- 26/06/2025
At his headquarters in southern England, General Dwight Eisenhower oversees preparations for the most colossal amphibious operation in history. The Allies hope to finally put an end to Hitler's domination of Western Europe.
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00:00The Great Book of Courage and Fear was written on these Normandy beaches on June 6th, 1944.
00:21Here, three million Allied soldiers landed or fell from the sky to free Europe from Nazi oppression.
00:30The G applicability of the lake, these naval bullets, the
00:32Both África and music soldiers landed on itsтиров外,
00:37The Wow National balances the الس Cherokee or Olympic個 unit.
00:45Who is the f noi?
00:49That was Canания.
00:56Anne-Marie Desgaye lived on this beach.
01:08The Allies were there, so she smiled, despite the danger.
01:13She recalls, our dog is terrified.
01:17Cannons are being fired.
01:19Planes are flying overhead.
01:26Henri Boujard was a child, he remembers.
01:30The D-Day landings were hailed as a relief and a terrible misfortune.
01:35War had reached our shores.
01:43For the men who landed in Normandy and soon in Provence,
01:47and for the whole of France,
01:50this is the summer of the apocalypse.
01:56How did the Allies prepare for these gigantic campaigns?
02:04And how did the Germans organize their defenses?
02:09For all concerned, this will be the great challenge.
02:13Since 1938, Hitler has tormented Europe,
02:30claiming, like other dictators,
02:32that he is the victim of a war he himself caused.
02:35In July 1943, he still controls part of Russia,
02:45known at the time as the Soviet Union.
02:47But since his defeat in the Battle of Kursk,
02:50he is on the defensive.
02:54His enemies, the so-called Big Three,
02:57meet in Tehran in November 1943.
03:00Stalin, master of the Kremlin,
03:07gets together with U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt
03:10and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill
03:15to prepare a new Western Front
03:18to relieve the pressure in the East.
03:20Churchill sought to impose his idea of landing in the Balkans,
03:29which he called Europe's soft underbelly,
03:31to take Berlin before the Russians.
03:36Stalin opposed this idea, as did the Americans.
03:39So the plan became land in Normandy,
03:42then in Provence,
03:44to meet up in Dijon
03:45and encircled the German army.
03:52Everything began one year earlier
03:55in French North Africa
03:56with the Allies' first significant landing,
03:59General Eisenhower in command.
04:04Dwight D. Eisenhower is 54.
04:08Born into a modest family of German immigrants,
04:11he was accepted
04:13at the prestigious West Point Military Academy.
04:18This armored officer
04:20proves to be a brilliant organizer
04:21and diplomat.
04:24History will remember him.
04:32In 1942,
04:34Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia
04:35were still in the hands of Marshal Pétain
04:38and Admiral Dallon,
04:39who had established a policy
04:42of collaboration with Hitler.
04:45On November 8, 1942,
04:49when the Allies landed in North Africa,
04:51they didn't hesitate
04:52to issue orders to open fire.
05:01Three days of fighting left 2,000 dead,
05:04most of them French.
05:05Yet following his victory,
05:09Eisenhower kept Admiral Dallon in power.
05:13A pragmatist,
05:14he explained to Roosevelt,
05:16I understand your surprise,
05:18but without a strong French government
05:20in place here,
05:22we would be forced
05:23into full military occupation,
05:25which would cost us dearly
05:26in time and resources.
05:27But Dallon was assassinated
05:33by a French resistance fighter
05:35on Christmas Day, 1942.
05:39Roosevelt replaced him
05:40with General Henri Giraud,
05:41a leading light to the French army,
05:45with the intent to sideline
05:46General de Gaulle
05:47and exile in London.
05:50Roosevelt didn't like de Gaulle,
05:52whom he saw as a potential dictator,
05:54yet Churchill supported him.
05:59After complex negotiations,
06:03Giraud and de Gaulle
06:04shared interim control
06:05over liberated North Africa.
06:12In Algiers, in June 1943,
06:15the two rivals present
06:16the new African army
06:17to King George VI of England.
06:19It is being re-equipped
06:24and re-armed by the Allies.
06:30The troops prepare to return
06:32to combat with the Pied Noir,
06:34the Moroccan Goumiers,
06:36the Algerian infantrymen,
06:38and numerous African troops,
06:40often enlisted by force
06:41or seduced by the salary
06:43and prestige of the uniform.
06:45Soon, they will land in Provence
06:52to liberate France.
07:01After North Africa,
07:03the Allies set their sights on Sicily.
07:07First, they devise
07:09an extraordinary disinformation campaign
07:11to mislead the Germans.
07:12In London, MI5,
07:17Britain's counter-espionage agency,
07:19comes up with the mincemeat plan.
07:23British secret agents
07:24recover a body from the morgue,
07:26make it look presentable,
07:28and dress it up
07:29as a staff officer.
07:32They take him on board a submarine
07:34and throw him into the water
07:36off the coast of Spain.
07:37He has a new identity in his pocket.
07:39Major William Martin,
07:41along with a military career,
07:43a fiancé,
07:45and a wealth of details.
07:50And the essential item,
07:52attached to his wrist,
07:53a briefcase containing plans
07:55in indelible ink
07:56for a fake Allied landing
07:58in Greece and Sardinia.
08:00The tide will do the rest.
08:04The body is found
08:05by Spanish fishermen
08:06on April 30, 1943.
08:10The documents reach the Germans,
08:12who study them
08:13and deem them credible.
08:17This leads General Jodl
08:19to convince Hitler
08:20that a landing
08:21will take place in Greece,
08:22so the troops are sent there.
08:23But the German soldiers
08:26spend their time sightseeing.
08:33Operation Mincemeat
08:34is a success.
08:38The coast is clear.
08:41On July 9, 1943,
08:44the Allies are able
08:45to land in Sicily
08:46without significant casualties.
08:47The 7th U.S. Army's
08:54film department
08:55features its leader,
08:57the best-known
08:58and most controversial
08:58general of the day,
09:01Patton.
09:07George Patton, 58,
09:09is a leader of men
09:10and a remarkable tactician.
09:12A historian of Caesar and Napoleon,
09:20a great Francophile,
09:21he is extravagant,
09:23wearing his 1911 Colt .45 revolver
09:26on his belt,
09:28Wild West style.
09:29The ivory grip
09:30is engraved
09:31with his initials.
09:34His bull terrier,
09:35Willie,
09:35is by his side
09:36for every battle.
09:42Patton, 58,
09:42is famous
09:43for his outspokenness.
09:45He tells his soldiers,
09:46the object of war
09:49is not to die
09:50for your country,
09:51but to make
09:51the other bastard
09:52die for his.
09:57Patton is often
09:58hard to control.
10:00He slaps
10:01a shell-shocked soldier
10:02in the face.
10:04It's an outrage.
10:06He's relieved
10:07of his command.
10:08Roosevelt appoints Eisenhower
10:14to command
10:14all Allied forces
10:15in Europe.
10:20On December 6, 1943,
10:23he moves to London
10:24to plan from England
10:25Operation Overlord
10:26the landing in France.
10:29I am highly gratified
10:33that my command
10:34is still an Allied one.
10:37The past year,
10:38I've seen a tremendous advance
10:40in our progress
10:41toward final victory.
10:43On the Russian front,
10:44the great and gallant
10:46Red Army
10:46have made tremendous
10:47enrollments
10:48against the Nazis.
10:49I have complete confidence
10:51that the soldiers,
10:53sailors,
10:54and airmen
10:54and all the civil populations
10:57of the United Nations
10:58will demonstrate
10:59once and for all
11:01that an aroused democracy
11:02is the most formidable
11:04fighting machine
11:05that can be devised.
11:10Neutral countries
11:11like Sweden
11:12pass these newsreels
11:13to the Germans.
11:19Eisenhower continues
11:22feeding false intel.
11:24He indicates
11:25the Bordeaux region,
11:28whereas in Teheran,
11:30the Big Three decided
11:31that the landing
11:32would occur
11:33between Cherbourg
11:34and La Havre,
11:36broad beaches
11:37large enough
11:37to accommodate
11:38an immense fleet
11:39for what will be
11:40the most extensive
11:41amphibious operation
11:42in history.
11:43Eisenhower chairs
11:50the inter-allied
11:51chiefs of staff
11:52because America
11:52provides funding
11:53and weapons
11:54for the operation.
11:57For diplomatic reasons,
11:59he is surrounded
11:59by two renowned
12:00British generals.
12:03General Bernard Montgomery,
12:0557,
12:07will command
12:07the D-Day land forces.
12:10Victorious over the Germans
12:12in the Battle of the Desert,
12:13he is known
12:14to be difficult
12:14and reluctant
12:15to cooperate.
12:21And then,
12:22there is Royal Air Force
12:23General Arthur Teder,
12:2454,
12:25in his iconic
12:26leather flight jacket.
12:34For Montgomery,
12:36Teder is in cahoots
12:37with the Americans.
12:39He was with
12:40Eisenhower in Sicily.
12:42Teder hates
12:43their complicity.
12:47Eisenhower will have
12:48to call upon
12:48his legendary diplomatic skills.
12:53Montgomery will say privately,
12:56we have the brains
12:58and the Americans
12:59have the brawn.
13:04For Eisenhower,
13:06the job is a complicated one.
13:08The world's fate
13:10rests upon his shoulders.
13:16In early 1944,
13:18Hitler is at the Wolf's Lair,
13:20his headquarters
13:21in the East.
13:24The mood is glum.
13:26Hitler often has himself
13:31film decorating war heroes.
13:33He tries to galvanize
13:35his troops
13:35after five years of war,
13:38like with these
13:38submarine commanders,
13:40the last survivors
13:41of the Battle of the Atlantic.
13:45The German people
13:47are worried
13:47and many officers
13:49are unhappy.
13:49several assassination
13:52attempts
13:53have failed
13:53and Hitler
13:58now only goes out
13:59to attend
13:59the many funerals
14:00the war has brought on.
14:13To prepare everyone
14:14for what Hitler
14:15calls the invasion,
14:17he proclaimed
14:17in his latest directive.
14:22We have been moved
14:23to extremes
14:24in the fight
14:25against Bolshevism,
14:26but nothing can mortally
14:28damage the German lifeline.
14:34Closer to home,
14:35a greater danger
14:36threatens us,
14:37the Anglo-Saxon landing.
14:40Should the enemy
14:41succeed in penetrating
14:42the West,
14:43the consequences
14:44would be incalculable.
14:47in the English ports,
14:56over two million soldiers
14:58join the British forces.
15:00Americans,
15:01Canadians,
15:02Australians,
15:03New Zealanders,
15:04along with French,
15:06Poles,
15:07Czechs,
15:07Norwegians,
15:08Belgians,
15:09and Greeks.
15:11The Americans arrive
15:13in England
15:13on liners
15:14converted for troop transport.
15:15the Liberty ships.
15:22They make up
15:23three-quarters
15:23of the Allied forces.
15:25The African-Americans
15:26are separated
15:27from the others.
15:28One hundred thousand
15:29strong.
15:30They are subjected
15:31to the segregation
15:32in effect
15:32in the United States
15:33at the time.
15:34100,000 women
15:46are enlisted
15:47in the army
15:48as nurses
15:48or auxiliaries.
15:57One of them
15:58tries to reassure
15:59these young Americans
16:00with donuts,
16:01one of their
16:02favorite foods.
16:03Private Tom Borchella
16:07is troubled.
16:09He is a devout
16:10Christian
16:10and wonders,
16:11will I be able
16:13to kill a man?
16:19Most haven't yet
16:20asked themselves
16:21this question.
16:22They're GIs,
16:24which stands
16:25for galvanized iron,
16:27like their equipment
16:28and morale.
16:28These millions
16:38of soldiers
16:38will live
16:39in 700,000 tents.
16:41They will consume
16:42100,000 tons
16:43of potatoes,
16:45200 million liters
16:46of beer,
16:47and a stock
16:48of 15 million condoms.
16:49the Americans
16:54are an instant hit.
16:59Laura Knight,
17:0019,
17:01is one of 75,000
17:02young English women
17:03to marry a GI.
17:05She says,
17:06they were magnificent
17:08with big pockets
17:09full of chewing gum.
17:10350,000 vehicles,
17:34tanks, trucks,
17:35jeeps,
17:35have crossed the Atlantic
17:36to invade the roads
17:37and fields
17:38of the English countryside.
17:39shaking up traditions
17:43across 500 kilometers.
17:4810,000 ships
17:50of all sizes
17:50manned by 200,000 sailors
17:52pile into the ports
17:54of southern England.
17:59They will be loaded
18:00with 25 million tons
18:01of food,
18:02equipment,
18:03and fuel.
18:06Each division
18:07will consume
18:08100,000 liters
18:09of gasoline
18:10per day
18:11once in France.
18:13Therefore,
18:14an ultra-secret
18:15underwater pipeline
18:16is put into place
18:17to be rolled out
18:18across the English Channel.
18:23On the southern west coast
18:25of England,
18:26in Wollicum,
18:27the Allies build
18:28a giant secret
18:29assault training center.
18:30on February 19, 1944,
18:36a Soviet delegation arrives,
18:38led by Admiral Karlyamov,
18:40a master spy.
18:46Surprised
18:46by the damp cold weather
18:47in this part of England,
18:49the Russians are equipped
18:50with warm U.S. Navy jackets.
18:52Admiral Karlyamov
18:59visits the landing barges
19:00and confirms that Stalin
19:02is preparing a major offensive
19:03in the east
19:04to prevent the Germans
19:05from sending reinforcements
19:07to Normandy
19:07when the time comes.
19:09The Russians discover
19:15some unusual inventions,
19:16including the floating tank,
19:19the duplex
19:20with propellers
19:21to move through the water,
19:26and the crab
19:28designed to destroy
19:29beach mines.
19:30Much of this new amphibious equipment
19:39is a result of lessons learned
19:41during the catastrophic
19:42Allied landing in France
19:43two years earlier,
19:45an attempt to seize
19:46the port of Dieppe
19:47on August 19, 1942.
19:50It cost them
19:51two Canadian divisions,
19:52British commandos,
19:54American Rangers,
19:54and a handful
19:55of free Frenchmen.
20:00In the fierce air battle
20:07over Dieppe,
20:08pilots of all nationalities
20:09continue to fight
20:10next to the Royal Air Force.
20:17One of them is shot down,
20:19a Belgian,
20:22Count Ivan de Monceau de Burgendal.
20:28He is rescued
20:29by Royal Navy sailors
20:30and returns to combat
20:33until the end of the war.
20:42The German newsreels
20:43and French
20:44take full advantage
20:45of the disastrous
20:46Allied assault.
21:00The German newsreels
21:02The German newsreels
21:03La radio britannique
21:04devait déclarer
21:05le lendemain
21:05nos troupes
21:07furent reçues
21:07par un véritable
21:08rideau de feu.
21:10Il ne fut pas possible
21:10aux assaillants
21:11de réduire au silence
21:12la défense allemande
21:13et les conséquences
21:14de cet échec
21:15se firent sentir
21:16pendant toute la durée
21:17des opérations.
21:17Et maintenant, près de 16 heures,
21:36la tentative a totalement échoué.
21:38Les Anglais ont rembarqué,
21:40laissant plus de 3 500 morts,
21:41prisonniers ou blessés.
21:42La bataille est terminée.
21:45Certes, les images
21:46qui vont vous être présentées
21:48heurteront votre sensibilité.
21:50Elles ne sont hélas
21:51que la cruelle vérité
21:52de la guerre.
21:55La tentative du 19 août
21:57confirme l'opinion
21:58de ceux
21:59qui en toute objectivité
22:00considèrent
22:01que depuis Andai
22:02jusqu'à l'océan glacial,
22:04des troupes débarquées
22:05ne peuvent ni s'établir
22:06ni se maintenir.
22:15Les Anglais
22:16ont accès
22:16deux victoires
22:17sur la plage
22:18à Dieppe
22:19et dans la public opinion,
22:21qui maintenant
22:22croient que
22:22la Fortress Europe
22:23est impenetrable.
22:30Deux ans
22:31plus tard,
22:32la failure
22:32à Dieppe
22:33leads Eisenhower
22:34and his allies
22:34to abandon
22:35their plans
22:36to take
22:36this major port
22:37on the Atlantic coast,
22:38which would
22:39be heavily defended.
22:42This raises
22:43the question
22:43of transporting
22:44tanks
22:44and heavy equipment
22:45by large ships
22:46that cannot approach
22:47the beaches
22:48without running aground.
22:54Eisenhower
22:55builds
22:55two prefabricated
22:56artificial harbours,
22:58one for the Americans
23:00and the other
23:01for the British.
23:03this colossal project
23:07and technological feat
23:08is known
23:09as Mulberry harbours.
23:17These caves
23:18and floating piers
23:19will be towed
23:19across the English Channel
23:20and submerged
23:22on D-Day
23:22in front of the landing
23:24beaches
23:24with massive concrete cubes
23:26to protect them
23:27from the waves.
23:28The construction site
23:33is spotted
23:34by a German
23:34reconnaissance plane
23:35but the high command
23:38doesn't understand
23:38what it is.
23:49D-Day landing preparations
23:51in southern England
23:52have become
23:52history's
23:53most significant
23:54accumulation
23:54of troops
23:55and equipment
23:56impossible to hide
23:57from the Germans.
23:58so the Allies
24:19invent a new
24:19disinformation maneuver
24:21Operation Fortitude
24:23which consists
24:25of two fake operations
24:27planned for the first
24:28six months
24:28of 1944.
24:34Fortitude North
24:35the announcement
24:36of a landing
24:36in Norway
24:37so the Germans
24:38will send troops there
24:39creating short supply
24:41elsewhere
24:41and Fortitude South
24:44to convince Hitler
24:45that the main landing
24:46will occur
24:47in the Padre de Calais
24:48where the distance
24:49between England
24:50and France
24:50is at its shortest
24:51General Patton
24:57is reinstated
24:58because he's famous
24:59and credible
25:00leading a phantom army
25:04with dummy armored
25:05divisions
25:05but will Hitler
25:31fall for it
25:32in March 1944
25:34before he leaves
25:35his headquarters
25:36in the east
25:37for his mountain
25:37home
25:38he's taken the bait
25:40of Operation Fortitude
25:42he orders the transfer
25:44of troops to Norway
25:45and the reinforcement
25:46of the armored divisions
25:47in the Padre de Calais
25:48at the Berghof
25:53his chalet
25:54now the hub of power
25:56Hitler reassures
25:57as much needed
25:57Romanian
25:58Bulgarian
25:59and Slovakian
26:00allies
26:01although he believes
26:08the D-Day landings
26:09will occur
26:09in Padre de Calais
26:10he can't be sure
26:12he has no choice
26:20but to keep fortifying
26:21the coasts
26:21of occupied Europe
26:22from Lapland
26:24to the Basque country
26:25he reinforces
26:27the channel zone
26:27which greatly benefits
26:29French cement
26:30and construction companies
26:31in the spring of 1944
26:39along the length
26:40of what is now known
26:41as the Atlantic Wall
26:429,000 blockhouses
26:44are completed
26:45representing only half
26:46the amount initially planned
26:47this is because
26:52Hitler prioritizes
26:53gigantic submarine shelters
26:55and French ports
26:56such as Lorient
26:57and Saint-Nazaire
26:58he states
27:02with walls
27:0415 feet thick
27:05and 600 feet long
27:07they will be invulnerable
27:08and indestructible
27:09Hitler's vision
27:16of defense
27:16is medieval
27:17he wants walls
27:18he says
27:20I will go down
27:22in history
27:23as the greatest
27:24fortification builder
27:25of all time
27:26I am hell-bent
27:29on turning
27:30the Atlantic
27:30and English coasts
27:32into an impregnable fortress
27:34German newsreels
27:42go wild
27:43to impress the Allies
27:44every family has at least
27:53one member dead
27:54wounded
27:55or taken prisoner
27:56at the National Socialist
28:04People's Relief
28:04propaganda minister
28:06Joseph Goebbels
28:07puts on a show
28:07of concern
28:08for the Germans
28:09living in ruins
28:10and on the Atlantic wall
28:19the Fuhrer appoints
28:20notorious leaders
28:21at the helm of the Western Front
28:25is Field Marshal
28:26von Rundstedt
28:27one of France's conquerors
28:28and highly popular
28:33Field Marshal Rummel
28:34is placed at the head
28:35of all coastal defenses
28:37his presence alone
28:41reassures the Reich's film audiences
28:43as he addresses them
28:45as seen here
28:46in Le Touquet
28:47in the spring of 1944
28:49given our fortification
28:53the iron morale
28:54of our troops
28:55and our new weapons
28:58we can rest easy
29:00there's no need to worry
29:06we'll be fine
29:07if the English
29:10try to land here
29:11they won't come back again
29:13yet Rommel knows
29:22that some sectors
29:23are less well defended
29:24than others
29:24many of Rommel's
29:384,000 weapons
29:39are spoils of war
29:40in France in 1940
29:41including the famous
29:4475mm cannon
29:45or railroad artillery
29:48the calibers
29:54are too varied
29:55and shell stocks
29:56are insufficient
29:57the manpower
30:01was insufficient as well
30:02235,000
30:07Wehrmacht soldiers
30:08are spread out
30:09along the Atlantic Wall
30:10around 30,000
30:12are in Normandy
30:13and they're not all Germans
30:16some units
30:23were taken
30:24from Russian prison camps
30:25generally sentenced
30:35to starve to death
30:36the most recently
30:42captured prisoners
30:43still fit to fight
30:44or fed
30:45washed
30:46and given German uniforms
30:48in Hitler's view
30:55they should receive
30:56a political education
30:57like all the Reich soldiers
30:59the instructors
31:02are given a booklet
31:03whose title copies
31:04that of an American film
31:06Why We Fight
31:07During their training
31:16the recruits
31:17memorize the following words
31:19England feels
31:22it's her duty
31:22to rule over other peoples
31:24Americans believe
31:28in the United States
31:29supremacy
31:29over other peoples
31:30Jews
31:31Jews are the world's main war makers
31:36Jews are the world's main war makers
31:36for Hitler
31:45this indoctrination
31:46indoctrination as military value celebrating his rise to power at a
31:54Munich brewery he says if a man believes his command is infallible he dies more
32:00easily let's uphold this belief and ensure that his final fight is easier
32:06for him
32:16Hitler wants the defenders of the Atlantic wall to be indoctrinated trained
32:21and able to withstand the first hit but many of the recruits from Germany are
32:31skinny children who have endured restrictions sleep deprivation allied
32:38bombings in their towns and the brutality of the Nazi education
32:46like 18-year-old soldier Franz Gackle lost in his oversized uniform and helmet he
32:55stands with his machine gun on the beach at Colville-sur-Mer where the Americans
33:00will soon land
33:07Gackle writes the beach is well defended at low tide a long strip of anti-tanker
33:15obstacles stretches across the sand in front of Colville
33:22death weights on the steel gantries and tree trunks with flat mines on top
33:28that should tear apart the ship's landing at high tide
33:35six million mines under the sea under the sand and in the fields above the cliffs
33:43but Rommel believes this is not enough
33:50he is equally concerned about the air defense of the Atlantic wall
33:56he has plenty of pilots and outstanding aircraft but his squadrons are scattered all over France
34:04Rommel also regrets that he cannot command the tanks
34:11Hitler is reserved in the pad de Calais
34:21Field Marshal von Rundstedt privately tells Rommel
34:25the Atlantic wall is a two-bit bluff
34:30Rommel agrees he says
34:32this charade is more for the German public than for the enemy
34:36who knows the Atlantic wall better than we do
34:39one of the allies unwitting sources of information is General Oshima
34:50ambassador of Japan
34:52Germany's main ally
34:54invited to visit the Atlantic wall for four days
34:58he transmitted a 20 page double encoded report to Tokyo
35:03which was intercepted and deciphered by brilliant American academics
35:13this report gave a detailed account of the structure of the fortifications
35:17artillery and communications
35:22everything was shown and explained to him in detail
35:27throughout the war Oshima will send out 1475 secret dispatches
35:32General Marshal
35:36commander-in-chief of the US Army comments sarcastically
35:39Oshima has been our greatest informant on Hitler's intentions
35:45the wall is closely guarded
35:51yet the French resistant networks find daredevils to approach it
35:56like Normandy's cycling champion Guillaume Mercadet
36:03he has obtained permission from the Germans to train along the coast
36:13every day he observes the state of new construction work
36:17minefield installations and ammunition stocks amongst bourgeois villas
36:23and luxury hotels emptied of their guests
36:26this takes courage in a country that generally remains loyal to its head of state
36:32Marshal Pétain
36:39who continues to collaborate with the Germans
36:42resistance fighters represent barely 2% of the population
36:47but they bring essential information to the allies
36:50but they bring essential information to the allies
36:57they reveal that the wall has vulnerabilities
37:01passageways for daily exercise
37:07for sailing enthusiasts
37:10for those who are homesick
37:14the Germans are sick and tired of staring in vain at the waves on the horizon
37:22some slowly lose their fighting spirit
37:26like Helmut Liechtenfelds
37:29he writes
37:33I'm doing quite well
37:36Normandy
37:37the name of this part of France
37:39is a wealthy region
37:42we eat lots of meat
37:44we're well fed
37:47but the resistance fighters are sharpening their knives
37:56they will show no mercy
38:07the Maquisards
38:08up to a hundred thousand
38:10are hiding in the forests and mountains
38:12Evercore
38:14Limousin
38:15Provence
38:16and Normandy
38:21they're learning how to wage war
38:23waiting for the insurrection order
38:25this order will be transmitted by London's radio station
38:30the BBC
38:31always jammed by the Germans
38:33but the jamming doesn't stop people from listening to General de Gaulle
38:38the voice of hope
38:40or the program
38:43Les Français parlent de Français
38:45which broadcasts curious personal messages
38:48coded orders for the resistance fighters
38:50messages such as
38:54Les dés sont sur le tapis
38:56the dice are on the carpet
38:57which 48 hours before D-Day
39:00will trigger the sabotage of the railroads
39:02The order for cutting telephone lines is
39:10It fait chaud à Suez
39:12It's hot in Suez
39:13repeated twice
39:15resistance fighters
39:17resistance fighters or not
39:20the French await the announcement of D-Day
39:22it will be broadcast four days prior
39:27and will be a verse by Verlaine
39:30the long sobs of violins of autumn
39:33and on D-Day by another verse
39:36wound my heart with a monotonous languor
39:43the Germans are well aware of these messages
39:46Rommel knows that one of them will announce D-Day
39:50there's nothing to do but wait
39:52Rommel tells his officers
39:54everything will be decided on the beaches
39:56the very first day
39:57like in Dieppe
39:59we'll have to push them back immediately
40:01it will be the longest day
40:09opposite him
40:10Eisenhower
40:11in the spring of 1944
40:14he organizes a summit meeting
40:16to allocate landing sectors
40:18and give the beaches code names
40:25these names are to be chosen at random
40:28and kept secret
40:29two American non-commissioned officers
40:33helping with the maps
40:34give the names of their states
40:36and hometowns
40:39this is how the two westernmost beaches
40:42assigned to the Americans
40:44come to be called Utah and Omaha
40:47Utah Beach is at St. Marie du Mont
40:51Omaha Beach is at Colville-Sormer
40:55Montgomery suggested Churchill using fish names
41:00for the two British beaches
41:02goldfish
41:05and swordfish
41:07Churchill remarks that these fish names
41:11aren't appropriate
41:12when so many men will die in the sea
41:15so the ending fish is removed
41:19the two English beaches
41:21the two English beaches
41:22Aromanches and Wiestrom
41:24become respectively gold and sword
41:26French commandos will land there
41:29between the two
41:32the beach at Corselle-Sormer
41:35intended for the Canadians
41:37is christened Juno
41:38after an officer's wife
41:40to secure these beaches and the allied flanks
41:44American paratroopers will jump to the west
41:47and British paratroopers to the east
41:50on the Orne Canal
41:56Eisenhower sends his car for Churchill
41:58to have him meet the paratroopers
42:00at the wheel is his driver of two years
42:0326 year old Kay Summersbee
42:05Eisenhower says
42:08when I first saw her
42:10I thought I was dreaming
42:15she is a war hero who drove an ambulance
42:18through London in flames
42:21over the course of two years
42:23their relationship has become more intimate
42:29American and British paratroopers
42:31pull off a spectacular rehearsal
42:33for Churchill and Eisenhower
42:35Churchill expresses his satisfaction and confidence
42:42he says to Eisenhower
42:47General, if you could liberate Paris before winter
42:52it would be the greatest victory of modern times
42:56Eisenhower and Montgomery finally agree
43:00to organize a large-scale rehearsal
43:02for the Normandy landings
43:04exercise tiger involves 30,000 American and British troops
43:14on April 22nd 1944
43:17they launch an eight-day assault
43:19on two beaches in southern England
43:21similar to those in Normandy
43:24they are about to experience a nightmare
43:27that will remain a secret for half a century
43:34the scope to massacre
43:42disorganized command
43:43artificial fog
43:47and instructors firing live ammunition
43:50result in hundreds of dead and wounded
43:52but the worst
43:54This is yet to come.
44:06During the first days of the exercise, the radio operator struggle with her equipment
44:10while in action.
44:14And when it works, everyone chatters non-stop.
44:18On the other side of the channel, the Germans detect unusual radio traffic.
44:25Admiral Diniz, the German Navy's cunning commander, immediately gives the order to fight.
44:33Nine torpedo boats take off.
44:36Hitler's great battleships have all been sunk by the Royal Navy.
44:40But these fearsome, fast, agile and well-armed crafts are still operational and ideally suited
44:46to brutal interventions in the English Channel.
44:54The intercepted landing barges packed with hundreds of soldiers.
44:58And then the unthinkable occurs.
45:07In addition to the beach casualties, several hundred men are drowned and missing.
45:13Among them, ten officers carrying plans for the real beaches of Utah and Omaha.
45:19Eisenhower is furious and considers aborting Operation Overlord altogether if the maps are
45:25not found.
45:27A long, gruesome fishing expedition is organized.
45:34All ten maps are recovered.
45:37D-Day will take place as planned.
45:40This disaster is immediately shrouded in secrecy until 1984.
45:51British and American troops are taken to special camps close to the coast.
45:56They have no contact with the outside world.
46:01Everyone senses that D-Day is near and that the countdown has begun.
46:13On May 18, 1944, Eisenhower comes to encourage his men, who are perfecting their training and
46:19receiving new weapons.
46:22One of these is the famous bazooka.
46:24A tubular rocket launcher that can pierce tank armor and the cement walls of blockhouses.
46:36But also a much older piece of equipment.
46:39A tragic souvenir of World War I.
46:42The gas mask.
46:43A test of the mask, very close to D-Day, takes place on May 21, 1944, as identified by a clapboard.
46:55This test is awkwardly completed with a gas chamber drill.
46:59This is all it takes to scare these men, already nerve-wracked by the long wait.
47:08On May 27, they try to relax by listening to Glenn Miller's orchestra at full blast.
47:27And jazz music broadcast by Radio Berlin, with commentary by an American host who's gone
47:33over to the enemy, Mildred Gillers.
47:51She also says, you're waiting for the starting signal, imagining you will succeed in invading
47:57our great continent, you're going to attack a huge fortress, you're going to get slaughtered.
48:08May 28, the distribution of French money, an invasion currency in the same color as the
48:14dollar, which revolts General de Gaulle, who was kept away from the D-Day landings until
48:20the last moment.
48:27May 31, the men collect their survival kit, an indication that the landing is imminent.
48:36Three cans of pressed meat, cheese, vitamin cookies, sugar, cigarettes, matches, chewing gum,
48:46a can opener, and a life belt.
48:58Eisenhower is confident.
49:00His men are pumped up, like these boys from a small town in the south, Bedford, Virginia.
49:10He also gave his way rights to his parents.
49:14Operation Tiger made us even more aware of our responsibilities.
49:19We tried to be the best during training.
49:21It was a matter of pride and honor.
49:26And it worked.
49:28We've been chosen to be the first to land.
49:32There are 34 of them from the A Company, 116th Regiment, 29th Infantry Division.
49:44They're called the Bedford Boys.
49:47They're waiting for Eisenhower's orders to take Omaha Beach, which will soon become known
49:53as Bloody Beach, but they don't know that yet.
50:03D-Day is approaching.
50:05Allied bombing intensifies.
50:11On German torpedo boat bases, the Channel Coast, railroads, locomotives, roads, bridges,
50:21and stations.
50:24This is the transportation plan, designed to prevent the movement of German reinforcements
50:29north of the Loire River.
50:33And in the south of France, the same pounding prepares for the province landings.
50:42Day and night, the British and Americans spare no city.
50:50France's apocalypse begins, as does its liberation.
50:58On June 1st, tens of thousands of men converge on the boats.
51:05Eisenhower writes,
51:07The most favorable combination of moon, tide, and sunrise is June 5th, 6th, and 7th.
51:17We will cross the channel at night, so that darkness will conceal the importance of our
51:22convoys.
51:25Our attacks must take place at low tide to destroy beach obstacles before the sea covers them.
51:35Eisenhower is then struck by fate, namely rain.
51:39A storm is brewing on the English Channel.
51:42Eisenhower says, if bad weather sets in, the Nazis won't need anything else to defend the Normandy
51:50coast.
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