1
00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:05,920
Fallen and wounded covered the beach.

2
00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:12,760
The tide brought more and
more bodies and wounded.

3
00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:18,520
The bodies did not lie alone but
stacked on top of each other.

4
00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:21,600
It was a horrible sight.

5
00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:52,520
D-DAY: THE SOLDIERS' STORY 2/4

6
00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:48,760
Thanks to the spirit of our
troops and the new weaponry, -

7
00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:53,560
we can look forward to future
events with peace of mind.

8
00:03:57,240 --> 00:04:02,560
You don't have to worry about the future
for a second. Everything is going fine.

9
00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:31,560
We were not sure
if they would come.

10
00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:35,720
In the last few weeks, rumours
started saying that they were coming, -

11
00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:38,680
and things could then hot up.

12
00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:42,360
We worked a lot, -

13
00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:47,680
to fix the omissions of
the previous four years.

14
00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:51,360
At Rommel's order,
we dug trenches.

15
00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:55,120
I remember very well how
on the eve of the landing, -

16
00:04:55,240 --> 00:05:01,040
a frostbitten comrade who
came from Russia said, -

17
00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:08,120
that 15-meters of trench is missing
between the upper and lower shelter.

18
00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:11,040
He said, "When the Yankees come," -

19
00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:16,120
"we'll only be saved if that piece
is done. Otherwise we won't survive."

20
00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:19,320
The weather report had promised
very bad weather around June 6th.

21
00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:24,360
It lulled the Germans into a
false sense of security, -

22
00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:28,160
that the Allies would not land.

23
00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:30,520
In addition to this, -

24
00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:36,080
the moon phase was, according
to German calculations, -

25
00:15:36,160 --> 00:15:39,080
that it would not favor landing.

26
00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:41,480
That's why the Germans thought, -

27
00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:44,960
that nothing would happen
in the early days of June.

28
00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:47,640
Allies also hesitate.

29
00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:52,560
It was only at the last minute,
June 6, that D―day was locked, -

30
00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:56,000
to attack and land ashore.

31
00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:32,840
We did not know where the
landing would take place.

32
00:19:32,920 --> 00:19:35,800
We just knew it would happen.

33
00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:41,160
We thought it would be easiest to try
to land over the English Channel.

34
00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:49,200
On the eve of the landing, I had met
a teacher of school of Sainte―Marie, -

35
00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:53,360
whom I knew belonged to
the resistance movement.

36
00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:58,520
He said that something would
happen on the evening of June 5th.

37
00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:03,000
I dealt his speeches with reservation, -

38
00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:10,040
because a lot of unfounded news
was spread in the region.

39
00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:40,760
We had been trumpeted
of the landing.

40
00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:42,960
We patrolled the
beach by night.

41
00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:47,680
We had two dogs: a German
Shepherd and a hunting dog.

42
00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:51,200
We patrolled through
corridors between the mines.

43
00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:58,480
We had to be careful because
there could be spies on the beach.

44
00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:03,160
Some spy was sent by
boat to the beach, -

45
00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:05,560
but not to our sector.

46
00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:08,920
We always patrolled
two hours at night.

47
00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:13,360
We checked in at
different bases.

48
00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:19,040
It was nicer than a
guard at the same base.

49
00:24:19,120 --> 00:24:21,840
That becomes monotonous.

50
00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:55,400
I had my first
guard until 24:00.

51
00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:58,040
Then I went to
the crew bunker.

52
00:24:58,120 --> 00:25:02,200
It was maybe three meters
underground. Thick concrete.

53
00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:07,840
At one o'clock a comrade
came screaming:

54
00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:09,360
"Alarm!"

55
00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:13,160
There had been so many
alarms in recent weeks, -

56
00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:15,760
that we were no
longer interested.

57
00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:20,280
We threw him out and told
him to leave us alone.

58
00:25:20,360 --> 00:25:23,120
He left without getting us out.

59
00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:27,120
In no time an
under-officer came in, -

60
00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:31,120
who screamed:

61
00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:34,200
"Now it's for real, guys!"

62
00:27:59,120 --> 00:28:04,760
At midnight, one o'clock
when I was sleeping, -

63
00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:09,160
I woke up to a bomb-like noise.

64
00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:12,080
It came from around the city, -

65
00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:16,200
from the north, or
the English Channel.

66
00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:20,160
I climbed into the attic
of my parents' house.

67
00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:24,040
I noticed flashes.

68
00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:30,640
I heard planes roaming over
the city on the sea side.

69
00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:34,200
We thought this
was an invasion.

70
00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:36,320
I picked up the radio,

71
00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:40,960
although at that time it was
forbidden to listen English radio.

72
00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:42,840
We listened to it anyway.

73
00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:46,720
The English said
they had landed, -

74
00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:49,600
but they didn't say where.

75
00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:13,080
Everyone went and
took their guns, -

76
00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:16,320
as they had been trained.

77
00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:23,960
Soon we saw that in the west the sky
was flashing like sheet lightning.

78
00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:28,200
They were visible from the
direction of Sainte―Mère―Église.

79
00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:32,440
At our base a messenger
came to inform, ―

80
00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:37,000
that enemy paratroopers
had been dropped there.

81
00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:42,240
So the flashes we saw
were anti-aircraft fire.

82
00:29:42,760 --> 00:29:46,960
Then we started hearing
the sound of falling bombs.

83
00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:52,680
Bombs were soon falling on the
rocky promontory of Pointe du Hoc.

84
00:29:53,160 --> 00:29:56,560
Our heavy artillery was there.

85
00:29:56,880 --> 00:30:02,800
East of us was the Riva Bella Fire Control
Station at the mouth of the Orne River, -

86
00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:05,520
that had been bombed for days.

87
00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:08,840
Then time seemed to slow down.

88
00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:11,680
It was quite dark until 5 o'clock.

89
00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:16,280
As the day gradually dawned,
we saw ships on the horizon,

90
00:30:16,360 --> 00:30:18,680
like a ghost army.

91
00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:30,160
The day had not yet lighten up
but was just dawning,

92
00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:32,560
when an alarm was given.

93
00:31:32,640 --> 00:31:35,200
We looked out.

94
00:31:35,280 --> 00:31:39,480
We saw the first ships
slowly begin to approach -

95
00:31:39,560 --> 00:31:42,840
from the horizon towards us.

96
00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:46,040
Barrage balloons were
floating over the ships.

97
00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:49,960
First we imagined them
as German ships.

98
00:31:50,040 --> 00:31:54,880
Not everyone were in one line,
but they came here and there.

99
00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:58,200
Then the first bombers arrived, -

100
00:31:58,280 --> 00:32:00,080
and they bombed us.

101
00:32:00,160 --> 00:32:03,080
Three waves of bomber attacks.

102
00:32:03,160 --> 00:32:05,240
We had to protect ourselves, -

103
00:32:05,360 --> 00:32:09,280
but in practice we did
not suffer any losses.

104
00:34:08,240 --> 00:34:11,160
The ships were getting
closer and closer, -

105
00:34:11,240 --> 00:34:14,360
and the naval artillery
started firing.

106
00:34:14,640 --> 00:34:19,040
We responded to the
fire with 75mm cannons.

107
00:34:19,160 --> 00:34:23,800
With our little machine guns,
we couldn't do anything.

108
00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:26,240
They were still too far away.

109
00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:30,480
I was sent to the cannons
to deliver ammunition.

110
00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:35,560
I was a grenadier, but the projectiles
wouldn't have been useful.

111
00:34:35,640 --> 00:34:38,720
The ship's artillery
hit us hard.

112
00:38:27,240 --> 00:38:29,240
I was a machine gunner.

113
00:38:29,320 --> 00:38:32,840
I had a Polish
heavy machine gun.

114
00:38:32,920 --> 00:38:36,000
In training, we
were emphasized, -

115
00:38:36,080 --> 00:38:38,880
that you should not
open fire too early.

116
00:38:38,960 --> 00:38:41,840
The enemy had to be
allowed to come close.

117
00:38:41,920 --> 00:38:46,480
Then their advance had to
be stopped on the beach.

118
00:41:20,800 --> 00:41:23,400
As soon as the boats landed, -

119
00:41:23,520 --> 00:41:26,280
the troops jumped out.

120
00:41:26,560 --> 00:41:31,360
Our intact machine gun nests -

121
00:41:31,440 --> 00:41:33,720
were waiting ready.

122
00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:37,800
In practice, soldiers
marched to their deaths.

123
00:42:25,920 --> 00:42:31,920
There was a two-meter gravel
barrier at the water's edge.

124
00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:36,360
The Americans first protected
themselves behind the gravel barrier.

125
00:42:36,440 --> 00:42:40,440
Then they realized that
if they tried it, -

126
00:42:40,560 --> 00:42:43,280
they would become targets.

127
00:42:43,360 --> 00:42:47,720
They first had to go
300 meters of open beach, -

128
00:42:47,800 --> 00:42:51,320
and it meant a
massacre for Americans.

129
00:42:51,400 --> 00:42:55,120
We wanted to survive
and defend ourselves.

130
00:42:56,080 --> 00:42:59,800
Many Americans stayed there, -

131
00:42:59,880 --> 00:43:02,320
dead or wounded.

132
00:43:03,360 --> 00:43:06,960
The tides washed to the beach -

133
00:43:07,040 --> 00:43:12,160
more and more dead and wounded.