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[Music]
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it was the turning point of world war
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two three million soldiers hundreds of
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thousands of ships planes and tanks a
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logistical complexity unprecedented in a
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military operation this was the Battle
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of Normandy
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more than 75 years since the end of the
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war certain details of this tremendous
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battle have gone untold
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very few people can tell you what
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happens in June and July and August and
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how the battle for Normandy actually
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ended now unpublished archives 20 years
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of research experts from the United
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States the UK and Canada bring to life
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the boots on the ground reality of
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Normandy's 85 days of hell liberation
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has come to Normandy but so has war
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three months of savage conquer
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we can destroy the German army in
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Normandy then the rest of France will be
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saved during which the Allies and the
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Germans will fight mercilessly it's a
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battlefield where they live and they die
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when they fight in where they kill when
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they average sold the point of view this
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just seems to be a hopeless situation it
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was a very dirty baffle the schrutes
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give kaboosh Creed a dirty bush war
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everyone paid a heck of a price for this
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d-day was just the beginning
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June 6th 1944 early morning thousands of
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ships embarked from England headed to
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the French coast of Normandy
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two years in the making it's an allied
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operation to take back France from the
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Germans
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they call it overlord rarely in history
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will you find a time where these major
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powers are all mobilized almost to the
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full extent of their strength to have
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this confrontation over what is to
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happen with the Normandy invasion allied
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soldiers will face a territory that the
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Germans have occupied for four years
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calm Cherbourg sound low all the great
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cities of Normandy are under Nazi
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control a landing zone chosen is 80
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kilometers long placed under the command
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of US General Eisenhower the troops will
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land on five sectors Utah and Omaha
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beaches will be taken by the Americans
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gold Juno and sword beaches by the
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British and Canadians
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around 6:30 a.m. the first waves of
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Allied soldiers land on French soil
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during the first hours of the landing
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the allies suffer heavy losses from the
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entrench to German defenses but soldiers
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and armored vehicles continue to lend
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putting pressure on the enemy
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the vital part of any seaborne invasion
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like Operation Overlord was to get
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ground rapidly because only then could
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you start to push back the enemy said
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that they could not keep firing at the
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beaches after just one day thousands of
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Allied soldiers have already been killed
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but the wide scope of the landing has
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been fatal to the Germans the first
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phase of Operation Overlord is completed
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scattered throughout the landing zones
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the Allies must now regroup the
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different units on the ground
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you've got to link up those five beaches
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as quickly as you can
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if they're not linked up then the
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Germans can fill the gaps and can begin
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attacking the Allies from any direction
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they want from what military people call
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the flanks Eisenhower and his generals
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needed to create a buffer zone to
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protect against the German
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counter-attack that would come and in
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fact they prepared for that the plan for
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sealing off Normandy was called
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transportation and this meant bombing
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all of the bridges over the River Seine
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to the east and over the river Loire to
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the south said that the whole of the
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Norman area was completely cut off but
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also it meant smashing houses and towns
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and villages at crucial crossroads and
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places to prevent the Germans bringing
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up reinforcements and supplies
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the American phrase which had been
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invented in Italy was called putting the
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city in the street which basically meant
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simply blocking the roads so that
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traffic could not get through
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even before the fighting starts inland
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Normandy is partially destroyed
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no water no electricity no phone lines
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and now after taking the five landing
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beaches the allies must advance whatever
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the cost to push the Germans back and
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occupy enemy territory the first
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objective of general Montgomery
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commander of the British and Canadian
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Forces is to seize the city of calm
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located nearly 20 kilometers from sword
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and Juno beaches on day two Montgomery
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is convinced that he will succeed in
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rapidly capturing count
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but facing him his general Erwin Rommel
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known for his feats in Africa and
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nicknamed the desert fox Rommel
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mobilizes his most powerful armored
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division's to meet the British Canadian
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forces advancing towards cow and block
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Montgomery's allied offensive
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first days of fighting north of camel
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are devastated but perfectly organized
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German defenses invariably repel all
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English and Canadian attempts facing the
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German mark for mark 5 and Tiger tanks
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the American Sherman tanks used by the
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Allies are just not up to the mark we
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have to remember is every American
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Sherman tank has to be shipped to the
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battlefield so it means you have to
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produce something that's reasonably
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light enough to be able to ship it's
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small enough that you can get it on the
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ship it's a reasonably good tank but you
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don't want to be in a toe-to-toe battle
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for the German tank head on 33 tons for
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the Sherman more than 43 tons for the
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German tanks more robust with armor
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superior to the Americans they delivered
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devastating cannon power
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the muzzle velocity those tanks meant
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that if it hit you that shell was gonna
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penetrate your armor probably you know
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especially along the sides and either go
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straight through or worse rattle around
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inside and explode while the British and
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the Canadians are defeated on the east
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flank the Americans start advancing on
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the other side general Bradley commands
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the troops their first objective is 17
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kilometers from the coast a small town
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of catan tall and its network of roads
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and railways Carentan is really the key
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to seal off the Cotentin Peninsula and
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then capture Cherbourg which is the you
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know the greatest Harbor in Normandy but
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also in tandem with that you're gonna
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start moving southward towards the town
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of San lo
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[Music]
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the 101st American Airborne Division's
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surrounds Covanta on June 9 1944
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the fighting ruthless and savage would
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last four days and four nights
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On June 12th Gallinger falls into
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American pens with heavy losses on both
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sides but the Allies have achieved their
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goal six days after the landings all the
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coalition forces are finally the linked
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up the troops occupy a beachhead 80
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kilometers long reaching at certain
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points 10 to 30 kilometers deep while on
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the west side
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the Americans advance towards Cherbourg
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and salvo on the east side the British
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and Canadian was still clash with the
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Germans who maintain their positions
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around calm these repeated defeats put
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Montgomery in a difficult position with
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the u.s. command he's desperate to win a
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first irrefutable victory on the
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battlefield On June 12th he attempts an
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encirclement maneuver by skirting caja
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from the West to trap the German
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divisions the 7th British armored
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division is sent to the small town of VA
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Bocage
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but the Germans anticipate the move and
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ambush the British with a tiger tank
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battalion commanded by Mikhail vintner
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the most impressive tank commander of
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World War two
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one by one the British tanks are
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destroyed
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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the failure to capture Villa bocaj by
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the Samsung division and 30 Corps did
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impact badly on morale they just
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realized that it was going to be a far
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tougher job than they had thought about
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or imagined when they said so
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[Music]
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in these conditions
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taking the port of Cherbourg becomes an
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absolute priority for the Allies after
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capturing Kanto the Americans take 10
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days to travel 50 kilometres and reach
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Cherbourg the 4th 9th and 79th US
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divisions finally reached the city on
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June 21st they launched the attack the
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following day
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[Music]
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three US divisions are all just
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advancing north towards Cherbourg and
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try to get into the town as quickly as
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they can
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the city is defended by 30,000 troops
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trapped by the Allies
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they're doomed because the Allied Navy
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from the seaward side can pound them and
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then the American army coming from the
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landward side can kind of just catch
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them in a vise so the whole thing kind
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of just devolves into this sort of
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block-by-block fight
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it will take a few days before the
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American soldiers drive out all pockets
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of resistance in Pacific
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On June 26th the Germans surrendered
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thousands of soldiers are taken prisoner
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after four long years of occupation
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Cherbourg finally tastes freedom once
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again
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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Cherbourg is certainly the biggest city
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at that point that is liberated there is
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a slardar German surrender and the
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Allies then have it as an average
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soldier that still wasn't necessarily
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your typical day so those who were there
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say it's shareable tended to remember
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that
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[Music]
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[Music]
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despite this first victory and Cherbourg
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the casualties after three weeks of
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fighting are staggering thousands of
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soldiers have already been killed or
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wounded
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[Music]
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on the battlefield the medical teams try
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to intervene as quickly as possible they
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transport blood set up field hospitals
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but complex organization is established
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to follow the troops as they advance
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in spite of the losses the allies keep
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moving forward day after day after day
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after the Americans take Cherbourg they
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head south
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[Music]
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the next allied target is less than 90
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kilometers away the city of San Logue
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but the American soldiers face one of
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the most dangerous regions for infantry
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and tanks the Normandy Bocage
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the Bocage is made up of cultivated
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field separated by ditches and
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embankments canopy by hedgerows several
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metres high
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[Music]
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it's basically a maze of these hedgerows
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most of which are about 8 feet to 13
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feet high that thick norman soil clay
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like soil packed around fences and
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stones that certainly individual
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00:15:43,730 --> 00:15:45,200
soldiers can't get through so the
283
00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:48,579
hedgerow opening becomes a kill zone
284
00:15:48,579 --> 00:15:51,950
the Germans had four years to prepare
285
00:15:51,950 --> 00:15:55,430
their defense heavy machine guns were
286
00:15:55,430 --> 00:15:58,550
positioned in the corners of each field
287
00:15:58,550 --> 00:16:00,019
[Music]
288
00:16:00,019 --> 00:16:03,000
mortars target every spot the Allies
289
00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:05,500
might cross
290
00:16:05,500 --> 00:16:09,610
and mines hide in their pathways
291
00:16:09,610 --> 00:16:11,920
with a visibility of no more than a
292
00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:13,990
couple of meters the Americans
293
00:16:13,990 --> 00:16:17,310
advance blindly
294
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[Music]
295
00:16:25,610 --> 00:16:28,050
up against the Germans
296
00:16:28,050 --> 00:16:31,050
dozens of Allied soldiers died taking
297
00:16:31,050 --> 00:16:34,520
back c'mere meadow
298
00:16:35,810 --> 00:16:37,920
or a single [ __ ]
299
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[Music]
300
00:16:50,460 --> 00:16:53,370
the US Army finds itself in Normandy in
301
00:16:53,370 --> 00:16:55,770
the middle of a bloodbath absolute
302
00:16:55,770 --> 00:16:58,500
bloodbath day by day hedgerow by
303
00:16:58,500 --> 00:17:01,170
hedgerow chokepoint town by chokepoint
304
00:17:01,170 --> 00:17:03,540
town every one of them were you fight
305
00:17:03,540 --> 00:17:06,950
they're gonna suffer casualties
306
00:17:08,809 --> 00:17:10,819
from the average soldiers point of view
307
00:17:10,819 --> 00:17:12,230
this just seems to be a hopeless
308
00:17:12,230 --> 00:17:18,169
situation you just know that this seems
309
00:17:18,169 --> 00:17:19,970
to be kind of the road to nowhere in
310
00:17:19,970 --> 00:17:20,829
Normandy
311
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[Music]
312
00:17:24,180 --> 00:17:25,430
[Applause]
313
00:17:25,430 --> 00:17:31,250
[Music]
314
00:17:31,250 --> 00:17:33,530
as the Americans try to navigate the
315
00:17:33,530 --> 00:17:35,539
Normandy hedgerows the British and
316
00:17:35,539 --> 00:17:37,940
Canadians are still attempting to break
317
00:17:37,940 --> 00:17:40,490
the German stronghold around the city of
318
00:17:40,490 --> 00:17:45,980
kaol a British general Montgomery
319
00:17:45,980 --> 00:17:48,799
decides to change his offensive he
320
00:17:48,799 --> 00:17:56,380
launches Operation Charnwood on July 7th
321
00:17:56,380 --> 00:17:59,740
467 Allied planes dropped more than
322
00:17:59,740 --> 00:18:03,169
2,500 tons of bombs on enemy occupied
323
00:18:03,169 --> 00:18:06,090
areas around Cao
324
00:18:06,090 --> 00:18:14,489
[Music]
325
00:18:14,489 --> 00:18:17,259
after having been heavily bombed on June
326
00:18:17,259 --> 00:18:22,470
6th the city of Cao is decimated
327
00:18:34,040 --> 00:18:36,860
on July 9th the British and Canadian
328
00:18:36,860 --> 00:18:39,530
soldiers finally enter the city from the
329
00:18:39,530 --> 00:18:41,560
north
330
00:18:42,600 --> 00:18:45,980
[Music]
331
00:18:50,360 --> 00:18:53,100
as the Canadians and British fought in
332
00:18:53,100 --> 00:18:56,090
to call through the rubble they saw
333
00:18:56,090 --> 00:18:58,950
French civilians who had survived the
334
00:18:58,950 --> 00:19:00,809
bombing but whose family members had
335
00:19:00,809 --> 00:19:04,710
been killed they talked about hearing
336
00:19:04,710 --> 00:19:08,129
the screams of the French civilians who
337
00:19:08,129 --> 00:19:10,610
were trapped
338
00:19:13,230 --> 00:19:14,779
[Music]
339
00:19:14,779 --> 00:19:17,759
but for the Allied command the
340
00:19:17,759 --> 00:19:20,070
annihilation of kaol and the thousands
341
00:19:20,070 --> 00:19:22,259
of civilians killed under the American
342
00:19:22,259 --> 00:19:24,980
and British bombs was a necessary evil
343
00:19:24,980 --> 00:19:28,470
the price to pay in winning the battle
344
00:19:28,470 --> 00:19:31,200
it's always hard talking about ends and
345
00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:33,419
means and what justifies what in warfare
346
00:19:33,419 --> 00:19:37,529
a moral decision would be that the
347
00:19:37,529 --> 00:19:39,090
killing of civilians is by almost by
348
00:19:39,090 --> 00:19:40,830
definition a war crime but you're not
349
00:19:40,830 --> 00:19:44,059
going to be able to avoid it in reality
350
00:19:52,370 --> 00:19:54,680
the priority was we've got to defeat the
351
00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:57,770
Germans because in a way we accept that
352
00:19:57,770 --> 00:20:00,050
Normandy is going to be really the
353
00:20:00,050 --> 00:20:01,690
sacrificial lamb for the whole of France
354
00:20:01,690 --> 00:20:05,000
if we can destroy the German army in
355
00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:07,340
Normandy then the rest of France will be
356
00:20:07,340 --> 00:20:09,610
saved
357
00:20:13,779 --> 00:20:16,059
while the British and Canadian troops
358
00:20:16,059 --> 00:20:19,100
gradually liberate the city of kaol the
359
00:20:19,100 --> 00:20:21,500
Americans continue to struggle against a
360
00:20:21,500 --> 00:20:24,260
strong German resistance on their way to
361
00:20:24,260 --> 00:20:27,010
salut
362
00:20:34,370 --> 00:20:35,620
[Music]
363
00:20:35,620 --> 00:20:38,300
thousands of Allied soldiers are trapped
364
00:20:38,300 --> 00:20:41,300
in the Normandy bocaj the incessant rain
365
00:20:41,300 --> 00:20:45,620
and mud slow their progress even more to
366
00:20:45,620 --> 00:20:48,590
escape this fate elaborate they try an
367
00:20:48,590 --> 00:20:52,550
ingenious strategy we've got to create a
368
00:20:52,550 --> 00:20:53,870
new opening through the hedgerows
369
00:20:53,870 --> 00:20:55,790
because the main one the Germans have
370
00:20:55,790 --> 00:20:57,020
covered and they're gonna kill everybody
371
00:20:57,020 --> 00:21:03,680
who moves through there so they begin to
372
00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:06,230
weld ironically enough the remnants of
373
00:21:06,230 --> 00:21:09,170
German Beach obstacles the metal onto
374
00:21:09,170 --> 00:21:12,670
the front of Tanks with prongs
375
00:21:15,450 --> 00:21:18,160
and begin to use the the tanks than to
376
00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:19,840
punch a new opening through the head
377
00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:22,080
rope
378
00:21:33,670 --> 00:21:37,610
with these so-called Rhino tanks the
379
00:21:37,610 --> 00:21:40,670
Allies take the Germans by surprise but
380
00:21:40,670 --> 00:21:43,340
for every hedge crossed they remain at
381
00:21:43,340 --> 00:21:46,809
the mercy of the enemy soldiers
382
00:21:47,660 --> 00:21:49,610
because the Germans have in the ditches
383
00:21:49,610 --> 00:21:51,860
beyond the hedgerow a lot of Panzerfaust
384
00:21:51,860 --> 00:21:55,040
Gunners it's a one-time one-shot kind of
385
00:21:55,040 --> 00:21:56,780
anti-tank weapon that could blow up your
386
00:21:56,780 --> 00:21:58,970
tank so the infantrymen have to move
387
00:21:58,970 --> 00:22:01,490
very close to the tank and basically
388
00:22:01,490 --> 00:22:04,100
what the military calls clean out the
389
00:22:04,100 --> 00:22:05,840
Germans and the ditches that basically
390
00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:07,550
means kill them and very close
391
00:22:07,550 --> 00:22:09,950
face-to-face quite often and then the
392
00:22:09,950 --> 00:22:11,330
tankers will lay down what's called
393
00:22:11,330 --> 00:22:13,190
white phosphorus fire and that white
394
00:22:13,190 --> 00:22:15,740
phosphorus is a terrible weapon it's
395
00:22:15,740 --> 00:22:18,560
basically a chemical that will just burn
396
00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:22,900
through you as long as it has oxygen
397
00:22:24,390 --> 00:22:27,630
it was a very dirty battle I mean the
398
00:22:27,630 --> 00:22:29,370
Germans themselves described it as ash
399
00:22:29,370 --> 00:22:32,540
Witzke bush Creek a dirty Bush war and
400
00:22:32,540 --> 00:22:34,890
general Collins who've been fighting in
401
00:22:34,890 --> 00:22:36,390
the Far East said this is worse than the
402
00:22:36,390 --> 00:22:38,750
jungle
403
00:22:54,929 --> 00:22:58,270
on July 18th after three weeks of
404
00:22:58,270 --> 00:23:00,429
relentless fighting since the capturing
405
00:23:00,429 --> 00:23:03,460
of Cherbourg the Allied soldiers finally
406
00:23:03,460 --> 00:23:06,220
enter the city of Santa Lou but upon
407
00:23:06,220 --> 00:23:10,530
arrival not much remains
408
00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:20,740
the soldiers have to advance extremely
409
00:23:20,740 --> 00:23:23,470
slowly as the Germans have mined the
410
00:23:23,470 --> 00:23:26,370
entire city
411
00:23:27,940 --> 00:23:30,669
a few civilians emerge from their
412
00:23:30,669 --> 00:23:32,950
shelters to search the rubble for
413
00:23:32,950 --> 00:23:34,960
objects that might have survived the
414
00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:38,519
onslaught of Allied bombs
415
00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:46,660
after Cherbourg san lo is the second
416
00:23:46,660 --> 00:23:50,680
great victory for the Allied command but
417
00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:52,540
the state of the city which is later
418
00:23:52,540 --> 00:23:54,810
nicknamed capital of the ruins
419
00:23:54,810 --> 00:23:57,790
exemplifies the high price of liberating
420
00:23:57,790 --> 00:24:00,480
Normandy
421
00:24:00,550 --> 00:24:03,720
[Applause]
422
00:24:04,510 --> 00:24:12,319
[Music]
423
00:24:17,230 --> 00:24:19,809
[Music]
424
00:24:19,809 --> 00:24:22,419
after a month and a half of fighting the
425
00:24:22,419 --> 00:24:25,139
troops morale is at an all-time low
426
00:24:25,139 --> 00:24:27,940
every foot gained against the Germans
427
00:24:27,940 --> 00:24:30,309
comes at the cost of intense and
428
00:24:30,309 --> 00:24:33,330
merciless cover
429
00:24:42,510 --> 00:24:45,630
there's the stress of not knowing when
430
00:24:45,630 --> 00:24:47,700
the next German shell is gonna come in
431
00:24:47,700 --> 00:24:49,710
and whether it's gonna hit near you or
432
00:24:49,710 --> 00:24:53,190
not they see a very limited battlefield
433
00:24:53,190 --> 00:24:55,049
it's a battlefield where they live and
434
00:24:55,049 --> 00:24:56,940
they die when they fight in where they
435
00:24:56,940 --> 00:24:59,210
kill
436
00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:15,929
for the soldiers the warm welcome of the
437
00:25:15,929 --> 00:25:18,509
locals reminds them why they came here
438
00:25:18,509 --> 00:25:21,750
to risk their lives
439
00:25:21,750 --> 00:25:30,249
[Music]
440
00:25:45,370 --> 00:25:55,650
[Music]
441
00:25:57,639 --> 00:26:02,829
a little alcohol cigarettes simple gifts
442
00:26:02,829 --> 00:26:05,169
that lift the men's spirits before the
443
00:26:05,169 --> 00:26:07,859
next advancement the next mortar fire
444
00:26:07,859 --> 00:26:14,559
the next dead over time many of them
445
00:26:14,559 --> 00:26:17,139
realized that the only way out was to be
446
00:26:17,139 --> 00:26:19,479
killed or wounded even as reinforcements
447
00:26:19,479 --> 00:26:22,440
came behind them
448
00:26:23,500 --> 00:26:28,830
[Music]
449
00:26:28,830 --> 00:26:32,380
their world became very small battle
450
00:26:32,380 --> 00:26:34,929
stress became a tremendous problem in
451
00:26:34,929 --> 00:26:38,470
the fighting in Normandy and in July and
452
00:26:38,470 --> 00:26:41,080
in August as the strain continued
453
00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:44,049
between about 20 and 30 percent of the
454
00:26:44,049 --> 00:26:46,580
casualties were combat stress
455
00:26:46,580 --> 00:26:49,859
[Music]
456
00:26:53,390 --> 00:26:56,660
to compensate for losses reinforcements
457
00:26:56,660 --> 00:26:58,940
land daily on the Normandy beaches and
458
00:26:58,940 --> 00:27:02,830
are immediately sent to the frontline
459
00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:07,150
after a month and a half of intense
460
00:27:07,150 --> 00:27:09,610
fighting the main cities of Normandy
461
00:27:09,610 --> 00:27:11,620
have been taken from the hands of the
462
00:27:11,620 --> 00:27:14,850
Germans but the battle is far from over
463
00:27:14,850 --> 00:27:19,060
[Music]
464
00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:29,630
to pierce the German defenses and
465
00:27:29,630 --> 00:27:31,730
accelerate the troops movement the
466
00:27:31,730 --> 00:27:36,520
Allied command launches Operation Cobra
467
00:27:47,900 --> 00:27:49,880
Cobra is conceived around the idea of
468
00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:52,400
gosh we have all these great bombers all
469
00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:54,080
this airpower we've been using to pummel
470
00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:56,510
German cities what if we carpet bombed a
471
00:27:56,510 --> 00:27:58,520
part of the German lines of these
472
00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:01,610
hedgerows to punch a hole and have an
473
00:28:01,610 --> 00:28:03,500
opening now for our armor and all of
474
00:28:03,500 --> 00:28:05,060
other other troops to get who through
475
00:28:05,060 --> 00:28:08,330
here very quickly it makes a great deal
476
00:28:08,330 --> 00:28:10,460
of sense on paper it's in the
477
00:28:10,460 --> 00:28:12,440
implementation that it creates some
478
00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:15,410
serious problems why because the bombers
479
00:28:15,410 --> 00:28:18,320
are not that accurate you're asking them
480
00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:20,000
to do something they're not really
481
00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:23,030
capable of doing which is the bomb close
482
00:28:23,030 --> 00:28:25,040
within about a thousand to 2,000 meters
483
00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:28,940
of their own ground troops they're lucky
484
00:28:28,940 --> 00:28:33,430
to hit a target within three miles or so
485
00:28:54,900 --> 00:28:58,029
[Applause]
486
00:29:07,230 --> 00:29:10,030
[Music]
487
00:29:10,030 --> 00:29:14,090
for two days thousands of bombs hit the
488
00:29:14,090 --> 00:29:17,950
front line southeast of San lo
489
00:29:17,950 --> 00:29:21,099
[Music]
490
00:29:26,370 --> 00:29:29,840
[Music]
491
00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:31,400
[Applause]
492
00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:33,740
over the course of two days July 24th
493
00:29:33,740 --> 00:29:37,010
and 25th 1944 the heavy bombers come
494
00:29:37,010 --> 00:29:39,140
over from England and they bomb in front
495
00:29:39,140 --> 00:29:43,090
of the US assault Division
496
00:29:43,090 --> 00:29:45,759
they bomb short and they kill several
497
00:29:45,759 --> 00:29:48,539
hundred Americans
498
00:29:49,310 --> 00:29:52,550
this is I believe the greatest friendly
499
00:29:52,550 --> 00:29:53,930
fire incident in the history of the
500
00:29:53,930 --> 00:29:56,320
United States
501
00:29:58,820 --> 00:30:00,770
but are also the good news is it does
502
00:30:00,770 --> 00:30:03,020
tremendous damage of course the Panzer
503
00:30:03,020 --> 00:30:04,490
layer division the Germans who are on
504
00:30:04,490 --> 00:30:07,940
the wrong side of this and so Cobra does
505
00:30:07,940 --> 00:30:11,110
what it's designed for
506
00:30:19,290 --> 00:30:21,540
the Panzer Lehr division of the German
507
00:30:21,540 --> 00:30:24,450
divisions were so badly thrown by the
508
00:30:24,450 --> 00:30:26,070
heavy bombing that they were in a
509
00:30:26,070 --> 00:30:27,900
completely dazed State when the
510
00:30:27,900 --> 00:30:30,570
Americans cops'll within two days the
511
00:30:30,570 --> 00:30:36,240
real breakthrough had been achieved in
512
00:30:36,240 --> 00:30:39,570
just a few days thousands of Germans are
513
00:30:39,570 --> 00:30:42,060
taken prisoner the Reich forces have
514
00:30:42,060 --> 00:30:43,800
suffered one of their heaviest defeat
515
00:30:43,800 --> 00:30:46,770
since the beginning of the war despite
516
00:30:46,770 --> 00:30:48,870
the collateral damage the military
517
00:30:48,870 --> 00:30:51,510
success of operation Cobra brings the
518
00:30:51,510 --> 00:30:55,760
Battle of Normandy into a new phase
519
00:31:10,050 --> 00:31:13,620
on July 28th the town of ketosis is
520
00:31:13,620 --> 00:31:17,580
captured by the Allies the same day a
521
00:31:17,580 --> 00:31:19,520
new commander arrives
522
00:31:19,520 --> 00:31:22,540
General Patton
523
00:31:22,540 --> 00:31:25,030
famous for his feats in North Africa and
524
00:31:25,030 --> 00:31:28,060
Sicily Patton has just taken command of
525
00:31:28,060 --> 00:31:31,240
the 3rd US Army his mission make a
526
00:31:31,240 --> 00:31:35,430
breakthrough to the south of Normandy
527
00:31:37,890 --> 00:31:40,289
the Germans feared patent more than any
528
00:31:40,289 --> 00:31:43,200
other allied general patents new job
529
00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:45,779
which he was extremely excited about was
530
00:31:45,779 --> 00:31:47,760
the prospect of taking over having his
531
00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:50,340
own army went the breakout came from
532
00:31:50,340 --> 00:31:52,820
Normandy
533
00:31:57,659 --> 00:32:00,159
in just four days
534
00:32:00,159 --> 00:32:02,529
Patton's troops will retake the cities
535
00:32:02,529 --> 00:32:05,679
between cou Thomson Davos and advance
536
00:32:05,679 --> 00:32:08,470
more than 50 kilometers to the south at
537
00:32:08,470 --> 00:32:13,049
a pace not yet seen in this battle
538
00:32:16,140 --> 00:32:19,269
[Music]
539
00:32:21,340 --> 00:32:24,160
as they progress thousands of German
540
00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:27,400
soldiers are taken captive this really
541
00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:29,260
took the Americans all the way through
542
00:32:29,260 --> 00:32:32,380
down past a branch and out of Normandy
543
00:32:32,380 --> 00:32:38,140
even into northern Brittany it was a
544
00:32:38,140 --> 00:32:41,500
spectacular smashing of the German
545
00:32:41,500 --> 00:32:46,750
armies in Normandy this was definitely
546
00:32:46,750 --> 00:32:49,930
the start of taking the fight right the
547
00:32:49,930 --> 00:32:53,760
way through into France
548
00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:03,810
on July 31st Patton and his troops
549
00:33:03,810 --> 00:33:06,030
reclaimed the potable bridge that
550
00:33:06,030 --> 00:33:08,700
crosses the saloon River they gained
551
00:33:08,700 --> 00:33:11,010
direct access to the west of France and
552
00:33:11,010 --> 00:33:13,880
to Brittany
553
00:33:19,650 --> 00:33:22,710
the following day the Americans arrived
554
00:33:22,710 --> 00:33:25,650
at Massa me Cheryl completely abandoned
555
00:33:25,650 --> 00:33:28,460
by the enemy
556
00:33:41,340 --> 00:33:43,890
patents breakthrough is a serious
557
00:33:43,890 --> 00:33:47,480
setback for the German army
558
00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:50,789
the Germans are in an existential
559
00:33:50,789 --> 00:33:53,249
situation in Normandy the logical thing
560
00:33:53,249 --> 00:33:55,259
to do would be to simply retreat
561
00:33:55,259 --> 00:33:57,149
eastward and get out of there and fight
562
00:33:57,149 --> 00:33:59,519
somewhere else we're not talking about
563
00:33:59,519 --> 00:34:00,840
logic and we're talking about someone
564
00:34:00,840 --> 00:34:03,559
like Adolf Hitler
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00:34:06,140 --> 00:34:08,460
instead of ordering his troops to
566
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retreat Hitler decides to counter-attack
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00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:16,918
his plan send his tanks to the town of
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Mortain close to where several American
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00:34:19,500 --> 00:34:21,989
units have joined up the goal is to
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00:34:21,989 --> 00:34:23,639
create a breach in the Allied
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00:34:23,639 --> 00:34:26,879
configuration meant to reach a flaw by
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cutting the American army in two and
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regaining control of the area
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[Music]
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00:34:38,270 --> 00:34:40,860
reluctantly the German generals on the
576
00:34:40,860 --> 00:34:44,418
ground prepare the counter-offensive
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00:34:44,418 --> 00:34:47,399
they had these firm orders from Hitler
578
00:34:47,399 --> 00:34:49,830
even though most of the commanders of
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00:34:49,830 --> 00:34:52,560
the German Panzer units were dubious
580
00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:54,600
about this particular operation but they
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had an option but they had to go ahead
582
00:34:55,800 --> 00:34:58,610
and attack
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on August 7 1944 the Germans launched a
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counter-attack in volterra code named
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Operation new T
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[Music]
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columns of Panzers attacked xxx the US
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00:35:25,240 --> 00:35:27,640
Infantry Division with full force
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00:35:27,640 --> 00:35:30,730
[Music]
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00:35:31,450 --> 00:35:35,390
the GIS resist the powerful German tanks
591
00:35:35,390 --> 00:35:37,970
and managed to slow the Nazi troops
592
00:35:37,970 --> 00:35:40,970
progress giving time for reinforcements
593
00:35:40,970 --> 00:35:43,269
to arrive
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00:35:44,800 --> 00:35:47,890
within a few days the massive influx of
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00:35:47,890 --> 00:35:50,530
Allied forces pushes back the German
596
00:35:50,530 --> 00:35:53,260
counter-offensive Hitler's operation
597
00:35:53,260 --> 00:35:56,099
booty is a total failure
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00:35:56,099 --> 00:35:58,420
the Germans suffer at least 50%
599
00:35:58,420 --> 00:36:00,279
casualties particularly along the roads
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00:36:00,279 --> 00:36:02,200
that kind of envelop on either side of
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00:36:02,200 --> 00:36:05,440
more time it's really a disaster for the
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00:36:05,440 --> 00:36:07,890
Germans
603
00:36:11,160 --> 00:36:14,790
by mid-august the German forces are
604
00:36:14,790 --> 00:36:20,010
defeated on August 15 1944 Hitler throws
605
00:36:20,010 --> 00:36:22,860
in the towel and orders his troops to
606
00:36:22,860 --> 00:36:26,000
flee Normandy
607
00:36:27,609 --> 00:36:29,599
arriving from the West
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00:36:29,599 --> 00:36:31,729
the Americans advanced at full speed
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00:36:31,729 --> 00:36:34,339
towards our Zhang toe to join forces
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00:36:34,339 --> 00:36:37,989
with the British and Canadians
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00:36:39,609 --> 00:36:42,829
village after village one by one they
612
00:36:42,829 --> 00:36:49,490
occupy enemy positions they annihilate
613
00:36:49,490 --> 00:36:53,200
the areas of German resistance
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00:36:54,960 --> 00:36:57,720
a small village of Rennes tirelessly
615
00:36:57,720 --> 00:37:00,750
held by the vert market and an SS unit
616
00:37:00,750 --> 00:37:04,280
is reduced to rubble
617
00:37:10,720 --> 00:37:14,660
dozens of civilians are killed but now
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00:37:14,660 --> 00:37:18,109
is the time to expel every last standing
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German soldier in Normandy
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[Music]
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Bradley and Montgomery coordinate the
622
00:37:31,890 --> 00:37:35,340
Allied troops movement in the West the
623
00:37:35,340 --> 00:37:37,950
Americans advanced towards the sin in
624
00:37:37,950 --> 00:37:39,930
the north the British and Canadians
625
00:37:39,930 --> 00:37:42,570
increase their pressure on fellows in
626
00:37:42,570 --> 00:37:44,910
the south the French armored division of
627
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general Leclerc along with the Americans
628
00:37:47,430 --> 00:37:51,000
head back up to our Chantal between the
629
00:37:51,000 --> 00:37:53,910
cities of fillets and jean gua a pocket
630
00:37:53,910 --> 00:37:57,510
starts to form trapping nearly 100,000
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German soldiers if the Allies managed to
632
00:38:00,540 --> 00:38:03,180
close the gap on the east side they will
633
00:38:03,180 --> 00:38:07,100
cut off any chance for escape
634
00:38:07,250 --> 00:38:09,570
Bradley boosted to visit astre
635
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headquarters never does a general get an
636
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opportunity like we have now to close
637
00:38:14,100 --> 00:38:16,070
this gap and basically to seal them off
638
00:38:16,070 --> 00:38:19,200
the Battle of Normandy had been fought
639
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over hundreds of square miles but it
640
00:38:23,130 --> 00:38:27,770
seemed to funnel at the fellows gap
641
00:38:27,780 --> 00:38:31,350
and this enormous battlefield of
642
00:38:31,350 --> 00:38:34,080
hundreds of miles gets focused down to a
643
00:38:34,080 --> 00:38:38,120
very small deadly place
644
00:38:42,180 --> 00:38:46,049
to weaken the enemy's final defenses the
645
00:38:46,049 --> 00:38:48,299
Allied airforces hammer the German
646
00:38:48,299 --> 00:38:50,550
positions
647
00:38:50,550 --> 00:38:52,770
on the ground the fighting is
648
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unprecedented
649
00:38:59,100 --> 00:39:02,440
the Canadians take fillets on August
650
00:39:02,440 --> 00:39:06,490
17th trial the 18th little by little the
651
00:39:06,490 --> 00:39:09,130
vise tightens on the Germans they have a
652
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corridor of no more than seven
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00:39:11,050 --> 00:39:15,490
kilometers wide to flee to the east
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00:39:15,490 --> 00:39:23,649
[Music]
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z massacre inside of the pocket ad farce
656
00:39:28,939 --> 00:39:32,209
was horrific the fight Obama's kept on
657
00:39:32,209 --> 00:39:33,979
coming in all of the German transport
658
00:39:33,979 --> 00:39:37,579
horses dragging field hospitals or guns
659
00:39:37,579 --> 00:39:40,189
or whatever were just simply machine
660
00:39:40,189 --> 00:39:42,499
gunned in their traces the smell the
661
00:39:42,499 --> 00:39:44,900
stench of corpses for weeks afterwards
662
00:39:44,900 --> 00:39:48,319
that was simply appalling it was a
663
00:39:48,319 --> 00:39:49,880
turkey shoot as Americans would have
664
00:39:49,880 --> 00:39:56,959
called it on August 21st the Falaise
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00:39:56,959 --> 00:39:59,989
pocket is closed once and for all in
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shanwa
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tens of thousands of Germans are taken
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00:40:09,430 --> 00:40:13,620
prisoner and thousands lay dead
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the battle will later be known as the
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00:40:19,890 --> 00:40:24,680
Stalingrad of Normandy you have
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00:40:24,680 --> 00:40:27,720
thousands of dead bodies animals and
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00:40:27,720 --> 00:40:30,090
humans that are in that area Eisenhower
673
00:40:30,090 --> 00:40:31,890
the later wocket famously and say it was
674
00:40:31,890 --> 00:40:33,360
possible to walk from one side of a
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00:40:33,360 --> 00:40:35,190
field to another without ever stepping
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00:40:35,190 --> 00:40:37,160
on anything but dead flesh
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[Music]
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00:40:43,880 --> 00:40:47,509
I think that is something to try to
679
00:40:47,509 --> 00:40:51,200
imagine today that fellas gap filled
680
00:40:51,200 --> 00:40:56,589
with corpses and wounded screaming men
681
00:41:00,090 --> 00:41:03,590
and that was the price of victory
682
00:41:05,650 --> 00:41:10,960
[Music]
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00:41:10,960 --> 00:41:13,660
in the city of ours on tone liberated
684
00:41:13,660 --> 00:41:16,180
the day before by the 80th US Infantry
685
00:41:16,180 --> 00:41:19,000
Division cameras immortalized the
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00:41:19,000 --> 00:41:21,010
meeting between the soldiers and the
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00:41:21,010 --> 00:41:23,670
city's mayor
688
00:41:24,230 --> 00:41:26,540
in the middle of the ruble some
689
00:41:26,540 --> 00:41:29,359
civilians finally dare to emerge from
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00:41:29,359 --> 00:41:30,270
their shelters
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00:41:30,270 --> 00:41:36,910
[Music]
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00:41:37,020 --> 00:41:39,720
the phallus Shinhwa battle will be the
693
00:41:39,720 --> 00:41:41,700
last one in these three months of
694
00:41:41,700 --> 00:41:46,400
fighting in Normandy on the Allied side
695
00:41:46,400 --> 00:41:48,900
220,000 soldiers were killed or wounded
696
00:41:48,900 --> 00:41:53,520
and 20,000 civilians were killed on the
697
00:41:53,520 --> 00:41:56,100
German side the Reich army lost more
698
00:41:56,100 --> 00:41:59,730
than 200,000 men and another 200,000
699
00:41:59,730 --> 00:42:02,690
were taken prisoner
700
00:42:03,690 --> 00:42:07,349
on average a battalion and a half were
701
00:42:07,349 --> 00:42:09,299
being ground down or destroyed roughly
702
00:42:09,299 --> 00:42:12,150
every single week in many cases a
703
00:42:12,150 --> 00:42:14,160
division would last no longer than say
704
00:42:14,160 --> 00:42:17,819
two weeks well this gives one an idea of
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00:42:17,819 --> 00:42:21,450
how much Normandy contributed I think to
706
00:42:21,450 --> 00:42:24,180
the overall Allied victory just purely
707
00:42:24,180 --> 00:42:27,059
in the case of the destruction of German
708
00:42:27,059 --> 00:42:29,599
formations
709
00:42:34,309 --> 00:42:37,910
by the end of August hordes of soldiers
710
00:42:37,910 --> 00:42:40,729
and vehicles land at Cherbourg and head
711
00:42:40,729 --> 00:42:43,189
east to eradicate the rest of a Nazi
712
00:42:43,189 --> 00:42:44,660
army
713
00:42:44,660 --> 00:42:48,090
[Music]
714
00:42:53,480 --> 00:42:56,210
everybody knows about the landings on
715
00:42:56,210 --> 00:42:58,910
the 6th of June very few people can tell
716
00:42:58,910 --> 00:43:00,500
you what happens in June and July and
717
00:43:00,500 --> 00:43:02,540
August and how the battle for Normandy
718
00:43:02,540 --> 00:43:05,680
actually ended
719
00:43:08,200 --> 00:43:11,410
and I think to this day we are still
720
00:43:11,410 --> 00:43:15,040
dealing with those battles that war
721
00:43:15,040 --> 00:43:17,470
trying to come to grips with it trying
722
00:43:17,470 --> 00:43:20,380
to make sense of it trying to understand
723
00:43:20,380 --> 00:43:26,140
the ruins of Normandy 75 years ago
724
00:43:26,140 --> 00:43:30,429
[Music]
725
00:43:31,080 --> 00:43:35,710
as few as 50 cameramen tirelessly shot
726
00:43:35,710 --> 00:43:38,740
each day of this historic battle they
727
00:43:38,740 --> 00:43:41,350
left behind hundreds of hours of footage
728
00:43:41,350 --> 00:43:44,110
some of which only surfaced decades
729
00:43:44,110 --> 00:43:46,800
later
730
00:43:46,920 --> 00:43:48,190
[Music]
731
00:43:48,190 --> 00:43:51,400
for future generations these images will
732
00:43:51,400 --> 00:43:54,880
remain the final witnesses of Normandy's
733
00:43:54,880 --> 00:43:57,100
85 days of
734
00:43:57,100 --> 00:44:00,280
[Music]
50059
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