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00:00In 1944, World War II was reaching its dramatic climax.
00:10Rocket ships firing, aircraft flying overhead.
00:14As the Allies waged total war to liberate occupied Europe.
00:19This was a war in which all sides were learning as they went.
00:23From the beaches of Normandy...
00:26The water was full of blood.
00:28The water was bright red.
00:30To the forests of Germany.
00:35Both sides deployed weapons of ever greater power and sophistication.
00:41And this tank suddenly gives the American a real big advantage.
00:45It's a very effective beast.
00:47This is the story of the Western Allies' final campaign.
00:51Told by the men on both sides who were there.
00:54You did what you did. You fire and you maneuver.
00:57The D-Day landings had taken Hitler by surprise.
01:14But seven weeks on, the Germans had reinforced their defenses and successfully contained the Allied beachhead.
01:23The Allies were bogged down in heavy fighting across Normandy.
01:29And needed to get inland to begin the liberation of France.
01:33It would be a fierce and bloody journey against a tenacious enemy in a challenging landscape.
01:41You felt as though it was like a continuous death sentence.
01:48That if you went to sleep at night, the next day would be the last day.
01:55By 1944, after four and a half years of war, Nazi Germany was under pressure from all sides.
02:14On the Eastern Front, Stalin's Red Army had launched a gigantic offensive in Bielorussia.
02:21In Italy, the Germans had abandoned Rome and were retreating north.
02:27While in Normandy, in northern France, following the hard-fought success of D-Day,
02:34the Allies had landed almost a million troops.
02:43The war might be moving in the Allies' favor.
02:46But seven weeks on from D-Day, their forces were still bottled up in Normandy.
02:55They had to find a way to break out and get the so-called Second Front moving,
03:00or risk becoming a sideshow to the Red Army's great offensive in the east.
03:06But any advance in land was going to be difficult for the Allies.
03:11Once the Germans had realized that D-Day was the main landing,
03:16and there would not be a second landing,
03:18the Germans had moved reinforcements into that particular part of France.
03:23And on paper, the German first forces look particularly strong.
03:27So they have seven tank divisions.
03:29They have a very large concentration of Waffen-SS divisions,
03:33which by that stage, most of them can be seen as elite forces with very heavy equipment.
03:38So on paper, a very, very strong force.
03:41By mid-July, British and Canadians were locked in a brutal slugging match around the city of Caen.
03:48And it would fall to U.S. First Army under General Bradley
03:53to attempt the desperately needed breakout.
03:57The 51-year-old Omar Bradley was a former head of the U.S. Army Infantry School at Fort Bragg,
04:04who'd overseen the creation of America's first airborne division, the 82nd.
04:09Having commanded a division and then an army corps during the Allied landings in North Africa and Sicily,
04:17he was given command of U.S. First Army for the invasion of Europe.
04:22He was accustomed to working closely with Supreme Commander General Dwight Eisenhower,
04:27his former West Point classmate.
04:29Omar Bradley was a pretty solid general.
04:34He was tough, smart, and experienced.
04:37But he was methodical and perhaps a little bit slow.
04:40And as commander of the First American Army,
04:42he was also subordinate to General Bernard Montgomery.
04:45And their relationship wasn't the best.
04:48Montgomery often felt like he was getting blamed for Bradley's slowness.
04:51Allied attacks by British Second Army around Caen
04:57had drawn the bulk of German forces off in that direction.
05:02The German line opposite U.S. First Army was therefore relatively weakly held.
05:08Bradley planned to launch a powerful attack on a narrow front near the town of Saint-Lô,
05:14using heavy bombers and artillery to blast a hole in the German line.
05:18American infantry and tanks would then pour through the gap,
05:23capture Avranches, and secure a route out of Normandy.
05:27The British and Canadians would simultaneously launch another major attack around Caen,
05:33pinning down German divisions so they couldn't be moved to face Bradley's attack.
05:39The Allies had total control of the skies over Normandy,
05:43allowing their aircraft to bomb, strafe, and rocket German ground forces at will,
05:49with almost zero risk of interference from the once mighty Luftwaffe.
05:54Josef Schroeder was a German machine gunner who had fought on Omaha Beach.
05:59A rather grim joke told by the Germans at the time was aircraft recognition.
06:17You look up, and if the underside of the aircraft above you is painted silver, it's American.
06:22If it's painted black, it's British, and if it doesn't show up at all, it's German.
06:28The Allies might have complete control of the skies,
06:32but on the ground the terrain favoured the Germans,
06:35who were now entrenched in Normandy's Bocage landscape.
06:40Bocage country was made up of small fields, about 100 or 200 metres square,
06:45bounded by earth banks with hedges on top.
06:48Cecil Newton was a tank gunner who came ashore on D-Day.
06:56The terrain of the Bocage, no one knew about it beforehand.
07:03No one knew about the deep lanes, the high hedges.
07:08I hadn't got a clue, and it came as a great shock.
07:10The streets were on both sides with high shelves.
07:18The streets were covered, these streets were covered.
07:24And the streets were quite deep.
07:26The 1,20 m were sometimes more.
07:29They were a good protection for us.
07:31American troops also struggled in the giant hedgerows.
07:57Some of them were up four, five, six feet high,
08:04and each field was completely surrounded.
08:08So, in effect, what you had to do,
08:10you had to fight your way from one hedgerow to the next.
08:14What the Germans have got is a naturally occurring trench system.
08:19They can use the hedgerows to move men down,
08:22and they can use the churches, the farmhouses, and so on,
08:26as strong points.
08:28And this ground has to be fought over
08:30very much like the trench systems of the First World War.
08:35And for some Americans who had served in the Pacific,
08:38it reminded them of fighting through the jungle.
08:40But some allied units also learned to take advantage of the terrain.
08:48Hedgerows worked both ways.
08:50It was very difficult pushing forward in the hedgerows.
08:55But by the same token,
08:57you had about as much cover as the enemy did,
09:01and so you were protected.
09:04Well, I'd say a good bit at the time, you were protected.
09:07Invasion planners thought allied troops
09:12would push through the hedgerows and into open country
09:15within a few days of landing.
09:20The U.S. 29th and 35th Infantry Divisions
09:23faced some of the worst terrain around San Lowe,
09:27which had to be captured
09:28before General Bradley could launch his attack,
09:32codenamed Operation Cobra.
09:34On D-Day, the 29th had received
09:39a bloody baptism of fire on Omaha Beach.
09:43Now, they faced a different kind of hell.
09:48Any road or pathway could be mined
09:50or covered by concealed enemy positions.
09:53In the bocage,
09:58you had to be careful where you walked.
10:00You had to be very cautious.
10:02You had to stay spread apart
10:03as an infantryman.
10:07You had to use great judgment.
10:10The Americans would have to improvise
10:12ways to break through the dense hedgerows.
10:15But it wouldn't be easy.
10:18We had Bangalore torpedoes for barbed wire.
10:23You don't blow hedgerows with a thing.
10:25You're talking about a mini mountain
10:27that's been growing for a couple of centuries of land
10:30that the Normans have been using.
10:31So, in U.S. Armored Division workshops,
10:37engineers began using the thousands
10:39of leftover German beach obstacles
10:41to weld crude steel tusks to their tanks.
10:45The Americans nicknamed them RINOs.
10:50It kind of looked like a lawn rake, upside down.
10:54Of course, it weighed probably a ton.
10:56With their modified tanks leading the charge,
11:00American troops began fighting their way
11:02through the hedgerows towards Saint-Lô.
11:06But constant German ambushes
11:08inflicted a huge toll on front-line units.
11:13We lay on June the 6th.
11:16On June the 9th,
11:17we were supposed to take Saint-Lô.
11:20It took six weeks to take Saint-Lô,
11:23fighting through all those hedgerows.
11:26And we tried to do so much as possible
11:32to make, I would say,
11:34with our weapons,
11:37with our weapons.
11:38If we had enough shot,
11:43then we had to take 50 or 100 meters
11:47to the next top of the hill,
11:49which were always living for us,
11:52the heck,
11:52otherwise we would have not been there.
11:55and then we had to take 50 or 100 meters back.
11:59And the Americans
12:01have now all set up to this point
12:03where we had to defend ourselves before.
12:05And then we sat 200 or 300 meters back.
12:12During July,
12:14in a two-week struggle to reach Saint-Lô,
12:17US 19th Corps suffered 11,000 casualties
12:21and advanced just five miles.
12:24And we went into another field
12:29that the Germans had been dropping mortar shells in.
12:34That's when I saw my colonel, Colonel Terry.
12:37He just kept on walking.
12:39And then he was hit by a sniper
12:44and he hit the ground.
12:47His helmet flew off
12:48and he was dead.
12:52And about 20 minutes later,
12:57a half hour, I guess,
12:59I was hit by a piece of shrapnel
13:01from a mortar shell
13:02and I was on my way back to England, too.
13:06On the same day,
13:08Major Howey,
13:09commanding a battalion
13:10of the US 116th Infantry Regiment,
13:14assured his commander
13:15that his men would take Saint-Lô.
13:18Major Howey was killed moments later
13:20by an artillery shell.
13:22The following day,
13:26when his men finally captured the city,
13:29they laid his body,
13:30draped in the American flag,
13:32on the rubble of its cathedral.
13:37Lessons were learned from Saint-Lô,
13:40and Bradley decided to employ
13:42overwhelming firepower
13:44to give Operation Cobra
13:45every chance of success.
13:49Crucially,
13:50his attack would have
13:51the full support
13:52of the US 9th Tactical Air Command,
13:55around 400 aircraft.
14:01Operation Cobra would be led
14:04by 7th Corps of the US 1st Army,
14:07with 9th and 30th Infantry Divisions
14:09making the initial assault,
14:12to be followed up
14:13by 2nd Armoured and 1st Infantry,
14:16as well as units of 8th Corps.
14:19Standing by
14:20was General George Patton
14:21and US 3rd Army,
14:23ready to exploit any breakthrough
14:25made by 1st Army.
14:29Bradley's US 1st Army
14:31would launch Cobra
14:32at the same time
14:33as British 2nd Army's
14:35latest offensive against Caen,
14:37Operation Goodwood.
14:40On the 18th of July,
14:42Goodwood went ahead as planned,
14:44but Cobra had to be delayed
14:46when Heavy Cloud ruled out air support.
14:51The operation began
14:52a week late,
14:54at 9.30 a.m. on the 25th of July.
14:58The first phase of the attack
15:00was to be a massive bombing raid
15:02on German positions,
15:04in a box four miles wide
15:05and one and a half miles deep.
15:071,500 B-17 and B-24 bombers
15:13rained more than 4,000 tons
15:15of high explosive
15:16on the target area.
15:18There were so many bombers there
15:25that it was like a conveyor belt.
15:28And as far as you could see
15:30from here,
15:30directly overhead,
15:32for as far as I could see
15:34with my binoculars,
15:35it was just bombers.
15:38The elite Panzer Lair Division
15:44caught the brunt of the bombing,
15:46losing around 1,000 men,
15:48a third of its total strength.
15:51The frontline troops
15:52who were really hit hard
15:53by these bombs,
15:54to use a First World War expression,
15:56they're completely shell-shocked
15:57and they're basically
15:59not able to function anymore.
16:01So it has a huge impact
16:02on the morale
16:03of these particular people.
16:04Das ist eine Hölle.
16:06Das ist wie eine Hölle.
16:07Das ist eine Hölle.
16:09Sie bleiben still.
16:11Sie warten und warten.
16:12Ergeben,
16:13sage ich jetzt mal in Anführungszeichen,
16:15auf das Ende oder darauf,
16:17dass es sie trifft.
16:17Sie merken das ja nicht.
16:20Wenn es in die Luft geschleudert wäre,
16:21da sind sehr viele auch einfach
16:23in diesen Trichtern
16:25wieder nach unten gespült worden,
16:29sage ich mal,
16:29geworfen worden
16:30von der Wucht der Explosionen.
16:34It was one of the most devastating
16:36ground support missions
16:37of the war.
16:38But not all bombs
16:40hit the right target.
16:42The winds had shifted.
16:45They were supposed
16:45to only drop their bombs
16:47into the markers
16:49that put off smoke
16:50in different colors,
16:51but they couldn't see them
16:53and they were bombing
16:54and they were bombing
16:54their own men.
16:55Quite a few of the bombs
16:56fell short.
16:57Indeed, 100 Americans
16:59were killed straight away.
17:00And one of these
17:01was General Leslie McNair,
17:02the most senior
17:04American ground commander
17:05to actually be killed
17:06during World War II.
17:07Despite the friendly fire casualties,
17:13the bombers had done their job.
17:15The Air Force had blasted
17:17a four-mile-wide hole
17:18in the German line.
17:20Now it was up
17:21to Bradley's US First Army
17:23to smash through it
17:24and begin the breakout
17:25before the Germans
17:27could recover.
17:30US infantry
17:31began their advance.
17:32They faced units
17:35commanded by a highly experienced
17:37German field marshal,
17:40Gunther von Kluge.
17:44Von Kluge was a Prussian officer
17:46of the old school
17:47and a favorite of Hitler's
17:49for his performance
17:50during the invasions of France
17:52and the Soviet Union.
17:54In early July,
17:56he was appointed
17:56commander-in-chief in the West
17:58after Hitler sacked von Rundstedt
18:00and he became commander
18:02of Army Group B as well
18:03when Field Marshal Rommel
18:05was injured
18:06in an Allied air attack.
18:09Hitler was counting
18:10on von Kluge
18:11for a miracle,
18:13but the veteran commander
18:14had bad news
18:15for the Fuhrer.
18:17He writes to Hitler
18:19almost immediately
18:20saying exactly
18:22what von Rundstedt
18:24and Rommel
18:24had told Hitler
18:25a month before,
18:27that they're reaching
18:28the point at which
18:29they just can't hold the line.
18:30They're being worn out
18:32they're running out of ammunition,
18:34they're running out of men.
18:36Von Kluge was relying
18:37on 7th Army
18:38to deal with any American attack,
18:41but some of its units
18:42had been in almost
18:43constant combat
18:44since D-Day
18:45and were under strength
18:47and exhausted.
18:49All units were short
18:50of fuel and ammunition.
18:53Panzer Lehr Division,
18:55which had arrived in Normandy
18:56six weeks ago
18:57with more than 200 tanks,
19:00now had 31 left.
19:02But Panzer Lehr
19:03and the 2nd SS Panzer Division,
19:06Das Reich,
19:06were elite units
19:08and dangerous opponents
19:09in any circumstances.
19:13To add to von Kluge's problems,
19:16the devastating US air raid,
19:18followed by an intense artillery bombardment,
19:20made it almost impossible
19:22for him to communicate
19:23with forward units
19:24or to find out
19:26what was happening
19:27at the front.
19:29By comparison,
19:30US forces brought
19:31cutting-edge technology
19:32to the battlefield
19:33that made their command
19:35and control
19:36significantly more effective.
19:38This piece of American technology
19:41revolutionised
19:42battlefield communications.
19:44Unlike other armies
19:45which were still using
19:46radio sets
19:46with big long aerials
19:48which pointed directly
19:49to the radio operators
19:50and gave positions away,
19:51American commanders
19:52could now carry
19:53their own radios
19:54and be in direct contact
19:56with other units.
19:57The Germans,
19:58on the other hand,
19:58were still using
19:59First War technology.
20:01They'd failed to come up
20:02with a decent wireless technology
20:03before the Second World War.
20:05They were pretty much using
20:06field telephone sets
20:08with cables run out
20:09to all their command posts
20:10and headquarters
20:11and of course
20:12when the American
20:12aerial barrage started
20:14and the artillery
20:15started blasting
20:16their positions,
20:17those telephone cables
20:18were very quickly cut
20:19and very soon
20:20they were out of contact
20:21with each other
20:21and weren't able
20:22to command their troops
20:23in the field.
20:24And what's more,
20:26Allied forces
20:27were able to use
20:28radio communications
20:29to coordinate
20:30between ground
20:31and air forces.
20:33This all started
20:34at St. Lowe
20:35when the Air Force
20:37bombed us
20:37at St. Lowe twice.
20:39They had no control
20:40with the aircraft.
20:41They finally come up
20:42with air ground control
20:43and they formed
20:44the 9th Air Force
20:45and the P-47s
20:47were designated
20:48to support the infantry.
20:49The Thunderbolt,
20:50I think it had
20:508 .50 caliber machine guns
20:53in the wings,
20:54eight of them.
20:55Big sucker,
20:55I mean a real
20:56heavy duty thing.
20:57And that was assigned
20:57mainly to the infantry.
20:59And when we called in
21:00strafe emissions
21:00out in front
21:01and they go right over us,
21:02right over us
21:03and then open up
21:03when they get beyond.
21:04I'd have come in
21:05parallel with the front line.
21:08But the new system
21:09did have its
21:10teething problems.
21:13The American tanks
21:15had their own radios
21:16but they were
21:16on a different frequency
21:17than the fighter bombers
21:18flying overhead.
21:20Because of that,
21:21the Americans
21:22had to put
21:23Air Force radio men
21:24in the tanks
21:25with special radios
21:26that could actually
21:27talk to the P-47
21:28and P-51 pilots.
21:30On the first day
21:32of Operation Cobra,
21:34U.S. 7th Corps' progress
21:36was disappointing,
21:38just a mile and a half.
21:40But the next morning,
21:41General Bradley
21:42committed Sherman tanks
21:43of the 2nd and 3rd
21:45Armored Divisions
21:46to the attack.
21:49Reports began to come in
21:51that past the front line,
21:53American troops
21:54were encountering
21:54only sporadic resistance.
21:56On the morning
21:59of the 3rd day,
22:00Commander of the
22:0130th Infantry Division,
22:03General Hobbs,
22:04reported,
22:05This thing has busted
22:06wide open.
22:09That same day,
22:11American troops
22:12had reached Coutances,
22:14Cérici-Lassalle,
22:15and Villebaudon,
22:17and threatened
22:18to cut off
22:18half of German 7th Army
22:20in a pocket
22:21around Rensey.
22:24The trapped
22:25German unit
22:26including remnants
22:27of the 2nd SS Panzer
22:29Division,
22:30Das Reich,
22:31tried to fight
22:31their way out
22:32under cover of darkness.
22:35They ran straight
22:37into U.S. 2nd Armored,
22:39and after a night
22:40of furious,
22:41chaotic fighting,
22:42their columns
22:43were left decimated.
22:45Few managed
22:46to break through.
22:49In the face
22:50of the overwhelming
22:51U.S. onslaught,
22:52on the ground
22:53and from the air,
22:55German 7th Army
22:56began to collapse.
23:17Germans began
23:18to surrender
23:19in droves,
23:207,000 in a single day.
23:24German prisoners
23:25blocking the roads
23:26were now causing
23:27more delay
23:28to the American advance
23:29than enemy resistance.
23:33On the 30th of July,
23:36U.S. 4th Armored Division
23:38took Avranches,
23:39and the next day
23:40captured the strategically
23:42crucial bridge
23:43at Pont-au-Baud,
23:44intact.
23:45the bridge
23:46was the gateway
23:47to Brittany
23:48and beyond.
23:51Now was the time
23:52to unleash
23:53General Patton
23:54and U.S. 3rd Army.
23:56From early
23:57in his career,
23:58Patton had the idea
23:59that movement
24:00and fire
24:01were the main duties
24:02of a soldier,
24:03and if you weren't moving
24:04and you weren't firing,
24:05you weren't much
24:06of a soldier.
24:07Now he was going
24:08to have the opportunity
24:09to lead his 3rd Army
24:11across the river
24:12into Brittany,
24:13the big right hook
24:15which would help
24:16to unhinge
24:16the German defense
24:17and outflank the enemy.
24:20In just three days,
24:22seven U.S. divisions
24:24crossed the bridge
24:25at Pont-au-Baud,
24:26heading west
24:27into Brittany,
24:28south towards
24:29the Loire River
24:30and southeast
24:31towards Le Mans.
24:34In Brittany,
24:35German forces
24:36didn't hang around
24:37to face the Americans
24:38in open country
24:39but withdrew
24:41to the heavily fortified
24:42Atlantic ports.
24:45Their heavy coastal guns,
24:47so well protected
24:48they were virtually immune
24:49to artillery and air attack,
24:51kept U.S. forces at bay
24:53for weeks.
24:55While U.S. infantry
24:57encircled the ports,
24:59Patton's armored divisions
25:00were free
25:01to resume their advance
25:02across the French countryside
25:04at astonishing speed.
25:06Key to the Americans'
25:09rapid advance
25:10was the use
25:11of mechanized forces.
25:14This is one
25:15of the American half-tracks
25:17that were made
25:17in the Second World War.
25:19Just before the war begun,
25:21the Americans
25:21had been experimenting,
25:23knowing that they were
25:24going to mechanize
25:25their army
25:26if a war came.
25:27And just before
25:28the war begins,
25:29they take the M2
25:31front of a scout car
25:32and add it
25:34to a longer body
25:34with tracks on.
25:36Many different companies
25:37end up making
25:38variants of this half-track
25:40and they get to the point
25:41that by the end of the war
25:42the Americans
25:43have made 55,000
25:45half-tracks like this.
25:48Propaganda
25:48from the Nazis
25:49make us believe
25:50that the Germans
25:51are the ones
25:52that have a fully
25:53mechanized force
25:53when in actual fact
25:56about 80%
25:57of their transport
25:58is actually managed
26:00by horses,
26:01not armored vehicles
26:02or trucks.
26:03they have 11 million horses
26:06in service
26:06and that's how
26:08they actually get
26:08an awful lot
26:09of their supplies
26:10and men
26:11around the battlefield.
26:13And that contrast
26:14just shows
26:15the ability
26:16of the Americans
26:17to turn on a tap
26:19with their car
26:20and automotive industry
26:21to produce so many
26:23of these amazingly reliable,
26:26simple and effective vehicles.
26:27Operation Cobra
26:30had been a complete success.
26:33Finally,
26:34after nearly two months
26:35pinned down
26:36in the Normandy bockage,
26:38the Allies
26:38were on the move.
26:40Hitler was furious
26:42when he received news
26:43of the American breakout.
26:46Ten days before,
26:47on the 20th of July,
26:48he'd narrowly survived
26:50an assassination attempt
26:51when a bomb exploded
26:52at his headquarters
26:53in East Prussia.
26:54Four soldiers
26:56had been killed,
26:58but the Fuhrer
26:58escaped serious injury.
27:01Here,
27:02he can be seen
27:02visiting some of the men
27:04seriously wounded
27:05by the blast.
27:07His would-be assassins
27:09turned out
27:10to be army officers.
27:11By the Battle of Normandy,
27:14most German generals,
27:15including Rommel,
27:16knew that the war
27:17was lost
27:18and they were looking
27:19desperately
27:20for some way
27:21to preserve Germany
27:23and their own
27:25militaristic life
27:26with the German army.
27:29Hitler's fraught relationship
27:30with his generals
27:31sank to an all-time low.
27:34A substantial number
27:35of them had been involved
27:36in the bomb plot
27:37and so Hitler
27:38not only distrusted them,
27:40but began purging
27:41large swaths
27:42of the German high command.
27:44Even Field Marshal Rommel,
27:46Hitler's favorite general,
27:48was implicated
27:49in the plot.
27:50He receives a visit
27:51by two German generals
27:52who take him in a car
27:53and put it to him
27:54that now might be
27:55a good idea
27:56to commit suicide
27:57because if he didn't do that,
27:58he'd be taken to Berlin,
28:00would be interrogated
28:01and we all know
28:02what that means.
28:03So he decides
28:04to commit suicide
28:06in the car
28:07as he's driving along
28:08with these two generals.
28:09One of the effects
28:10of the purge
28:11that Hitler carried out
28:12after the July bomb plot
28:13was that it substantially
28:14reduced the number
28:15of experienced
28:16and effective generals
28:18he had to use
28:19on the Western front.
28:21And so not only
28:21was Hitler micromanaging
28:23the military operations,
28:25he was also finding
28:26it hard to find someone
28:27who could command
28:28them effectively.
28:29For weeks,
28:30German commanders
28:31in France,
28:32first von Rundstedt
28:34and Rommel,
28:35now von Kluge,
28:35had pleaded with Hitler
28:37for permission
28:38to withdraw from Normandy
28:39to a new defensive line
28:41along the Seine River.
28:44Now it was the only
28:45realistic option left,
28:47but to field marshal
28:48von Kluge's horror,
28:49Hitler instead
28:50ordered a counterattack.
28:53Hitler told von Kluge
28:54to gather the last few
28:56panzer divisions
28:57in Normandy
28:57and attack from Mortin
28:59towards the coast
29:01at Avranches
29:01to cut off
29:03Patton's 3rd Army
29:04to the south.
29:05The counterattack
29:06was codenamed
29:07Lutisch.
29:09But the Allies
29:11knew it was coming
29:12thanks to their ability
29:13to decode
29:14German military communications
29:16sent using
29:17their famous
29:18Enigma machine,
29:20a top-secret
29:21intelligence source
29:22known as Ultra.
29:23But this time,
29:27warning of the
29:28German counterattack
29:29led by 150 tanks
29:31and elite units
29:32of the Waffen SS
29:34didn't reach
29:35American frontline units
29:37until the last minute.
29:40In desperate fighting
29:42around Mortin,
29:44a battalion
29:44of the U.S.
29:4530th Infantry Division
29:46dug into Hill 314
29:49was surrounded.
29:50Despite heavy losses,
29:53they held their ground,
29:55using their vantage point
29:56to call in artillery
29:57and airstrikes
29:58on the German armor.
30:02American and British
30:03fighter-bombers
30:04made pass after pass.
30:07Within 24 hours,
30:09the German offensive
30:10had been stopped
30:11in its tracks.
30:13Worse,
30:14Hitler's intervention
30:15had left his forces
30:16vulnerable
30:17to an Allied counter-strike.
30:19The best German divisions
30:24were now concentrated
30:25at the western tip
30:26of an exposed salient.
30:29Montgomery saw the potential
30:30for a huge envelopment
30:32of German forces
30:33in Normandy.
30:35Patton,
30:35advancing rapidly
30:36towards Chartres
30:38and Orléans,
30:39was ordered
30:40to divert one corps
30:41north to Argentan.
30:43While the newly formed
30:45Canadian First Army
30:46would push south
30:47towards high ground
30:49overlooking the town
30:50of Falaise.
30:53The advance,
30:55codenamed Operation Totalize,
30:57was to be led
30:57by Major General
30:58Guy Simmons'
31:00Canadian 2nd Corps,
31:02made up of Canadian,
31:03British,
31:03and Polish forces.
31:05Their first obstacle
31:06was the formidable
31:07Verrieres Ridge,
31:09where two previous attempts
31:11to break through
31:12had already failed,
31:13at a cost of nearly
31:143,000 casualties.
31:19Simmons planned
31:20an aerial bombardment
31:21to prepare the way
31:22for a mechanised assault.
31:26But with a shortage
31:27of armoured personnel carriers,
31:29the dilemma
31:30was how to protect
31:31the infantry.
31:32One of the problems
31:36the Allies faced
31:37early in the Normandy
31:38campaign
31:39was when the tanks
31:40advanced,
31:40they sometimes
31:41lost contact
31:42with the infantry.
31:43So the Canadian commander
31:45came up with
31:45a brilliant suggestion,
31:47let's take some
31:48redundant,
31:49self-propelled artillery,
31:50basically artillery pieces
31:51on a tank chassis,
31:53take the guns out,
31:54plate over the front,
31:56and we'll make
31:57a heavily armoured,
31:58armoured personnel carrier.
32:00And they used that
32:03for the first time
32:04as part of
32:05Operation Totalise,
32:06having a section
32:07of infantry
32:08in a tracked
32:09armoured vehicle
32:10that can keep up
32:11with the tanks
32:12going forward.
32:13That leads to
32:14the innovation
32:14of taking
32:16redundant tanks
32:17such as this ram tank,
32:18the turret
32:19is taken off,
32:20and a section
32:21of eight infantry
32:21could be carried in here
32:23with two crew members
32:24in the front as well.
32:25And that means
32:26they've got a level
32:27of protection
32:28as they go forward
32:29into battle
32:29that other soldiers
32:30just don't have.
32:33Ian Hamilton
32:34from Kent
32:34was a tank commander
32:36and fought from D-Day
32:37to the end of the war.
32:40Operation Totalise
32:42was pushed out
32:44to take place
32:45at night.
32:46There would be
32:48an RAF
32:49night bomber
32:50Lancaster
32:51bombing raid
32:52on the German lines
32:54first.
32:55That would be followed
32:57by all the
32:58Allied ground artillery
33:01following up
33:02with a huge barrage
33:04and then we went in
33:06at night
33:07at around about
33:0911 o'clock.
33:10It was pitch black.
33:11It was a pitch black
33:12night.
33:14As the bombardment
33:16was lifted,
33:16the mechanised
33:17columns moved forward,
33:19feeling their way
33:20to their objectives
33:21through the darkness.
33:24The attack
33:25was going to be
33:26all on tracks,
33:28I mean,
33:29tanks,
33:29and the infantry
33:30would come
33:31later.
33:33It was arranged
33:34for four lines
33:35of tanks
33:36led by flails
33:38in case we came
33:39across minefields
33:40and to help us
33:42on our way,
33:43a Bofors
33:44anti-aircraft gun
33:45would fire
33:47bursts of
33:48five rounds
33:50of tracer.
33:51So it gave him
33:52his direction.
33:56Thanks to careful
33:57planning,
33:58the Canadian
33:59night attack
34:00was a success
34:00and Ferriere Ridge
34:02was in Allied hands
34:04by noon.
34:06Tanks were then
34:07sent forward
34:08to exploit
34:08the breakthrough.
34:10In the lead,
34:11the Canadian
34:114th Armoured
34:12and Polish
34:131st Armoured
34:14Divisions.
34:16As the battle
34:16became more
34:17confused,
34:18friendly fire
34:19once more
34:20became a serious
34:21hazard,
34:22as Allied aircraft
34:23hit friend
34:24and foe alike.
34:26So I looked up,
34:27here they're coming,
34:28a whole gang of them.
34:30I said,
34:30boy,
34:31so I just took
34:32my helmet off,
34:33you know,
34:33and I,
34:33give them hell,
34:34boys!
34:35And then I clapped
34:36the helmet back
34:37on fast
34:38because the bomb
34:39doors opened
34:40and here's the
34:40bombs whistle
34:41coming down.
34:43I looked over
34:44and there was
34:44a little German
34:45slit trench
34:45and the German
34:46had dug
34:47and I dove
34:47in there
34:47like a rabbit.
34:48The largest number
34:51of casualties
34:52from this friendly
34:53fire was from
34:54the 1st Polish
34:55Armoured Division.
34:57The coalition
34:58of forces
34:59under Eisenhower
35:00for the campaign
35:01in North West
35:01Europe didn't just
35:03consist of the
35:03British,
35:04the Americans
35:04and the Canadians.
35:06There were other
35:07nationalities involved
35:08with their own ways
35:09of fighting
35:10and their own
35:11political ambitions.
35:132nd French Armoured
35:14Division played
35:15the leading part
35:16in liberating Paris
35:17for political reasons.
35:18There were also
35:19forces from Belgium,
35:21from the Netherlands
35:21and from Norway
35:23and perhaps the most
35:24extraordinary
35:25fighting division
35:26on the Allied side
35:27was 1st Polish Armoured
35:29Division
35:29made up of Poles
35:31who had either
35:31escaped from the
35:32country in 1939
35:34or later
35:35or who had come
35:36from around the world
35:37to fight for Poland.
35:39They had been equipped
35:40by the British
35:41and they fought
35:42as part of
35:441st Canadian Army.
35:46The Germans
35:47were terrified
35:48of Polish troops
35:49out to settle scores.
35:52He was a young
35:53Hitler youth
35:55chap
35:55and we caught him
35:58through the knee.
36:00We got as much
36:01out of him
36:02as we could
36:03but he wasn't
36:04in a fit state
36:05really.
36:05So I thought
36:07he needs some
36:08medical attention
36:09and the Polish
36:10Armoured Division
36:11were just about
36:12to move through us
36:14for the next phase
36:15of the attack.
36:16So I walked
36:17to a half track
36:19with a red cross on
36:20spoke to the doctor
36:22and said
36:22I've got a man here
36:23who needs attention
36:25and he sent
36:26two of his men
36:27with a stretcher
36:29and he
36:30clonked it down
36:32beside this boy
36:33because he was a boy
36:34he was 15
36:35and
36:38they bent down
36:40to pick him up
36:41to put him on it
36:42and he saw
36:43the flash
36:44Poland.
36:49He did not want
36:50to go with them.
36:52Nine, nine, nine, nine
36:54he said
36:55but they picked him
36:56up anyway
36:57and donked him
36:57on the stretcher
36:59and carried him off.
37:00I've often wondered
37:01what happened to him.
37:05It was 12th SS Panzer
37:09the infamous
37:10Hitler Youth Division
37:11that now led
37:12the German counterattack
37:14against Operation Totalize.
37:16They were supported
37:17by seven Tiger tanks
37:19led by famous
37:20SS tank ace
37:22Michael Wittmann.
37:24The Allies
37:24had once regarded
37:25these heavy German tanks
37:27as almost unstoppable
37:28but now
37:29they had a weapon
37:30that was able
37:31to take them on.
37:33One of the problems
37:34the British had
37:35was how to fit
37:36their new
37:3717-pounder
37:38anti-tank gun
37:39into a tank.
37:41So as an improvisation
37:42they got the 17-pounder
37:45squeezed it
37:46into the Sherman.
37:47Now the 17-pounder
37:49gun
37:49when it was firing
37:50discarding
37:51sabot ammunition
37:52that meant
37:53it had greater
37:54penetration on it
37:56than the Tiger's
37:5788mm gun.
37:59With the British
38:00attack in Operation
38:01Totalize
38:02they'd advanced
38:03overnight
38:04and they spread
38:05themselves out
38:06either side
38:07of the main
38:08con to Falaise Road.
38:10Now the Germans
38:10naturally
38:11it's in their doctrine
38:12they react to that
38:13attack very quickly
38:14and put in a
38:15counterattack.
38:16Wittmann
38:16in his Tiger tanks
38:17drives up
38:18the middle
38:19of the road
38:20between two sets
38:21of woods
38:21on either side.
38:23As Wittmann's Tigers
38:24head up the main
38:25con to Falaise Road
38:27he's taken on
38:29by the tanks
38:30of the North Amps
38:31Yeomanry.
38:32A young gunner
38:33Joe Eakins
38:34is in one of
38:35these fireflies
38:36and he drives
38:37the tank
38:38out of the wood
38:39takes on the
38:40rear German Tiger.
38:42He then works
38:43his way along
38:44the line
38:44of German vehicles
38:45and at the same
38:46time from the
38:47other side
38:47of the valley
38:48fire is coming
38:49in from the
38:50Canadian tanks.
38:53Now there seems
38:53a slight irony
38:54about this
38:55communal effort
38:56of the British
38:56and the Canadian
38:57forces taking
38:59out what is
39:00the German
39:00propaganda icon
39:02Michael Wittmann
39:03this famous
39:04SS tank ace.
39:06The following
39:07day the 9th
39:08of August
39:08Canadian troops
39:10pushed on
39:10towards Falaise.
39:12The Germans
39:14were now in
39:14a desperate
39:15situation
39:15but fought
39:16ferociously
39:17for Ken A.
39:18Woods
39:19and Hill
39:19195.
39:21Well we lost
39:22a bunch of
39:23guys as it was
39:23we had about
39:2420 killed.
39:26Our sergeant
39:26he was
39:28at my side
39:31or not
39:31too far away
39:32from me
39:33one minute
39:33and the next
39:33minute he was
39:34gone and I
39:34didn't know
39:35what had
39:35happened to him.
39:37Adair's unit
39:38was forced
39:38to pull back.
39:40In fact
39:40despite its
39:41early successes
39:42Totalise
39:43had grown to
39:44a halt
39:44all along
39:45the line.
39:48Allied commanders
39:48hoped to seal off
39:50German forces
39:51in a pocket
39:51by taking
39:52Falaise.
39:54So far
39:54they'd not been
39:55able to close
39:56the trap.
39:58But Simmonds
39:59wasn't done yet.
40:01By the 14th
40:02of August
40:02British,
40:03Canadian
40:04and Polish
40:05troops
40:05were ready
40:06for a new
40:07push.
40:08An attack
40:09that Allied
40:09commanders hoped
40:10would seal the
40:11fate of German
40:12forces in
40:13Normandy.
40:15Hitler
40:16meanwhile
40:16seemed interested
40:17only in ordering
40:19more futile
40:20counterattacks.
40:22It wasn't until
40:23the last moment
40:24that he finally
40:25accepted the danger
40:26of encirclement
40:27and authorised
40:28a retreat.
40:30Nevertheless
40:31he sacked
40:32the man
40:32who'd been urging
40:33this course of
40:34action for weeks
40:35his commander
40:36in the west
40:37Field Marshal
40:38von Kluge.
40:40Convinced
40:40that Kluge
40:41had failed him
40:42and also
40:44that the reason
40:45for Kluge's
40:45absence from
40:46his headquarters
40:46might have been
40:48that he was
40:48negotiating with
40:49the Allies
40:49Hitler summoned
40:51him back
40:52to Berlin.
40:53Kluge knew
40:54he was doomed.
40:56He wrote
40:56a long
40:57rambling letter
40:58explaining
40:59why this was
41:01not his fault
41:02and blaming
41:02everybody else
41:03he could think
41:03of
41:03and he committed
41:05suicide.
41:06On the 19th
41:07of August
41:07the Polish
41:081st Armored
41:09Division
41:10made contact
41:10with the
41:11US 90th
41:12Infantry
41:13Division
41:13at Chamboy
41:14and the trap
41:16closed
41:16around 15
41:17German divisions.
41:19For two days
41:22elite German
41:23SS units
41:24and paratroopers
41:25fought to force
41:26open an escape
41:27corridor
41:27all the while
41:29under relentless
41:30Allied bombardment.
41:32It's terrible
41:33you can't
41:34you know
41:34there's no way
41:35of describing
41:36especially in
41:36Felizia
41:37that
41:37the noise
41:38and that
41:38all those
41:39guns fire
41:40that steady
41:41roar
41:42all the time
41:43you know
41:43and you're
41:44trying to
41:44well you couldn't
41:45hear commands
41:46you just
41:46followed
41:47and hoped
41:47you were
41:48going in
41:48the right
41:49direction
41:49RAF typhoons
41:52flew sortie
41:52after sortie
41:54wreaking havoc
41:55on the cornered
41:56German forces
41:57First tested
42:06in 1940
42:07this powerful
42:08single-seater
42:09fighter bomber
42:10was a challenge
42:11for even
42:11skilled pilots
42:12just to give
42:16an example
42:17a hurricane
42:17motor was
42:19about 1300
42:19horsepower
42:20this motor
42:22in the typhoon
42:23was 2400
42:25horsepower
42:25it was a
42:27monster
42:27big fighter
42:28and a hurricane
42:30weighed about
42:31two and a half
42:32tons
42:33a typhoon
42:35weighed seven
42:36tons
42:36it was a
42:37it was a big
42:38aircraft
42:38the typhoon
42:40packed a
42:41devastating
42:41punch
42:42of four
42:4320-millimeter
42:43cannon
42:44and eight
42:45unguided rockets
42:46each with a
42:4760-pound warhead
42:48we dive in
42:51at probably
42:5350-60 degrees
42:54or get down
42:56around 2,000 feet
42:57or 3,000 feet
42:58fire your rockets
43:01fire your cannon
43:04and when you
43:07got too close
43:07to the ground
43:08you started
43:08to pull out
43:09on the 21st
43:21of August
43:22the Allies
43:22closed off
43:23the last escape
43:24route
43:25and from
43:26all sides
43:27the encircled
43:28German 7th Army
43:29was subjected
43:30to an unrelenting
43:31barrage
43:32of artillery fire
43:34and air attack
43:35for German soldiers
43:38the Falaise pocket
43:39became hell
43:40on earth
43:41thousands were killed
43:44the survivors
43:4650,000 of them
43:47surrendered
43:48soldiers on both sides
43:51were sickened
43:52by the slaughter
43:52I want to go home
43:55home
43:55he kept saying
43:56home
43:56home
43:57I knew what he was thinking
43:58same thing I was thinking
43:59let's get this damn thing over
44:01and get back home
44:01please
44:02we would give them cigarettes
44:05and water
44:06wherever they wanted
44:06we
44:07didn't have any
44:08animosity towards them
44:10we did a little bit
44:12of looting
44:13taking their watches
44:14and
44:15money
44:16or whatever they had
44:17we thought that was alright
44:18we didn't see
44:20anything wrong with that
44:21but
44:24we respected those guys
44:26because they
44:27they did what
44:28what they had to do
44:29when it was over
44:30they were just glad it was over
44:32and we were glad
44:32that they were quitting too
44:34those who surrendered
44:37left behind the bodies
44:39of 10,000 comrades
44:41as well as hundreds
44:42of abandoned vehicles
44:43and guns
44:44and thousands of horses
44:46used as transport
44:47by an army
44:48that had run out of fuel
44:50awful chaos
44:53for all the Germans
44:54I mean
44:54the numbers
44:56of equipment
44:57and
44:57dead
44:58people
45:00all over the place
45:01vehicles wrecked
45:03if we felt any pity
45:04for the Germans
45:05we felt it then
45:06because they were being
45:08it was like a slaughterhouse
45:09when you got to the
45:10village gap
45:11you started to feel
45:12very sorry
45:13because they'd been
45:15trapped by
45:16silly orders
45:17from Hitler
45:17and you began to feel
45:19I mean
45:19the most terrible thing
45:20but I mean
45:21there were some very
45:22fanatical soldiers
45:24and you knew
45:26they'd show
45:26they would show
45:27no mercy
45:28when allied
45:29supreme commander
45:30general Dwight Eisenhower
45:32visited the battlefield
45:33he described it as
45:35unquestionably
45:38one of the greatest
45:38killing fields
45:39of any of the war areas
45:41it was possible
45:43to walk for hundreds
45:44of yards at a time
45:45stepping on nothing
45:47but dead
45:47and decaying flesh
45:49there was more
45:52bad news for Hitler
45:53at the height
45:55of the battle
45:55of Falaise
45:56the Allies
45:56landed 150,000 troops
45:59in southern France
46:00in a huge
46:01amphibious operation
46:03codenamed
46:04Dragoon
46:05the strategic result
46:07of the breakout
46:08toward Falaise
46:10and then Paris
46:11and the landing
46:13of American forces
46:14in southern France
46:15in Operation Dragoon
46:16was to completely destroy
46:18any German hopes
46:19of holding on to France
46:21as a result
46:23what was really going on
46:24was a rout
46:25German forces
46:26were simply trying
46:27to get eastward
46:28as fast as possible
46:29to a place
46:30where they could set up
46:31any kind of defensive line
46:32as the Falaise pocket collapsed
46:39Patton's units
46:40were already establishing
46:41bridgeheads
46:42across what German commanders
46:44hoped would be their next
46:45defensive line
46:46the Seine River
46:48Patton's main problem
46:51was no longer
46:52German resistance
46:53it was keeping
46:55his forward units
46:56supplied with fuel
46:57across France
46:59allied troops
47:00were now advancing
47:01faster than the Germans
47:02had with their
47:03blitzkrieg invasion
47:04of 1940
47:06liberating more
47:08villages and towns
47:09every day
47:10the French population
47:13were beside themselves
47:16with love
47:16kindness
47:18kisses
47:19wine
47:20booze
47:22oranges
47:23they had a nasty habit
47:26they didn't mean
47:26nothing
47:26of throwing fruit
47:28at us
47:28and there were
47:29a lot of tank crews
47:30with black eyes
47:31from apples
47:32and all meant
47:34very well
47:34and screaming
47:36loving it
47:37singing
47:38the mussel ears
47:39singing
47:40hallelujah
47:42god save the king
47:43anything they could
47:44think of
47:44it was
47:45we'd never come
47:46across it before
47:47but the terrible
47:49destruction
47:49and suffering
47:50caused by allied
47:51bombing
47:52left some locals
47:53with mixed feelings
47:55towards their liberators
47:56people were so jubilant
48:01when you got there
48:02upset
48:03the French were a little bit
48:05but we could understand that
48:07they'd suffered heavily
48:08in the bombardment
48:09of Normandy
48:10so I don't think
48:11they particularly liked us
48:13all that much
48:13at that stage
48:14but then later on
48:16they got very friendly
48:18the French capital
48:20posed a particular challenge
48:22for allied commanders
48:23while not a strategic target
48:25Paris was a political prize
48:28and its liberation
48:29had symbolic value
48:30Eisenhower decided
48:32to liberate Paris
48:33but he made the critical mistake
48:35of not allowing
48:36the one French armored division
48:38under General Leclerc
48:39to lead the charge
48:41into the city
48:42Leclerc decided
48:43to disobey orders
48:45stole a march
48:46on the rest of his allies
48:47and entered Paris
48:48as the leading unit
48:50of the allied liberation force
48:52as shooting broke out
48:55on the streets
48:56between French resistance
48:57and the German garrison
48:58the German governor of Paris
49:01General Dietrich von Choltitz
49:02had a decision to make
49:04Hitler had ordered him
49:07to hold Paris
49:08to the last man
49:09and if necessary
49:10burn the whole city down
49:12but Choltitz didn't want to do that
49:14and he defied Hitler
49:15and made the decision
49:16to surrender Paris
49:18rather than defending it
49:20to the death
49:20there was two degrees
49:22admiration for French culture
49:25French society
49:25the French language
49:26so he didn't really want
49:28to carry out this order
49:29there's also another reason
49:32of course
49:32why he decided not to do that
49:34is because
49:34just like anyone
49:35who was
49:36of open and clear mind
49:39he did realize
49:40that Germany
49:42would no longer be able
49:43to win the war
49:44and there was just
49:44a completely scorched earth policy
49:46for no absolute military
49:48or any other reason whatsoever
49:49and of course
49:50he also did realize
49:51that if he did carry out
49:52that order
49:53and was then later
49:54captured by the allies
49:55that would not look
49:57particularly good
49:58and reflect particularly well
49:59on his performance
50:00so he was trying to cover
50:01his own back to a degree
50:02as well
50:02on the 25th of August
50:05after four years
50:07of Nazi occupation
50:08Paris was liberated
50:10there were still
50:12many German snipers behind
50:14but our movement
50:15was on to the
50:16Champs-Élysées
50:17just behind
50:19the Arc de Triomphe
50:20and we would come
50:21on German snipers
50:22in apartment buildings
50:23and had to fire at them
50:24but also
50:26the French
50:26weren't worried about that
50:28they were trying
50:29to greet us
50:30and greet their
50:31their countrymen
50:33who had come
50:33with General
50:34Leclerc's army
50:35and it was
50:37a joyous occasion
50:38the French ladies
50:40were generous
50:41with their flowers
50:42and their kisses
50:42and we fought it off
50:44the best we could
50:45two months
50:46of attritional warfare
50:48in Normandy
50:49were behind the allies
50:50the long-awaited breakout
50:52which began
50:53with Operation Cobra
50:55had triggered a collapse
50:56in the German army
50:57in France
50:58and within days
51:00Eisenhower
51:01would be looking at plans
51:02to push on
51:03to Germany itself
51:04but many more
51:06hard battles
51:07lay ahead
51:08the German army
51:10remained a formidable enemy
51:12experienced
51:13well-led
51:14and now
51:15fighting to defend
51:16its homeland
51:17from invasion
51:18the German army
51:21but whatever
51:22is
51:23their