:11,113 --> 00:17:13,072 The staging areas for Overlord 203 00:17:13,157 --> 00:17:16,159 were spread the length of England's south coast, 204 00:17:16,243 --> 00:17:23,124 round the ports of Falmouth, Dartmouth, Weymouth, Portsmouth and Newhaven. 205 00:17:34,678 --> 00:17:38,639 All was now prepared for the great move south. 206 00:17:38,724 --> 00:17:41,601 The lines were cleared for invasion traftic. 207 00:18:10,839 --> 00:18:15,384 Amid the rash of military notices, one telltale sign stood out. 208 00:18:59,304 --> 00:19:03,391 The vast concentration reached its Channel rendezvous. 209 00:19:03,517 --> 00:19:06,185 Some wit claimed that only the barrage balloons 210 00:19:06,770 --> 00:19:09,272 floating overhead kept Britain from sinking. 211 00:19:16,780 --> 00:19:19,240 Late May, 1944. 212 00:19:19,324 --> 00:19:23,327 The assault troops were sealed within their marshalling areas, ready to go. 213 00:19:23,412 --> 00:19:25,580 Now - a pause. 214 00:19:26,456 --> 00:19:29,208 (man #1) Fear feeds on delay, of course. 215 00:19:29,293 --> 00:19:32,712 And we didn't really know just when we were going. 216 00:19:35,257 --> 00:19:38,259 (man #2) Shot crap, played cards, lost all our money. 217 00:19:38,343 --> 00:19:40,636 Some people won money. l lost all mine. 218 00:19:40,721 --> 00:19:44,557 Didn't do me any good. l had no place to spend it when l got on the beach. 219 00:19:45,851 --> 00:19:50,313 (narrator) Rations, currency, ammunition, kit. 220 00:19:50,397 --> 00:19:54,483 Packing and repacking, checking equipment. 221 00:19:54,568 --> 00:19:57,486 The exact invasion date was not yet revealed. 222 00:19:57,571 --> 00:20:01,115 Most men still did not know the beaches they were going to attack. 223 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:05,870 Only ofticers and NCOs had been told the precise landing areas. 224 00:20:06,496 --> 00:20:08,915 100 miles across the Channel in Normandy, 225 00:20:08,999 --> 00:20:12,335 these landing areas comprised five beaches. 226 00:20:12,419 --> 00:20:16,923 From west to east, Utah and Omaha waited for the Americans. 227 00:20:17,007 --> 00:20:21,844 Gold, Juno and Sword for the British and Canadians. 228 00:20:21,929 --> 00:20:24,639 But all now depended on the weather. 229 00:20:25,474 --> 00:20:29,227 (Stagg) On the evening of that Wednesday, 31 May, 230 00:20:29,311 --> 00:20:32,313 even then l advised General Eisenhower 231 00:20:32,397 --> 00:20:34,857 that conditions for the oncoming weekend, 232 00:20:34,942 --> 00:20:37,860 especially over Sunday night and Monday morning, 233 00:20:37,945 --> 00:20:39,862 the crucial times for Overlord, 234 00:20:39,947 --> 00:20:46,160 were going to be stormy, but we went on with the meetings. 235 00:20:46,286 --> 00:20:49,997 l had to go before General Eisenhower and his commanders, 236 00:20:50,082 --> 00:20:54,877 who met for nothing else twice a day during those fateful days - 237 00:20:54,962 --> 00:20:56,963 1 , 2 and 3 June. 238 00:20:59,424 --> 00:21:03,636 (narrator) On 3 June, despite Supreme Command's concern about the weather, 239 00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:05,846 embarkation went ahead. 240 00:21:05,931 --> 00:21:08,391 The troops knew nothing of a possible hitch, 241 00:21:08,475 --> 00:21:12,770 though some men thought it was just another exercise. 242 00:21:14,690 --> 00:21:18,484 (man #3) When we first went aboard, we had no knowledge of the actual day. 243 00:21:18,568 --> 00:21:20,778 We had been aboard ship so many times. 244 00:21:20,904 --> 00:21:24,782 For six months, we were constantly on and oft ships. 245 00:21:29,746 --> 00:21:33,291 (narrator) ln the ports and harbours of England's Channel coast, 246 00:21:33,375 --> 00:21:37,670 the vast and complex process of loading and embarkation went on. 247 00:21:37,754 --> 00:21:39,880 ln the Channel, the worsening weather 248 00:21:39,965 --> 00:21:44,385 now faced the supreme commander with a grave crisis. 249 00:21:44,469 --> 00:21:47,179 (Stagg) lt was a time of dreadful tension. 250 00:21:47,264 --> 00:21:51,809 We all knew that there could be only one day's deferment. 251 00:21:51,893 --> 00:21:54,061 lf there had to be another day, 252 00:21:54,146 --> 00:21:57,982 then all the landing craft would need to return to base, 253 00:21:58,066 --> 00:22:01,068 so it couldn't be done on a second day's postponement. 254 00:22:01,153 --> 00:22:03,863 lt would have to be deferred for a whole fortnight 255 00:22:03,947 --> 00:22:06,907 until the next tides were right. 256 00:22:06,992 --> 00:22:11,203 And at that time, our charts were so black in the Atlantic 257 00:22:11,288 --> 00:22:13,581 that there didn't seem to be any prospect 258 00:22:13,665 --> 00:22:16,876 of getting this operation going at all. 259 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:20,379 (man #4) We didn't know how long it was going to be postponed. 260 00:22:20,464 --> 00:22:24,383 Because the weather looked so bad, we wondered if it would ever clear up, 261 00:22:24,468 --> 00:22:26,927 and whether the whole thing would be called oft 262 00:22:27,012 --> 00:22:29,555 and we would be taken back oft the ship. 263 00:22:34,478 --> 00:22:37,021 (narrator) Troops primed for action. 264 00:22:37,105 --> 00:22:39,190 An armada ready to sail. 265 00:22:40,025 --> 00:22:42,860 And, then, anticlimax. 266 00:22:45,072 --> 00:22:46,697 (man #1) We were then told 267 00:22:46,782 --> 00:22:50,785 that the invasion had been put back for at least 24 hours. 268 00:22:50,869 --> 00:22:54,246 Of course, this increased our apprehension. 269 00:22:54,331 --> 00:22:57,917 And we used to have these long conversations with each other 270 00:22:58,001 --> 00:23:00,711 about the kind of things that might happen, 271 00:23:00,796 --> 00:23:04,298 whether we'd ever get oft the beach alive. 272 00:23:07,260 --> 00:23:10,638 (narrator) Routine continued under a cloud of uncertainty. 273 00:23:10,722 --> 00:23:13,516 All the troops could do was wait. 274 00:23:19,606 --> 00:23:22,525 (♪ "Don't Get Around Much Anymore") 275 00:24:16,079 --> 00:24:21,041 As the hours passed, it seemed that only a miracle could get Overlord going. 276 00:24:22,419 --> 00:24:26,964 (Stagg) Then, mercifully, the almost unbelievable happened 277 00:24:27,048 --> 00:24:29,675 about midday on that Sunday. 278 00:24:29,759 --> 00:24:34,889 We spotted that there might be an interlude between two depressions. 279 00:24:34,973 --> 00:24:37,641 By the evening, my own confidence 280 00:24:37,726 --> 00:24:43,898 in the forecast for this quieter period 281 00:24:43,982 --> 00:24:47,735 had so increased from further reports that had come in, 282 00:24:47,819 --> 00:24:51,780 that l convinced General Eisenhower and his commanders 283 00:24:51,865 --> 00:24:55,951 that it would indeed arrive later on Monday, 284 00:24:56,036 --> 00:24:59,580 after the storm of Sunday night and Monday morning. 285 00:24:59,664 --> 00:25:02,500 lt would indeed arrive late on Monday, 286 00:25:02,584 --> 00:25:07,087 continue through Tuesday and probably into Wednesday. 287 00:25:07,172 --> 00:25:11,342 The next morning, early on 5 June, 288 00:25:11,426 --> 00:25:15,054 they met again to confirm this decision. 289 00:25:15,138 --> 00:25:18,724 When l could tell them that we were even more confident 290 00:25:18,808 --> 00:25:20,935 than we had been the previous night 291 00:25:21,019 --> 00:25:26,732 that the fine, or improved, quieter interlude would indeed come along, 292 00:25:26,816 --> 00:25:28,567 the joy on the faces 293 00:25:28,652 --> 00:25:32,071 of the supreme commander and his commanders 294 00:25:32,155 --> 00:25:35,366 after the deep gloom of the preceding days, 295 00:25:35,492 --> 00:25:39,828 was a marVel to behold. 296 00:25:39,913 --> 00:25:46,377 l remember it very well. 4:15am on the morning of 5 June. 297 00:25:47,671 --> 00:25:50,381 l wasn't at the meeting, but l drove him there, 298 00:25:50,465 --> 00:25:55,511 and he came out and he really looked so serious as he got in the car. 299 00:25:55,595 --> 00:26:00,140 And he said, "D-day is on. Nothing can stop us now." 300 00:26:03,687 --> 00:26:06,814 (narrator) lt was an historic decision. 301 00:26:06,898 --> 00:26:10,734 Overlord's further postponement might have meant total cancellation. 302 00:26:13,363 --> 00:26:17,241 (man #2) The troop commander read a message from General Eisenhower. 303 00:26:17,325 --> 00:26:20,744 "God speed" and all that sort of stuft. 304 00:26:20,829 --> 00:26:23,414 (man #1) We read this great message from Monty 305 00:26:23,498 --> 00:26:27,251 about "good hunting in the fields of Europe" and all this rubbish. 306 00:26:27,335 --> 00:26:32,715 Naturally, being a soldier, we thought what a load of old cods it was. 307 00:26:32,799 --> 00:26:36,218 (narrator) Never had Channel waters seen such a mighty force. 308 00:26:36,303 --> 00:26:40,180 Heading for France were some 6,500 vessels of all types, 309 00:26:40,265 --> 00:26:44,101 marshalled and escorted by the Allied navies. 310 00:26:44,185 --> 00:26:48,981 Glider fleets were waiting, wearing their D-day markings. 311 00:26:49,065 --> 00:26:52,192 The first division would go in by glider and parachute, 312 00:26:52,277 --> 00:26:55,321 dropping behind the invasion beaches. 313 00:26:55,405 --> 00:26:59,199 Their losses were expected to be as high as seven out of every ten men, 314 00:26:59,284 --> 00:27:01,785 as Eisenhower well knew. 315 00:27:03,246 --> 00:27:05,497 (Summersby) They all had blackened faces. 316 00:27:05,582 --> 00:27:08,751 They were going to jump Nazi-occupied Europe in a short time. 317 00:27:08,835 --> 00:27:12,046 You kept thinking, "l wonder how many are going to come back." 318 00:27:12,172 --> 00:27:13,922 Later, General Eisenhower said, 319 00:27:14,007 --> 00:27:17,885 "You know, Kay, it is very hard to look a soldier in the face, 320 00:27:17,969 --> 00:27:21,597 knowing you might be sending him to his death." 321 00:27:26,519 --> 00:27:33,317 (narrator) ln the last hours of 5 June, the airborne troops set out for France. 322 00:27:33,401 --> 00:27:37,279 (man #5) Butterflies in your stomach. You wonder what you're doing here. 323 00:27:37,364 --> 00:27:40,032 "Why am l here? Why did l volunteer? Am l crazy?" 324 00:27:40,116 --> 00:27:42,242 Everything is going through your mind. 325 00:27:42,327 --> 00:27:45,829 You're worried. You know it's coming up soon. 326 00:27:49,834 --> 00:27:54,380 l was afraid. l was 19, and l was afraid. 327 00:27:54,464 --> 00:27:57,466 (narrator) Many men were afraid that night. 328 00:27:57,592 --> 00:28:04,306 They were storming Hitler's vaunted Festung Europa - Fortress Europe. 329 00:28:04,432 --> 00:28:07,393 Across the water the Germans waited, 330 00:28:07,477 --> 00:28:11,480 not knowing when or where the blow would fall. 331 00:28:15,527 --> 00:28:17,528 D-day. 332 00:28:17,612 --> 00:28:19,947 Ahead, the Normandy beaches. 333 00:28:20,073 --> 00:28:24,535 After four years, this was the road back. 334 00:28:24,619 --> 00:28:31,208 (man #1) lt was a fantastic sight to see so many ships of all shapes and sizes, 335 00:28:31,334 --> 00:28:33,544 and all going one way. 336 00:28:37,340 --> 00:28:40,759 (man #4) Quite a few boys wrote letters and gave it to friends 337 00:28:40,885 --> 00:28:44,805 so that they'd take them home or see that their parents got them. 338 00:28:44,889 --> 00:28:47,224 lt was their farewell letter. 339 00:28:48,977 --> 00:28:50,352 (man #6) The sea was rough. 340 00:28:50,437 --> 00:28:53,147 They'd put their gas capes over them to keep dry, 341 00:28:53,231 --> 00:28:57,693 and it made them sick cos they didn't get enough fresh air. 342 00:29:00,155 --> 00:29:03,574 (man #3) l had several men get seasick, and they upchucked, 343 00:29:03,658 --> 00:29:06,201 and they had to use their helmets to catch it in. 344 00:29:06,286 --> 00:29:07,828 We'd throw them over the side. 345 00:29:07,912 --> 00:29:10,456 They were washed out and given back to the men. 346 00:29:10,540 --> 00:29:13,792 (man #1) One felt absolutely dreadful, physically, 347 00:29:13,877 --> 00:29:17,337 just wishing to God that the whole thing would be over, 348 00:29:17,464 --> 00:29:19,923 or at least that we could get onto dry land. 349 00:29:32,020 --> 00:29:35,314 (narrator) At 5:30 the armada was oft the French coast. 350 00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:40,736 After a massive air assault, a devastating naval bombardment. 351 00:29:52,165 --> 00:29:54,166 (man #7) As far as your eye could see, 352 00:29:54,250 --> 00:29:57,169 you were surrounded with craft of some sort, 353 00:29:57,295 --> 00:30:01,089 and it was just sending out shell after shell out of its turrets. 354 00:30:04,385 --> 00:30:07,721 (narrator) The Germans were surprised and stupefied, 355 00:30:07,806 --> 00:30:10,265 but some batteries soon recovered. 356 00:30:18,149 --> 00:30:20,567 (man #3) lt was far just more than sickness. 357 00:30:20,693 --> 00:30:22,986 Men loaded their pants and everything else. 358 00:30:23,071 --> 00:30:25,489 l had rarely seen that before. 359 00:30:25,615 --> 00:30:28,450 l know the men were sick, many of them were very sick. 360 00:30:39,170 --> 00:30:40,796 (man #3) By this time the waves 361 00:30:40,922 --> 00:30:45,759 were pitching the craft up and down, l would say, six or seven feet. 362 00:30:47,095 --> 00:30:49,471 (man #4) A lot of boys got caught in the nets. 363 00:30:49,556 --> 00:30:54,852 We had quite a time getting them loose. Their legs got caught in there. 364 00:30:55,979 --> 00:30:59,356 (man #2) Smoke, smoke. There were a lot of shells coming over us. 365 00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:03,402 All smoke, black smoke, just like a volcano from afar 366 00:31:03,486 --> 00:31:05,696 that one would see in the movies. 367 00:31:27,927 --> 00:31:30,012 (narrator) The run-in to the beaches - 368 00:31:30,096 --> 00:31:34,641 6:30 for the Americans, 7:30 for the British and Canadians. 369 00:31:34,767 --> 00:31:39,313 After all the waiting, the training, the toughening, 370 00:31:39,397 --> 00:31:41,481 this was it. 371 00:31:42,942 --> 00:31:46,945 (man #9) We were the first attackers, we were the initial wave. 372 00:31:47,071 --> 00:31:49,781 There's always great losses in an initial wave, 373 00:31:49,866 --> 00:31:55,078 so each of us had to be given at least 30 minutes to live on the beach. 374 00:32:09,886 --> 00:32:13,680 (narrator) Protected by total air supremacy, the first assault waves 375 00:32:13,765 --> 00:32:18,018 raced and scrambled for the five invasion beaches. 376 00:32:18,102 --> 00:32:21,772 (man #1) The soldiers were so glad to get oft the landing craft, 377 00:32:21,856 --> 00:32:23,857 to escape the seasickness, 378 00:32:23,942 --> 00:32:28,111 that they were just ready to go anywhere by that time. 379 00:32:33,117 --> 00:32:36,161 (narrator) For the men of the five assault divisions, 380 00:32:36,245 --> 00:32:42,042 those first hours of D-day were hours of death, fear, courage, 381 00:32:42,126 --> 00:32:46,046 of plans gone wrong, of rapid improvisation. 382 00:32:49,008 --> 00:32:50,842 (man #10) We expected a clear beach 383 00:32:50,927 --> 00:32:53,845 with an indication as to exactly how we should proceed. 384 00:32:53,930 --> 00:32:56,807 We were even told the military police would greet us. 385 00:32:56,891 --> 00:33:01,311 lt became quite obvious that the beach was in a considerable state of chaos. 386 00:33:01,396 --> 00:33:05,565 On the run-in, craft ran into underwater obstacles and into mines. 387 00:33:05,650 --> 00:33:09,111 One of them went over a mine. The front half of the craft, 388 00:33:09,195 --> 00:33:12,155 with the personnel in it, went straight up in the air. 389 00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:16,368 The sea was quite a difterent colour when that craft blew up. 390 00:33:21,249 --> 00:33:24,042 (narrator) Some units landed in the wrong area. 391 00:33:24,127 --> 00:33:26,920 Some met unexpectedly light resistance, 392 00:33:27,005 --> 00:33:30,132 others were cut down almost on the shoreline. 393 00:33:30,216 --> 00:33:32,718 The Americans got the worst of it. 394 00:33:34,721 --> 00:33:36,680 (man #6) l didn't think l'd make it. 395 00:33:36,764 --> 00:33:40,976 l didn't think there was any way to get across that beach and surVive. 396 00:33:41,102 --> 00:33:44,104 l really thought it was my last day. 397 00:33:51,654 --> 00:33:54,865 (man #4) The first man, the sergeant, 398 00:33:54,949 --> 00:33:58,577 raised up to see how far we had to go to reach land, 399 00:33:58,661 --> 00:34:01,163 and fell back dead. 400 00:34:02,957 --> 00:34:06,043 (man #3) We had been told that the air force would come in 401 00:34:06,127 --> 00:34:07,544 with the heavy bombers 402 00:34:07,670 --> 00:34:11,757 and would crater the beaches for us to give us a place to hide. 403 00:34:11,841 --> 00:34:14,384 And this did not take place. 404 00:34:18,890 --> 00:34:21,475 (man #3) lt was bloody awful. Every time l got up, 405 00:34:21,559 --> 00:34:25,103 l thought that it was pure terror that was making my knees buckle, 406 00:34:25,188 --> 00:34:27,981 until l finally hit the shale and l realised 407 00:34:28,066 --> 00:34:31,109 that l had about 100lbs of sand in those pockets. 408 00:34:38,409 --> 00:34:42,120 l remember taking my trench knife and pressing it in people's backs 409 00:34:42,205 --> 00:34:43,538 to see if they were alive. 410 00:34:43,623 --> 00:34:45,957 lf they were, l'd kick 'em or say, "Let's go." 411 00:34:46,042 --> 00:34:48,210 lt dawned on me after l checked two or three 412 00:34:48,336 --> 00:34:52,506 that some were alive but they wouldn't turn around. Just absolute terror. 413 00:35:01,849 --> 00:35:06,311 (narrator) On the three British and Canadian beaches, opposition varied. 414 00:35:06,395 --> 00:35:11,108 On Gold, while one unit was hammering at a strongpoint for eight hours, 415 00:35:11,192 --> 00:35:14,194 another was oft the beach in 40 minutes. 416 00:35:14,278 --> 00:35:20,033 On Juno, the Canadians suftered heavy losses but advanced. 417 00:35:20,118 --> 00:35:24,079 On Sword, the fighting was bloody but brief. 418 00:35:24,163 --> 00:35:28,625 Many defenders emerged from their bunkers to surrender. 419 00:35:28,709 --> 00:35:33,421 And on Utah, by the end of the day, the Americans were doing well. 420 00:35:33,506 --> 00:35:36,883 They had taken prisoners, established a firm foothold, 421 00:35:36,968 --> 00:35:39,761 driven five miles inland. 422 00:35:42,682 --> 00:35:46,017 But on Omaha, the Americans ran into difticulties - 423 00:35:46,144 --> 00:35:49,187 rough seas, strong defences 424 00:35:49,272 --> 00:35:52,107 and a newly arrived German fighting division. 425 00:35:55,069 --> 00:35:58,280 (man #11) From where l was, it seemed a failure. 426 00:35:59,657 --> 00:36:02,868 (man #3) At that time there were so many people on the beach 427 00:36:02,952 --> 00:36:06,288 you could literally walk on the bodies from one end to the other, 428 00:36:06,372 --> 00:36:08,582 either the dead or the wounded. 429 00:36:08,708 --> 00:36:11,585 (man #6) l saw people laying out there with no head, 430 00:36:11,669 --> 00:36:13,962 and some with arms blown oft. 431 00:36:14,046 --> 00:36:17,632 Some of my friends. lt was pretty sickening. 432 00:36:21,012 --> 00:36:24,639 (narrator) At Omaha it took all day, with grievous losses, 433 00:36:24,724 --> 00:36:27,434 to gain a beachhead a mile deep. 434 00:36:28,895 --> 00:36:32,731 (man #11) lt was the most heartrending experience that l ever had. 435 00:36:32,815 --> 00:36:36,276 l hope l never have another one like it. 436 00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:42,365 Look back and see the remains of a crack battalion strewn over the beach. 437 00:36:42,450 --> 00:36:46,870 And men floating in the water, face-up. 438 00:36:46,954 --> 00:36:49,706 (man #3) Perhaps it was better that we were green, 439 00:36:49,790 --> 00:36:52,584 because if l'd have known then what l know now, 440 00:36:52,668 --> 00:36:55,503 l'd have got on that boat and went back to England. 441 00:37:01,344 --> 00:37:06,223 (man #4) A day of continuous thinking thoughts of home. 442 00:37:07,892 --> 00:37:10,143 A day of prayer. 443 00:37:10,228 --> 00:37:14,397 And, without a doubt, the longest day of my life. 444 00:37:20,363 --> 00:37:24,241 You feel that you're... Well, you've accomplished something 445 00:37:24,325 --> 00:37:29,454 that you didn't think you would probably end up being around after it was done. 446 00:37:29,538 --> 00:37:34,251 l think we were proud in some way that we'd done it 447 00:37:34,335 --> 00:37:38,380 and that the army we'd been in for so long, 448 00:37:38,464 --> 00:37:44,177 and with all sorts of experiences of how they could bungle things, 449 00:37:44,262 --> 00:37:48,139 had actually managed this invasion. 450 00:37:48,224 --> 00:37:52,686 Oh, we feel very happy. Very happy. 451 00:37:53,813 --> 00:37:57,816 Ah, the best day of my life. l think so. 452 00:37:57,900 --> 00:38:00,735 La plus grande joie. How you say in English? 453 00:38:00,820 --> 00:38:04,155 The biggest joys in our life. 454 00:38:05,199 --> 00:38:08,994 And we admire those courageous soldiers. 455 00:38:09,078 --> 00:38:12,789 They came from so far away to liberate us. 456 00:38:12,915 --> 00:38:17,377 And we gave to them everything we could give them. 457 00:38:17,461 --> 00:38:19,879 Cider and so. 458 00:38:20,006 --> 00:38:22,465 Calvados, also. 459 00:38:22,550 --> 00:38:27,721 And our... our friendship. 460 00:38:28,764 --> 00:38:30,473 And... 461 00:38:30,558 --> 00:38:35,061 lt was very... emotional. 462 00:38:35,146 --> 00:38:36,604 And... 463 00:38:36,689 --> 00:38:40,025 We, we feel... we became free. 464 00:38:40,818 --> 00:38:45,071 (narrator) By midnight, 130,000 troops had got ashore. 465 00:38:45,156 --> 00:38:48,033 Footholds had been gained on all five beaches. 466 00:38:48,117 --> 00:38:50,535 Casualties: 9,000. 467 00:38:55,791 --> 00:39:00,045 D-plus-one saw the first laying of the Mulberry harbours. 468 00:39:00,129 --> 00:39:04,466 The early build-up of supplies was vital for the success of Overlord. 469 00:39:04,550 --> 00:39:06,134 lt was essential to pour in 470 00:39:06,218 --> 00:39:10,096 the reinforcements of men and material faster than the enemy. 471 00:39:10,181 --> 00:39:11,973 And pour in they did. 472 00:39:23,110 --> 00:39:26,279 By D-plus-seven, miles of vehicles were ashore, 473 00:39:26,364 --> 00:39:29,449 stretching inland from the beaches bumper to bumper. 474 00:39:29,533 --> 00:39:34,412 At some points, traftic jams extended 15 miles. 475 00:39:36,457 --> 00:39:39,084 At this critical phase, Mulberry's two harbours - 476 00:39:39,168 --> 00:39:42,921 Arromanches for the British, Saint-Laurent for the Americans - 477 00:39:43,005 --> 00:39:46,883 were the only ports available to the Allies. 478 00:39:47,927 --> 00:39:50,428 ln the four days before 18 June, 479 00:39:50,513 --> 00:39:54,516 the average daily landings were troops: nearly 35,000, 480 00:39:54,600 --> 00:39:59,479 vehicles: 5,000, stores: 25,000 tons. 481 00:40:03,025 --> 00:40:09,197 lf a single device invented for Overlord produced results, it was Mulberry. 482 00:40:14,120 --> 00:40:17,080 Only the insistence of Eisenhower and the king himself 483 00:40:17,164 --> 00:40:20,166 had stopped Churchill from coming over on D-day. 484 00:40:20,292 --> 00:40:24,754 Now, within days of the landing, he was there to see how things were going. 485 00:40:24,839 --> 00:40:26,464 The top commanders were aware 486 00:40:26,549 --> 00:40:29,050 that the Overlord timetable was falling behind. 487 00:40:29,135 --> 00:40:32,679 They were anxious now about phase two of the operation - 488 00:40:32,763 --> 00:40:34,806 the battle of the bridgehead. 489 00:40:53,742 --> 00:40:55,702 The Allies were fighting bitterly 490 00:40:55,828 --> 00:41:00,582 for space to deploy the mass of men and materials assembling behind them. 491 00:41:00,666 --> 00:41:02,500 lt was a slow, dogged advance 492 00:41:02,585 --> 00:41:06,337 against an enemy who had recovered strongly. 493 00:41:13,137 --> 00:41:18,349 The close-hedged bocage countryside was difticult for the Allied tanks. 494 00:41:19,101 --> 00:41:24,063 By 10 June, the Allies were opposed by only three panzer divisions. 495 00:41:24,148 --> 00:41:26,232 The other seven available divisions 496 00:41:26,358 --> 00:41:29,194 had not been released by the German high command. 497 00:41:29,278 --> 00:41:33,781 Despite this, the invaders were little more than inching forward. 498 00:41:44,793 --> 00:41:47,754 By 12 June, the five beachheads had been linked 499 00:41:47,838 --> 00:41:53,718 to give a lodgement 60 miles long and up to 20 miles deep. 500 00:41:53,844 --> 00:41:56,262 The ancient town of Bayeux 501 00:41:56,347 --> 00:41:59,891 now welcomed the leader of the Free French, General de Gaulle, 502 00:41:59,975 --> 00:42:04,938 setting foot in France for the first time since 1940. 503 00:42:09,276 --> 00:42:13,488 19 June, and the unpredictable English Channel struck again. 504 00:42:17,785 --> 00:42:21,412 For four days a raging storm, the worst in June for over 40 years, 505 00:42:21,497 --> 00:42:24,582 battered Mulberry almost to destruction. 506 00:42:24,667 --> 00:42:28,628 Vessels dragged anchor. Vital equipment foundered. 507 00:42:28,712 --> 00:42:34,926 Unloading was drastically curtailed. Tonnage was down by four fifths. 508 00:42:36,595 --> 00:42:39,222 Frantic eftorts were made to repair the damage, 509 00:42:39,306 --> 00:42:43,393 for the disruption had threatened the very continuance of Overlord. 510 00:42:43,477 --> 00:42:46,271 Soon the traftic was rolling again. 511 00:42:47,898 --> 00:42:51,025 The Overlord lifeline was restored. 512 00:42:54,947 --> 00:42:58,116 A prime objective to supplement the Mulberry harbours 513 00:42:58,200 --> 00:43:01,327 was the port of Cherbourg in the American sector. 514 00:43:01,412 --> 00:43:04,747 By 19 June the Americans had cut oft the Cherbourg peninsula 515 00:43:04,832 --> 00:43:07,250 and were driving north towards the port. 516 00:43:08,544 --> 00:43:10,795 Cherbourg was strongly fortified. 517 00:43:10,879 --> 00:43:15,425 The Germans hoped to delay the Allies by staging a long resistance there. 518 00:43:15,509 --> 00:43:17,677 But by the 21st, after tough fighting, 519 00:43:17,761 --> 00:43:20,847 the Americans reached the port's outskirts. 520 00:43:33,736 --> 00:43:36,154 On the 26th, the garrison surrendered, 521 00:43:36,238 --> 00:43:39,407 leaving only a few strongpoints to be mopped up. 522 00:43:39,491 --> 00:43:44,662 Prisoners streamed out, among them the garrison commander. 523 00:43:52,421 --> 00:43:57,342 Cherbourg was the first major objective to be captured in the campaign. 524 00:43:57,426 --> 00:44:01,846 25,000 prisoners were taken in the Cherbourg area. 525 00:44:09,104 --> 00:44:14,275 Some French women were losing their German lovers. 526 00:44:19,615 --> 00:44:23,910 Right across the front from Cherbourg was the town of Caen. 527 00:44:23,994 --> 00:44:27,914 Caen was the centre for German troops moving to the beachhead. 528 00:44:27,998 --> 00:44:32,168 Montgomery had been attacking towards it since D-day. 529 00:44:35,255 --> 00:44:40,093 Now at last, in early July, he prepared for the assault. 530 00:44:41,595 --> 00:44:43,554 First the bombers went in. 531 00:44:43,639 --> 00:44:48,476 On 18 July over 2,000 heavy and medium bombers hit Caen 532 00:44:48,560 --> 00:44:54,315 with nearly 8,000 tons of high explosive and fragmentation bombs. 533 00:44:57,695 --> 00:45:00,697 lt was the heaviest and most concentrated air attack 534 00:45:00,781 --> 00:45:03,700 in support of ground forces ever attempted. 535 00:45:37,526 --> 00:45:40,486 Caen was christened "the crucible". 536 00:45:40,571 --> 00:45:46,284 When it fell, the troops entered a bomb-cratered town choked with rubble. 537 00:45:48,746 --> 00:45:50,913 Half of it was destroyed, 538 00:45:51,039 --> 00:45:55,960 several thousand of its inhabitants killed or wounded. 539 00:46:07,848 --> 00:46:13,060 For the people of Caen, it was liberation - at a grievous price. 540 00:46:23,864 --> 00:46:27,992 Now, after seven grinding weeks, the start of the break-out. 541 00:46:28,076 --> 00:46:30,953 The Americans broke through at AVranches. 542 00:46:31,038 --> 00:46:35,124 They fanned out west and south into Brittany and east to Mortain, 543 00:46:35,209 --> 00:46:38,127 and swept up to Argentan. 544 00:46:39,755 --> 00:46:42,131 From the north, the British and Canadians 545 00:46:42,216 --> 00:46:46,052 edged south towards Falaise, in an attempt to close the neck of a bag 546 00:46:46,136 --> 00:46:49,764 now threatening to trap the German forces. 547 00:46:51,600 --> 00:46:55,478 There were very great practical difticulties 548 00:46:55,562 --> 00:46:59,023 in this closing of the Falaise Gap quickly. 549 00:46:59,107 --> 00:47:01,234 And it was difticult for the one side, 550 00:47:01,360 --> 00:47:02,985 British, Canadian, Polish, 551 00:47:03,070 --> 00:47:05,530 to appreciate the point of view 552 00:47:05,614 --> 00:47:07,782 of the other side, the Americans. 553 00:47:07,866 --> 00:47:11,327 We were coming down from the north, 554 00:47:11,411 --> 00:47:17,959 launched from the congested, bombed and difticult areas of the Caen sector. 555 00:47:18,043 --> 00:47:24,215 Secondly, the Germans facing us on that north side of the corridor 556 00:47:24,299 --> 00:47:27,093 they were trying to keep open for their escape, 557 00:47:27,177 --> 00:47:32,181 were in areas where they had been fighting against us 558 00:47:32,266 --> 00:47:34,392 for two months or more. 559 00:47:34,476 --> 00:47:38,521 The Americans were coming up to meet us from the south 560 00:47:38,605 --> 00:47:40,690 in more open country 561 00:47:40,774 --> 00:47:45,111 and against much less prepared and organised German resistance. 562 00:47:47,990 --> 00:47:52,118 (narrator) Falaise, one of the bloodiest battlegrounds of the campaign. 563 00:47:52,244 --> 00:47:54,412 This was Montgomery's next target. 564 00:48:07,509 --> 00:48:09,635 Hundreds of rocket-firing Typhoons 565 00:48:09,720 --> 00:48:12,555 strafed enemy communications and transport, 566 00:48:12,639 --> 00:48:15,516 leaving a trail of burning vehicles. 567 00:48:21,607 --> 00:48:25,276 On 6 August, the Canadians were on the outskirts of Falaise. 568 00:48:39,291 --> 00:48:42,418 They entered the town on the 16th. 569 00:48:50,636 --> 00:48:56,724 By now only a narrow corridor separated the Canadian and American spearheads. 570 00:48:59,478 --> 00:49:03,606 The remnants of the German 7th army, some 15 fighting divisions, 571 00:49:03,690 --> 00:49:06,400 were pressed into a tiny sack. 572 00:49:07,986 --> 00:49:10,655 At last the trap closed. 573 00:49:10,781 --> 00:49:14,450 10,000 died. 50,000 were captured. 574 00:49:15,869 --> 00:49:21,874 For the Germans, Falaise was one of the worst disasters since Stalingrad. 575 00:49:27,547 --> 00:49:31,968 The toll of prisoners rubbed in the magnitude of the defeat. 576 00:49:32,052 --> 00:49:35,179 But 40,000 German troops escaped, 577 00:49:35,263 --> 00:49:38,307 and this caused friction between the Allies. 578 00:49:40,644 --> 00:49:43,604 (American man) Had the British and Canadian forces 579 00:49:43,689 --> 00:49:45,481 been able to move faster, 580 00:49:45,565 --> 00:49:48,859 we might have trapped many more Germans in the Falaise pocket. 581 00:49:48,944 --> 00:49:51,195 Very little of their equipment got out, 582 00:49:51,321 --> 00:49:53,489 but quite a number of the Germans 583 00:49:53,573 --> 00:49:56,701 were able to escape toward the Seine river. 584 00:49:56,785 --> 00:50:00,246 And this was too bad. 585 00:50:00,330 --> 00:50:03,249 l think perhaps the basic reason 586 00:50:03,333 --> 00:50:08,754 was that Britain had been in the war for much longer than we 587 00:50:08,839 --> 00:50:11,257 and had taken very heavy casualties. 588 00:50:11,341 --> 00:50:14,218 And the Americans were fresh, 589 00:50:14,302 --> 00:50:17,555 and they had had practically no casualties in comparison. 590 00:50:17,639 --> 00:50:20,433 So while we were anxious to drive forward 591 00:50:20,517 --> 00:50:23,310 and were not too concerned about the casualties 592 00:50:23,395 --> 00:50:25,646 as long as we could get our objectives, 593 00:50:25,731 --> 00:50:29,316 it was natural, l think, that the British and Canadian forces 594 00:50:29,401 --> 00:50:32,570 did it in a more orderly, pacing way. 595 00:50:32,654 --> 00:50:35,823 And perhaps this was part of Monty's characteristic, 596 00:50:35,907 --> 00:50:37,742 and one of his drawbacks. 597 00:50:37,826 --> 00:50:41,662 ln other words, that he never did quite drive 598 00:50:41,747 --> 00:50:44,665 the way the American commanders did. 599 00:50:44,750 --> 00:50:48,502 This was part of his nature, l guess. He was a more cautious man, 600 00:50:48,587 --> 00:50:51,922 combined with the fact that he couldn't aftord the casualties 601 00:50:52,007 --> 00:50:54,717 that we could take if it was necessary to take them. 602 00:51:02,017 --> 00:51:06,520 (narrator) Falaise earned the name of "the killing ground". 603 00:51:07,564 --> 00:51:11,525 The carnage and destruction were appalling. 604 00:51:17,741 --> 00:51:20,701 Eisenhower visited the battlefield and wrote: 605 00:51:20,786 --> 00:51:25,206 "lt was literally possible to walk for hundreds of yards at a time, 606 00:51:25,290 --> 00:51:29,919 stepping on nothing but dead and decaying flesh." 607 00:51:58,448 --> 00:52:00,491 Paris. 608 00:52:00,575 --> 00:52:04,620 The main Allied drive was going to bypass the French capital. 609 00:52:04,704 --> 00:52:07,998 The Parisians, under Nazi domination for four years, 610 00:52:08,083 --> 00:52:09,708 sensed liberation at last. 611 00:52:09,835 --> 00:52:11,752 As the Germans began to pull out, 612 00:52:11,837 --> 00:52:16,298 the Resistance forces emerged into the open to take revenge. 613 00:52:22,472 --> 00:52:27,059 Remembering the oppression, indignities, humiliations, 614 00:52:27,185 --> 00:52:30,521 Parisians gave vent to long-stored hatred. 615 00:52:35,986 --> 00:52:39,947 ln 1940 they had seen Paris fall without a shot. 616 00:52:40,031 --> 00:52:41,282 Now they made up for it 617 00:52:41,366 --> 00:52:45,828 in a burst of violence not seen in Paris throughout the war. 618 00:52:46,872 --> 00:52:48,998 Parisians had one thought - 619 00:52:49,082 --> 00:52:54,003 reprisal against the enemy, the settlement of old scores. 620 00:53:05,932 --> 00:53:08,851 Morning had come.