In all the hustle and bustle
of modern-day British life, particularly in the country's capital,
London, the term D-Day
has come to mean anything that is both imminent
and of extreme importance. Ask the majority of younger people
where the expression comes from, and they'll no doubt tell you
that it had something to do with World War II. However, ask one of the servicemen
or women or folk left behind in Britain to keep the home fires burning,
and they'll all tell you the same thing. D-Day, June 6th, 1944, marked the beginning
of the end of World War II when the French beaches of Normandy
were liberated from Nazi occupation by the Allied invasion force. To really appreciate and understand
the full implications of D-Day, it does need to be set in context. When armistice came
for the soldiers of World War I in 1918, it was hailed as the war to end all wars, but sadly, within just 20 years, the storm clouds
of another major global conflict were gathering. When Germany surrendered, the Treaty of Versailles
demanded such huge reparation to be paid as a war debt, forcing the German nation
to accept sole responsibility for the hostilities, the peace
was always going to be unanimity. A young Austrian
by the name of Adolf Hitler, had made something
of a reputation for himself fighting for the German army,
winning the Iron Cross for valor, but even at this early stage, there were rumors
that a medical examination had found him to be psychotic. Hitler's views were horribly anti-Semitic,
and he was not alone. With other like-minded ex-soldiers
he entered politics, offering the German nation,
by then facing economic disaster, a scapegoat for all of their troubles,
the Jews. The National Socialist
German Workers Party, better known as the Nazis,
with Hitler in control, steadily rose to power as the standard of living
for the German people collapsed with mass unemployment and starvation. Germany was banned from having
any military capability after World War I, but Hitler flouted
the Treaty of Versailles to build a huge army to which the unemployed were conscripted. With uniforms to wear and flags to wave, a sense of restored national pride
saw Hitler democratically voted into power with his newly-acquired
German citizenship. The rest of the world
looked on with growing concern as Hitler firstly seized
his homeland, Austria, in 1938, before targeting Czechoslovakia. The British Prime Minister,
Neville Chamberlain, averted war in 1938 by appeasing Hitler, but it was only a postponement
of what was sadly inevitable. By September 1939, the peace agreement
had been completely violated by Hitler as he'd taken Czechoslovakia and compounded matters
by marching into Poland. Great Britain and France
had promised to protect Poland, and when the deadline
for the Germans to leave had expired at 11:00 AM
on Sunday, the 3rd of September 1939, Britain and her allies
had to face the fact that this time they really were at war with Germany. The early part of the war
definitely went Hitler's way, as he occupied Denmark, Norway,
Belgium, Holland and even France. Left alone across the English Channel, the British acquired a new Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, who incited a wartime spirit
in the people of Britain that even Adolf Hitler couldn't destroy. At Dunkirk, the Allies were driven
out of France by the advancing Germans, leaving precious vehicles
and munitions behind them, lucky to escape with their lives. A remarkable response from the civilians
of the south coast of England saw a huge flotilla of tiny craft,
including yachts, fishing dinghies and even rowing boats, cross the channel to help bring back
the defeated, stranded soldiers. Miraculously,
over a third of a million men were rescued to fight another day, and in the months and years ahead,
they had a very important role to play. Through 1940 and '41, mainland Britain
took a considerable bashing from Hitler. As with the battle of Britain
and the blitz bombs every night, he first tried to invade the island nation
and then when that didn't work, crush it into submission by fear. With Winston Churchill running the country
neither ploy was successful. Although, with mainland Europe
occupied by the Nazis, life in Britain was far from comfortable. Then, in December 1941, America entered
the war alongside their British allies after the Japanese, who were part of an alliance
with Germany known as the Axis powers, bombed the US navy base at Pearl Harbor. The world was at war against Adolf Hitler,
and the battle raged on a global scale. Fighting in the Atlantic,
the Pacific, North Africa, Europe, and on the Russian front
continued through 1943. But as the new year of 1944
was wrung in by Big Ben, the tide that had seemed set fair
in Hitler's favor definitely started to turn. Everyone knew that an Allied invasion
into northern France was imminent, especially the Germans, but exactly where and when
it would come was a matter of conjecture. With the utmost precision, the south coast of England
was transformed into a training camp and an enormous embarkation point. Allied troops from all over the world, including the Americans, Canadians,
Australians and New Zealanders joined the British for a combined operation
led by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, which was code-named, Overlord. Keeping the D-Day landings
as they became known, secret, was a matter of the utmost importance. Because the element of surprise
would be crucial to the invading Allied armies. British counter-intelligence
really played its part, convincing the Germans
that the attack when it came, would be at the narrowest point
across the channel between Kent and Calais. In the build up to D-Day, whenever a reconnaissance flight
went over Normandy, two were sent over the Pas-de-Calais and all German eyes
were focused miles away from the beautiful beaches of Normandy that would all too soon
be awash with blood. Then, just weeks before the invasion plans
were about to be put into action, the British Secret Service
spotted a worrying run of answers in the Daily Telegraph crossword
that triggered a full-scale alert. Connected with the D-Day landings, there were a number of code words
which were supposed to be top secret. As already mentioned,
the whole operation was Overlord, but the various target landing beaches
also had code names, Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. Alarm bells started ringing,
firstly when the word Utah appeared, quickly followed by Omaha. It was certainly a strange coincidence. Then the word Overlord cropped up
and when Mulberry appeared, the code for the artificial harbors
that the Allies were planning to build at two of the landing beaches, British intelligence
became very concerned. To compound matters, on the 2nd of June,
the word Neptune appeared, which was the code
for the entire naval involvement in Operation Overlord. The compiler of the crosswords,
an English teacher, was paid a visit by MI5
much to his surprise and horror, as he had no idea what the words meant. The whole incident was certainly bizarre
and no explanation found, although there have been plenty
of conspiracy theories to surface since. When the date had been selected for D-Day, the state of the tide
was very carefully considered, and the choice of the month of June would offer the best possible chance
of reasonable weather, but the British are renowned
for being preoccupied with the weather and for very good reason. Quite unexpectedly in the run-up to D-Day,
the weather turned absolutely foul. Gale-force winds and storms, that would not have been
out of place in the middle of winter, lashed the south coast of England. It would, without doubt, make the invasion
much harder for the Allies, but it improved
the chances of a surprise attack. Field Marshal, Erwin Rommel, was the man charged with resisting
the expected Allied invasion and with his focus locked on Calais, he looked at the weather
in the first few days of June and decided that there would be
no invasion in such atrocious conditions. Rommel was so sure of this, he returned home to Germany
for his wife's birthday party. Not only was he looking
in the wrong place, he'd also underestimated
the steely resolve of the Allied commanders. An error of judgment
that would lead to the ultimate demise of Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. Getting word to the French resistance
that the D-Day landings were imminent was a tricky business. On the 1st and 5th of June,
the BBC broadcast: "The long sobs of the violins of autumn," and, "wound my heart
with a monotonous languor". The agreed messages
to herald the invasion. Evidently, this was not
such a well-kept secret as the chief of German intelligence
had been given a tip-off to this effect. When the strange words were heard,
the Germans dismissed it as preposterous that the British would send
such an important communication over the BBC airwaves. The planned date for D-Day
had been the 5th of June 1944, but the commander-in-chief
of the Allied expeditionary force, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, was forced to postpone
the operation by a day due to the appallingly
unseasonable weather. Things didn't look a great deal better
for the 6th of June either. With thousands of troops
already aboard ship, Eisenhower
had a very difficult decision to make. If the invasion
couldn't go ahead on the 6th, it would be at least another fortnight before the conditions stood any chance
of being right again for another attempt. Keeping the operation
secret for that long, with the south coast of England
in suspended animation, would be very difficult,
if not completely impossible. Eisenhower showed resolutely
why he had been made commander-in-chief, when he took the decision
to put Operation Overlord into action despite the stormy seas
that had to be crossed. The first skirmishes on D-Day, however,
involved aircraft rather than shipping. The designated American landing beaches
of Utah and Omaha were at the Cherbourg end
of the Normandy coastline, and to make way for the landing craft, the American 82nd
and the 101st Airborne Divisions flew on ahead to drop
paratroopers to support the attack. Sadly, many of the American airmen
were dropped miles off course, and because Rommel
had flooded any ground suitable for parachutists to land on,
a number of them were drowned. However,
the most famous parachute landing of D-Day was in the little French town
of Sainte-Mere-Eglise where Private John Steele
got caught on the church spire. Four hours he dangled,
pretending to be dead, but eventually, the Germans captured him. At the other end of the landing beaches,
close to Caen, the British 6th Airborne Division
made a daring landing in wooden Waco gliders, perfectly on target to take the strategically important
Pegasus Bridge. For the French, who'd suffered
the German occupation for so long, this was definitely
something to celebrate. As the British troops
secured Pegasus Bridge, the neighboring cafe
cracked open the champagne specially dug up from the garden
where it had been hidden from the Germans. The journey across the English Channel
was rather more uncomfortable for those aboard ship
than it had been for the airborne troops. To organize such a wide range of soldiers
to attack a diverse geographical objective had taken a great deal of planning, but as Winston Churchill so succinctly
put it to President Roosevelt: "The Normandy invasion
was much the greatest thing" "that they had ever attempted," and how right he was. There was no convenient port
for the Allied invasion force to target, although the Utah landing beach
was added almost as an afterthought, because of its close proximity
to Cherbourg. However, the necessity
for the large artificial harbors, code-named Mulberries,
was still of vital importance. One would be constructed
from Omaha Beach in the American sector, and the other
from Gold Beach in the British sector. Also, the large troop-carrying ships
could only get within a certain distance of the landing beaches. Therefore, it would be necessary
for the soldiers, tanks, and equipment to be put ashore on LCVPs, which stands
for Landing Craft, Vehicle and Personnel. Consequently, after a very rough crossing, the troops had to face climbing down
into landing craft on stormy seas to finish their journey
into enemy territory. For those who'd managed
to get across the channel this far without suffering nausea,
the LCVPs would not allow them to keep the contents
of their stomachs in place. Swamped by crashing waves
and tossed around like corks, some of the men
even had to use their helmets to help clear the water from the craft, with the most unlucky
needing to endure a ten-mile rumble from mothership to shore. The state of those who survived
the LCVPs was poor, to say the least, as they were soaked,
nauseous, and very disorientated. It was no way to face an old friend,
let alone a deadly enemy. However, if the Allied invasion force
was struggling with seasickness, their German counterparts
were equally as unsettled by the sight of a vast armada of battleships
unexpectedly coming towards them. When the news of the airborne attacks
had reached the German commanders, they delayed any action
because Hitler was sleeping and didn't appreciate being wakened. On this occasion no doubt, he would have preferred
to have been disturbed. Still, the Germans were convinced
that there was nothing to worry about because of the weather,
although as time ticked on and the invasion fleet came into view,
there was no denying the fact that they'd been taken by surprise. Vital hours had been lost,
and it was one of the few pieces of good fortune that
the cold, wet, seasick allied servicemen could take heart from. Despite the fact that D-Day veterans
are decreasing in number with every passing year,
there are a great many people who come to Normandy
to visit the landing beaches and the cemeteries
between Cherbourg and Caen. Some are relatives of those who took part
in this military operation, while others simply want to understand
what happened here. Whatever the reasons,
this is an amazing trail to follow. For the purposes of this program,
we'll start in the west at Utah Beach and head eastwards along
the coast to Sword Beach. As dawn broke over Utah Beach,
30,000 American troops and 3,500 vehicles were ready
and waiting to come ashore. After so much anticipation
and a terrible sea crossing, the invasion force was in for a surprise,
but this time, it was a pleasant one. An error in navigation
that brought them onto the beach almost a mile south of their target, and the sector of beach
in which they landed, was virtually undefended. The beach was flat, the sand dunes low,
and enemy gunfire was sporadic. A single German battalion
was taken completely by surprise and as a result,
Allied casualties, 197 men and 32 tanks, were far lower
than anybody had dared hope for. Not to be confused
with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the son of the former president,
Theodore Roosevelt, was actually in command at Utah. When he was informed
of the navigational error, he was philosophical, saying:
"We'll start the war from here." For the Americans who arrived
on Utah Beach that auspicious morning, it was indeed a very good place to start. Moving on down the Normandy coastline on route to the next landing beach
at Omaha, the hundred-meter cliff face
at Pointe du Hoc is a striking view. As D-Day dawned,
Allied intelligence believed that there was a huge German gun battery
at the summit of the cliff that could target Utah and Omaha beaches. An American Ranger battalion
was sent in to destroy the battery, but it was a daring
and dangerous enterprise. Two hundred and twenty-five
Rangers landed, but only 90 survived to tell the tale. The Germans had a terrific vantage point and defended
their stronghold to the last man. When eventually the Rangers
reached the top of the cliff, they realized they'd been fighting
for control of an empty crater. The big guns
had all been moved further inland, making the 60 percent casualty rate
for the mission a high price to pay. Yet for the Americans,
the worst carnage still awaited them, despite the fact that all seemed quiet as the landing craft
approached Omaha Beach. Allied intelligence
was again found lacking as it was believed that there would be
little German resistance to the advance with troops made up with conscripted
Russian and Polish prisoners of war. There was an elite German
Infantry Division in Normandy, the 352nd, but the Allies were convinced that they were at least
20 miles from Omaha. They could not have been more wrong
in their assessment of what the American soldiers would face, because the 352nd German Infantry Division
was ready and waiting on the clifftop above the beach. Of all the landing beaches, the terrain at Omaha
was the most difficult to cross with steep bluffs and cliffs which perfectly concealed
the defending German army. With the tactical skills
that would be expected of well-trained, experienced infantrymen, the Germans held their fire
as the soaking wet, seasick Allies put down the ramps of the landing craft,
making ready to scramble ashore. It was only then that the German guns
started to attack the stranded Americans that were quite literally sitting ducks. This account recorded by the
US War Department's Historical Division, gives a harrowing description of what happened on Omaha Beach
on that stormy June morning. "Within ten minutes
of the ramps being lowered," "A company had become inert, leaderless
and almost incapable of action." "Every officer and sergeant
had been killed or wounded." "It had become a struggle
for survival and rescue." "The men in the water
pushed wounded men ashore ahead of them," "and those who reached the sands
crawled back into the water," "pulling others to land
to save them from drowning." "In many cases, only to see
the rescued men wounded again "or to be hit themselves." "Within 20 minutes of striking the beach," "A company had ceased
to be an assault company" "and had become
a forlorn, little rescue party" "bent upon survival
and the saving of lives." Omaha was very important, because it linked
the US and British invasion beaches, but the cost of the landing was very high. The casualty rate
was in excess of 5,000 dead, missing, or wounded men, yet somehow, the survivors forged
their way inland to complete with honor the task they'd been entrusted with. As the Americans
were facing the full horror of German supremacy on Omaha, the 50th Division of the British 2nd Army
came face-to-face on Gold Beach with the inferior enemy troops
that had been expected at Omaha. However, resistance to the Allies
was fierce for a brief time, due in part to the fact
that the arrival of the Sherman tanks needed for the advance had been delayed. Unlike the Americans, the British
deployed heavy, armored vehicles to clear obstacles and mines, the Funnies and Flail tanks
being prime examples that were very effective indeed. The primary task
of the soldiers on Gold Beach was to seize the seaside town
of Arromanches, and push on inland towards Bayeux, while making contact
with the Americans from Omaha and the Canadians
on their eastern side, at Juno. By the end of D-Day, the 50th Division, after a shaky start and heavy casualties
in the opening moments, rallied extremely well and were at the outskirts
of Bayeux by nightfall. The individual heroism and bravery
displayed by the men to achieve this was above and beyond the call of duty. This citation for CSM Stanley Hollis
of the 6th Battalion, the Green Howards, who was awarded the Victoria Cross
for his actions on Gold Beach, eloquently sums up the mood of the day. "Wherever fighting was heaviest,
CSM Hollis appeared," "and in the course
of a magnificent day's work," "he displayed the utmost gallantry," "and on two separate occasions," "his courage and initiative
prevented the enemy" "from holding up
the advance at critical stages." "It was largely through his heroism
and resource" "that the company's objectives were gained
and casualties were not heavier," "and by his own bravery,
he saved the lives of many of his men." When it comes to archive footage
of the D-Day landings, some of the most widely seen pictures
were taken at Juno Beach, where the Canadian forces came ashore. Like their American counterparts at Omaha,
the Canadians faced a daunting task, also although there were no elite troops
in the vicinity, the firepower was considerable. In the first onslaught,
the casualties were heavy. Figures reaching up to 50 percent, but as the day wore on,
the Canadians made incredible progress. The 6th Canadian Armored Regiment
were in fact the only Allied forces to meet their D-Day objective, crossing the Caen to Bayeux highway
by the time darkness fell. There was little doubt for the Germans
that the invasion had come. Once the initial shock subsided,
the Nazi troops were quickly mobilized. The first counter-attack of D-Day
came from the 21st German Panzer Division inland between Juno
and to the next beach, Sword, and over the coming days,
they proved to be a considerable threat. The Canadians held out
against whatever the Germans threw at them as they advanced
through the French countryside. The distance between Juno and Sword
was relatively short, but conditions
were nevertheless very different. The landing area
on Sword was very concentrated and with a swift, incoming tide,
there was considerable overcrowding. In the bottleneck of men and machinery, the German artillery
were able to do significant damage. For the soldiers
disembarking from the landing craft, there was nowhere to go
but straight into the fray. If ever a morale boost was needed,
it was on Sword Beach that June morning. It came in the form of a Scottish piper who launched himself waist-deep
into the bloody waters, fully kilted,
as he bagpiped the men ashore to the strains of Highland Laddie. Once on the beach
and an obvious target for the Germans, the piper marched up and down Sword playing on until all of his comrades
were off the landing craft. One of the main objectives
of the soldiers who landed on Sword was to join up with the paratroopers
who'd liberated Pegasus Bridge. It's said that the same piper played
his rousing tunes all the way there. We can only hope that
there was still some hidden champagne left at the cafe at Pegasus Bridge
when he arrived. For the Allied commanders, D-Day,
despite the terrible weather conditions, had proved an overall success. Eisenhower's brave decision
to give the go-ahead had been vindicated, and Winston Churchill
had probably never been more pleased to be proved wrong
when the casualty figure came in, at half what he'd predicted. Eisenhower
didn't have an easy relationship with either Prime Minister Churchill, or the British commander
for Operation Overlord, Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery. Monty was fully occupied with the troops
coming off the beaches in the British sector targeting Caen, but Churchill had wanted to actually sail
with the D-Day invasion fleet. As commander-in-chief,
Eisenhower had the unenviable task of telling Churchill that he couldn't go, because losing Churchill
would've given the Germans a great prize, but Eisenhower
was not prepared to take the risk, particularly as Winston
was approaching his 70th birthday. Stubborn to the core,
Churchill refused to be put off, and it took all the authority
and diplomatic skill of King George VI rather than Eisenhower, to stop him. However, what was definitely required
at this crucial time was strong leaders who were not afraid to stand up
for what they believed in. Understandably,
there were going to be tensions between the various Allied commanders. After all, they would not be the right men
to be doing the job if they were easily swayed. Despite the personality clashes,
of which there were plenty, everybody shared the same objective. The world needed to be set free
from the tyranny of Adolf Hitler and the Axis powers, and the early indications
from D-Day suggested that victory was now within the Allies' grasp. As the D-Day invasion
developed into the battle for Normandy, the Allies systematically set
about achieving their objectives. With the beachhead established,
the two artificial Mulberry harbors were towed across the English Channel and constructed
at Arromanches on Gold Beach and at Omaha
to provide the Allies with ports until Cherbourg could be liberated. The remains of the Mulberry
at Arromanches, affectionately nicknamed Port Winston in honor of Britain's
much loved Prime Minister, can still be seen to this day, but the one at Omaha did not fare so well. But it wasn't the German army
responsible for its destruction. Thirteen days after D-Day,
the weather dealt the Allies another blow when gale-force winds
smashed the Omaha Mulberry to smithereens. Montgomery had optimistically set
the British soldiers who landed on Sword Beach
the task of reaching Caen by the end of D-Day,
but it proved to be too tall an order. Consequently,
it became a major objective to take Caen, and Montgomery consistently attacked
between D-Day and July the 1st. Caen fell to the Allies
on the 7th of July, just over a month later than expected, and the push towards the liberation
of France was back on track. To the west, the soldiers
that had fought their way off the beaches at Utah and Omaha had a relentless task, making their way
through the French countryside, which was littered with ancient banks
and incredibly thick hedgerows. Impervious even to tanks, the landscape stalled
the progress of the American infantry, and as it also provided perfect cover
from which the Germans could attack, there were further casualties. Cherbourg was eventually surrendered
to the Allies on the 26th of June 1944. It was yet another unpleasant surprise
for Adolf Hitler, as he'd been convinced
that his garrison in Cherbourg would hold firm against all comers. Hitler had again miscalculated,
and with Cherbourg under Allied control, the days of the Nazi occupation in France
were well and truly numbered. The breakout from the Normandy beaches
to liberate the French interior was at times slow and very hard-fought. By the middle of August,
the bulk of the German resistance in the region had been eliminated. The beautiful city of Paris
that had been subjected to Nazi rule for four long years,
was now in the Allies' sights, and the people of France
waited anxiously for its liberation. The situation in France
was far from straightforward because as Hitler asked:
"Is Paris burning?", Eisenhower planned to bypass the city. But the leader of the free French,
Charles de Gaulle, could not accept this, and threatened to withdraw
from the Allied cause altogether and dash for Paris himself, which was enough to make
Eisenhower listen to what he had to say. De Gaulle knew
the state of his capital city and convinced the Allied commander
that Paris could be taken with ease. On the 25th of August,
the fight for Paris was over and De Gaulle addressed the world: "Paris outraged, Paris broken,
Paris martyred, but Paris liberated." The liberation of Paris
was a great achievement, but for the French resistance, who'd fought so hard
to undermine the German occupation, it was the very least the Allies could do. The secret nature
of the work of the resistance means that
there are countless unsung heroes who played their part
in the D-Day landings, sabotaging German operations
throughout France. Fighting as proudly as the soldiers,
sailors, and airmen who gave their lives to secure the Normandy beaches,
we'll never know exactly how many members of the French Resistance
made their ultimate sacrifice to make the defeat
of Adolf Hitler possible. While Operation Overlord and the subsequent Allied advance
towards Germany and Berlin gave Adolf Hitler problems from the west, the eastern front and the Russians
were also making life very difficult for the German army. Warsaw, the capital of Poland, which had been so fundamental
in bringing Britain and France into the conflict
with Hitler back in 1939, was wrestled from German control as 350,000 Nazi soldiers
were killed, wounded, or captured. The Soviet Army marched ever westward as the Allies battled
their way towards Berlin. Yet for the people of Britain,
and Londoners in particular who'd suffered and survived the blitz, the German bombers continued
to wreak havoc with V1 and V2 rockets. A retaliatory Allied bombing raid
on Dresden caused equal devastation and took many innocent German lives. Sadly, there were still casualties
on both sides as the end of the war came into sight, a very bitter irony after more than five long years
of world war. On the 21st of April 1945, the Russians reached
the German capital, Berlin, quickly followed
by the Allies from the west. For Adolf Hitler, the war was lost, and after causing
so much anguish, pain and suffering, rather than face the consequences
of his actions, he committed suicide. The Nazi hierarchy
fell like a house of cards, and Germany surrendered unconditionally
on the 7th of May. The victory in Europe was won and the celebrations
began the very next day, known to the world as V-E Day. In London, the people filled the streets and the royal family, joined
by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, came onto the balcony at Buckingham Palace
to greet the grateful nation. Throughout the country,
in towns and villages, people joined together for street parties as children who hadn't even been born
when the conflict started, celebrated, along with the elderly folk, who never expected to live
long enough to see peace in their time. However, there was one
very distinguished, elder statesman who didn't get to see V-E Day, even though he'd been instrumental
in bringing it about. President Franklin D. Roosevelt
had been ailing for some time. He died in April 1945,
leaving new President Harry S. Truman to conclude the war in the Pacific. Unfortunately, the Japanese
were determined to fight on and were in no mood to talk peace
despite the end of the war in Europe. Consequently, Truman
was faced with an appalling dilemma. He could either mount
a full scale invasion of Japan, which would result
in massive Allied casualties, or he could use the atomic bomb, which would decisively finish the war, but devastate thousands
of innocent Japanese lives. Truman opted
for the latter of the two evils. On the 6th of August 1945, the first atomic bomb was dropped
on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, a second atomic bomb
was dropped on Nagasaki, and on the 14th of August,
the Japanese surrendered. The Americans celebrated V-J,
Victory over Japan Day, and the world could rest a little easier
as the biggest conflict in history was officially over. For many people
with an interest in World War II, the events of D-Day, the 6th of June 1944, were some of the most significant
in the eventual outcome of the war. As this program draws to a close,
we'll review the key points of the Normandy invasion
that could have so easily turned the fates against the Allies
rather than in their favor. Intelligence
and counter-intelligence was critical. Although the Allies had the edge,
it was a very close run thing. Convincing the Germans
that the attack was coming from Dover into Pas-de-Calais was vital, and the efforts
made to achieve this were meticulous. Even the Hollywood film industry
played its part as technicians were drafted in
to create dummy army camps in the Dover area. Also, as the troops
got ready for embarkation, the southwest coast of England
was virtually shut off and only military traffic was allowed. Nobody else was permitted to move. Civilians were evacuated from the area, and to this day,
there are a number of villages that were never restored. A very unfortunate incident
that remained top secret throughout the conflict
happened at Slapton Sands along England's south coast. American troops were practicing
for the Normandy landings when they were spotted by a German U-boat. Many American servicemen
lost their lives in the ensuing attack, and the Germans
were convinced that they'd wiped out a major part of the Allied invasion force. This all helped when it came to D-Day,
keeping the element of surprise on the side of the invading Allied army. When you mention D-Day and the assault
on German-occupied Normandy, the first thoughts that spring to mind
are of the landing craft and the naval bombardment of the beaches. Yet the contribution of the RAF
to Operation Overlord was crucial. Here you see
a lovingly restored, classic Spitfire. Just watching
this beautiful plane in flight, it's easy to understand
why it was such a favorite with both pilots and the British public. One of the best places
to experience the aircraft of World War II is an aviation heritage center,
such as this wonderful museum at East Kirkby in Lincolnshire. There's another treat in store. Although sadly,
this grand Lancaster bomber doesn't fly anymore, she does at least make very welcome
public appearances to taxi the runway. Just Jane has been painstakingly restored
by Fred and Harold Panton, much to the delight
of locals and visitors alike. The roar of Just Jane's Merlin engines
will bring memories flooding back for those that entrusted their lives
to these aircraft back in World War II, whilst giving younger guests
a real taste of the past. Both the Spitfires
and the Lancaster bombers played a dramatic role in D-Day. It was imperative
that not one German aircraft flew over the invasion fleet
that stormy night and into the early hours of June the 6th. Nimble and fast in the air, the Spitfires
intercepted any Luftwaffe in the area, and remarkably,
the battleships and landing craft crossed the channel undetected. Meanwhile, the Lancaster bombers
had the daunting task of destroying the German gun emplacements
both along the coast and inland. Watching Just Jane going through her paces
here on this quiet Lincolnshire airfield, a quick detour to France, and the Longues battery
on the outskirts of Bayeux will show precisely
what the Lancaster bombers had to face. The pilots and the air crew
rose to the challenge, and the airmen,
the often unsung heroes of D-Day, served King and country
above and beyond the call of duty, as they did throughout the entire war. Looking back
with the benefit of hindsight, it truly is miraculous
that the D-Day invasion was a success for the Allies. So much could have gone wrong, with the weather conditions
being so terrible, it could be argued that much did. The complex relationships
between the Allied commanders and key personnel were far from easy. Eisenhower as an American,
had the unenviable task of controlling both Winston Churchill
and Field Marshal Montgomery, whilst bringing out their best qualities. However,
it literally was a do-or-die situation and as you would expect
of such truly great statesmen, all differences were put aside
and everybody focused on the task ahead, namely ridding the world
of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi threat. When the Americans
landed off course on Utah Beach, they adapted to the circumstances. At Pointe du Hoc,
the Rangers faced a sheer cliff face but fought onwards and upwards. The brave young men on Omaha
came under horrendous enemy fire, but despite terrible losses
fulfilled the task they'd been allocated. The British glider pilots
found their targets in pitch darkness, and the Canadian soldiers
on Juno Beach refused to be halted or even slowed down
by a bombardment of enemy fire. Against all the odds,
those who dared, won, and it's an achievement
that the free world will never forget. Throughout this program,
we've been watching archive footage shot on D-Day. The men who have fallen before your eyes
never returned from France giving their lives
as the ultimate sacrifice. For the many people
who make the pilgrimage to the Normandy beaches,
the cemeteries along the coast are the most poignant memorials
to the D-Day landings. The German cemetery
at La Cambe is darkly moving, and when you see how many
of the conscripted soldiers were boys of just 15 or 16, you realize what an international tragedy
this really was. By stark contrast,
the final images you'll see today come from the American cemetery,
high on the cliffs above Omaha Beach. As the flags flutter
in the gentle French breeze and the white headstones
stand proudly to attention, the legacy of D-Day
lives on for all to see. When years earlier, Winston Churchill
uttered the immortal words, "We shall fight them on the beaches," he could never have known
quite what a challenge this would prove to be on D-Day, but his resolute cry of:
"We shall never surrender," summed up the battle strategy. The successful conclusion
of Operation Overlord did mark the beginning
of the end of World War II and the Normandy invasion
built slowly but surely upon the advances made on D-Day. For as long as the story
of D-Day and the brave souls who gave their all
to save the world from tyranny continues to be told, their sacrifice
will not have been in vain. Even in the 21st century,
this shining example of courage in the face of adversity
is a lesson to each and every one of us. The last post will sound,
but the memory of D-Day and all it represents will never dim. Rest in peace, comrades in arms,
rest in peace.
