June the 6th, 1944 a gray day breaks over the Channel revealing an awe-inspiring sight... Never had such an armada been seen in the history of mankind. On board 7000 vessels, 130,000 men cross the stretch of sea, with air cover from 20,000 planes. At dawn, after a hail of fire, the men would land on the coast of France. 20,000 of them would also arrive by air. 10,500 allied soldiers would be lost on that day... and almost as many Germans. Eleven weeks later, Paris would be
liberated and the road to Berlin opened wide. This film will tell from the viewpoint of both Allies and Germans. This epic tale, from its planning in Britain
launched in January 44 until its outcome in the summer. With the US generals Dwight Eisenhower... Omar Bradley... British field-marshal Bernard Montgomery... British prime minister Winston Churchill... German field-marshal Erwin Rommel... and all the anonymous heroes who took
part in the landings... Not to mention men like Sergeant Grant who risked their lives filming it. They all participated in this staggering
event which, contrary to legend, was no victory march. December 1st 1943: the Teheran Conference. Three heads of state had just made a key decision. The satisfied-looking Joseph Stalin,
supreme leader of the Soviet Union and its armies, at the top of the steps... Lower down, the concerned-looking British prime minister Winston Churchill... For two years, Stalin, Churchill and US President Roosevelt had been struggling to reach an agreement on the date of an invasion in Western Europe. The outcome of the war and the world would depend on it. The moment his country entered into
war with Germany in June 1941, the Soviet leader had been demanding
he establishing of a second front in the West to relieve the pressure on his troops, alone against Hitler in the East. Meanwhile, influenced by Churchill who
feared attacking Germany head-on, the Anglo-Americans had vainly hoped to
weaken the Axis by passing through North Africa... in order to invade Southern Europe via Italy. But they were stopped short near Naples and were unable to advance any closer to Germany. For a long time, Roosevelt was hesitant. He didn't think his country was ready enough for such a huge operation. But he now wanted to put an end to the Third Reich as soon as possible and to do so in the West... He also hoped to cooperate with the Soviets after the victory. Churchill could only resign himself to it. Since the United States had entered the war in 1941, Hitler had feared an invasion of the German-occupied west coasts of Europe. In 1942, he began planning a gigantic task: the construction of the Atlantic Wall
a continuous line of fortifications running almost 4000 miles from northern Norway to the Spanish border... ...despite the fact that most Germans
believed the Allies would try to land in the Calais region, only 25 miles from the British coast. The German authorities therefore
equisitioned thousands of men free laborers, Frenchmen in the Compulsory Work Service, refugees, Jews and prisoners of war to carry out this outrageous project which would require thirteen million tons of concrete. As 1943 drew to a close, "Fortress Europe"
seemed to be firmly in German hands. On January 15th 1944, having been hand-picked by Roosevelt to lead the landings, Ike Eisenhower arrived in London to plan Operation Overlord. In effect the stage is being set for the beginning of the great and crucial test all over the world. I am completely confident that the soldiers sailors and airmen and all the civil populations of the united nations will demonstrate once and for all that an aroused democracy is the most
formidable fighting machine that can be devised. A few days later, Eisenhower introduced
his team to the press... As an American Supreme Commander,
his second needed to be British. He therefore appointed, as commander of
Allied ground forces, General Montgomery, alias "Monty", hero of the Desert Campaign in North Africa, against Rommel and much loved by his compatriots. The military leaders had their plan, but it had to remain top-secret... So best pose in front of an illegible faded map... As always, Monty tries to grab the limelight as he pays more attention to the cameras than to his colleagues' phony gesturing. In truth, despite all this tomfoolery, the leaders had already chosen France
for the landings, but Normandy rather than the Calais region. Because although the Normandy beaches were farther from Britain, they were less well-defended. The invasion was planned for Spring
between Ouistreham and Carentan at the foot of the Cotentin Peninsula. But Montgomery wanted to widen the frontline to Caen so as not to get stuck in a small perimeter along the beaches... He also wanted to extend the front
farther west to get closer to the deepwater port of Cherbourg, which the Allies would need to seize in order to ensure the logistics of a huge army. Secrecy was paramount if they were to succeed
the Germans needed to be kept totally in the dark about the Allies' plan. Early in 1944, they were still unsure of
where exactly the landings would take place. Another reason to start spinning the big wheels of propaganda... Eisenhower's arrival in London had
nevertheless confirmed Hitler's fears of an invasion in the West... In 1942, he had appointed on of his most
brilliant Generals, the popular Erwin Rommel, to the rank of field-marshal. After commanding the Afrika Korps, the so-called "Desert Fox" had thwarted the
British time and time again. So it was only natural for the Fuehrer to
entrust this energetic soldier with reinforcing the defenses of Fortress Europe. By early 1944, Rommel was in France. With the Nazi air force stationed in
Germany to counter Allied bombing raids, he was unable to use it in Normandy. So the theater of war would be the land
and the beaches which he considered badly defended. Rommel wanted to fill in the gaps
between fortified towns with a continuous line of defense. He also asked for the coast to be more heavily mined. But one mine is a mere drop in the ocean... When you consider that from Calais to lower Brittany, France has 750 miles coastline. Rommel's new energy was little cause for
concern for Eisenhower, Because for months the British and Americans had been building artificial ports, which meant not having to
immediately capture a real port, while having the flexibility to be able choose their point of attack. The Allies were not put off by this titanic task. These huge concrete caissons called "Phoenixes" would one day be towed to off the Normandy coast where they would be sunk to form the first breakwaters... ...As would these floating docks, where tons of material and thousands of men would be unloaded, once moored to immense
steel pontoons providing access to the beaches whatever the level of the tide. A gigantic life-sized construction toy devised in the ports of Britain. In Britain, training exercises continued... British and Americans used all available
means, even though once again it was all for the cameras... Synchronized swimming and pyrotechnics were the order of the day... Material and equipment was also tested:
anti-mine tanks to clear the beaches... matting to cross sand more easily... ...gymkhanas on wavy artificial roads to get used to these new jeeps from America... ...Not to mention these new "Churchill Crocodiles", flame-throwing tanks which would reduce to ashes anything that had been missed during bombing raids. The Allies had already lost several hundred men in exercises in Britain. So why choose such an extreme site in deepest Cornwall... ...despite the British 4th Commando Brigade being a battle-hardened unit? ...Because every type of topographical scenario had to be envisaged. It's a well-known fact that the
Americans never go into battle if the balance of power isn't in their favor. Hailing from Utah, Kansas, Ohio, Kentucky... How many of these young men had any idea of where Britain and France were on the map? How many of them suspected what lay in
store on the beaches of Normandy? In February 44,
over 800,000 US servicemen were already in Britain, with more and more set to arrive. Straight away, a taste of home offered by British servicewomen: The inevitable donut. A first sign of sweetness, but maybe more if things should heat up! America continued to bring across its material, like its Sherman tanks, designed to match the fearsome Panzers of the German Army... While pub-goers in small, gray towns of
England discovered these new P38 bombers, whose flying-range outclassed
that of British planes. It wasn't always easy to make way for
new these arrivals who had to be housed somewhere, even if it meant moving out entire
families as tearful children looked on. stereotypes were strengthened between
the "poor old British bloke" and his "spoiled cousin" from America,
notably because his rations were far superior to anything his British host had to eat. But good relations were nonetheless established. Like here in the seaside resort of Blackpool, where US servicemen took their R&R
much to the delight of the local gals... And probably to the dismay of their
absent husbands off fighting the war. Never in the history of His Majesty's
realm had there been so many divorces and illegitimate children born as during
that period. But wartime is wartime, and long live British girls...! Bratonization was the order of the day
and it certainly looks as if everything was going according to plan man [Music] But there was more than jiving to win hearts.
General Eisenhower had always respected his allies. In March, he visited the prestigious military academy of Sandhurst,
where young Winston Churchill had studied and where Ike was firmly intent
on telling the young cadets what would be expected of them... You young men have this war to win
it is up to you men to give your units
whether it is a tank crew a platoon or becomes a company
leadership every hour of the day every day of the week
you must know every single one of your men it is not enough
that you are the best soldier in that unit that you are the strongest the toughest
the most durable the best equipped technically
you must be their leader their father their mentor
then you will be doing your duty and you will be worthy of the traditions
of this great school and of your great country These young Brits were all in their
early 20s as Ike addressed them with his habitual human touch,
knowing that some of them would soon lose their lives, fighting for a country
that had spent the past four years proudly resisting the Nazis. In that same month of March, as D-Day
approached, it was Churchill's turn to attend a life-sized training exercise
of a US paratrooper unit in the presence of Ike himself. British newsreel producers also decided
to go the whole hog with onboard cameras... If it weren't for the cigar, you'd think this was the real thing! And the guy with the cigar even has his own camera...
and a smile to boot! A number of filmmakers would later use
footage of this training exercise to represent the first US paratroop
landings in Normandy, never filmed in reality... But more importantly, Churchill was now
totally behind Operation Overlord, despite his initial reticence. While the Allies were united and grouped in Britain,
Hitler was far from operations in his Eastern HQ close to
the Soviet front. Worse still, he continued to divide to rule... In the West, he split German command
between Marshal Von Rundstedt, chief of the Western Front, and Marshal Rommel,
chief of coastal defense. But the two men disagreed.
Von Rundstedt wanted to keep his armored divisions inland, so they could converge
on precise zones after the Allies had landed. Rommel believed that British and
American aviation would paralyze German troop movements. He therefore wanted to bring the armored
divisions as close as possible coast to confront the enemy as they were landing.
But his wishes were rejected. He therefore focused on protecting the
beaches and installing anti-tank obstacles. He also installed anti-landing-craft
barrages and chevaux-de-frise built from old railroad tracks, make any advance almost impossible. He even altered the terrain, to impede
the landings and movements of paratroopers. When possible, the Germans intentionally
flooded land just inside the coast. Devon in south-west England...
The American infantry is training for a beach landing, at the foot of a cliff
where the enemy might be stationed. The first thing to do:
establish a beachhead beneath a cliff-face to set up a radio link for those
following assault wave Dig in to create shelter.
But to save your skin from enemy fire, young soldier, you'll need to show a little more enthusiasm. And wait for the right moment to collect
your equipment and attend to the wounded. And if, on D-Day, it's impossible to dig in on the pebble beach?
And if a low tide were to mean staying under cover, unable to reach the wounded?
Like on the future Omaha Beach, so similar to this one in Devon,
but where the Americans would lose 3000 men. The reason this beach so closely
resembles the one the GIs would land on is because the Allies Knew exactly what to expect. For weeks, often helped by the French Resistance
faced with severe repression, the Allies had had access to thousands
of photos of the German defenses. Whether protected or not, the entire Channel coast had been studied with a fine toothcomb. Everything had been spotted and noted... All intel, collected and analyzed,
was integrated in to the Allied plan of attack still, of course, top secret. Except, perhaps, for the tons
of information made available to the Germans... or rather "disinformation". For months, the Allies had been
spoon-feeding the enemy with false information to lure them to the landing sites,
notably in the Calais region. Over in Britain, the ploy continued with
the installation of phony airfields just across from the Calais coastline,
where fields of inflatable airplanes sprang up... While elsewhere in the south of England,
where the majority of troops were assembled, supplies, arms and munitions
were kept well camouflaged. But by the month of May, it was no longer
possible to conceal the enormity of the means being deployed. Hundreds of thousands of men were now
grouped in various camps, to bring them closer to their embarkation points and
to isolate them from locals, in order to avoid leaks.
Back come on out back out back But officers, concerned about keeping up
the morale of their troops, went easy on the usual disciplinary requirements.
At this RAF squadron, for example, they decided not to clip the wings of its
pilots before they would fly off to crush the German eagle in the heart of
the Normandy countryside. Amongst all these men and forever unseen,
of course – were those who filmed the events, those we never see:
students of the British Army Film School and all volunteers, entrusted
with capturing the preparations for posterity. The youngest amongst them:
20-year-old Desmond O'Neill. He was intent on covering D-Day...
Like his colleagues, he had been made a Sergeant, the ideal rank to stay close to the men...
"My camera was welcome. It distracted them," he would later say. On May 27th, his fellow soldiers were
introduced to a new currency: the French francs printed by the Allies,
much to the anger of General Charles de Gaulle. He saw it as a breach of French sovereignty,
since only France should be allowed to print or mint its money.
But for the moment, he was kept out of the loop and had little idea of what was being planned. "These men knew they had a good chance of being killed...
And that created a strange mood," O'Neill would remark. Another army cameraman was 27-year-old
Sergeant Ian Grant. Always wearing his Scottish beret,
he had chosen the film corps to escape from chores and to immortalize his brothers-in-arms. On May 31st, Grant filmed them
receiving the booklet informing them about the country they would soon be invading. "It was in that camp that we first found out our target was Normandy,"
he would later say. He also filmed the few extra rations
being handed out to the men as they were readying to face the worst. For it was now a matter of days... On June 1st, Norman Clague,
a cameraman who sadly left us only his clapperboard, filmed the final instructions given to his company... He filmed from above, as if he were
already taking risks. But it was so as not to reveal
where his fellow soldiers would be landing. Even they had little idea where in
Normandy Ouistreham was. Everything was still top secret:
the reason they had been kept in "perfect isolation" for the past two weeks. From now on, the cards had been dealt for
Clague and his fellow cameramen as they headed to the ports and the start of their great adventure. The US Army was perfectly equipped.
With one and a half million men, there were more American servicemen in the
south of England than their British counterparts. In early June, hundreds of thousands of
men left their camps, before locals gathered to see off their new heroes. All were heading to their various
embarkation points: 19 ports on the south coast of England. While British troops embarked in the east,
American GIs embarked in the west. The next time they would leave these ships would be to land... The Canadians, under British command and
the third biggest Allied force, provided 21,000 men. The reversing of 20,000 vehicles into
the holds of the ships, so they could drive on to the beaches as quickly as possible,
was a remarkable task in itself. Not to mention the thousands of tons of
supplies that had to be transported over those first two days. To give every chance of success to his invasion plan,
Eisenhower had taken into account several parameters, notably the combination of a night with
a full moon – for maximum visibility – and a half-tide at dawn for the landings. In the month of June, only 5th,
6th or 7th would do. And to catch the enemy by surprise,
the earlier in the day the better. Ike decided the landings would
take place on June 5th. But in the days leading up to 5th,
the weather worsened... On June 4th, as the ships based in
the North of England were heading for the Channel, a storm broke. It forced Eisenhower to call back all
the ships which had already set sail. Operation Overlord was under threat,
as any movements carried out so far might have alerted the Germans. Day and night, Ike and his team stayed in
constant touch with the Weather Office. But the news wasn't good: the forecast
was poor for the next fortnight. That would spell disaster:
the men would need re-motivating and the full campaign shortened by two weeks. In the ports where Eisenhower had had to
delay the departure, the wait became unbearable, as landing craft circled and
circled like crocodiles in a waterhole. On that day, June 4th, Desmond O'Neill was
at work among his fellow Brits of the 3rd Division, in a wind that didn't
look like letting up. he made the following observations "We just sat there, on board, with nothing
to do other than eat or smoke. We didn't lack victuals.
I had 10 men's rations just for me! ... "A mood of bitter disappointment came over us.
We still didn't know where we were going, other than that we were about to cross the Channel... ... Later we were told we'd be landing at
"Lion-sur-Mer". It didn't mean a thing to any of us." The Canadians were known for their
devout Christianity. And maybe that made them pray so hard for
the help they would soon need. Never had religious services been
attended so keenly as on Sunday June 4th 1944 in all the ports of southern England. One two, one two, one two, one two the
The Americans, meanwhile, tried to keep busy, because they knew that nothing fatigued
the men as much as being idle, which would make them more vulnerable on the big day. On the evening of June 4th,
the weather forecast was a little less pessimistic. Calmer seas were predicted for the 5th and 6th. That night, in 30 minutes, Eisenhower took
a decision that would change the course of the world: the fleet would set sail on June 6th 1944. On June 5th the wheels of the huge
machine began turning. Allied planes attacked northern and
western France to prevent the German rearguard from reaching Normandy. Allied bombers were unparticular about their targets, striking Lower Normandy for three
full days and claiming almost 4000 German and civilian lives. The bombing raids led to heated
discussions between Eisenhower and Churchill who was concerned about the
"weight of hatred" they could cause amongst the French. To the surprise of the Allies, the French
Resistance replied: "This is war, we must accept people will die." On June 3rd in Algiers,
general de gaulle had transformed the "French Committee of National Liberation"
into the "Provisional Government of the French Republic". Until then, he had been kept silent;
the Allies had concealed everything from the French But as the liberation of France drew nearer,
, the British and Americans needed de Gaulle to ensure the full cooperation
of the people and the French Resistance. On June 4th, having been summoned by
Churchill, de Gaulle left for Britain, intent on speaking his mind.
He refused to let the Allies lay down the law. But despite the fact they refused to
entrust him with full power, the sensitive general agreed to back Overlord. On June 5th, at sea, diversion tactics
continued to be deployed... Dozens of small ships headed north of Le Havre, their funnels billowing out steam as
a smokescreen and to have the Germans believe a huge
fleet was crossing the Channel towards a a position far north of the targeted
Normandy beaches. General Eisenhower had always believed
that a leader's place was alongside his men, before and during battle. Late in the afternoon of June 5th,
at Greenham Common airfield, a few hours before they took off, he visited the US 101st Airborne Division. They would be amongst the first to reach French soil. Ike's smiling face masked his underlying tension.
All the more reason for paratroopers to put on a brave face and reassure their leader.
[ricostyle] That evening, Eisenhower stayed till the end,
till the last plane had taken off... A little farther away, not having their
leader there to cheer them on in person, the reconnaissance paratroopers came up with their own way to put on a "brave" face... Whether real Redskins, or just the white man's myth of the Native American warrior,
their scarlet war paint at least helped these 20-something Iroquois to get ready for action... Those without war paint, simply blackened their faces with charcoal black so as to be less visible... Other than their weapons and parachutes,
these men would be parachuting with radio transmitters to signal marked zones where the gliders could drop the majority of troopers. Three men needed to help onboard one paratrooper who had a 50% chance of survival and who knew it... That same night, Ike wrote a letter in
case the landings should end in disaster: proof of how the Allies were certain of nothing... "My decision to attack at this time and place was based on the best information available. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone." But for weeks, the Allies had been perfecting a well-established plan... During the night of June 5th to 6th, German coastal defenses were to be wiped out by bombs... Naval artillery would start firing at dawn from 45 miles offshore... The British and Canadians would take the right flank of the invasion. They were assigned three beaches: Sword, Juno and Gold, located between Ouistreham and Arromanches. The Americans would take the left flank, with Omaha and Utah beaches. The British would need to capture Caen as fast as possible. The city was an important communication hub through which the Germans could bring in reinforcements... It also opened onto a plain which would allow Allied armored divisions to spread out, and planes to land at temporary airfields. The Americans would have move up to Cherbourg, which they planned to capture within a week, so that hundreds of thousands of other men could land with all their material needed for the next stage in the offensive. On June 6th, from 3:15 in the morning, Allied planes started bombing German positions across every sector of the landings. At dawn, naval artillery took over in order to smash the Atlantic Wall. Omaha beach near the Cotentin was the first objective. The Americans would have to quickly establish a beachhead, then join up with their colleagues at Utah before heading towards Cherbourg together. Having arrived too soon or too late, many of the aerial bombardments missed their targets... Naval artillery didn't fare much better. The early hour of the landings, determined by the tide, didn't give it enough time to successfully carry out its pulverization of the Atlantic Wall. The main part of the attack fell to the
experienced GIs of the Big Red One. But attached to them was the 116th battalion, made up of young men who had never been in the line of fire. To keep out of the range of enemy fire the landing craft were released onto a
rough sea too far from the coast... The men were crammed in like pack animals. Robert Cappa the only photographer present that day said: "When the noise of the first shell hit our ears, we hit the deck and lay in the vomit, without watching the coast approach," Barely on the beach, the men were greeted by almost-intact German defenses. It was like a turkey-shoot. The wind brought in the tide earlier than forecast. The following waves of attack floundered on Rommel's sea defenses, forcing the men to leave their craft in deep water. Unable to advance, they grouped together in the center of the beach, reduced to sending the same terrifyingly precise message: "Nailed to the spot by enemy artillery." More like "crucified", as shown by these few remaining photos by Capa. The rest were accidentally destroyed. Strong currents swept the landing craft off course. Men drowned as the weight of their equipment dragged them down.
The sea turned red, and Omaha Beach would later be referred to as "Bloody Omaha". The US command considered calling off the offensive.
A desperate measure which would mean abandoning those who had already landed to their fate. There were already hundreds of dead and wounded
their sacrifice would have been in vain. Stopping the operation would open a huge breach in the Allied front,
just as the this gigantic war machine was moving up to full throttle. The morning of June 6th. Daybreak revealed an armada of 7000 vessels
approaching the Normandy coasts. As always, Ike wasn't far away. At 9:45 AM he spoke to the world via the BBC. I call upon all who love freedom to stand with us now. Keep your faith staunch our arms are resolute together we shall achieve victory Across a 45-mile front, there was practically one boat every 250 meters with air cover from 11,000 planes. All were painted with white stripes so that Allied artillery wouldn't mistakenly fire at them. Fortunately, not every sector along the coast resembled Omaha, especially since the Germans had been
taken in by Allied disinformation and still believed the main attack would come in the Calais region, and they were having trouble regrouping. And the "unbreakable" Atlantic Wall began to crumble... As did German anti-aircraft defenses, which became overrun... Allied aviation imperviously flew 10,000 sorties on that day. As the B26s were releasing their last bombs inland, the fighter planes entered into action. Not only were coastal defenses targeted... But airfields, too, in order to keep what remained of enemy planes on the ground. Communication hubs, roads, bridges,
railways were all systematically destroyed. the french resistance having completed The French Resistance, having completed its intel and sabotage missions, now went on the attack in an attempt to stop the Germans bring reinforcements to the front. The combined action of the Allied forces and the Resistance meant that German
troops summoned from Brittany and south of the Loire River had trouble advancing... Rommel who, from the outset, had wanted to position his men close to the beaches to counter an invasion, had been proved right. The British 3rd Infantry Division was heading for Sword. Its mission: to neutralize the defenses at Ouistreham and take Caen the same day. This unit, the Scotsmen of the 45th Commando of the Royal Marines, filmed by their compatriot Sergeant Ian Grant, were to land at Ouistreham He wrote: "This was the real thing. I filmed the gigantic fleet as best I could, as I was more or less at sea level. "We'd been given good rations and even seasickness pills... But with the diesel fumes, most men, even the strongest amongst us, got sick. "The sky was black with planes.
Some of them had been told to fly at low-altitude, so we could be told over the loudspeaker the specific types and tell them apart from enemy planes. "We told the men to ignore the cameras as much as possible. They were natural actors, deep in their thoughts, living their own experience... I wasn't afraid, because there was no fear on their faces. Just the desire to get out of that bloody boat that was making them seasick. "The closer we got to the beach, the more deafening the noise became "In the rush, a ramp broke. Everyone converged on the remaining gangplank... You just had to get off as best as you could, with the weight of your backpack pulling you down..." Grant and the others were spared the first assault. For them, the hard part was about to begin: joining up with the paratroopers who had been dropped behind enemy lines. Another cameraman was already on Sword Beach. The youngest among them, Sergeant O'Neill, had arrived 45 minutes before Grant. It was he who filmed the last moments of the battle. "In the thick of that gray smoke, everything seemed unreal. It wasn't a battle that you could imagine or see in a movie. "The exits from the beach were congested. It was nigh on impossible to get off. "I followed an infantry platoon which was trying to get out of there..." When suddenly... his camera jolts! He's been shot. He had just time to film a last few sequences before being repatriated for medical care. Farwell, young Sergeant O'Neill, and well done to all your comrades who captured Sword on that day at a cost of 600 dead and wounded, all lost in the mass of unknowns, most of whom were barely 20 years old. Germans who had been taken prisoner were rounded up on the beaches. A few miles away from Sword: Juno Beach in the Canadian sector. Their mission: to take Carpiquet, Caen airport. What were these young soldiers thinking after making the 5000-mile journey to land at Bernières, a small, unknown seaside resort in Normandy? This is film of the first wave of attack, the only one to be filmed during the landings, but by an automatic camera fixed to the bulwark... And yet, even the cold eye of a mechanical camera can't fail to capture a simple human gesture... Soon the very first French house would be liberated in Normandy... It would cost the lives of a hundred men, which Allied cameramen had been asked not to film. It was better to focus on the first German prisoners and the anger that one proud Frenchman showed towards them. The German surrender did nothing to mask the difficulties met by the men on Juno Beach, where a rough sea was causing problems for the landing of the second assault wave. A total of 300 young Canadians lost their lives. Their sacrifice wasn't in vain... With the beachhead established, their surviving colleagues began their advance inland towards Caen. And already the first reward, in the shape of these young Frenchwomen delighted at seeing their country being liberated by these men, many of whom spoke French, albeit with a funny accent! And yet at Allied HQ in Portsmouth, and despite British Admiral Ramsay smiling with pride at the part played by his fleet, General Eisenhower still seemed anxious. Since dawn he had been receiving message after message, some alarming, like those from Omaha; some encouraging, like those from Utah or in the British sector... from the look on ike's face you can tell the battle hasn't yet been won Because 6 hours after landing at Omaha, the boys were still stuck at the foot of the cliff. The Americans always do the best for their men, whatever extra back-up is required... Even the first assault waves were
accompanied by an experienced medical corps ready to take immediate care of the wounded... including the enemy. Never had first-aid been so needed as at Bloody Omaha where the dead lay alongside a handful of prisoners. 3000 Americans lost their lives on the deadly of the 5 beaches used for the landings. And yet, late in the day, with the sun out and after the first waves had managed to establish beachheads and advance inland, more troops began to arrive at Omaha. At last, it was possible to say that the landings had been a success... Now it was on to the next battle:
for Normandy and for France. General Montgomery arrived two days later... ...And he had cause for concern. Always wanting to have a crushing balance of power in his favor before taking action, he delayed deploying his armored divisions and was unable to take Caen, as he was supposed to have done on Day 1... Moreover, his troops, relieved at having been able to land without too much damage, seemed to have a lack of bite. Their cameramen embodied this in a way,
strolling around filming these first "funny Frenchmen"... asked to pose for the cause. And these ones seem more than happy to oblige. On this day, June 8th, Norman Clague,
the man with the clapperboard, filmed the first moments of appeasement, when German prisoners and wounded no longer had anything to fear from their enemies of yesterday. In five days' time, Clague would be killed by German fire. With him, compassion and morbidity would never be far apart... But this footage also illustrates how
the British slackened off the day after D-Day. A slackening of which the Germans would take full advantage. Although the German forces kept back,
from the front as Von Rundstedt's had ordered, were unable to reinforce their colleagues on the coasts, they now reacted... 2 armored divisions, including the famous 12th Panzer Hitlerjugend SS, counterattacked on June 7th, 8th and 9th, barring the road to Caen to the British and Canadians. The also set up their defenses outside the city. This made bombing raids on Caen ineffective... ...Although they did allow the German propaganda machine to show that its own soldiers were suffering the same fate as the city's inhabitants. The Germany Army maintained control of the city, while for the first refugees, they had to leave. The German counterattack also isolated
a number of allied paratrooper divisions. Often dropped at imprecise locations, they had been unable to link up with their comrades advancing inland from the sea. Many were captured,
but few seemed resigned to their fate. American airborne troops had lost over
half of its equipment and one in five men. All these men had paid dear for the honor
of being the first to tread on French soil... But their over-wide dispersion at
least managed to keep the Germans confused, making them believe that a far greater
number of men had been dropped than in reality. And now it was the turn of the 81st Airborne to be laid to rest... before their comrades-in-arms paid them a final tribute. On June 9th, the Americans captured the small town of Isigny, which was furiously bombarded to drive the Germans out for good. The German defense of Isigny had prevented Allied forces from Omaha from linking up with those from Utah and continuing together towards Cherbourg. But with Isigny taken, the Allied
front was reunited and stretched over 60 miles from Ouistreham to the beachhead in the Cotentin. But beyond the rubble, where were the inhabitants of Isigny looking? ...Perhaps farther off, towards the sea, where a French ship was finally crossing the Channel. With the Allies firmly established along the coasts, it was time to bring in General de Gaulle, leader of the provisional French government. Charles de Gaulle had never needed any help... And stepping onto French soil at Courseulles, after four years of exile... was no exception. The day before, Churchill, still distrustful of de Gaulle, had written to Montgomery: "I must inflict on you a visit from General Gaulle. I do not think you should greet him on the beach; it would be sufficient for him to arrive at your headquarters." De Gaulle only had one day to spend in France. For him, too, time was pressing.
Time to tell Montgomery what he wanted to hear and the British Field Marshal even let him hog the limelight. Monty also gave Norman Johnson, his own cameraman, the task of following de Gaulle,
possibly to keep an eye on him. Although used to working to his leader's whims,
Johnson also thought de Gaulle was a good story. "It was hard to follow him," he said.
"But luckily he was tall. He allays had the same serious expression on his face,
but he did create a good atmosphere. He always ignored the camera, or at least pretended to. In short, a star in the making..." In Bayeux, people everywhere were
delighted to finally see Frenchmen who weren't under the German yoke,
a sign of renewed sovereignty... Especially as de Gaulle was intent on
showing himself off with his own people and the men and women of the Resistance,
with no British or Americans present... before heading to the town hall where he installed his men, without referring to the Allies. He denied them any say in France's political choices and forced them to recognize his own power in the country. Although men had no need of ports to land, they now had need of artificial ports
to continue the battle and to provide logistics and supplies for the hundreds
of thousands of Allied soldiers. Every day, 150 to 200 ships unloaded some 7000 vehicles, 15,000 tons of supplies and thousands of men in the port of Arromanches on the British side and the port of Omaha on the American side. But soon, the weather worsened and once again threatened to compromise the operation. Normandy hadn't seen a storm like it in 40 years. Inside the anchorages, ships were tossed around like rag dolls. The wall of caissons was unable to withstand the cataclysm. Worse still, some of them broke away, letting the waves surge into the port. floating docks and gangplanks became
Floating docks and gangplanks became detached and were swept away like flotsam. The storm would last for a full 4 days,
interrupting the supply of victuals and reinforcements. On the morning of June 23rd,
clear skies revealed the sorry sight of hundreds
of ships and wrecks run aground along the beaches. Although British engineers quickly rebuilt
the port of Arromanches, the US port of Omaha remained out of commission. US troops had to capture the deepwater port
of Cherbourg as quickly as possible. Although surrounded, the city was still in German hands. Finally, on June 26th, US infantry entered the suburbs of Cherbourg... That same day, before a gathered press he clearly seemed not to appreciate, Lieutenant-General Von Schlieben,
the Commandant of the garrison, surrendered. Although this giant of a man politely wiped his feet before his victor, the young General Collins, he nonetheless baulked on his oath made to Hitler to "prefer death over the shame of surrender". And Schlieben even surrendered before his men... who didn't lay down their weapons until the following day. The Americans weren't always easy on prisoners,
which is somewhat understandable... Since D-Day, they had already lost 22,000 men. The average age of the prisoners – some old, some very young – showed the decline of the German Army in the West, while its younger,
battle-hardened troops were deployed in the East,
fighting the Red Army. 36,000 prisoners at Cherbourg: a huge number in terms of what cameras can capture, although they do often
take us by surprise and mark us forever... With Cherbourg taken, one of the last sections of the Atlantic Wall had come tumbling down. Unlike the faces of their men, those of the captured
officers maintained a degree of haughtiness. Or was it perhaps shame? After Cherbourg, Hitler decided to personally
oversee the German Army in the west. He removed Von Rundstedt,
who had suggested calling a truce,
and replaced him with the more obliging Field Marshal Von Kluge. Rommel, dismayed by the Fuehrer's hard-line policies,
knew that all he could do now was to delay the ultimate disaster. Meanwhile, Eisenhower was also worried... Yes, the Americans had taken Cherbourg, but Montgomery was yet to have captured Caen, the planned launch-pad for an attack on German lines. Installed inland, the German Army had
the advantage of space and the possibilities of supplies and reinforcements,
whereas the Allies remained
hemmed in along the Channel coast. The Americans had no choice but to pierce
the enemy front in the Cotentin. Not easy in a region of bocages where the hedgerows made defense easier To see without being seen: a big advantage for the enemy in a battle for which none of the American youngsters were prepared. In this huge checkerboard maze, a handful
of resilient combatants could stop an entire battalion. And when they did concede one of these square fields,
they simply had to come back around the sides. American tanks were obliged to stick to the roads, making them easy targets... ...Just as they were when they had to cross levees,
openly presenting their unarmored bellies to enemy fire. These bocage traps accounted for thousands of GI lives and resulted in a failed attempt to penetrate what became known as "this Goddamn country"! With the Americans in difficulty,
the British simply had to capture Caen. Montgomery finally decided to employ considerable means. He asked for back-up from the Royal Air Force... Over 2500 tons of bombs were dropped on the city. Some advance on Caen as others leave it. No point in even looking at each other: that's life... After two days of fierce combat, 115,000 British troops entered the east of the city, which was now three-quarters destroyed. On July 13th, Montgomery arrived in the city. It had taken him over a month to capture only part of Caen, a city he had hope to take in one day,
setting up the Allied push inland. Clearly, in the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king... although the inhabitants raised the flag Although the inhabitants raised the flag of the Cross of Lorraine,
much of the city was still in German hands. But that didn't prevent the British propaganda machine from having people believe that the inhabitants of the "City of a Thousand Steeples" and British troops were happy to drink a toast together. "Goodbye. Thanks again." ... "Don't mention it, the pleasure was all mine."... Was such intensive bombing and the 2000 deaths it caused, when the German defenses were placed outside the city, really necessary? The debate still rages today... Each man and woman reacted in their own way.
way who was this german playing the organ in a ruined Normandy church?
A madman? A filthy Jerry? A music lover? Or a lost soldier of Hitler now weighed down by his leader's excesses simply enjoying a moment's escape from this holocaust scenery. A few days later, it was the turn of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to land... He wanted to check in person the state of
operations ongoing in the Caen sector. But however much Montgomery played the good tour guide,
he only dominated his car, and not the Plain of Caen, which was still under German Army control. Ten days after the taking of the city, the British were yet to break through German lines. And Churchill's agitation wasn't about to change that. For Eisenhower, who had hoped for a breakthrough in this sector, it was a total failure, considering the huge means deployed. The Supreme Commander placed more and more trust in the discreet 3-star general Omar Bradley who had organized the landings
at Omaha and Utah, before taking Cherbourg. Eisenhower appreciated his calm, his clear-headedness and his effectiveness. Bradley thought the Americans could break through enemy lines in the Cotentin. The operation codeword: "Cobra",
like a snake that leans back then goes for the jugular! To help his men get out of bocage country, Bradley had planned to crush the German positions on the front line with precision bombing raids. Once the breach had been made, his troops
wood simultaneously advance on Brittany, the Seine and the Loire. On July 25th, Allied bombers attacked the road between Saint-Lô and Périers, where the two armies faced off. The famous armored division of General Lehr,
Field Marshal Rommel's second, was wiped out. American troops could finally the hell of bocages... ...and force the "breakout": It was the long-awaited breach in the
enemy's front line Moreover, seeing the numbers who surrendered, they made a good catch, even if many in the net were only small fry. In the bestiary that Normandy had become, tanks were now fitted with blades to cut down
hedgerows and cross the last miles of bocage. Even before July was out, once the breach had been achieved, American armored divisions had reached Coutances,
Avranches and Granville, the last port in Normandy before Brittany. In early August, the 2nd French Armored Division landed at Utah Beach. For months, years even, these Frenchmen had left everything behind to fight the Germans and Italians in North Africa.
Only this time, they were ready to be as victors on their beloved French soil. Leading them was General Leclerc, as thin as his cane, but valorous and upright. This aristocrat had all the attributes to have sided with Vichy, but he chose to follow de Gaulle as early as June 1940. And now he was landing as his homeland's liberator. His division was integrated into the American 3rd Army with which he would finally be able to take part in operations on French soil. General Bradley's HQ... Before the lens of American filmmaker George Stevens, Montgomery, as always aware of the camera, decorates a handful of Yankee soldiers... That's something he was good at... Under pressure from Eisenhower the
British Field Marshal had agreed to had agreed to leave the organization of the final battle to the Americans. For a successful outcome, Bradley was also counting on a certain General Patton. The man who wore a Colt-45 in his holster, was a go-getter. "At the first fart, they expect me to get them out of their ****," he was famously quoted as saying.
And just as well... At dawn, the Germans tried a last throw of the dice. From the Plain of Caen, they launched a counter-offensive on Mortain, hoping to drive the Allies back to the sea. The attack, planned in person by Hitler, was soon curbed by the rockets launched from allied Typhoons "This had no chance of success," Von Kluge would write before taking his own life. It would be the last German offensive in the West. Worse still for the Germans, at Mortain, Bradley had willfully allowed the enemy to make inroads into the Allied flank. Now they were trapped by the Americans to the south... ....and the British to the north. Bradley would finally be able to use the maneuver he had been planning for a long time: to catch the enemy in a pincer movement, between the British divisions advancing from the Plain of Caen and the US Armies in the south, trapping the retreating Germans between Argentan and Falaise. As soon as the German counter-offensive had been stopped short at Mortain, Patton and his divisions headed to Le Mans in the direction of Paris... But some of them suddenly turned off towards Argentan and made a wide sweeping movement that encircled the Germans. While in the north, the Anglo-Canadians formed the lynchpin between the Allies. The German Army was annihilated. Eisenhower later called the battlefield at Falaise as clearly the biggest bloodbath that any warzone had ever known. He added that only Dante could have been capable of describing it; but for hundreds of yards, without interruption, he stepped over dead and rotting flesh. between 5 to 6 thousand Germans were killed. From the look of those who were taken prisoner, it seems as though Ike wasn't exaggerating. It would take several days to evacuate the 30 to 40 thousand prisoners of war from Falaise.
For them, captivity was a victory: that of life over death. The German Army had mobilized a number of men in the countries it occupied. Not all of them were prepared to defend the Third Reich with their lives. The German Army was finished in Normandy.
With the Battle of Falaise won and the prisoners dispatched, Patton's armies crossed the Seine and the Loire. Eisenhower had now attained the two geographical limits established in Operation Overlord.
Now he wanted to move on to the next step: the push towards Germany itself. On August 19th, a blanket of smoke hung over Paris. On the ground, with news of the Allies' approach, the city had risen up. But it was the German Army itself which has decided to abandon the French capital. Seen from above, convoy after German convoy leaves Paris heading east,
without caring too much about any barricades in the way... Footage of a real-life event that lives long in the memory: five Germans in flames... It takes nothing away from the men and women who rose up against the occupier before the Allies' arrival and the dozens of them who died fighting the retreating German army. [w4tch tv] The next day, de Gaulle showed up at Eisenhower's HQ. Ike wanted to avoid turning Paris into another battlefield. He preferred to surround the capital, forcing the Germans to surrender, and to pick the city like a ripe fruit. But the eloquent French leader managed to persuade Eisenhower to enter the city in order to avoid a possible bloodbath, but also to quash the rise of Communist Resistance members.
Ike yielded, and Bradley accepted to detach Leclerc's 2nd Armored division, which had won renown at Falaise, so that it would be the first unit into Paris and would accept the German surrender. After several fierce battles south of the capital, the suburbs' sky turned blue, women wore red, and the men white shirts, forming to welcome Leclerc's boys at the gates of Paris. And now, in the city itself, it was time for jubilation to become intoxication! On that day, the gamble of the man who had appealed to French people back on June 18th 1940 had paid off. The miracle had happened: France, once crushed and humiliated, now stood shoulder to shoulder with the victors... And now for the victory parade down the Champs Elysée to reinforce the legend... But that's a very French story... our story ends the following day on a
Our story ends the following day on a less-magical Place de la Concorde... At the head of a country whose political future was still uncertain de Gaulle had asked Eisenhower to back his authority before the French people. Eisenhower happily obliged, as did General Bradley... But it was modesty alone that kept him in the background, as de Gaulle took center stage. Eisenhower was intent on holding a march-past of the US troops who would continue the fight against the Third Reich... The Americans astutely knew that in the post-war period, where the world would be politically divided, they needed France on their side in Europe. Our story has been high in color, but from original images often in black and white.
But in the end, whether color or black and white, each piece of footage has told s about the fate of all those men who took part in the Normandy landings, so many of them anonymous amongst the massed troops. Who were you, lost amongst your own; or you turning round? Whoever you are, we are eternally grateful to you. Thank you
