Original subtitles

(ominous tones)

May 1940,

the British are routed on the beaches of France.

(dramatic music)

But Churchill vowed one day to return.

For four years, the world waited.

On June the 6th, 1944,

the waiting was finally over.

The hour of our greatest effort

and action is approaching.

(gunfire)

It will be a day of endless and bloody battle.

We march with valiant allies,

who count on us, as we count on them.

In the air, at sea, and on land.

And when the signal is given,

the whole circle of avenging nations

will hurl themselves upon the foe.

(dramatic music)

At midnight, British elite forces

set out on a top secret mission.

This mission is dangerous, but it's crucial.

(explosion)

If they fail, thousands of lives will be lost.

At dawn, off the Normandy coast,

a massive armada assembles undetected,

and the first ground troops set foot in occupied France.

Amongst them, an American, armed only with a camera.

You know what, I'm feeling lucky.

Shoot them before they shoot you,

that's what my Dad said before I left.

At noon, British troops advanced inland,

ready for the violent counter-attack they know will come.

Fire!

(explosion)

At 3 pm in the city of Caen,

(explosion) a French resistance worker

has just minutes to save a hospital from allied bombing.

Before midnight, the Allies must establish

a bridgehead in France,

the first step in the liberation of Europe,

and the defeat of the Nazis.

It will be a day on which ordinary people

will be called upon to do extraordinary things.

These are the true stories

of some of those who lived through D-Day.

(big band music)

(applause and cheering)

Collins, meet England.

England, meet Collins.

So this is where Bob Hope's from?

What are you talking about, Collins?

Bob Hope's one of us, he's an American.

No, no, no, I read it, he was born in England.

I swear to God, Collins,

I'm gonna knock you out if you don't stop winding me up!

Bob Hope.

(ship horn blows)

By January, 1944,

one in 10 of all men in Great Britain

is an Allied soldier,

and one of them, the newly appointed

commander of the forces of the free world,

is a 54 year old farmer's son from Texas.

General Dwight David Eisenhower,

Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Invasion Forces,

is himself invaded by British and American

war correspondents at his London headquarters.

In securing these first pictures since his arrival

in this theatre of operations,

we also have the first newsreel message

from the leader of the second front.

Goddamn reporters!

How am I supposed to get the job done

when we've got those bloodhounds

snooping around the whole time?

Perhaps you're just going to

have to learn to enjoy their company?

Ike has inherited a plan.

Hitler is consumed by his fight against the Russians.

The Allies know he cannot fight on two fronts.

If they can force him to do so,

they can bring a swift end to the war.

The plan is to invade France,

and open the second front.

Gentleman, Berlin will expect us

to take the shortest crossing from Dover to Calais,

but that is where their defenses are strongest.

We will surprise them by taking

the long crossing to Normandy.

We will land five divisions,

establish a bridgehead,

and drive inland as far as possible.

A vicious, counter-offensive

from the enemy will come on that day.

We will repel it.

This is our chance.

We must seize it.

We have six months to prepare.

Pitted against Eisenhower

is Field Marshal Erwin Rommel.

Hitler has given his most brilliant general

the task of creating an impregnable barrier

against the anticipated invasion.

Field Marshal Erwin Rommel

continues his inspection of the Atlantic Wall.

It's the longest defense system in the world,

running from the North Pole to the Pyrenees.

These brave, German soldiers stand ready

to defend our Eurpoean culture and freedom.

But, behind the propaganda,

the reality is very different.

(speaking German)

Rommel has asked to be joined

in France by his old colleague,

Lieutenant General Hans Speidel.

(speaking in foreign language)

Temporary accommodation for

U.S. troops of the first army.

As the clock ticks for Rommel,

in central London, an operation

of a very different kind is being put into action.

Landing craft on the Thames Estuary,

hundred percent canvas.

And tanks in the south of England, a hundred percent

rubber. (laughter)

Oxford academic John Masterman

is in charge of a committee of spymasters.

Their task: to run an intelligence operation

to deceive and confuse

the German High Command.

Operation Fortitude.

The plan to invade France is well under way,

a good plan, but with one great risk attached.

The enemy will be expecting it.

The fact is, you can't hide an invading army.

But you can obscure it's objectives.

We must convince the enemy

that Overlord is not the invasion,

but a diversion from the main assault,

which will take place elsewhere and at a later date.

We will spin two webs of deceit.

The first, that there is an army

in Scotland preparing to invade Norway.

The second, that there is an army in the south

preparing to invade Pas de Calais.

Which is, of course, where they

are expecting the invasion.

Between now and D-Day, our double agents

will feed the enemy a rich diet of lies,

washed down, of course, with a few

harmless truths for the sake of credibility.

Question is, which double agents do we use?

In a London suburb is the man Berlin

believes to be their top secret agent.

Joan Pujol, a Spaniard, sending them

intelligence from his network of spies.

In fact, all his spies are fictional.

He is a double agent, code named Garbo.

England must be destroyed, and dominated.

With a raised arm, I end this letter

with a pious remembrance for all our dead.

Berlin will be delighted

with their new recruits in Swansea.

Who will make up the Brothers in the Aryan World Order?

I was thinking of creating a retired sailor,

a few salesman, a WREN, perhaps?

And how's your mistress, Agent J5?

Still giving me information from the War Office.

Still asking for clothes and perfume?

She's a very demanding woman.

So, this makes 26 wonderful works of fiction.

27.

The more agents, the more information, the more risk.

Sometimes I worry the whole house of cards could collapse.

We have built something elaborate and beautiful.

But fragile.

(perplexing music)

(voiceover in foreign language)

Many of the people of France

accept neither capitulation, nor servitude.

It is, therefore, essential to gather

as large a French fighting force as possible.

I invite all the citizens who seek liberty

to listen to me, and follow me.

Long live France!

(voiceover in foreign language)

Despite their country's

fall to Hitler's forces,

over 300,000 French men and women

are involved in some form of resistance.

They relay messages, forge documents,

and rescue stranded Allied airmen.

(speaking French)

Amongst the resistance fighters

is a 24 year old teacher, Andre Heintz.

I was part of the resistance

between 1940 and 1944.

My first group was disbanded,

my second leader was arrested and shot.

I am very lucky to have survived.

(voiceover in foreign language)

(speaking in foreign language)

(quiet music)

But by the spring of '44,

the most crucial aspect of French resistance work

is the mapping of the German defenses

on the Normandy beaches.

And near the village of Merville,

they have identified a lethal threat to the Allied landings.

A heavy gun battery within range of the beaches.

(speaking in foreign language)

I was meant to stand in

for the captain of the (mumbling) battery,

because he was going on holiday.

I didn't want to shoot, so I was trained as a surveyor.

I was 22 years old.

(speaking German)

(explosion)

(gunfire)

(explosion)

Four concrete casemates, six feet thick.

Steel doors, front and rear.

15 to 20 gun pits, four to five machine guns in each.

Two six-foot barbed wire perimeter fences,

anti-tank ditches, and a minefield.

Now--

The daunting challenge

of putting the Merville batter out of action on D-Day,

has been given to the 9th Parachute Battalion,

under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Terence Otway.

The battery was sighted

to fire along the length of Sword Beach,

across which the British 3rd Infantry Division

was going to land.

Everybody emphasized to me personally

what would happen if we failed.

Thousands of men killed on the beach.

Each casemate has a

howitzer with a seven mile range.

They can hit incoming battleships and the beach,

where 30,000 Allied troops will be landing on D-Day.

In other words, they can do a lot of damage.

Any questions, so far?

[Soldier on right] What is our mission, sir?

To take it, of course.

We have four hours

to destroy the battery before the landings begin.

B Company and C Company will mount

the main assault here.

A diversion party will attack the main gate here.

And A Company will arrive in gliders

immediately prior to the initial assault.

At night, sir?

Of course.

Where will they land, sir?

On top of it.

We knew it was going to be

something big and important,

and that we would be up at the front of it.

But it seemed so impossible.

If we fail, the entire Allied

left flank could be decimated.

This mission is dangerous, but it's crucial.

(early jazz music)

The imminent invasion

is the world's biggest story,

and a magnet for the world's biggest storytellers.

London felt like the

capital of the whole world.

It was the place to be,

especially if you were a journalist.

Everyone looked to Capa to be

the big shot photographer for the invasion

because he had been covering war

ever since the Spanish Civil War in 1936.

Gotcha!

Bob had a sense of his own destiny,

which, it was tragic, in a way, because his destiny was

to cover the world at it's worst.

I can't believe you're back.

Well, of course I'm back.

I called the office, told them I hadn't

seen my gal in seven months, I had to come.

You're a terrible liar.

Well, okay, but I want to

be with the boys when they liberate my Paris.

There's no way I'm missing that.

Oh, let's not talk about the war.

That's not what we're here for.

Pinky was not terribly serious,

except about lovemaking.

She was madly in love with Capa.

I thought you weren't wasting film.

Hey, those guys are counting on me

to get the pictures of the big day, if it ever comes.

Robert Capa,

humanitarian and war photographer.

I'm a gambler, not a humanitarian.

Humanitarians believe in humanity.

For me, it's just a matter of drawing the right cards.

While Capa relaxes in London,

Rommel's inspections take him to the beach

the Allies have already code named Omaha.

He is battling to reinforce the Normandy beach defenses,

and place armored divisions close inland.

(men speaking in foreign language)

(quiet music)

After Rommel was here,

we started to think, "This is getting serious."

Before that, we were quite relaxed about it.

But suddenly, there was Rommel saying, "They'll come here."

(men speaking in foreign language)

Move!

Bang, let's go!

Come on, let's go!

Move, move, move!

We had nine rehearsals by night and day.

(soldiers yelling)

They had to do it time and time again

until they were perfect.

Too slow, too late!

If we would hesitate, you could be shot,

and they understood that.

Come in from the right!

Where's that bloody flamethrower?

Come on you idle bastards, get in here!

The last time we did it, it was for real.

(shouting)

We had a tremendous kind of gung-ho feeling.

Okay, stop, back to the start.

It was different.

We're good, we're bloody good.

Not bloody good enough, let's go!

Did you speak to Washington

about more landing craft?

Yes sir, they're thinking about it.

Well, perhaps we could tell

them not to think, just to do it.

Amongst the many problems

Eisenhower must solve,

is the risk of taking a vast armada

across 100 miles of heavily patrolled water.

[Commanding officer] What about the rehearsals

for the beach landings?

Exercise Tiger, sir?

[Commanding Officer] Yeah. Due to take place

off the south coast on April 28th, sir.

Half of them have never

even tasted battle before,

the least we can do is prepare them for it.

[Voiceover] Exercise Tiger is a major rehearsal for D-Day.

Not just the beach landings, but

also the complex naval operations.

The seas between here and Normandy are rife with danger.

We will take troops by night across

open water, to designated target beaches on the south coast.

This is a training exercise, but

for everyone involved, it's the real thing.

It was getting us ready for Normandy,

is what it was doing.

It was such a beautiful morning

for such a tragedy to happen.

(early American pop music)

I'm in one.

Pair of queens, Naval wins.

(laughing)

How old are you, kid?

[Voiceover] 15.

What are you doing here?

McCann here is the best

small boat handler in the U.S. Navy.

Eddie McCann is a

landing craft helmsman on LSC515.

In command of the ship, is Lieutenant John Doyle.

(ominous tones) Full ahead, both.

420, full ahead both, aye sir.

The men seem pretty happy, sir.

I don't want them to be happy,

I want 'em to be ready.

And in overall command of the operation,

Commander Bernard Skahill.

There are eight vessels in the convoy.

Each one is carrying over 400 American troops,

many of them teenagers with no combat experience.

Life preservers,

life preservers!

Anyone know what we're

supposed to do with these?

Hey buddy, you gonna show us how to put them on?

Yeah, figure it out.

Radio.

Message Azalea, contact surface.

Three targets bearing 275-280.

What's going on?

Three vessels approaching from the stern.

That could be support.

Maybe.

No response from Azalea, skipper.

Keep trying.

On one of his regular

forays into the English Channel,

German E-boat Captain Hans Schirren

has stumbled upon Exercise Tiger.

Fast, elusive, and heavily armed,

E-boats are a fearsome adversary.

We wanted to sink ships, not kill people.

But war is war.

And in war, people die.

You just can't avoid that.

We saw the convoy, if you like, marching by us.

We saw the boats and fired.

(splash)

(explosion) (yelling)

(explosions)

(yelling)

(explosion)

What the?

Damn, they're in trouble, E-boats.

Could be, could be subs.

Ranging signals.

Bridge.

Mayday, 531507 bulkhead.

We're under attack.

Mate to their location, urgent.

Sound general quarters.

Doyle?

Sound general quarters.

(bells ringing)

Quarters!

(intense music)

(explosions)

Let's go, let's go!

(rapid gunfire)

Okay grey 90!

They're firing at us!

(rapid gunfire)

Hold your fire!

Stop firing!

Stop firing, look where you're aiming at!

It could be ours.

(rapid gunfire)

So happened I picked my headphones up.

And I could hear the bridge talkin'.

And they're fightin', almost comin' to blows.

Standing orders are to return to port, Doyle.

Standing orders do not take account

of our coming under attack.

We cannot afford

to lose more men or more boats.

You will follow orders and return to port.

We have at least two ships going down.

There are men in the water god dammit.

You will obey these orders, Doyle.

Stand by to pick up survivors.

Stand by to pick up survivors.

McCann to bridge, McCann to bridge.

They'll freeze to death in 20 minutes in that water!

Support'll pick 'em up.

We don't even know if we have any support.

Sir?

McCann, there are men in the water.

Some of them may be alive.

I wanna send a boat out.

I'd like to volunteer, sir.

You do have a choice.

You know that, don't you?

Yes, Cap'n, I'd like to go, sir.

Over there.

Ramp down.

There was men on fire.

Men were heads in one place,

legs in another place.

He's dead.

Quite a few of the ones that were dead

were friends of mine

and then I had to leave them in the water.

Over there.

I think I can see him moving.

Eddie McCann and Lieutenant Doyle's actions

saved the lives of 132 men.

Don't worry about it, you're gonna be okay.

But their heroism is not enough to prevent

Exercise Tiger from being a major disaster.

(somber music)

We think some German E-boats

slipped through the destroyer screen.

They sank the two LSTs and damaged one other.

Casualties?

749.

Well how in God's name can we lost two ships

and over 700 men on a god damn training exercise?

Apparently our radio operators

were working on a different frequency than the Brits, sir.

And it seems as if the troops hadn't been shown

how to use their life preservers.

Any captured?

We don't know, sir.

What about the men with security clearance for overlord?

Are they all accounted for?

Yes sir, 10.

All dead.

Well, as least we know they won't talk.

(yelling in the distance)

By May, 1944, the elite forces are ready,

but their destination remains top secret

and security is paramount.

It was getting near the time now, I took my platoon

out into the middle of a football field

and told them what I had just been told by the Colonel.

Now our target is, of course, a gun battery.

And to put it bluntly, it's lethal.

(quiet chuckling)

Now if we don't put it out of action, a lot of men will die.

Our 2nd mission is to take a radar station

about a mile away from the battery--

Must be in France, I think.

What are you thinking?

Each of us knows his job,

and there is no doubt in my mind that we will do it,

provided we show organization, precision and surprise.

And no cock ups.

(quiet chuckling)

Good.

Thank you.

Oh, and one more thing.

Special operation tonight at 2100 hours.

Aw shut--

The Colonel's orders.

This is the BBC home service.

Here is the 9 o'clock news and this is John Snagge speaking.

Evening gents.

Hello.

(happy music on radio)

Carry on gentlemen.

That's what (mumbling).

Well, well.

It's the strangest special operation I've ever been on.

Have any plans for after the war, Mike?

After the war?

Have to be positive.

I was thinking about some farming, in fact.

A dairy?

Oranges. Oranges?

Mike Dowling and I had a strange in joke

about which one of us would, more or less be killed first.

Me and the boys, sir.

We're having a bit of a wager.

I thought you might like to join in.

That is one of the things that was all part of

building up this little barrier to death.

I'll put five guineas on either myself

or Lieutenant Dowling here.

Only five?

I'll put 10 on myself.

I'm in better shape than he is.

(laughing)

We laughed at death, I think.

There was no use in pandering to it.

I found it worked.

♫ Silently her shining bounds increase

♫ And her ways are ways of gentleness

♫ And all her paths are peace ♫

Pour unto our hearts that most excellent gift of charity.

With the very bond of peace and of all--

Have a good evening last night?

Yes sir.

Men are very grateful.

It's nice to have some female company.

In fact, they were members

of the Women's Auxillary Air Force.

I wanted to find out how tight our security was.

See whether any of the men

got careless with their pillow talk.

Sir, isn't that a bit underhand--

No one said anything.

Remarkably restrained.

Let us pray.

The only person who lost sight of his responsibilities

was you Lieutenant.

Sir?

Your briefing to the men.

You virtually identified the location of the target.

I was merely passing on details of the missions, sir.

There are only four coastal radar stations

in mainland Europe next to a gun battery.

I was simply telling men, whom I trust--

The point, Phillips, is internal security.

Being liked by your men is no doubt gratifying Jefferson,

but it is a luxury we cannot afford.

This operation is vital to the entire Allied assault.

My job is to ensure that nothing jeopardizes it.

The lives of my men or the invasion itself.

Sir, I-- I could have

you court marshaled for this.

(organ playing)

You can count yourself bloody lucky that I didn't.

As D-Day approaches,

the Allies are increasingly worried

by the strengthening of Rommel's defenses.

And looming above them, is the fear that the Germans

may have devised a new defensive weapon

which could decimate the troops as they land.

Lieutenant Lane, we have a problem.

Air reconnaissance and intelligence

suggests Rommel has a new type of mine on the beaches.

Unusual explosions, several at a time.

It is though they're joined together.

What can the French tell us?

Nothing.

That source has dried up.

Permanently?

Probably.

So you want us to go and take a closer look?

Overlord is ready to go and we cannot afford

any last minute hitches.

You know the stakes and you know the risks.

Hitler's orders are for all captured commanders

to be executed.

But we have no choice.

I never really expected to survive.

So I was quite ready for it.

But I kept on thinking that what was important,

is do what was possible before I was killed.

29 year old Hungarian, Jurie Lange,

has changed identity to fight with the British.

Having served as a saboteur with the French resistance,

he is now a member of a specialist commando unit.

(suspenseful tones)

You're from one of those special units, aren't you?

Is it true you're all Jewish foreigners?

Beats me why you come and help us fight.

I mean, if it was me-- I think it's better

if we don't tell each other much about ourselves.

Name and rank, that's all they'll get from me.

Everybody talks, eventually.

Ordinary land mine, it's rusty because of the water.

Could that be what makes it sensitive?

Maybe.

It's more likely because they're close together.

It sets each other off.

Let's check inland.

(men yelling in foreign language)

(rapid gunfire) Bollocks!

Shit!

We've been spotted.

We're surrounded.

What do we do now?

Wait to be captured?

Commando.

(somber music)

As the war drags on,

and German hopes of victory have dwindled,

many senior commanders have become

disillusioned with their leader.

A few have even begun to think the unthinkable,

that the time has come to replace Hitler.

They're looking for a figurehead.

If discovered, they will be executed for treason.

One of them is at the heart of Rommel's inner circle,

his deputy, Hench Spidel.

(men speaking in foreign language)

I was scared, bet ya I was scared.

There I was in enemy country

and anything could happen to me.

And it was a very uncomfortable, unpleasant situation

as you can imagine.

Rommel often makes a point

of personally interrogating captured officers.

Not only to extract information, but to better judge

the caliber of the men he is fighting.

Hut!

(speaking in foreign language)

We have orders to,

(speaking in foreign language)

execute saboteurs.

If you think I'm a saboteur, why do you invite me here?

(speaking in foreign language)

So this is an invitation?

Yes. And an honor.

So, you are commando.

The best soldiers in the world.

Then we had this extraordinary conversation

which is recorded in the archives of the German high command

word by word.

How is my friend, Montgomery?

Fine, I believe.

I only know what I read in the paper.

So where is it coming, the invasion?

I have no idea, nobody tells me anything.

But if it were up to me, I would probably go for

the shortest crossing.

(Rommel laughs)

I realized it was a very peculiar situation.

May I ask a question?

There I was sitting,

talking to the top, top general in Germany.

Of course.

Do you think soldiers are the right people

to occupy a country once it has been conquered?

Yes, I do.

Of course we are trained to fight, but we are also,

(speaks in foreign language)

Adaptable.

I believe a good soldier has a sense of duty.

A sense of responsibility.

Do you agree.

I think a good soldier is an honorable soldier.

And I said to myself,

as long as he's enjoying it,

I think that might save my neck.

You know it's a pity the Germans and British

aren't fighting together.

Against who?

The Russians, of course.

(laughing) Well I think there are

too many differences between us for us ever to be Allies.

No, what differences?

Treatment of the Jews, for example.

Now you are talking about politics.

That has nothing to do with us.

Halt.

Don't worry.

You will not be harmed.

You have my word as a fellow soldier.

(sighs) (speaks in foreign language)

(tenacious music)

Your majesty, fellow soldiers,

Operation Overlord is ready.

We have assembled the most formidable fighting force--

Admiral Ramsey,

Allied Naval Commander in Chief.

The naval plan is as follows.

Five assault forces preceded by heavy naval--

Air Chief Marshall Lee Mallory,

Allied Air Commander in Chief, the overall air plan

is to obtain and exploit an air situation--

General Bernard Montgomery,

CNC 21st Army group.

Our priority is to seize the beaches

and drive inland.

The threat will come from Rommel's panzer assault.

The first few days

will be the vital ones.

It is in those days that this battle will be won.

There will be much hard fighting on all fronts.

But we shall win in the end.

Let us go forward to victory.

In the battle to keep the Germans guessing,

the time has come for the British spymasters

to play their trump card

and take an extrordinary risk.

Now then, D-Day itself.

It is essential that we maintain the deception

for at least three days after the landings.

Well, Garbo could send a message

saying what they're seeing isn't the real invasion.

I think it's be hard to convince them

when they have 150,000 troops on their doorstep.

(men chuckling)

To sell them the lie, we must give them the truth.

We give them a piece of information

which they consider extremely valuable.

They will then be in the right frame of mind

to be deceived.

Isn't that rather dangerous?

Yes it is.

Wars are like that, I suppose.

It's a nuisance, but there's nothing we can do about it.

Two messages.

In the first, we give them the truth.

We tell the the Allied troops are due to land.

On D-Day?

That information is critical, we can't warn them in advance.

You're their most important agent.

If they see troops landing and hear nothing from you

they'll be suspicious.

The secret is in the timing of the message.

It has to be early enough to appear to be a warning,

but too late for them to take any action.

That way we seal your credibility.

The trap is then set, and we send the second message.

I see.

Agent four, I think, is the best man for the job.

In Southhampton?

He's in the right place.

He will tell them that he has seen troops boarding ships

and preparing to leave.

But he's in a sealed camp,

they'll know he can't make contact with the outside.

I will tell them he deserted

with two other Americans, the paratroopers.

And signal men or something.

Bombing bags!

I beg your pardon?

He saw bombing bags being handed out to soldiers.

Bombing bags and cold rations.

For the long boat trip to Normandy.

Subtle and very believable.

(quiet, tense music)

Gentlemen, in these final days,

we will use our air superiority to increase attacks

on the German transportation network.

Regrettably, there will be civilian casualties.

But I wanna share with you a message I received

from the leader of the free French forces.

He says, "General, this is war.

"And we expect people to die.

"We would accept twice the casualties

"if it meant liberation."

(speaking in German)

(bright big band music)

There was a sense of

"Might as well raise hell, because the worst is coming."

Hey Charlie, hey you met John Mars,

my picture editor at Life.

Look at you, you're impossible.

You take fairly sharp pictures, you're quite good looking,

you certainly get around and everyone wants a piece of you.

You're infectious.

Infectious, is it troubling?

I think it might be for Pinky.

It's the way you carry it off that drives her crazy.

Me too.

Hey, you wanna dance?

For old times sake?

You want a slap in the face for old times sake?

Can I have this dance?

Oh God please.

This one has got two left feet.

(chuckling)

You forgive me?

For what?

Not being the man you want me to be.

I will never forgive you for that.

You know the thing about gamblers?

What is it that keeps 'em coming back to the table?

The money, winning.

Losing.

But not me.

I have no intention of losing.

I'll be coming home.

Okay.

Oh Pinky.

Thank you.

For what?

For never making me choose between you and the war.

Well, let's just say I'd be outnumbered.

(quiet music)

Goodnight BBC, this is Colin Wills

reporting on a key side in Britain

on June the 3rd, 1944.

Across this key side moves a stream of men,

men of peace, going to war.

They will be among the first Allied troops

who will assault Hitler's fortress.

They count it a high honor to be chosen for this job.

They'll do that job as well as any man

who could be chosen for it.

You been abroad before?

Before I joined up,

I'd never been outside of Harifurter.

I went to Cardiff once.

Paris, that's where we're headed.

Wine and birds and fancy food.

Oh, don't mention food.

Towards the end of 1942, the government

lowered the age of recruiting for the services to 18.

Unfortunately for me I was just coming up to 18.

They said, "What would you like to do?"

I said, "Oh RAF, that's a nice, safe area."

They said, "Oh, we're short of infantry,

"you're going in infantry."

They never actually told us that this was D-Day.

But all the boys reckoned it was the D-Day.

You didn't really want telling, you see.

I mean we thought about Dunkirk.

It was obviously that a lot of us were not gonna come back,

only in boxes, like, you know.

At noon today we raised anchor

and we were ready to go.

Slowly and majestically as mine sweepers and destroyers

curved their way into position.

We gave the lead to the other transports.

Under a grey sky, we looked at the coast of Britain

and watched it slowly grow more dim.

And every man, soldier or sailor is learning,

to the last detail, the part that he himself has to play.

The fleet of ships

now embarking on the 24 hour journey to France

is the greatest armada the world has ever seen.

This is the opportunity

which we have long awaited, which must be seized and pursued

with relentless determination.

Our hopes and prayers

of the enslaved peoples of Europe would be with us.

We cannot fail them.

Followed by Charlie, Dog,

Fox to get back up.

(pounding)

Word from the top is that B company

is the safer option when we launch.

Safer?

Well, it's still in the first wave,

but it'll be behind E company.

So E company goes at the front of the front,

where the action is.

Action will be everywhere Capa.

It's your choice.

You know what, I'm feeling lucky.

I'm already fleecing these guys.

Let's go with the luck.

I go with E company.

Besides, if your pictures aren't good enough

it's 'cause you're not close enough.

(laughing)

So thank you.

(thunder)

Then, just 24 hours

before the invasion is due, (splashing)

a sudden and violent storm breaks.

So we have to keep the ships

where they are now? Yes sir.

Now wait, how long?

The tides of Normandy

will be riding out for two weeks.

Then it has to improve in the next 24 hours.

Yes sir, but I should warn--

You're saying this might continue.

It's June for Christ's sake!

You guys actually get a summer?

(exclaims under breath)

We might have to postpone.

When's the next window?

20th.

Too late?

Out of the question.

Troops can't possibly sit in those ships for two more weeks.

(scoffs)

You plan the greatest expedition with force in history

and it ends up depending on something you,

you just can't control.

Get!

And now we sail steadily nearer

to the coastline of France.

Across the water we can hear the jazz

from a minesweeper's gramophone.

There's a tenseness in the air,

as every man aboard waits for the moment

to which everything has been bent in these last few years.

(retching)

Post mic one, post mic one.

Operation postponed, repeat, operation postponed.

Vessels, remain in safety.

All servicemen to wait further announcements.

Ah bloody hell.

That's great.

(speaking in foreign language)

A glimmer of hope.

Now what kind of glimmer are we talking here?

The general situation has changed little,

but we predict a slight improvement on the night of the 5th.

An increase in visibility,

low chance of rain, less cloud cover,

light to moderate winds.

But for how long?

To answer that question would make me a guesser, sir.

I'm not a meteorologist.

So, do we take the risk and go

or do we bring them all back?

(dramatic pensive music)

All right, let's go.

(speaking in foreign language)

I heard the dice are on the carpet,

order for destroying the trains and railroad lines,

for the first time in my life, I knew for sure the future.

(laughing)

Dear Iris, boys and Molly.

Dear Mother and Father.

I thank you for your letter,

but please remember that I'm doing alright.

But I want ya to be sure

I'm thinking of you all.

As I write I can hear the rain breaching

against the window. Dear Marcy,

I got the packet of gifts the other day

and I was mighty grateful.

I hope this letter finds you safe and well.

I understand. In the meantime,

look out for yourselves, and tell Mary no to--

But nothing will dampen our resolve

to get the job done and get home as soon as possible.

Love, Lolly.

Much love, Daddy.

Hey fellas, do you mind?

You wanna take a photo?

Hey this is it, he wants to take a photo.

Hey Joe, wanna take a photograph.

Come here man.

What's up man?

You got dirt on your shirt.

What's happened to you over there?

(mumbling)

(cheering)

Soldiers, sailors and airmen

of the Allied expeditionary force.

You are about to embark upon the great crusades

toward which we have striven these many months.

The eyes of the world are upon you.

The hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere

march with you.

Our landings in the Cherbourg le Havre area

have failed to gain the satisfactory foothold

and I have withdrawn the troops.

My decision to attack at this time and place

was based upon the best information available.

If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt

it is mine alone.

Just in case.

Just in case.

Agent four broke out of his sealed camp yesterday

with two Americans from 926 signal corps.

He has reported to me personally

that soldiers of the Canadian 3rd Division

have been issued with bombing bags and cold rations.

I believe a major invasion will be coming tonight.

(jazzy music)

We were given a gramophone and some records.

And sometimes if there was good weather,

we'd sit outside the bunker and sing.

(explosion)

My dear parents, I hope you're both well

and not worrying too much about me.

The invasion is coming, still we don't know where.

Night after night they bomb inland.

(speaking in foreign language)

But we know that as long as the weather is bad,

they can't land on the beaches.

♫ Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye

♫ Cheerio here I go, on my way ♫

We were very good.

Average age is 20, youngest 18.

So it shows how many young men were many really young men.

♫ Give me a smile I can keep for a while

♫ In my heart while I'm away

♫ Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye ♫

One of the things I said to 'em,

was don't forget some of us are not gonna come back here.

We must all realize that.

I said, it may be you it may be me.

So they all knew that.

It was drizzle and pretty bad weather

for an invasion.

It was quite a lot of fog.

I was just daydreaming, really.

(phone ringing)

(speaking in foreign language)

(ominous tones)

I was very confident that it would be alright.

But it was kind of feeling of being balanced

on the head of a pin.

(yelling)

Colonel for equipment check.

Colonel for equipment check.

Six okay.

Five okay.

Four okay.

Three okay.

Two okay.

Four okay.

Stick okay.

Three okay. (explosion)

(explosion)

Come on, get in line.

Come on, get it straight.

(yelling)

(quiet tense music)

Punch.

Punch.

Judy.

Seen any of the others?

No sir.

Come on, this way.

Just a few miles away,

the armada of over 5,000 ships

has arrived completely undetected.

The British, who will land on Sword Beach,

are waiting to receive the signal

that Otway's men have destroyed the guns at Merville.

He has just three hours before the landings begin.

So how many men have we got?

Less than a hundred sir.

30 from the diversion party.

30 from B company, 10 from C company and a few others.

Find out whether the engineers have arrived.

They never made it sir.

No sign of the mortar party either.

So we've got nothing to signal Gladson with.

I saw Colonel Otway looking, well I can only describe it

as looking as if he'd been taken out of a deep freeze.

He was stiff and white

and obviously very uncomfortable.

Any weapons canisters?

No sir.

So 80% of my men and half my equipment

have landed in the wrong bloody place.

Shall we wait sir?

No time to wait.

And he said, "Get over there, out on that C company."

And the C company was about three men.

Which struck me as being a rather limited force.

10 miles inland, the 21st Panzer Division,

the enemy force that could wreak havoc on the beaches,

are as usual, on standby.

(speaking in foreign language)

(regal music)

(speaking in foreign language)

(big band music)

Sir, still fewer than a quarter of the men have turned up.

And the mine clearers didn't get their equipment.

They've cleared by hand and left two boot tracks to follow.

What are we going to do sir?

Do? Attack it of course!

Knight and his men will carry out

the diversions originally planned.

Now then, you will breach the perimeter

and then attack casemate two.

Jefferson, you are to attack casemate one.

Rawson and Long will attack casemates three and four.

What about demolition charges, sir?

Improvise.

Sir? We attack

in five minutes.

Prepare your men.

Gentlemen, a lot of people are relying on us.

And I'm relying on you.

[Otway's Voiceover] I had a choice in time,

give up or go on.

Could you face your friends, could you have people

pointing at you and saying, "Oh, he gave up."?

No.

So I decided to go.

And we went.

I divided the groups.

Run like hell and hope for the best, sir.

Alright lads.

Listen up everyone.

This is it.

This is what we've all been waiting to do.

There aren't many of us, but it won't matter.

The fact is you're all bloody good men, the best.

(explosion) In, get in!

(rapid gunfire) Get in!

(bugle blows)

Get the bloody battery!

(yelling and gunfire)

(gunfire in distance)

(exclaims in foreign language)

(speaks in foreign language)

At first start in the morning, it was call to the Sargeant

comes on the line and says,

"There are paratroopers in the battery.

"We are in hand to hand fighting."

(speaks in foreign language)

(yelling) (gunfire)

(dramatic music)

Move it!

(phone ringing)

(speaks in foreign language)

And then the attackers put phosphoric grenades

into the ventilation shaft and I was called to say,

"We are suffocating."

I heard someone praying the Lord's Prayer

and others were cursing.

I was hearing this, them suffocating

and wrestling with death.

Suddenly I heard myself saying,

"I'm going to get you out of this."

I thought, "How the hell am I going to do that?"

Shoot them bloody machine guns.

(yelling) (rapid gunfire)

Go on Jefferson!

And then I felt something whipping me.

And I went down.

And I couldn't get up.

With left arm and left leg both hit.

Got 'em bosses.

And I watched my soldiers going in.

And I was immensely proud of them.

(yelling)

(explosion)

(rapid gunfire)

(rapid gunfire)

Clear!

(rapid gunfire)

Clear!

(heavy breathing)

Move!

(explosion)

(speaks in foreign language)

Sir, battery taken sir.

Guns taken out?

I think so, sir.

Well bloody well go back and make sure!

Sir!

Move it Dowling!

(rapid gunfire)

Go!

Mike Dowling and I knew that one of us

wouldn't be coming back.

Shell incoming.

Last time I ever saw him.

(speaking in foreign language)

(phone ringing)

(speaking in foreign language)

(quiet music)

Hang on.

I said what do you mean, hang on, I can't move.

He said, just a minute, keep still.

I'll put you in my picture.

What do you mean hang on?

He was the war artist Albert Richards.

What the hell are you doing here?

Morning, Alan.

I tell you what.

I'll put you in the official picture,

call it wounded soldier.

What are you doing, you bloody fool!

He could be booby trapped.

Don't call your commanding officer a bloody fool!

I did a count of the men on their feet.

And of the 150 which we'd attacked, we had 65.

We have done what were sent to do.

Those guns are not gonna fire on the beaches.

Those men on the beaches are gonna come through

without the fallen casualties.

We were rather pleased with ourselves.

(blast)

Falling out, bring it out.

Yes sir!

Come on, let's get it out, let's go!

Then I saw the ships.

It was a wall above the water.

It looked like a compact mass coming towards you.

And then it started.

(explosions)

My God!

(dramatic music)

First of all the cruisers started opening fire

on the beach, which we could see quite plainly

in the dim, morning light.

(explosions)

And soon the air grew heavy with the smell of cordite.

And looking along the beach we could see

the explosions of our artillery creating a great cloud

and fog of smoke.

(sad music)

(yelling)

And as the light broke and we really could see around us,

we began to become aware of the formidable character

of this invasion fleet of which we were a part.

(coughing)

Hey, you better get back (mumbling).

You still owe me 20 bucks from that game.

You give me a very warm feeling inside, Capa.

I'll give ya that.

Hey Lieutenant, Joslin, you don't look so good.

Hey listen, Collins,

Collins, you think that thing's gonna save your life?

It could kill ya just as quick.

You jump in the water with that strap so tight,

your helmet'll fill up and snap your neck off.

(exclaims)

One of the first beaches

troops are due to land on is Omaha.

Among the men, the U.S. 1st Infantry Division.

Piloting them ashore is 15 year old survivor

of exercise Tiger, Eddie McCann.

I was assigned the first wave.

I wasn't really prepared for what come about.

(yelling)

There's a certain smell,

the hot blood.

Believe me I smelled it that day.

(speaking in foreign language)

(rapid gunfire)

The average age of the Americans was 20 or 21.

(speaking in foreign language)

I was 17 years old.

I turned 18 in Normandy.

The first wave on Omaha

suffered 90% casualties.

Robert Capa will go ashore just two minutes

after the landings begin.

(yelling)

(rapid gunfire)

(explosion)

(rapid gunfire)

The gunfire was intense, terrifying.

I wanted shelter but I knew I had a job to do.

I had to talk to remind myself I was still alive.

I remembered an old line from a Spanish ship of war.

(speaks in foreign language)

This is a very serious business.

(rapid gunfire)

What do you see, tell me.

You don't wanna know, Capa.

Tell me.

It's Ma.

She's sitting on the front porch

and she's waving my insurance policy.

The men of the 21st Panzers,

now aware of the beach landings,

have still received no orders.

(speaking in foreign language)

(dramatic music)

There are five beaches

designated for the landings on D-Day.

Utah and Omaha are American,

Gold and Juno, British and Canadian,

and Sword Beach, where the teenage consgroups

from the King's Shropshire Light Infantry

are waiting for their turn to land.

It's 25 minutes before H hour for our force.

Overhead the thunderous roar

of fortresses and liberators going in to blast the coast.

On the horizon, flash after flash

from the guns of the bombarding ships

firing their 15 and 16 inch guns against shore targets.

You could see ships from horizon to horizon.

I mean it was thick with ships, the channel was.

I think a lot of the lads were very, very subdued.

And we said, well this is it.

There's probably some of us

that haven't got very long to go in life.

And we knew that unfortunately.

To us is given the honor

of striking a blow for freedom which will live in history

and in the better days that lie ahead,

men will speak with pride of our doings.

Let us pray as if the Lord, mighty in battle,

will go forth with our armies.

Let us recall the words of a famous soldier

spoken many years ago.

He either fears his fate too much

or his deserts are small.

Who dare not put it to the touch, to win or lose it all.

On Sword Beach, (bagpipe music)

the men of the 1st Special Service Commando Brigade

led by Lord Lovat and his piper Bill Millin,

march ashore under heavy fire, inspiring the young soldiers

facing battle for the first time.

I think we were frightened when we landed.

I don't think there was a man

that wasn't frightened, I don't think so.

You still had to go on, because everybody else had to go,

so you had to go.

I've been through many battles,

but I was never as excited

as when my time came to go ashore.

For this was France and the beginning of the end.

The rough, swirling tide

carried our assault craft over the obstacles

and we jumped into more water than we expected.

Six feet of it.

So I had to swim a yard or two with my pack

and waterproof typewriter before I could wade to shore.

Then the struggle across the soft sand.

Five minutes that will always be vivid in my mind.

(airplane rumbling)

(explosion)

(yelling)

Come on Bill!

Take cover!

(explosion)

(yelling)

Told me we wouldn't even get across the beach.

What does he know?

He was in Dunkirk.

This is gonna be different.

Come on!

Jesus!

Here you go lads!

Where'd you get that from?

(mumbles)

What do we do next?

Keep our heads downs.

Get off your butt, you rough,

you won't win the war lying down.

Come on.

One, two.

(explosions)

(speaking in foreign language)

(phone ringing)

(speaking in foreign language)

(rapid gunfire)

(somber music)

(rapid gunfire)

(rapid gunfire)

(explosion)

They say you should never stop in the heat of battle.

If you do, all you'll see is your own death.

And I did. (ethereal music)

Time stood still.

I was totally alone.

I saw only bodies around me.

Young men, who just a few hours earlier had been happy,

human, and alive.

Without even thinking about it,

I did the only thing I could.

It seemed to take forever.

I could feel the current dragging me back towards the beach

and it was if I was wading against fate.

But I knew I had to get to the boat.

I had to get outta there.

What I couldn't admit to myself

was what I knew to be the truth,

I was scared and I was running away.

(explosion)

All of the sudden there was a bang

and I had no idea what was happening.

For one crazy moment I thought I was on a farm.

Then I remembered, life jackets are lined with feathers.

That's what happens when the shell hits you.

There were body parts everywhere

and grown men weeping at the tragedy unfolding around them.

(somber music)

It keeps you on your toes, getting shot at.

It's the last time I'm going to the bloody seaside.

I knew it was gonna be bad,

but I never knew it was gonna be that bad.

I'm knackered.

Bloody starved I am.

Have to have me breakfast in the channel.

(mumbles) on me.

Moving out in 10 minutes lads.

Seven miles to go.

We gotta be there by nightfall.

Where's this place we're going?

Town called Caen.

What are we going there for?

Check out the local talent.

Our job's to liberate the town.

What about the tanks?

They can't get them off the ruddy beach.

Probably unloading some general's cigars.

How the hell we gonna liberate this town

without tanks? Beats me.

So we're going seven miles on foot?

Yep.

No tanks, no lift.

No tanks, no bloody protection.

As the British infantry

advanced south towards Caen,

to the east of the city

and on the other side of the river Orne,

is the 21st Panzer Division.

(engines rumbling)

(speaking in foreign language)

Why? Why no response?

Have they not received it?

They have to know we warned them about the invasion.

In London, fears are growing

that the deception plan has failed.

They still don't know for sure

that the Germans have believed Garbo's radio message

warning of the Normandy invasion.

I will send them another message.

One of your specials?

I will scream, I will rant.

I will remind them how helpful I am,

how useful I am.

I will make them believe I sent it.

I have received no acknowledgement of my messages.

This makes me question your seriousness

and your sense of responsibility.

I therefore demand a clarification immediately

as to what has happened.

(suspenseful music)

(speaking in foreign language)

People of Western Europe,

a landing was made this morning on the coast of France

by troops of the Allied Expeditionary Force.

This landing is part of a concerted United Nations plan

for the liberation of Europe,

made in conjunction with our great Russian Allies.

In the course of this campaign

for the final defeat of the enemy,

you may sustain further loss and damage.

Tragic though they may be,

they are part of the price of victory.

I know that I can count on your steadfastness now,

no less than in the past.

That these heroic deeds of Frenchmen who have continued

to struggle against the Nazis have been an example

and an inspiration to all of us.

Keep your faith staunched.

At half past one, I was at home.

And a bombing place took place not far from us.

And the blasts caused the door

at the back of our cellar to be blown open.

(explosion)

(speaking in foreign language)

Immediately I rushed to the improvised hospital

where the Red Cross was, to help to save

the citizens who were wounded.

(explosions)

(dramatic music)

(yelling)

(speaking in foreign language)

(exclaiming in pain)

(airplane rumbling)

If you are reading these documents,

you are in the immediate vicinity

of key troop movements and supplies.

These will shortly be subject to repeated Allied attack.

You and your family

must evacuate the target area immediately.

Do not obstruct any roads.

Withdraw from the city,

disperse over as wide as an area as possible.

Leave immediately, you do not have a minute to lose.

(somber dramatic music)

(explosions)

(yelling) (rapid gunfire)

On Omaha Beach,

in seven and a half hours of fighting,

Franz Gockel has fired over 10,000 rounds

at the incoming American troops.

(rapid gunfire) (yelling)

We couldn't understand

how in this rain of fire, despite the heavy casualties,

the Americans just kept coming and coming.

(explosion)

(rapid gunfire)

(somber music)

At three pm,

the battle for Omaha Beach is over.

War report number one,

throughout the day, the British Broadcasting Corporation

has been telling the world that Allied forces

have crossed the channel into France.

General de Gaulle, who recently came secretly to London,

spoke particularly to the people of France

on whose soil the first battles for the liberation of Europe

are now being fought.

(man speaking in foreign language)

A vast machinery of attack,

for us a means of liberation has been set in motion

from the shores on England.

Not long ago it was on this last bastion of Western Europe

that the tide of German oppression spent itself.

Today, it is the base

from which liberty's offensive is being launched.

France, overwhelmed for four years,

but never conquered, is on her feet

to take part in the fight.

In the French nation, in our empire,

in the armies there is one will, one hope.

(man exclaiming)

Give us this day our daily bread.

Forgive us our trespasses

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

In London, Garbo is still waiting

to unleash the big lie.

At last, an acknowledgement.

They've received the message.

They simply haven't bothered to respond.

And your tantrum certainly did the trick.

They've swallowed the truth.

Now let's see if they'll swallow the big lie.

I will tell them I was summoned

to the ministry this morning.

A new directive has been issued, top secret.

No mention is to be made of forthcoming assaults

in other areas of France.

And that will suggest that what they're seeing in Normandy

is just a diversion.

(speaks in foreign language)

(woeful music)

(speaking in foreign language)

Despite driving all day,

Rommel is still 150 miles

from his headquarters at La Roche Guyon.

(speaking in foreign language)

(men singing in foreign language)

In Caen prison, captured French resistance workers

have been listening to the Allied bombing all day.

And with the sound, has come hope.

The youngest of them is 15 year old Jacques Colaus

and in the next cell,

artist, teacher and map maker, Robert Douin.

(speaking in foreign language)

(rapid gunfire)

The only chance of liberation

now lies with the British troops

who are just three miles away

in the area of the Lebisey woods.

The British, Canadian and American troops

who landed on the coast of France,

north of the lovely town of Caen,

in broad daylight this morning

are already several miles inland.

And covered by an ever changing,

but ever present umbrella of fighters.

It's too early yet, much to early to start giving

any reasons for the comparative lack of resistance

put up by the Germans to our initial landing.

It is proper to report that the first phase

of the attack on Western Europe has gone, cocking well.

Shoot them before they shoot you.

That's what my dad said before I left.

My dad took me to the top of a hill.

Told me about the great war.

That's what we're fighting for, he said.

That's what we're fighting for.

He said, well this is what it's all about.

You see all these areas, he said,

and we don't want them here, do we?

(engines rumbling)

(speaking in foreign language)

(exclaims in foreign language)

(speaking in foreign language)

(rapid gunfire)

(speaking in foreign language)

(explosion)

(explosion)

Come on!

(explosion)

Dig Gisser, dig.

Dig, come on, dig.

They only called him Gisser

because he was always scrounging cigarettes

or gets stopping for a cup of tea or gets a fag.

(rapid gunfire)

Dig, dig, dig.

(yelling)

(rapid gunfire)

Hey, you know what?

I might come back here for my summer off next year.

(laughing)

(yelling)

(rapid gunfire)

You sort of wondered when it was your turn like.

But you just hoped it wouldn't be.

What about Gisser?

What about?

(gunshots)

(speaks in foreign language)

Robert Douin and 86 other

French resistance fighters

were executed by the Germans at Caen prison on D-Day.

The Allied troops who might have liberated them

were locked in a stalemate with the 21st Panzer Division.

(explosion)

(speaking in foreign language)

Shermans, Shermans, fucking great!

(speaking in foreign language)

(explosion)

(yelling fearfully)

(rapid gunfire)

(explosion)

(airplanes rumbling)

At nine pm on June the 6th, 1944,

the 6th Air Landing Brigade, consisting of over 250 gliders

and 2,000 men crossed into France.

All those who saw this overwhelming force coming to land,

knew that the Allies had won the day.

In 24 hours they had landed 156,000 troops

and 20,000 vehicles on French soil.

They had not made the inroads they had hoped for,

but the Allies had gained a foothold in France.

(quiet music)

The day had come at great cost on all sides.

12,000 Allied casualties,

7,000 Germans and over 20,000 French civilians

killed by Allied bombing.

Yet, by nightfall,

the Allied bridgehead remained vulnerable.

The Germans could still mobilize powerful forces

massed elsewhere and strangle the incursion.

But first, they had to judge

whether Normandy was the real thing,

or whether a 2nd, much large invasion was still to come.

(speaking in foreign language)

(bright music)

We just intercepted a German intelligence message

sent to all senior staff.

They bought every word you said.

(laughing)

(hopeful music)

The German High Command was still expecting

an invasion at Pas-de-Calais until September, 1944.

The double agent Joan Pujol, code named Garbo,

worked for British intelligence until the end of the war.

In 1949 he faked his own death

and went to live in Venezuela.

In July, 1944, Rommel was implicated

in a plot to assassinate Hitler.

He was threatened with a trial for treason

and forced to take his own life.

Hans Speidel escaped implication in the plot.

He went on to become Commander in Chief

of Allied Land Forces for NATO in 1957.

General Eisenhower returned to the United States in 1945,

where he became army Chief of Staff.

He went on to become twice president of the United States.

Of the men of the 9th Parachute Battalion,

who landed with Lieutenant Colonel Terence Otway,

50 were lost in the capture of the battery at Melville.

Another 190 remain unaccounted for to this day.

(man speaking in foreign language)

Frequently I think about the men.

They knew it was possible

that they'd have to sacrifice their lives

for the men coming across the beach.

I knew very well that those men would not let me down.

The men of the

King's Shropshire Light Infantry

were engaged in bitter fighting at Lebisey Ridge

for another 30 days.

The Allies finally succeeded in liberating the city of Caen

on July the 19th.

Those of us survived are pretty selfish.

It's a dirty, filthy game, war.

You miss your colleagues, there's no question about that.

Yeah, it is sad.

It is sad.

And as the days went on, we thought to ourselves,

a few days ago you were just lads,

you hadn't been outta school very long.

And now you become a man all of a sudden

when you gone through all this nightmare.

Well it is a nightmare, of course.

Absolute nightmare.

18 year old Franz Gockel

was one of only two men in his platoon

who survived the fighting on Omaha Beach.

I've told people I was praying a lot

during the attack.

And one of the Americans I'm now friends with today said,

"We were also praying."

We were praying and killing each other at the same time.

Robert Capa's photographs were published

in Life Magazine on June the 19th, 1944.

He had already returned to the beaches of Normandy.

He was killed by a land mine 10 years later

whilst on assignment in Vietnam.

The red cross made by Andre Heintz

outside the city hospital of Caen

was spotted by Allied aircraft.

The hospital and the cathedral

were the only two large buildings that escaped destruction.

When Caen was cleared,

they came across a cellar.

Well they found a man who had died of suffocation

because he had been trapped there

and nobody had ever realized that he was there.

And with a candle, he had managed to write a few notes

and the last thing he had written was,

"It's terrible to know that I'm going to die,

"because I have been expecting

"the liberation for so long.

"But since I know that because of my death,

"other people will be liberated."

And he entered, "Long live France, long live their lives."

(celebratory music)