Original subtitles

July 1942.

Two years after the French seaside town of Saint-Malo

falls to German occupation,

residents notice a flurry of activity on the rugged isle

just 4km off the coast.

In the span of just a month,

a vertical city of concrete is now perched on

the windswept overlooks of the Ile de Cezembre' rocky shores,

part and parcel of a larger Nazi commitment

to transform Saint-Malo into a seaside stronghold.

Anyone watching the build up

of Nazi buildings on this island would be scratching their head.

The island of Cezembre is tiny. It's remote.

It's mainly uninhabited,

but it has this really interesting and rich history.

In the 17th century, it was a garrison for soldiers.

In the 18th century, it was a quarantine station.

And it's the site of many chapels

and military fortifications.

So, why are the Nazis so enthralled with this location?

Back on dry land,

Saint-Malo itself becomes the site

of massive Nazi construction projects upon

the orders of the Fuhrer himself.

Bunkers rise like spectres along the shoreline,

and the century-old forts take on

new armour clad in steel and concrete.

The port itself, the city of Saint-Malo on the coast

is going to be become one of

the most fortified locations in Europe during the Second World War.

Hitler ordered that the Germans defend

Saint-Malo at all costs.

Essentially, they had to go down with the ship.

And defend it they will,

stubbornly and with reckless abandon.

So much so that top

Allied commanders are completely perplexed.

Long after white flags are waved across northern France,

the Germans dig in their heels over

the surrender of their fortified city.

And even after Saint-Malo falls,

the tiny Ile de Cezembre will keep fighting.

The fact that the Nazis refused

to give up Saint-Malo is perhaps one of

the more perplexing episodes in this phase of

the Second World War.

Why do they continue to fight when all has been lost?

What are they trying to protect?

Along today's rugged coastline of Brittany,

the ancient stone walls of Saint-Malo merge

with what's left of the Nazis' formidable building project.

Concrete bunkers rise out of the turbulent waters of

the English Channel.

Off shore, the island fortress of Cezembre bears

the scars of its trauma, with more than 2,000 bomb divots,

gnarled steel and crumbling concrete,

now overgrown with grass that sways in the seaside air.

For years, the Nazis transformed this outpost into a fortress,

deploying over 10,000 labourers.

The mainland and the island are fortified with naval guns,

anti-aircraft and gun turrets.

In addition, the coast is lined

with kilometres of barbed wire and minefields.

In the centuries before German forces descended

upon this seaside locale,

Saint-Malo stands as a glimmering jewel in

the crown of northern France.

A historic city fortified throughout

the ages, bearing traces of its ancient past.

This ancient 12th-century city is fortified with

a granite wall that is 12 metres tall.

Prior to the Nazi occupation,

this is a charming little city.

There's cobblestone streets. There's a castle.

There's a lively beach. It's a beautiful place to be.

In the 17th and 18th centuries,

Saint-Malo became known as a home base

for French privateers or corsairs,

and this led to its wealth

and also its notoriety over the following centuries.

In 1689,

the great military architect Vauban designed

the Fort National,

which was built just off the coast of Saint-Malo

to protect the port.

By the 19th century,

Saint-Malo transforms into a popular tourist destination

for wealthy Parisians

and boasts a casino, hotels and spas.

But this quaint and picturesque locale

is soon to receive a dark Nazi upgrade

in concrete, steel and firepower.

October 9th, 1939, Adolf Hitler issues Fuhrer Directive Number six,

outlining the necessity of military campaigns

to defeat Western European nations using countries like

Belgium, Luxembourg and finally France as stepping stones.

Germany aims to eviscerate France and its allies on the Continent.

Northern France's proximity

to Germany's arch-rival Great Britain adds a shine to

the French cities along the coastline of the English Channel.

In six weeks, German forces overrun Luxembourg,

the Netherlands, Belgium and France.

This culminates in the capture of Paris

and the surrender of the French government in June of 1940.

This blitzkrieg strategy is a turning point in the war,

as not only does it mean the fall of France

and the conquest of western continental Europe,

it means that Britain stands alone to resist the Nazis in Europe.

In June 1940,

the Nazis push the Allies out of Saint-Malo,

a fortified port strategically located on the English Channel.

The Fuhrer and his forces now possess the city,

and they will arm it to the teeth.

The Kriegsmarine establish a base here,

using the harbour for coastal operations.

This influx of military personnel transforms

the once-peaceful city into a fortified outpost,

the Nazi shadow looming large over the lives of its inhabitants.

Under the orders of the Nazi High Command,

Saint-Malo is designated a festung,

which means fortress city.

As a fortress, it needs to be stocked with food,

ammunition and soldiers

so that it can hold out in a siege situation.

These cities are to be defended at all cost.

With neighbouring cities in France already falling to the Nazis,

Saint-Malo and Ile de Cezembre surrender to the Nazis

with little resistance.

Atop the rugged cliffs of Saint-Malo's Pointe de la Varde,

a fort stands as a relic of the city's war-torn past,

its weathered stone walls bearing witness

to centuries of maritime defence.

Built more than 250 years before Saint-Malo's Nazi occupation,

Pointe de la Varde is originally built as part of

a coastal defence system designed by French military engineer

Sebastien Le Prestre de Vauban.

France felt the need to protect this exposed port city

just across the water from Britain,

because France and Britain were locked in competition

and engaging in a series of conflicts all over the world.

We had the Nine Years' War, the Seven Years' War,

even the American Revolution.

So it makes sense that so close to home,

France would have wanted to protect

this important port from British incursion.

In stark relief to centuries-old fortification,

bunkers forged in cement offer a reminder of

the site's strategic significance during

the turbulent tides of history.

That the French were the master architects

of military fortifications in the Pre-Napoleonic era.

Having all of these fortifications already in place

would have been very appealing to the Nazis.

Over the course of five years,

Saint-Malo would become one of the most fortified cities

in all of France.

In 1941, the Todt Organisation -

the Third Reich's civil and military engineering group -

receives orders to begin fortifying

the city of Saint-Malo.

Over the next two years,

they will transform strategic points in the area

into formidable defensive positions.

By the time the organisation breaks ground on the French islands,

Nazi engineers have already mastered the design of

the bunkers that make up the Atlantic Wall.

The standardised model executed by Todt Organisation

is known as Regelbauten.

These bunkers at this site were built with up

to two-metre-thick walls.

In addition to those thick walls, for passages and entries

there were 30mm-thick steel doors.

These bunkers are equipped

with emergency exits and telephone lines.

According to the specifications, bunkers

are clustered in groups known as WNSs or Widerstandsnests.

Bunkers that you can enter from beneath them.

You would enter it from a trench

that kind of led you safely below ground.

They often were interconnected to

a larger bunker complex,

and so they went off like fingers,

at the end of which you had

these positions for soldiers.

Several bunkers were built,

and these were built in the standardised system of

the specifications for the bunkers that the Nazis had designed.

At Fort de la Varde,

the Organisation Todt installs a number of its designs,

including an R120 bunker,

R653 casemate,

R622/SK and Tubrok bunkers

to shield the soldiers from enemy fire.

The R120 bunker was an artillery observation bunker

with sliding doors and close-combat viewing window.

The R622/SK was a bunker specifically built

to house Nazi troops.

The R653 was a casemate for a five-centimetre Kampfwagenkanone.

Gun emplacements and bunkers reveal a Germany ready

to hold its new-found position,

employing precise engineering to upgrade 18th-century designs.

But the ruins of Fort de la Varde

hide another mysterious design feature

of which the Nazis and Organisation Todt were particularly fond.

Beneath the imposing structure of Fort de la Varde is

an intricate network of tunnels

and trenches weaving through the earth.

These subterranean passages -

designed for concealed movement and mutual support -

interconnected the various bunkers

and defensive positions, enhancing the fort's resilience.

Tunnel networks are quite common across the Reich.

We see them with Project Riese

and beneath many of the castles that the Nazis conquer.

In Saint-Malo, 1,500m of tunnels are ultimately dug,

connecting most of the bunkers.

On the nearby Ile de Cezembre,

additional tunnels link bunkers and gun emplacements.

Construction methods of tunnelling are gritty.

They're grimy. You have to drill and blast

and then muck out all of the debris

that's come into the tunnel.

And then you have to reinforce that tunnel

with either concrete or masonry or timber shoring.

These tunnels systems end up being really important

because they not only allow for spaces for protection,

but they also allow for

the movement and transportation of goods

and soldiers in and out of the fortress.

4km off the coast,

it becomes clear the island is also preparing for an invasion.

In the rough waters of the Bay of Saint-Malo

the Ile de Cezembre becomes the sentinel,

poised to become the vanguard.

Cezembre is important

because it's the first line of defence before reaching

the town of Saint-Malo.

Because of its elevated position

and proximity to the mainland,

it also offered increased visibility and range.

As France's coastal-port cities prepare themselves for

an Allied invasion,

the island itself receives

reinforcing by the Organisation Todt.

The Todt Organisation crammed it with 27 fortifications,

including numerous bunkers.

Among these 27 fortifications is at least one

M157 Kriegsmarine bunker built with four levels within

an armoured dome.

This island also had a number of ammunition depots

and gun emplacements that could house a total of 194 guns.

The soldiers' barracks are built into the ground,

connected by two galleries,

including an infirmary complete with hospital beds.

Aiming to wield ultimate firepower against

a cresting Allied advance,

the island becomes an arsenal of artillery.

The heavy artillery on this island includes one 150mm cannon

and several 75mm guns.

These have a maximum firing range of 8km,

so they can strike ships quite a distance away.

The island has a series of naval guns

that are positioned in open-ring emplacements,

with a 360-degree field of fire.

The fortification and armament of Saint-Malo

and the island of Cezembre are part and parcel of a much larger project,

one that will see 14 million tons of concrete poured

to construct a colossal barrier against invasion.

Along the shores of Western Europe,

the ghostly remnants

of Hitler's most ambitious construction project

haunt the landscape - designed to thwart a D-Day invasion.

The whole project is astronomical,

and you only see a fraction of it, really,

because this tunnel network is a whole different city underground.

Just the expansiveness of this construction project,

it's difficult to wrap your head around.

Two years after the Nazi conquest of Paris,

symbolised by the infamous march under

the Arc de Triomphe,

Hitler demands the construction of a series of colossal

Nazi structures through six different occupied countries.

His vision -

take over strategic locations along the western coast of Europe

and transform them into heavily fortified Nazi strongholds.

Together, they will create an impregnable barrier -

to defend against a potential Allied invasion -

known as the Atlantic Wall.

At this stage,

Hitler is engaged in war against the Soviets,

and at this point the United States has also entered the war.

Now forced to fight on two fronts,

Hitler demands an insurance policy against the Allied invasion,

a fortress of steel and concrete stretching 4,800 kilometres,

manned by 300,000 troops and fortified by 15,000 bunkers.

This colossal network of death -

a monolith of military might -

must be complete in seven months in anticipation

of a potential Allied landing.

The wall becomes Hitler's obsession.

Just the materials alone to construct the Atlantic Wall,

the numbers are astronomical.

We're talking about 1.2 million tons of steel,

17 million cubic metres of concrete across many kilometres.

Hitler is convinced that the British are

going to launch some kind of amphibious invasion.

And so the need to reinforce that coastline

for that eventual attack is critical.

The special status of Saint-Malo

and the Ile de Cezembre as a fortress carried with it

an expectation that these areas of high resistance should hold

for 90 days.

The commanders of Saint-Malo and the Ile de Cezembre -

like all other commanders assigned to festungen -

were sworn not just to hold the territory,

but to defend it to the death.

The amount of resources that he's pouring into

the construction of this great Atlantic Wall

and the fortifications that he's building on this western periphery

is really now for the protection of mainland Europe.

In the days before the Germans arrived in Saint-Malo,

the city had been the last toehold of Allied presence on the Continent.

In a desperate evacuation, as part of Operation Aerial,

more than 21,000 Allied troops were evacuated from Saint-Malo,

swept from these very shores,

boats borrowed from Jersey and the other Channel Islands.

The moment that Saint-Malo comes under German occupation,

there were British troops there

and they had to be evacuated -

similar to Dunkirk.

The war is in its early stages.

Under French occupation,

the port had become crucial for Allied resupply

and this port allowed for over a thousand tons of cargo

and thousands of troops per day to come into France.

The allies are losing a vital access point to

the continent,

but there's no way that they can hold on to it.

Recognising the strategic importance of

the port they're leaving behind,

the Allies send 30 demolition experts

to Saint-Malo aboard the HMS Wild Swan.

They detonate eight tons of explosives,

crippling the city's port facilities before setting off

for safer shores.

As the city's French citizens watch,

the Allies become points on the horizon,

they are left alone with the Nazi swarm.

The fortifications at Saint-Malo were more important to

the port facilities that the Germans needed.

That's precisely what the Germans did,

is they took those old fortifications

and converted them into their own use - modernised them.

Concerned that the Allies may make a forceful return

to their former stronghold,

Cezembre commander Oberleutnant Richard Seuss fixes his eyes on

the horizon and prepares for invasion.

His destiny is now intertwined with that of

the 400-strong garrison of German

and Italian soldiers stationed on the island.

Seuss is a seasoned officer holding the rank of corvette captain.

Seuss manages logistics,

including the supply of ammunition and food

and he also maintains

the island's defences under Allied bombardment.

Hitler demanded fanatical loyalty

from high-ranking military commanders.

Their loyalty was to Hitler as the Fuhrer

and they had to live or die carrying out his wishes.

Although Seuss will be defending the shores of Saint-Malo,

German strategy is revealed by what might at first seem

a surprising chain of command.

Instead of taking orders from Saint-Malo,

Seuss takes his directives from further afield -

Jersey's commander, Vice Admiral Friedrich Huffmeier.

Richard Seuss the commander of Cezembre

was taking his orders from authorities

located in the Channel Islands.

This tells you something about Cezembre's importance.

It was seen as a stepping stone in

the supply chain leading to the Channel Islands.

Less than 100km north of Saint-Malo is Jersey,

which is one of the four Channel Islands occupied by the Nazis.

Control of the Channel Islands gives

the Germans domination over the surrounding sea lanes,

and the Channel Islands could also serve as

a staging ground for

an eventual land invasion of the United Kingdom.

At this stage of the war, Hitler is obsessed

with retaining control of the Channel Islands.

This is the only part

of British territory that is under Nazi occupation.

To protect the Channel Islands,

the Nazis undertake a vast fortifying effort

akin to that seen on Cezembre, but exponential in its scale.

More than 10% of the steel set aside for

the entire Atlantic Wall project is used on the Channel Islands.

Saint-Malo and Cezembre offer a pipeline to resupply

the Channel Islands.

It allows for convoys of ships to dock at the port.

It can bring goods, that can bring troops,

that can bring any other supplies that are required,

and it is a state-of-the-art facility for either country

to be occupying.

Not only is Seuss responsible for Saint-Malo and Cezembre,

but he's also responsible for protecting Germany's position

on the Channel Islands.

Back on dry land,

Saint-Malo boasts a commander of its own.

In the bowels of an old fort nicknamed "the Citadel",

Saint-Malo's determined commander awaits the Allied arrival.

As with Fort de la Varde,

his citadel has seen a Nazi-calibre upgrade.

The crumbling fortress with panoramic views becomes

the command centre for the impending attack.

The Citadel was originally constructed in

the 12th century, but then, over the centuries,

additional fortifications were added to it,

in particular in the late-17th century by

the famous military architect Vauban.

The Citadel itself is an impressive structure.

It has six-metre-thick walls.

Just like the island,

the Citadel stands on elevated ground,

so it gives its occupants

a panoramic view of the surrounding area.

Between 1942 and 1944,

the Germans reinforce the fort and install 32 bunkers

and eight heavy machinegun turrets at the fort.

1,350 metres of tunnels link the fort

to underground shelters and escape routes.

The Germans set about adapting the old fortifications

to the needs of modern warfare,

and this meant constructing new bunkers new gun emplacements,

and additional defensive fortifications

designed to withstand artillery fire.

They lined the exterior wall with steel rails

and they coated the perimeter with land mines

to prevent any approach.

And like so many German fortifications,

the Citadel was outfitted with a tunnel system

to protect its occupants from Allied air raids.

The man tasked with defending Saint-Malo at all costs -

the commander of fortress Saint-Malo,

who has sworn an oath to defend his stronghold to the death -

is Andreas Maria Karl von Aulock.

He'd won the Iron Cross in both World War I

and World War II, and he'd served at Stalingrad.

He was known as the madman of Saint-Malo.

Like Seuss, Von Aulock is tasked

with defending the town to the very last breath.

By June of 1944,

the tone of the war has changed

as the Germans lose ground on the Eastern Front.

An Allied landing seems imminent.

In Saint-Malo,

more than 500 military structures have been erected in

a little less than two years.

Strong points at Fort de la Varde, the Chateau,

the Citadel and Cezembre keep a keen eye on the horizon

and extensive tunnel systems stand at the ready for Allied air raids.

In the bay, Saint-Malo's battleship -

the Isle of Cezembre - awaits any sign of Allied advance.

The defences around Saint-Malo

included 10.5cm Howitzers

and also 5cm Kampfwagenkanone,

which were tank guns used in static defence positions.

All of this artillery covers

and protects any favourable approach to Saint-Malo.

Strategic mines are also placed

to cover all these favourable approaches towards the town.

For example, the German S-mine

also known as the Bouncing Betty

would launch upon detonation,

spraying shrapnel over a large area.

The Nazis knew that the Allies were planning

a massive invasion

to liberate Western Europe from Nazi rule,

but they didn't know when,

where or how this invasion would come.

But they had to protect their fortifications

for every eventuality.

From the Citadel and Cezembre,

Aulock and Seuss prepare themselves to face their fates.

But among Nazi high command,

there is little clarity on where

and when the enemy will make himself known.

The Allies wanted to make sure that

the Germans wouldn't figure out when, where and how

they were going to launch their invasion of Western Europe.

So they fooled them. They fooled them through things like

Operation Fortitude, which created phantom field armies.

They are convinced that it's either going to be Pas-de-Calais

or Saint-Malo.

They end up diverting quite a lot of their resources

to these two sites.

June 6th, 1944.

The Allied plans for landing are finally revealed.

At 3am, German soldiers raise the alarm as paratroopers begin

to fall from the sky along the beaches of Normandy.

By 5am, Allied battleships begin to bombard the beaches.

By 6:30am, the landings begin.

Allied forces numbering over 156,000 troops

storm the shore under a relentless barrage of artillery

and machine-gun fire.

The skies darkened with thousands of aircraft

and the seas churned with an armada of ships.

Hitler's beloved Atlantic Wall is under siege.

The tranquil beaches of Normandy are shattered by

the largest amphibious assault in history.

D-Day has begun.

Also one of the biggest military gambles in history,

as the success of the operation relies on

the Germans not knowing where the Allies are landing

and the Allies being able to get a toehold

before they encounter serious German opposition.

Because the number of Allied forces landing on those beaches

is far inferior to the number of Germans defending France.

Caught in a web of confusion and indecision,

frantic phone calls between Nazi high command

and local commanders fail to bring clarity.

In the Bavarian Alps, Hitler sleeps soundly,

unaware of the unfolding catastrophe.

German defenders - bewildered and disorganised -

scramble to respond to Allied landings.

The Nazis had funnelled all of these resources into Saint-Malo

because they were convinced that this is where

an attack would happen.

And yet, the Allies don't even show any interest

in going into Saint-Malo and capturing the port.

By June 11th, more than 326,000 troops,

54,000 vehicles

and 104,000 tons of supplies

have successfully landed on the beaches of Normandy.

Just 200km away from Omaha Beach,

all remains quiet in Saint-Malo.

The Allies essentially built a port in Normandy now,

and so they don't need that port in Saint-Malo.

Certainly, the Allies are ready to just bypass it.

More than a month goes by, yet still

commanders Seuss and Aulock remain on guard,

anxiously awaiting the Allies to breach their shores.

By July 25th,

the Allies have captured five beachheads,

the French port of Cherbourg and the port city of Caen.

They're ready to expand their push into the continent,

surpassing all Atlantic Wall fortifications.

Hitler's impermeable concrete fortification has fallen

and the enemy makes no sign of movement towards Saint-Malo.

At the time of the Allied invasion of Western Europe,

they're not even convinced

that Saint-Malo is a port worth capturing.

They have bigger fish to fry

and they want to push into Nazi-controlled France,

so it wasn't a priority to capture Saint-Malo.

But as the Allied troops break out of Normandy,

the strategy regarding Saint-Malo changes.

Allied General Patton contemplates

the necessity of capturing the port city at all,

preferring to push straight for Brest.

It's a far more daunting prospect for the Allies

to dislodge the Germans from Saint-Malo than for

the Germans to hold Saint-Malo.

And that's the reason the Allies really didn't

want to go to Saint-Malo.

They just... They can't spare the troops.

They can't spare the ammunition. They don't want to.

By August of 1944,

more than 12,000 troops are present in Saint-Malo,

pushed into a corner and raring for a fight.

In Allied War Rooms, General Omar Bradley decries

Lieutenant General George S Patton's laissez faire attitude

regarding Saint-Malo.

He believes the extensive fortifications

and concentration of troops in the area jeopardises

a potentially vital supply route

and insists the Allies take down the growing Nazi stronghold.

Allied generals aren't of one mind on this question

and some generals - particularly General Omar Bradley -

do think that it's worth capturing Saint-Malo

because of the German fortifications there

and the presence of German troops.

So there's a bit of indecision

in terms of whether capturing Saint-Malo

should be part of the D-Day invasion.

Ultimately, the decision was made to send

the 83rd Division to deal with the problem.

Though the Allied commanders decide

the operations in Saint-Malo are a necessary evil,

many assume the city will fall without a fight.

They have no clue what awaits them.

To take Saint-Malo, three infantry regiments of the 83rd Division

worked together on different fronts in a coordinated attack,

enlisting air support and small artillery.

When they approached Saint-Malo, the Allies were lulled

into a false sense of security

because, as they got close to Chateauneuf,

the Germans actually pulled back and retreated.

They were actually on their way to hunker down in Saint-Malo.

Fearing for their historic city, the French press Aulock to have

Saint-Malo declared an open city,

sheltering it from bombardment, and request it is taken up

the chain of command to Hitler himself,

who declares that, within war,

there is no such thing as a historic city.

As remaining citizens evacuate on the island of Cezembre,

the Germans now turn their guns against Saint-Malo.

The first shot from Cezembre marks the beginning of

an epic battle for Saint-Malo.

As Allied troops march towards the old town,

the French guns on Cezembre

fire shells towards the Allied advance.

In the chaos, the city's cathedral spire comes toppling down.

Now that the allies are actually finally advancing on Cezembre,

these 360-degree guns are finally put to use.

The island now becomes an elevated artillery platform,

pouring fire down into Saint-Malo.

As Cezembre targets the historic city,

fires soon begin to break out.

The Allies hadn't fired a single shot.

And yet, here were the Nazis burning the city down.

It's a common strategy, to destroy things as you're retreating,

but also destroying these things to prevent others from being able

to use them to their advantage.

The following day, on August 6th,

the Nazis undertake yet another destructive strategy,

detonating explosives to decimate Saint-Malo's quays,

harbour machinery, and lochs.

The German defenders at Saint-Malo destroy the harbour,

meaning that the Allies are unable to undertake an amphibious landing.

This means that the Allies will have to land outside of Saint-Malo,

and if they wish to capture it,

they now have to come into contact with its exterior defences.

And any Allied air or naval support will come under fire from

the defences at Cezembre.

Fort de la Varde is one of the first of Saint-Malo's strongholds

to come under enemy assault.

After successfully capturing St Joseph's Hill and St Ideuc,

the 83rd Division arrives at its gates on August 12th.

When the German saw the Allies arrive at Fort de la Varde,

that means they knew they had lost more than Fort de la Varde.

It told them that the Allies had captured a series of forts

and positions along the way,

so the German position was much worse than they thought.

Granville A Sharpe sources a sound truck

and blares victory marches before initiating a siege.

Allied soldiers scream belligerently as they stormed the structure.

The Germans quickly surrender.

What is more terrifying to these men?

Defending Fort de la Varde in the onslaught of this Allied attack?

Or surrendering and facing the repercussions?

As the Allies continue to move into the city along the ancient wall,

the German garrison pelts them with a hail of bullets

from 20-millimetre guns.

To aid the Allied advance,

RAF medium and heavy bombers dropped shells to clear a path.

After days of fighting, the Allies finally make it past the wall

to find a city of fire.

On August 14th, the walled city of Saint-Malo surrenders,

leaving the Citadel and island of Cezembre as two of

the last remaining points of resistance.

Out on the island, Seuss and his men hunker down amid

violent bombing raids on August 6th,

and again, on August 11th.

The island is pummelled by RAF bombers.

Men retreat into tunnels,

only to rise again after the bombs fall.

By August 9th, Allied troops have moved heavy artillery pieces

into place in Saint-Malo to support the island's takedown.

The island of Cezembre is about to become

the most heavily-bombed location in the Second World War.

At The Citadel, Nazi defenders entrenched in

their underground bunkers unleash a relentless barrage,

determined to hold this vital stronghold at all costs.

As shells explode and smoke billows,

the tranquil coastal town transforms into a hellish battleground

as the fate of Brittany hangs in the balance.

The Citadel is attacked by ten battalions

and subjected to intense bombing raids of incendiary,

armour-piercing fire.

But Von Aulock, the commander, refuses to capitulate.

He's holed up in the tunnels underneath the fort.

The Citadel's 20-foot-thick walls

protect all those inside from the onslaught.

A team of 30 scales the wall to examine the damage.

Several soldiers climb up and look over the wall,

and they realise that the Citadel looks like it hasn't been touched.

In a last-ditch effort, the team drops charges into

the tunnel ventilation shafts before affecting a hasty retreat.

Overhead artillery launched from Cezembre continues to crash down.

After all of these efforts, several structures

were destroyed in the city.

However, that Citadel,

it still stands strong.

Encircled and isolated,

the defenders face starvation and despair.

With supplies dwindling and hope feeding,

the final stand seems endless.

By holding out, Von Aulock and the forces in Saint-Malo

are hoping that it will buy time for other German forces in France

to slow down the Allied assault.

Every day that the town holds out

is another day that the Allies are not able to use its facilities.

Saint-Malo, of course, also becomes a message to the enemy.

You know, "You want to resist to the death? Go ahead."

Today's fortifications reveal what happened next.

The horrifying evidence of a new Allied weapon.

The Allies call upon a team of

35 Lockheed P38J Lightning Dive-bombers,

their auxiliary fuel tanks carrying napalm.

Napalm is a sticky jelly.

It's a weaponised mix of various chemicals

that's quite incendiary.

So, when you ignite the napalm and send it into ventilation shafts,

that's going to cause asphyxiation.

After the Allies dropped napalm into the ventilation shafts,

605 Nazi soldiers emerged from the underground tunnels.

A bullet is one thing. Napalm... HE CHUCKLES AND COUGHS

..you know, "Wait a minute here.

"Let me think about that again, about, you know,

"fighting to the death. I'll rethink that."

On August 17th, white flags are waved,

signalling the Nazi surrender.

The squadron above does not return to base.

It has another target for its noxious payload.

As the Citadel falls,

Cezembre stands defiant and unflinching.

Napalm unleashes its scorching destruction over the cliffs

and bunkers as the Germans take cover in expertly-carved tunnels.

As the napalm had its intended effect at the Citadel,

Richard Seuss, the commander of Cezembre,

is still holed up on the island.

So, what must he have been thinking as he watches the fort at Saint-Malo

be taken by the Allies?

He's now alone on a tiny island,

and it must be the start of this feeling this is where

the entire German war effort is going to end up.

One day after the napalm bombing,

Allied Major Joseph M Alexander mans a party to Cezembre,

asking the besieged leader for his unwavering surrender.

Despite the bleak odds now facing Seuss and his troops,

Seuss is still steadfast.

The island of Cezembre is now forced to rely on

the distant Channel Islands for its support.

And resupply can only be undertaken under the cover of darkness -

which is dangerous especially, as Allied forces are closing in.

Starting on August 25th,

the Allies begin a heavy assault to bring Cezembre to its knees.

Over two days, the RAF pounds the island with 1,500 air strikes.

On August 26th, an ammunition depot

buried under three metres of concrete explodes,

silencing three of the six 194-millimetre guns

and seriously hobbling Seuss' defensive capabilities.

This explosion causes a heat

with such intensity

that it melts concrete and iron nearby -

the remnants of which can still be seen on the island's rocks today.

On August 27th, the Allies drop another round of napalm

on the island's long-suffering forces.

Simultaneously, the Americans use 203-millimetre guns to take out

the island's three reinforced concrete water tanks.

By now, 297 of 323 men are wounded,

and shipments of ammunition, food,

water, and medical supplies from the Channel Islands have ceased.

Under constant assault, deprived of basics for survival,

Seuss' forces continue the fight.

By this point, the troops on Ile de Cezembre

are completely isolated.

They're fighting for their lives

with very little chance of survival.

The question is, why doesn't Seuss surrender when his supply lines

are compromised from both locations?

And he and his men are essentially sitting ducks on the island?

Facing death head-on, Seuss and his troops suffer one final assault

that puts them over the edge.

On September 1st,

more than two weeks after the fall of the Citadel,

Allies mount a massive bombardment by British and American bombers,

dropping an additional 33 payloads of napalm onto the island,

and delivering a barrage of 15-inch armour-piercing shells

from the HMS Warspite.

Field artillery continues to pillage the windswept isle.

On this day alone, 2,400 heavy bombs fall over Cezembre.

The Allies continue to bomb

this small island off the coast of France,

at the same time that the rest of the country

is almost entirely liberated.

In the wake of the destruction,

evidence pointing to Seuss' motive goes up in flames.

In the last desperate moments of resistance on

the island of Cezembre,

Lieutenant Richard Seuss receives orders from Jersey

to destroy sensitive equipment and documents on the island

to prevent them from falling into enemy hands.

By the end of the regime,

it has become incredibly apocalyptic.

Seuss' actions are typical of many Nazis

in the final months of the war,

where they're destroying evidence,

but they're also destroying whatever they can get their hands on.

Seuss sends a final message to German headquarters

before officially surrendering his position.

Saint-Malo has fallen.

All the water and food reserves are used up.

This is a bleak situation, and the Nazis are left with

no option other than surrender.

On September 2nd, 1944, the heavy guns of Cezembre

finally fall silent as white flags are raised.

After a siege nearly a month long,

Seuss' surrender astonishes the Americans,

who are preparing to embark on landing barges for

an amphibious operation planned for the same day.

The moment marks the official end of the Battle of Saint-Malo -

but it is also a crucial turning point in the liberation of France.

In the time it has taken for the Allies to finally subdue

Saint-Malo and the island of Cezembre,

Normandy's landing forces capture such major cities as

Rennes, Nantes, Orleans and Paris.

The Allied march on Germany now seems imminent.

Why did Seuss hold out for so long?

Was he so ideologically committed that he could not even imagine

a world without this stronghold?

Or was he also terrified of what the repercussions would be

if he actually surrendered?

After their surrender,

the brazen commanders of Fort Saint-Malo and Cezembre

are taken in as prisoners of war.

For the two commanders who swore to defend Festungen Saint-Malo

and Cezembre to the death,

surrender is likely a bitter pill to swallow.

As more than 10,000 prisoners of war are carted off

by the Allies from the Nazis' prized seaside fortress,

the Nazi dream of the Atlantic Wall is officially toppled.

Despite these two men not actually laying down their lives

in the defence of their positions,

they are actually recognised for their actions by the Nazi Party.

They are both awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

with Oak Leaves in absentia.

This is an honour that will lose its lustre with

the fall of the Nazi regime.

In the aftermath of the Allied capture of Saint-Malo,

the city lies in shambles.

685 of the 865 old-town buildings

have been completely destroyed.

Although the American Army attempts to rehabilitate the port,

the destruction is deemed too extensive to warrant the work.

On the Ile de Cezembre, the rubble of Nazi-era construction

is left to the elements.

The Nazis had been so intent on keeping hold of Saint-Malo

and the Ile de Cezembre,

they virtually destroyed them in the process.

The resistance of Saint-Malo and Cezembre tested the limits

of Allied resolve, and destroyed a historic city in the process.

Most of the fortifications at Saint-Malo were either destroyed

or have been repurposed.

90% of Cezembre remain forbidden to visitors

due to the danger of unexploded ordnance.

As a result, Cezembre remains relatively untouched,

and is one of the best-preserved battlefields

of the Second World War.

Today, Saint-Malo and the isolated island of Cezembre

stand as quiet testaments to a turbulent past.

The ravages of war have left the battle scars

embedded into the land.

Only a fraction of the once-fierce Nazi structures remain -

a haunting reminder of the Nazis' defiant last stand.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media