- [Narrator] June 6th, 1944, a date that has become forever ingrained in the minds of the Western world. As the day freedom began the long march toward the defeat of tyranny. Between 1939 and 1941, the forces of Adolf Hitler's Nazi, Germany blazed a path of destruction,
oppression, and murder across the map of Europe and beyond. And it seemed Hitler's ambition
could never be satisfied. The world was his goal, death his tool. Only a badly beaten and
desperately holding on Britain, managed to stem the wounds long enough to guarantee that all of Europe wouldn't be draped in the swastika. And yet within just three
years, Britain, Canada, the United States, and
many other Allied nations would amalgamate into a single force. And in one swift move drive a dagger into the side of Hitler's dreams of total European supremacy. That dagger was driven in
on the beaches of Normandy, June, 1944, and then
twisted into a lethal wound that would never close. This is the story of Operation Overlord, the story of D-Day. Welcome to Wars of the World. (dramatic music) On December 7th, 1941 Germany's ally Japan attacked the United States in the Pacific. In support of this Asian ally and in defiance of his generals, Hitler declared war on the United States on December 11th of that year. The vast industrial and agricultural base of the United States to say
nothing of the immense manpower that could now be pitted against Hitler, gave the Allied powers a new
and wide array of possibilities in defeating the Nazi tyranny in Europe. The only question was how. Both Stalin and Moscow, and
many American military leaders pushed for a second front to
be opened as soon as possible, most likely summer 1942. But Churchill and Roosevelt
were far more cautious. British Commonwealth
Forces were still locked in bitter combat with the
German and Italian forces in North Africa, a campaign that may have to
be abandoned or downscaled to support a direct
invasion of Western Europe. There was also the concern
that little preparation work would have been made
ahead of such an invasion, such as building up the supply chain, gathering intelligence on German defenses, the training of an invasion
force for the task at hand, the weakening of German defenses in the buildups of the invasion and the disruption to the
great German war machine through a sustained air campaign. As such to Stalin's dismay, he was told that the
invasion of Western Europe was to be postponed until 1943. However, Churchill had a promise to keep, a deal had been made with Stalin, the troops would be
landed in Europe in 1942. And so Churchill authorized
a large scale raid on the French town of Dieppe to take place in August of 1942. While nowhere near the scale
of a full-blown invasion, the raid was intended
to remind the Germans that the Western Front had not ended and would hopefully draw German troops away from the Soviet Front, where at this time they were
still advancing towards Moscow. Conducted primarily by Canadian troops, the move would prove a disaster. Dubbed Operation Jubilee, the 10,500 strong force was put ashore with instructions to
capture the nearby port, demolish German defenses, and acquire as much intelligence on German operations as
possible before withdrawing. Yet despite landing
tanks and with heavy air and Naval support within just six hours of
the operation commencing the survivors were in full retreat. Nearly 1 1/2 thousand
Allied soldiers were killed and many more captured. Allied air forces suffered at the hands of a
skilled German air force. While the Royal Navy lost a destroyer, supporting the landings and
a number of landing craft. For those, with the gung-ho
attitude of let's just go, it was a sobering and
deeply painful lesson in just what storming
fortress Europe from the sea might cost if it all went wrong. However, dismissing the idea
of an invasion of Europe was of course, totally unthinkable. Meanwhile, in North Africa,
British Commonwealth Forces under the command of the
charismatic Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery had succeeded in stalling German Field
Marshal Rommel's forces at El Alamein. And with U.S. forces landing in Tunisia in Operation Torch, the Germans and Italians
were slowly being crushed from all sides. With a direct assault on
France deemed impractical until 1944, attention instead
turns to invading Italy and storming north toward Nazi Germany via what Churchill described
as Europe soft underbelly. Having expelled Rommel from
Africa on June 9th, 1943, Allied forces invaded Sicily, and then Italy proper in September, by which time many Italians sought to overthrow fascist
dictator, Benito Mussolini, and come over to the Allied side. This initially sped up the Allied advance through Southern Italy, but
it became bogged down again thanks to well entrenched German non-pro fascist Italian troops. With German resources now
committed on two intensive fronts and having to occupy their captured lands with Allied forces now better prepared attention began to turn
back towards preparation for an invasion of Western Europe. Two questions were immediately asked in the highest echelons of power. First, who should be in overall
command of the operation? And second, where should
the invasion be carried out? In both Britain and the United States, the war had produced military leaders who had become household names and were as such revered by
their respective peoples. In Britain, the favorite
to lead an assault on Fortress Europe was of
course, Field Marshal Montgomery fresh off his success in
North Africa and Italy. However, with the majority
of troops now being American, it was felt to be more fitting that an American should lead the campaign. And in late 1943, that job was given to one General Dwight David Eisenhower. Eisenhower's selection was
not without its controversy. Other generals such as Montgomery and the U.S.'s boisterous General Patton had seen extensive combat in World War I, whereas Eisenhower served
the entirety of the war in the United States. While he had overseen the successful torch and Italian landings, his
lack of combat experience would cast a dark shadow
over many of his decisions in the buildup to June, 1944. However, Eisenhower had one crucial skill for the planning and execution of the soon to be named Operation Overlord that no other general seemed to possess. He was a master at getting
the various nationalities and the personalities of their leaders to unify into a single force. It was thanks to Eisenhower that D-Day was not three
separate operations carried out by the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, but one all-encompassing invasion force intent on liberating Europe
from Hitler's tyranny. As for where this
invasion would take place, it was universally agreed
that the ideal location to invade Fortress Europe
would be at the Pas-de-Calais. This was where the English
channel was at its most narrow allowing for a shorter crossing decreasing the time the invasion
force was most vulnerable. It also afforded them maximum air cover from bases in Southeast England. But the problem of course, was that the Germans knew this too. As such, they had deployed
some of their best troops, the German 15th Army
under General Von Salmuth, who were afforded some of
the best German equipment and strongest fortifications
to hold off an invasion force. Hitting Calais even successfully would result in a bloodbath, slowing any advance into mainland Europe until replacement could be sourced. As chief of staff to the
Supreme Allied Commander, a role abbreviated to the much
less of a mouthful COSSAC, it was down to British Army Lieutenant General Frederick E. Morgan, to recommend an alternative. In a meeting with Allied
leaders in Quebec, Canada in May of 1943, he gave his recommendation after tirelessly examining
all the options available based on enemy disposition and the units and equipment
that would be available to the Allies for the invasion. Quote, "I have come to
the conclusion that, in view of the limitations in resources imposed by my directives, we may be assured of a
reasonable chance of success on the 1st of May, 1944 if
we concentrate our efforts on an assault across the Norman beaches." It was therefore decided
when the Allies were ready and a date set, a day that
would become known as D-Day, the Allied forces would invade Normandy. (suspenseful music) Germany's extraordinary success in 1940, which led to the fall of Western Europe under the German Jackboot was now a source of
great concern for Hitler for on the defensive it presented him with an enormous coastline, stretching from the north of Spain, up into Scandinavia from which his forces now had to defend against an Allied invasion, perhaps conscious of the facts that his own forces had been
successful against France by simply going around the seemingly impenetrable
Maginot Line in 1940. He outlined a strategy of
building powerful fortifications supported by military and
aircraft as far as was possible along this coastline to prevent Allies from
breaching Fortress Europe. This also allowed him to keep as many of his troops as he could on the Eastern front and in Italy, where on both counts, he
was in retreat by mid 1944. Dubbed the Atlantic Wall, the Germans built vast
numbers of concrete bunkers along 4,000 miles of coastline broken apart by natural obstacles, man-made ones and numerous minefields. The Dieppe Raid and
numerous smaller operations conducted by British commandos, only heightened Hitler's fears that he was exposed to
invasion from the west, and he ordered the wall
be given high priority. Yet compared to other fronts, the troops based on the wall
had a relatively quiet time between 1941 and 1944. However, even with troops
from occupied countries filling their ranks, the Germans did not have enough men to defend the entire wall equally. In August of 1943, a new commander arrived
on the Atlantic wall that gave the Allies cause for concern. Field Marshal Rommel, the Desert Fox himself arrived to oversee the
construction of defenses and formulate a plan of
action with which to repel an Allied invasion. Despite his Africa corps having been repelled from North Africa, he was still highly respected
as a competent military leader in Allied circles. Construction of the Atlantic wall had, before Rommel's arrival ground
down to one apathetic effort by the German officers. However, the field marshal's influence was immediately felt by his subordinates who suddenly found themselves with vastly increased workloads, but as well as having to contend
with resistance below him, Rommel was also contending with
his increasing on popularity with the German High Command. Some saw him as a failure following the defeat in North Africa while others viewed him as a rival for influence with Hitler while others still simply didn't like him. In outlining his plan to
rebel an Allied invasion, Rommel requested the German tank forces spearheaded by infantry be
held close to the coastline to respond quickly to any Allied landings. such powerful tank forces could devastate the infantry
trying to wait ashore and prevent the establishment
of an Allied beachhead from where fresh troops and
tanks could be deployed. However, both Hitler and the
German commander-in-chief Field Marshal Gerd Von Rundstedt were opposed to Rommel's request. They instead adopted the policy of grouping their tank forces together away from the coastline, so once the main Allied assault came, which they were still convinced will ultimately be from Calais, the Panzers could be thrust against it and drive the Allies back into the sea. Nevertheless, Rommel remained
committed to his duty to defend Germany's French
prize as best he could, as well as the bunker construction effort. He also instigated an
immense mining operation in and around the French coastline, and impressed upon his subordinates the importance of their work. Less than two months before
D-Day in April of 1944, he was inspecting one of
countless French beaches he was tasked with defending when he outlined to his
adjutant Captain Helmuth Lang his view of the overall situation Germany found itself in at the time. Quote, "The war will be
won or lost on the beaches. We'll only have one
chance to stop the enemy and that's while he's in the water. Believe me, Lang, the first
24 hours of the invasion will be decisive for the
Allies as well as Germany. It will be the longest day." While Rommel was inspecting his defenses, the Allied commanders decided
to test their equipments and readiness for a
major seaborne invasion and initiated Operation Tiger. 23,000 American troops were
assembled with their equipment before boarding troop
ships in British harbors, which then circled around
the south of England to launch a mock invasion of the beaches along the Devonshire coast that had been dressed up to resemble the Atlantic Wall fortifications. To add to the realism, the
beaches were heavily shelled by American and British warships, both to understand how their
equipment such as tanks would function on beaches
riddled with craters and to help get the
American troops comfortable with riding in landing
craft towards a beach with live shells going over their heads. Witnessed by Eisenhower himself, the invasion of Devon began on April 27th and was wrought with problems. Due to miscommunication, a group of American landing
craft made it to the beach at Slapton sands while the Royal Navy was still shelling the area resulting in several American casualties. With the shelling stopped, the rest of the initial
force made their landings with a second invasion
planned for the next day. However, during the night
of April 27th and 28th, the remainder of the mock
invasion force still at sea were cruising through Lyme Bay when they were spotted by a group of marauding German E-boats, British warships protecting the exercise had already detected the E-boats and were moving to intercept, but were unable to warn
the American troop ships because they weren't provided with the American radio frequencies. At around 130 hours on April 28th, the E-boats attacked with torpedoes and 40 millimeter guns. In the chaos and carnage that followed 749 Americans were killed, two troop ships were sunk and
a third was badly damaged. Tragically many of those who drowned did so only because they had
not received proper training in the use of life jackets. Like Dieppe, Operation Tiger
was a sobering reminder that any invasion of Fortress Europe was going to be difficult and costly if not properly prepared for. The fact that such a disaster could happen off the English coastline without the German
E-boats having any support from shore-gunners or aircraft only highlighted the dangers of transporting such huge
numbers of men by sea. In fact, Tiger almost scuppered
D-Day in 1944 altogether. This was because several offices who were now listed as missing in the weeks after the tragedy had knowledge of the upcoming
invasion of Normandy. And the fear was that they had
been picked up by the E-boats and then broken under
German interrogation. These worries were eventually dismissed, D-Day would continue as planned. (dramatic music) Final planning of the invasion of Normandy relied heavily on ascertaining just what the Germans had
placed around the landing zones. Crucially, this had to
be done in such a way so as not to alert the Germans
as to what was going on thus beginning in April of 1944, the RAF and USAAF began an intensive photo
reconnaissance effort aimed at building a full tactical picture of the situation in Normandy
and the surrounding regions. Using high-speed fighter
aircraft, such as the Spitfire, the P-38 Lightning and the P-51 Mustang, the reconnaissance pilots flew daring ultra low-level
missions over German positions all along the European coastline. Normandy received no
more or less attention than anywhere else. Thus it was not signaled
to German intelligence as a point of special interest. Flying at such low levels where trees and power
lines were as much a threat as enemy gunners afforded Allied commanders
extremely detailed images of the German defenses. Allied reconnaissance pilots' missions were made all the more dangerous by the fact that many of their aircraft lacked guns to defend themselves to instead have more
fuel and greater speeds once that fuel had been exhausted. Over 3,200 missions were flown in direct support of Operation Overlord and in conjunction with
the French Resistance who highlighted targets of
interest for future flights. The resistance also
monitored German movements and made estimates on the
numbers of troops deployed at the landing zones. Perhaps even more dangerous
where the operations carried out by specialized boat crews who
had previously been involved in assisting commando raids. Their job was to sneak up
on the French coastline to locate fixed German defenses designed to rupture landing craft, and also take depth measurements
on approach to the beaches. This would give Allied commanders
the maximum information on the landing zones, allowing them to fine-tune their plans. One interesting and less obvious, but ultimately highly important part of the Allied Intelligence efforts involved a call put out by the BBC for anyone in Britain
who had photographs taken while on holiday in France, prior to the outbreak of the war. A staggering 10 million images and descriptions of the French coastline were handed over to the war office. But just as important as the
effort to gather intelligence on enemy positions and defenses was the need to feed Germany's
own intelligence network with false information. D-Day would provide the
impetus for probably the most successful
counter-intelligence program in history, dubbed appropriately
as Operation Bodyguard. Allied Intelligence officers concocted a string of elaborate plans designed to mislead
their German counterparts regarding almost every
aspect of the D-Day landings. This would prevent the Germans
from being able to maximize their defensive posture around Normandy and delay the arrival of reinforcements, which could see the landings become bogged down on the
beaches, or even fail altogether. One of the biggest assets, albeit unwitting ones
in achieving this goal were the Germans themselves, while they had militarily
dominated the European continent since 1940, their intelligence agencies were rather lacking
compared to the British and American efforts while coding devices such as the famed Enigma machine initially allowed Germany to
communicate with their forces without fear of interception, their overconfidence in such devices led to them underestimating
the Allies' ability to crack their communications, which of course they eventually did, even using primitive computers to do so. As well as learning the
disposition of German forces along the Atlantic Wall, breaking the German
codes allowed the Allies a glimpse into the mindsets
of the German High Command surrounding the defense
of occupied France. It also allowed them to
gauge the effectiveness of their misinformation efforts so as to better tailor future ones to make them more effective at making the Germans think
the invasion of Europe was coming from anywhere
over the Normandy, a situation aided by the fact that Hitler himself was convinced that any invasion crossing the channel would arrive in Calais. Under the umbrella of Bodyguard, Operation Fortitude sort
to fuel Hitler's belief by creating a false
picture of Allied armies amassing in England and Scotland, thanks to German
Intelligence made it appear as though the Allies were intent in landing in Calais and Norway. Planned by British Army Colonel Noel Wild, the operation called for the
creation of dummy trucks, tanks, aircraft, and even units, which could be photographed by high flying German
reconnaissance aircraft. In photographs taken
from such high altitude, it would be impossible
to tell the difference between the real equipment for Normandy and the fake ones for Fortitude. In fact, some of the
equipment looked so real that even people on the ground
mistook them for genuine. But Fortitude went beyond
building replica tanks. Fortitude also involved
fake radio broadcasts intended for the Germans to intercept, which would correspond
with the fake picture the Allies were trying to
build with their dummy army. A number of secret
agents were also employed to drip-feed the Germans information. But perhaps the most
direct method employed was the decision that for every two radar stations
Allied air forces attacked around Normandy leading up to D-Day two more in the surrounding
areas should be attacked even if they would have little impact on the actual landings. This would only further
confuse the German picture and help keep them convinced that Normandy was a decoy
operation for Calais. By the time of D-Day itself, German Intelligence was still convinced that as many as 10 divisions
were waiting to storm Calais, even when the numbers
of Allies in Normandy were entering the hundreds of thousands. But Fortitude work didn't stop on D-Day. Instead it continued its
efforts to deceive the Germans that Normandy was a decoy if only to delay the
redeployment of German forces for as long as possible. Under Operation Bodyguard, similar deception
campaigns were undertaken that the invasion was actually intended for more Southern regions of France, the Balkans, or even neutral Sweden. The eventual success of
D-Day can in no small parts be attributed to this elaborate and highly effective deception operation. (suspenseful music) Planning for the D-Day
invasion never stopped as the Intelligence
picture constantly changed, but overall objectives remained the same an airborne element would go in first to capture strategic
locations such as bridges, and to destroy artillery positions that would threaten the beaches. The main force would
then storm five beaches each with their own code words. American beaches were Omaha and Utah. British beaches were Sword and Gold. The sole Canadian beach was Juno. However, this is not to say that these beaches were assaulted exclusively by their designated
nations, far from it. There were a number of
specialized personnel ready and waiting to be transferred from one nation's beach to
another if they were needed. Additionally, on the ground,
in the air and at sea, there were those who had
escaped their own countries before they fell to the Nazi onslaught and were now eager to start
taking their land back and likely get some revenge too. As June arrived, Eisenhower
set the historic date for the invasion of Normandy as June 5th, 1944. At 20 harbors in the UK, men and equipment were being
crammed onboard troop ships, ready to head out to
their rendezvous point, designated Piccadilly Circus
Southeast of the Isle of Wight, with special attention having been given to their protection, following the disaster of Operation Tiger. The seaborne element of D-Day
was dubbed Operation Neptune yet, despite the secrecy
surrounding the whole affair, it was impossible to
conceal from the Germans the vast movement of
ships from British ports, leading to the Germans
conducting an attack using gun and torpedo boats. This attack was repelled by
overpowering Allied warships, but the threat of further
assaults remained. With the Allies now having
extensive experience in amphibious assault operations, much of the equipment seemed tailor-made for storming the beaches of Normandy. The American DUKW for example, was essentially an amphibious truck, which could not only bring
supplies to the beach, but crucially drive them straight to where they would be needed. They could also be fitted
with various heavy weapons, although being unarmored, they were not ideal fighting vehicles. One vehicle that was however, was the British Churchill AVRE, meaning Armored Vehicle Royal Engineer. This was a basic Churchill tank chassis, but with its main gun replaced
by a Petard spigot mortar, which fired a devastating 40 pound bomb known as a flying dustbin. The Churchill AVRE was adept at destroying the tough fortifications expected on the Normandy beaches. The basic Churchill itself. Also having excellent performance
in climbing obstacles. The AVRE was one of a
number of so-called Funnies, tanks modified for specific purposes in support of the landings. Other Funnies included
the swimming Sherman also known as the DD or Donald Duck tank. This was a Sherman tank with a canvas flotation
screen and propellers to power it through the water. Unlike tanks designed from
the starts to be amphibious, which often had to sacrifice armor or fire power for buoyancy, once the Swimming
Sherman was on the beach, it could ditch the flotation screen and it was just another M4 Sherman. The swimming Sherman was so successful, it was used on all five
beaches at Normandy. Not forgetting Rommel's
insistence on mining the beaches, both the Churchill and Sherman also had mine clearing
variants, such as the Crab. The Crab was a Sherman
tank fitted with a roller that spun heavy chains into the ground to detonate the mines
safely away from the tank. Fearing that armored
vehicles may get bogged down on the wet sandy beaches, variants of the Churchill
were fitted with a roller to lay reinforced matting down, thus creating a surface on
which they could drive up onto harder grounds. This tank became affectionately
known by its crews as the carpet layer. One invention that was
designed specifically for D-Day was the Mulberry harbours system, the purpose of which
was to ease and speed up the unloading process so that
Allied troops were supplied as they advanced across France after eventually breaking
out from Normandy. The Mulberry harbours would
be towed out to Normandy and assembled like a vast jigsaw puzzle at Omaha and Gold beach. As more and more men
embarked on their ships to the rendezvous points,
nerves among the Allies were understandably beginning to fray. A growing cause for concern was the seemingly worsening weather, the one factor that neither
the Allies nor the Germans had any control over. Clear skies were needed
for the full moon to help with the navigation
during airborne operations while the need for calm water in the seaborne phase was obvious. With so much resting on
the weather conditions being just right for an airborne and seaborne invasion of Normandy, Eisenhower called a meeting of some of his most senior officers at Southwick House at 0415 hours on the morning of June 4th to discuss the situation and
whether it may be necessary to delay the invasion. Ultimately the decision on whether or not to launch the invasion on June 5th, rested solely on his shoulders, but he would be making that decision based on the predictions
of a lanky RAF officer by the name of Group Captain James Stagg. Stagg was Operation Overlord's
Chief Meteorological Officer, and it was his role to interpret the information that was coming
in from weather stations, observation posts, and
even combat aircraft flying weather patrols
across the British Isles, and it was not good news. Stagg, being a non-combat officer and holding a rank equivalent to that of a Colonel in the army had the unenviable task of telling a room full of some of the most important leaders of the Allied war efforts, that in his opinion, the invasion should be delayed by 24 hours to allow the weather to improve. Many of those in attendance, such as Field Marshal Montgomery
scoffed at the suggestion and insisted they go as
planned on the fifth. They knew they only had a three-day window for the moon to be in the right phase and delays could see
the force postponement of the operation for weeks. Worse still for Stagg's case, American meteorologists using
a different prediction system believed that a high pressure front was going to force the bad weather away from the landing zones, leaving them with clear skies on June 5th, but Stagg remained adamant
in his recommendation to hold off for 24 hours. After listening to Stagg's case, Eisenhower reluctantly agreed and he gave the order that the
invasion was to be postponed until June 6th. Stagg would be proven correct when on the night of June 4th
and the morning of June 5th, the landing zones were
lashed with terrible weather. Finally, as the weather began
to improve on June 5th, 1944, what had been the original date for D-Day, the preparation phase began. Minesweepers snuck up
to the Normandy coast to begin their work clearing
a path for the troop ships while a massive force of
over 1,200 combat aircraft began softening up defenses. Through the nights and
then into D-Day itself, the weakened Luftwaffe would
be outnumbered in the air by almost 10 to one, allowing the Allies to
effectively control the skies, allowing them to conduct
close air support missions. Rocket firing aircraft,
like the British typhoon would become heavily engaged
in clearing away fortifications and destroying tanks. As the Allied troops
realized that this was it, they reminded themselves
of Eisenhower's words. Quote, "Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well-trained, well-equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely. I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing
less than full victory Good luck! And let all besieged the
blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking." Meanwhile, far from the commotion and countless airfields in the UK, and aboard the vast fleets of
ships in the English channel, at his residence high
in the Bavarian Alps, the Fuhrer Adolf Hitler settled in for a relatively peaceful evening at the so-called Wolf's Lair. He and his entourage
of Aids watch newsreels in his private cinema before
retreating into the lounge area where Hitler lectured them
on his thoughts of the day, be they of war, politics, or his views on the great men of history. Looking back on that evening, Nazi Propaganda Minister, Joseph Goebbels said before his death that the evening of June 5th, 1944 was like what he called the good old times as the Nazi regime was on the
rise to its ultimate power. Goebbels retired to
bed earlier than Hitler who had been having trouble sleeping. And it wasn't until 3:00 a.m that the Fuhrer finally went to bed, sleep coming courtesy of medication. German intelligence was
already picking up indications that something big was getting
underway across the channel, but fearful of Hitler's temper, his aides decided not to inform him until they had more information. And thus, as Hitler drifted off into a medically-aided sleep, he was unaware that a
vast armada of aircraft carrying paratroopers were
already cruising into Normandy. Unaware that the dreams
of a thousand year Reich were about to be shattered. Unaware that history was
tying a noose around his neck. (dramatic music) As the final minutes
of June 5th ticked away at bases across England an air armada, unlike anything history
had ever seen before was beginning to mobilize
and lift off into the night. The large majority of the aircraft carrying paratroopers into Normandy were Douglas C-47 Skytrains more commonly known by that
British designation, Dakota. The C-47 is one of history's
truly great aircraft. A military variant of the DC3 airliner, an aircraft credited with
making air travel practical. American and British C-47s would eventually drop
some 50,000 paratroopers into Normandy. They would also provide a
vital logistical lifeline dropping supplies to the troops until air fields could be captured and secured for them to land. Their rugged design, making them ideal for getting in and outs of ex-Luftwaffe bases. However, it was a dangerous task, even with the softening
up of air defenses, the aircraft were relatively slow. And when it came to
deploying the paratroopers, they had to descend around 600 feet where they were exposed to all
manner of anti-aircraft fire. Upon leaping from the aircraft, a static line automatically deployed the troopers parachutes,
but if the chute failed or became tangled up, the paratrooper would have just seconds to release his emergency parachute. But with less time to slow his descent, this would almost certainly
result in a harder landing, which could lead to a broken leg or ankle. If all went well, however, the paratroopers typically took 35 seconds to descend from their aircraft, during which time they would
feel extraordinarily exposed to keen-eyed German snipers, making out their silhouettes against the night sky behind them. To help draw enemy fire, hundreds of paradummies
known as Ruperts and Oscars, to the British and Americans
respectively, were dropped. In the darkness, these
could not be distinguished from real paratroopers. Parachuting into Normandy that night were elements of the U.S. 82nd
and 101st Airborne Divisions who were assigned various objectives on the Cotentin Peninsula,
west of the U.S. beach designated as Utah. However, all did not go according to plan as the aircraft took heavy fire during their approach to the drop zones. And many were lost before and after their troops had disembarked. First Lieutenant Robert P. Mathias of the 508th Parachute
Infantry Regiment from the 82nd would attain the tragic accolade of being the first American
to be killed on D-Day when the C-47 he was a board
was hits by anti-aircraft fire, mortally wounding him before
he had a chance to jump with his men. In the chaos, many paratroopers
missed their drop zones often by miles. And the units that were
landed were often in disarray. Despite these setbacks, the paratroopers fought
fiercely against German forces behind the beaches at Normandy, destroying artillery guns,
disrupting supply routes and diverting German attention
away from the landings. However, not all the members
of the airborne units deployed that night, went in under the canopies of parachutes. Many went in via gliders that would be towed to release
points near their targets, and then piloted down
in what was effectively a controlled crash. Gliders had the advantage of being able to carry larger equipment
for the airborne troops, but they came with a whole
host of their own dangers too. They were just as vulnerable
to anti-aircraft fire as their powered counterparts, and landing them safely was
often a tricky undertaking that if you got it wrong, could see as many
troopers killed or injured before they even had a chance to fight. The British Airspeed Horsa
was capable of transporting up to 30 fully equipped troops or various light vehicles and field guns. Yet despite its size and
the lack of a power plant, it was a surprisingly
agile aircraft in flight. Given that it was highly unlikely that any significant number would survive their first flight into battle. The Horsa was manufactured using wood, which helped alleviate the
strain on the supply chain for strategic metals. The Hammerclaw was another large glider designed primarily to carry light tanks, 17 pound of field guns, or large numbers of
supplies in a single flight. While an American design, it was fielded solely by the British and was designed around
specifications outlined by Winston Churchill himself in 1941. It was however, the Waco CG-4 that was the most numerically
significant glider of the war. The CG-4 known as the
Hadrian in British service was smaller than the Horsa, only being able to carry either 13 combat-ready
troops with equipment, a single Jeep, or a single
75 millimeter howitzer. But its smallest size
gave it the advantage of being able to land in tighter areas, thus greatly expanding the number of potential landing sites. Featuring a welded tubular fuselage with canvas covering the
wings skinned in thin plywood. The CG-4 also had other advantages. The payload area, for example, was made more easily accessible, thanks to the nose and cockpit
being mounted on a hinge, allowing it to swing upwards, exposing the whole cargo area. Because of the often violent
nature of glider landings, a safety cable was also fitted, designed to attach to
any vehicle being carried inside the cargo area. Should the vehicle break free
when the glider hit the ground and slide forward towards the cockpits, the cable would lift the
hinged cockpit upwards to the unloading position, thus saving the pilots from being run over by their own cargo. The British sixth airborne division made extensive use of gliders in capturing the bridges
over the river Orne and the Caen canal. Taking the bridges relatively quickly, they then had to dig in
and fight tooth and nail to keep them until
reinforcements could arrive. (dramatic music) Of all the beaches on D-Day, the 10 mile stretch designated as Omaha was by far the most heavily defended. And thus the beach was hit
by a force of heavy bombers prior to the landing taking place. However, the bombers had to contend with thick clouds blanketing the area. And so they had to effectively bomb blind. Concerned their weapons
might stray out to sea and hit the Allied armada. The crews proved too
cautious in their aiming and many of the bombs
missed their targets, falling instead inland on
the French countryside. A particularly concerning
obstacle for both U.S. beaches was a gun battery
located at Pointe du Hoc, a 100 foot tall cliff that
provided a wide arc of fire over the surrounding areas, including the beaches where
thousands of Americans would be landing in the early hours. Therefore prior to the
main force arriving, 225 men of the second Ranger Battalion commanded by a Lieutenant
Colonel James Rudder were given the unenviable task of scaling the cliffs
with ropes and ladders in an effort to destroy the gun battery. The Rangers approached in 12 landing craft and two DUKW amphibious trucks, but took heavy fire as
they neared the beach. One landing craft was lost with all but one of its occupants. They then began placing
the 100-foot long ladders borrowed from the London Fire Brigade up against the cliffs
and began to scale them, all the while still taking heavy enemy machine gun and mortifier. With Allied warships
providing fire support, the Rangers reached the top of the cliff where they discovered that
their intended targets, the field guns, had been moved. The Rangers eventually located the weapons left unguarded in an orchard over half a kilometer to the south and proceeded to destroy them. Their mission was accomplished, but now the Rangers had to contend with heavy combat with the Germans over the next 24 hours, until they would be relieved
by additional reinforcements. By which time they'd suffered
77 men killed and 152 wounded. If the banks of
well-protected German gunners were not enough, the beach was also protected
by a wealth of obstacles, both natural and manmade that the landing craft
would have to navigate. A difficult job made worse
by incredibly powerful winds, that blew more than one flat-sided
landing craft off course. At 0630 hours, the first
wave comprising men of the first and 29th infantry divisions made their landings amidst what must have seemed like an impenetrable wall of bullets. In the spaces between the landing craft and positions of some cover
in front of the Germans, bodies have fallen us troops
soon began to litter the sands. Barbed wire and fixed obstacles slowing the American advance, allowing them to be sprayed
by German machine guns. There was so much death on Omaha Beach in the opening rounds of the invasion that when landing craft were
seen leaving the beach again, the Germans mistakenly
told their commander, General Dietrich Choltitz that the American troops
had been driven off. Choltitz then ordered many
of the troops guarding Omaha to relocate to fight off the
British forces at Gold Beach. This was a major error for the London craft was simply
returning back to the ships to pick up more U.S. troops, to throw at the German defenses. yet, despite this, even with the aid of combat
engineers blasting away at fixed defenses, warships providing fire support, and tanks being landed to support assaults against the defenders, the U.S. troops failed
to secure their beachhead and link up with the British
forces from Gold Beach on D-Day itself. Instead, however, they managed to secure two
strong points on the beach from where over the following days, they were able to offload men and supplies and finally clear out
the German defenders, securing the beach and linking
up with the Allied units from other beaches. A number of journalists
accompanied the troops ashore to report on what they saw. Among them was a driven
and determined young woman named Martha Gellhorn. Wife of author, Ernest Hemingway, Gellhorn was not actually authorized to report on the landings. And so in a rather daring move stowed away aboard a hospital ship, and then impersonated a stretcher bearer in order to join medical
teams going ashore to retrieve the wounded. Given the chaos of the dramatic events that were unfolding around her, she was able to pull off this deception and become the only woman
to land at Normandy on D-Day allowing her to give a
firsthand account of the scene. Her article published in
the Collier's magazine reads as following. "Everyone was violently busy on that crowded, dangerous shore. The pebbles were the size
of apples and feet deep, and we stumbled up a road that a huge road shovel was scooping out. We walked with the utmost care between the narrowly
placed white tape lines that marked the mine-cleared path, and headed for a tent
marked with a red cross. Everyone agreed that
the beach was a stinker, and that it would be a great pleasure to get the hell out of here sometime." (dramatic music) In planning for D-Day, Utah Beach was the last to be selected and it extended over 11 miles of shoreline making it the largest
beach hit on June 6th. As the Western most beach, the main aim of establishing
a beachhead at Utah was to give the Allies a suitable location to prepare for an assault on the strategic Harbor town of Cherbourg, some 35 miles away. Assaulting the beach
was the U.S. VII Corps who faced relatively light resistance when compared to the horrors of Omaha. The main German defensive position composed of a single powerful
88 millimeter artillery piece, which was soon destroyed. And the German defenders
manning it surrendered. Within three hours of
the start of the assault, all three major entrances to
the beach had been secured permitting 20,000 troops and 1700 vehicles to cross Utah Beach on D-Day. Among those fighting on Utah Beach was Brigadier General
Theodore Roosevelt, Jr, the eldest son of former U.S.
President Theodore Roosevelt. Brigadier General Roosevelt was serving with the 4th Infantry Division when it stormed Utah Beach, going ashore with his men,
despite his rank and age. Being 56, he was the oldest
Allied soldier at the front. Roosevelt took command
of almost every aspect of his division's operations that day, allowing him to directly address the many problems that emerged. It was even reported
that in some instances he directed trucks and
tanks like a traffic cop whilst personally taking enemy fire all the while sharing
poetry and amusing anecdotes with frightened soldiers
under his command. For his gallantry, he was recommended for the
Distinguished Service Cross. Tragically, however, just over
a month later on July 12th, he passed away due to a heart attack. Afterwards, the
recommendation was upgraded to the Medal of Honor, the highest award in the
United States for valor, which he was awarded posthumously. His citation read quote, "Although the enemy had the
beach under constant direct fire Brigadier General Roosevelt moved from one locality to another, rallying men around him, directed and personally
led them against the enemy. Under his seasoned, precise, calm, and unfaltering leadership, assault troops reduced beach strongpoints and rapidly moved inland
with minimum casualties. He thus contributed substantially to the successful establishment
of the beachhead in France." (soft music) Sandwiched between Omaha Beach to the west and Juno to the east, Gold Beach was a 10 mile
stretch of shoreline earmarked for assaults primarily by the British 50th
Northumberland Infantry Division and the 47 Royal Marine Commando. And their primary objective was to capture the
Harbor town of Arromanche which had been selected as an ideal site for the building of a Mulberry Harbor. Waiting for the British at Gold Beach, were elements of the Vermont
716th Infantry Division, which included a large
proportion of Aussie Troopin, Poles and Russians who
had been conscripted to serve in the German Army. Additionally, the beach was protected by a battery of four, 155 millimeter guns positioned around 1/2 a mile inland. The British went to shore one hour after the Americans
hit Utah and Omaha, owing to the tide at Gold Beach. Unfortunately for the British, an unexpected Northwest wind meant that many of the
underwater obstacles and mines placed by the
Germans remained submerged as the British landing craft
began to storm the beach. Unable to identify all of them, the British force would suffer the loss of some 20 landing craft before they could get their troops and equipment to shore. Owing to the weather, the swimming Shermans had
to be moved closer to shore before they could be put into the water followed later by Churchill AVREs. But by midday, they were fully engaged in driving the Wehrmacht
troops from their positions. However, they would
continue to take heavy fire from artillery guns at the
Le Hamel's strong points until mid-afternoon when the AVREs destroyed the
fortification protecting them. By days end, the British
force had pushed inland securing the beachhead and allowing construction of
the Mulberry pier to begin. But this came at the cost
of 400 British casualties. (suspenseful music) At just two miles long,
Juno Beach was the smallest of the D-Day beaches. Being positioned between Gold and Sword to the west and east respectively. And was the objective of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, The Canadian second Armored Brigade and the British number 48 Commando. The beach's small size only serve to exacerbate Allied planner's fears concerning a reef in the
waters leading up to the beach requiring landings to begin at 0745 hours when the tide was at its highest, reducing the risks to the landing craft. However, it turned out that it would not be nature's obstacles that would Savage the Canadians, but instead the German mines
littering the coastline, a horrifying 1/3 of all
landing crafts struck mines as they advanced towards the beach where the Germans 716th Infantry Division, 736th Regiments plus the
430th Ost Eastern Battalion, again, comprised of Russians and Poles were waiting for them. The defenders fought a
bloody and brutal battle to drive the Canadians off the beach, but the Canadians stubbornly refused to let the beach turn into another Dieppe and they kept the pressure up eventually forcing the
Germans to withdraw. By the end of the day, some 21,400 troops had landed at Juno and the Canadians had pushed
further inland than any from the D-Day landings, capturing an airfield at Carpiquet. However, it had costs the
Canadians 946 casualties of which 340 were killed when their landing craft struck mines in the first hour of the invasion. One of those serving
on Juno Beach that day was a young Canadian
officer named James Doohan, who would later go on to worldwide fame portraying the iconic character of Scotty in the "Star Trek" TV series and movies. Doohan was a commissioned Lieutenant with the 14th Field Artillery Regiment of the third Canadian Infantry Division. And on D-Day he was tasked
with leading his men across a field littered
with anti-tank mines in order to capture a German position with Doohan killing two
German snipers in the process. At around 1120 hours during
a lull in the fighting, he stopped to smoke a cigarette before making his way back to his men, when a terrifying Canadian machine gunner opened up fire on him,
believing him to be a German. He was shot six times, four in the leg, one in the chest and one which took off
his right middle finger. In a classic tale of luck in wartime, his life was saved by
the metal cigarette tin he carried in his chest pocket, which absorbed the shot
aimed at his chest, which almost certainly
would have killed him. Later in life while filming "Star Trek, efforts had to be made to disguise the finger he lost on D-Day with a hand double used for closeup shots that were required. (soft music) Sword was the Eastern most beach on D-Day. And prior to the war was a
popular tourist destination with numerous summer houses
dotting the coastline. Many of these houses had been destroyed by the German defenders to
improve their field of fire. While others had been reinforced and turned into makeshift bunkers with an anti-tank ditch being
dug behind the sea wall. The beach was also defended
by two field gun positions with 75 millimeter guns based at Merville and harder hitting 155
millimeter guns at Le Havre. And these received special attention from Allied aircraft and paratroopers to prevent them from
interfering in the landings. Beginning at 0725 hours,
when the tide was right, Sword was assaulted by the
British Army's third Division supported by the 27th Armored Brigade and contingence of British
and free French commandos. The primary objective of the
forces landing on Sword Beach was to capture a series
of important bridges 3 1/2 miles inland on the river Orne and the Caen canal. These bridges were being held
by British airborne forces while the commandos had
to fight their way west to link up with Canadian
forces from Juno Beach. However, having landed on the beaches further advancement was slow going. Thanks in parts to the heavy
congestion of Allied forces squashed into the narrow
streets and side roads of the French coastal towns
and fierce German resistance from the town of Ouistreham. Through the day, it became apparent that any hope of linking with
the Canadians before nightfall had been dashed when to
the British's horror, they found themselves under attack by the 21st Panzer Division. These skilled German Panzer crews made powerful attacks on the British, including the men holding
the bridge on the river Orne and helping to block them from linking with the Canadians at Juno. But their effectiveness was hampered by disruptions to their chain of command and overwhelming air
power pitted against them. As Allied gliders landed
nearby their positions in late evening, the Panzer crews feared they were being overrun. They retreated unaware that the gliders had actually missed their
designated landing zones and had landed there purely by mistake. At sea three German E-boats
of the fifth Torpedo Squadron slipped from their moorings and dashed out to attack
the many Allied vessels supporting the landing, perhaps hoping to repeat
the carnage they inflicted during Operation Tiger. The E-boats arrived off Sword Beach to find the scene largely
obscured by a smokescreen, forcing them in closer. Emerging from the smoke, they were confronted by
the awe inspiring sight of hundreds of Allied vessels ranging from small landing
craft to enormous battleships. They dispatched 18 torpedoes
into the Allied force, but only succeeded in sinking
a free Norwegian destroyer, the Svenner, before
being forced to retreat. This was the end of German
Naval interference on D-Day as Allied air power was so overwhelming that to put any warships or
U-boats to sea in daylights was practically suicidal. However, German sailors
did continue the fight by manning coastal guns alongside
their Wehrmacht Conrads. As for Germany's air force, a handful of sorties were ordered against the ships supporting
the landings on the beaches. The most notable encounter, perhaps being when two
Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighters swooped down and strafed
British troops at Sword Beach. Two-engined Stuka dive bombers also made desperate daylight attacks, but were savaged by Allied fighters at almost every step of the way. During the day 28,500
men crossed Sword Beach, but in the hard fought
campaign to capture it, they sustained 683 casualties. The British and French
forces would finally link up with the Canadians from Juno the next day. Yet, despite the horrors
the troops were seeing many of them just young men, barely beginning their adult lives, it seems the old carry-on spirit had not been a casualty that day. As David teacher, a member of the R.A.F. 71
Beach Unit said afterwards, "Slowly, slowly we overcame
all the nightmares. There was no lack of humor. A soldier coming ashore asked, 'Is this a private beach? I was promised a private beach. If not, I am not staying.' And we heard, 'My mother
told me not to travel by air, She thought it was much safer by sea.'" (suspenseful music) The initial German response
to D-Day was one of confusion as to what to do. Germany's rigid command structure relied heavily on orders from the Fuhrer, but of course he was still asleep as the Allies landed on the beaches. The picture was still somewhat confused to German High Command and
having labored for so long on the belief that any landing
away from Calais was a decoy, they argued over whether
or not to wake Hitler until they knew more as to
what was actually taking place. It wouldn't be until
approximately 10:00 a.m. with the arrival of Albert Speer, the German Armaments Minister, that Hitler was finally awoken. According to the author and
historian Steven Ambrose, who penned the epic
book, "Band of Brothers", Hitler's response was rather unexpected. Uttering the words, "The
news couldn't be better." Goebbels too noted that
the news of the invasion seemed to come as a relief to him as though they could finally get on with the war in the west. Hitler was both supremely
confident of his men in Normandy, holding off the Allies
and stuck to his belief that Calais was where the
real invasion would come over the next few days. Now the German High Command was awake, Hitler began to organize his response. One of his first acts was
to reluctantly release two Reserve Panzer Divisions near Paris to be sent to Normandy. However, he was told that Allied air power over Normandy and the
surrounding areas was so intense that they would have to wait
until nightfall to move, lest they be destroyed on the roads by Allied fighter bombers. This crucial delay worked
in favor of the Allies who by nightfall were already
pushing beyond the beaches. Incredibly, despite the enormity of what was happening in Normandy, Hitler still took time in the afternoon to attend a reception for the new Austrian foreign
minister in Salzburg, perhaps hinting that he failed
to fully grasp the reality of what was happening in France. As darkness fell in the
final hours of June 6th, the German U-boats finally
ventured out to sea in an effort to disrupt
the landing operations. Even with the cover of darkness, the fear of air attack was still there as Allied war planes were now using radar to detect them on the surface. However, they did not arrive until the daylight hours of June 7th, allowing Allied air and
sea power to swoop in attacking them as they
recharge their batteries on the surface. Two U-boats were sunk and
four more heavily damaged forcing the German Navy to abandon any attack with U-boats not yet fitted with snorkels that could allow them to
run their diesel engines while submerged. The only U-boats with snorkels
were based in the south, in the Bay of Biscay and
in the north of Norway to better allow them to attack convoys from the United States. And it would take them until mid June to break through the dense
Allied anti-submarine forces arranged against them, by which time the
invasion force was dug in and breaking out into France. German resistance remained strong around the beach heads of
Normandy for days afterwards. And even as the Allied
troops began to move out, pockets of German resistance remained even as they became encircled
by the Allied invasion force. One German unit manning a bunker situated between Sword on Juno beaches, which housed a radar installation held out for a staggering
12 days after D-Day, despite having found themselves
well behind Allied lines at that point. After establishing their beachhead over the summer, the
Allied force would grow and become more powerful. Eventually it would burst outwards and charge across Europe,
pushing Hitler's army back as Nazi Germany was choked to death by the Allied onslaughts. 11 months and one day after
D-Day Germany surrendered and the war in Europe was over. Looking back on June 6th
and the days that followed, we tend to take for granted the success of the D-Day landings. They are remembered in the west, particularly in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada as amongst the most glorious of days, when the greatest generation
rose to the challenge. Sadly like many battles
throughout history, D-Day has become
romanticized in such a way as to overlook the horrific
reality of what took place. It's easy to quote casualty figures as a way of measuring the
cost of what truly happened, but the battle for Normandy,
no doubt damaged the lives of hundreds of thousands,
who, while they survived, had to live with the memories
of the horror they saw. And perhaps it is really for them that when we celebrate their
victory every year on June 6th, we recognize the price they
paid for freedom in Europe. It is because we enjoy such freedoms now in the 21st century afforded to us by those incredible
soldiers that probably more than any other military
operation in history, D-Day has left us pondering many questions that begin with the words, what if. What if German Naval forces
had repeated their success during Operation Tiger
on the landing ships? What if Eisenhower had ignored Stagg's
recommendation to delay and the D-Day landings went
ahead amidst the bad weather of June 5th. What if Hitler had listened to Rommel and placed tanks closer to
the beaches prior to D-Day? What if for any one of a
million reasons D-Day failed? What then? Atomic bombs dropped in Europe perhaps, or maybe a Europe that would end the war fully under the control
of the Soviet Empire. Thankfully, these what ifs and many more will always remain simply
questions for debate. thanks to the success of June 6th, 1944, Operation Overlord, D-Day. (soft music)
