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 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:53,520 D-DAY: THE SOLDIERS 'STORY 3/4 6 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:48,480 We saw that they could not move forward. It raised our hopes. 7 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:53,200 One of my comrades fired anti-tank gun. 8 00:06:53,280 --> 00:06:58,520 I saw him destroy several tanks beside us. 9 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:04,120 The tanks were trying to get off the sand because they could not advance there. 10 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:08,680 My hope awoke, when I saw Siegfried succeed. 11 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:13,720 Then our mortars started firing on the sandy beach. 12 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:18,800 Gravel caused a devastating fragmentary effect. 13 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:37,520 I mainly thought about how I could survive. 14 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:41,760 I did not think about the Führer, people and fatherland at all. 15 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:44,800 I shot to stay alive. 16 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:51,520 It was difficult for me to fight for my life. 17 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:55,680 I followed the lessons I learned at home, - 18 00:08:55,760 --> 00:09:00,480 that when you are in great danger you should pray. 19 00:09:00,560 --> 00:09:06,240 I prayed more earnestly than ever. 20 00:09:07,680 --> 00:09:14,480 I don't know if it had any effect, but it calmed me down. 21 00:09:14,560 --> 00:09:17,320 When I saw, ― 22 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:22,040 that my bunker had been shot to pieces but I was intact myself, - 23 00:09:22,120 --> 00:09:26,560 my hope was awakened and I thought I could survive. 24 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:56,160 Hitler alone commanded all the Western armor divisions. 25 00:14:56,240 --> 00:15:03,000 It is told that when the first information was received in the morning of June 6th, - 26 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:07,720 The Führer was not dared to woken up. He was asleep. 27 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:11,600 Important hours were lost. 28 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:17,760 It is also reported that when Hitler finally heard of the landing, - 29 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:21,840 he said in an Austrian accent, "At last!" 30 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:25,720 The landing had begun, and Hitler rejoiced, - 31 00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:30,080 that the tension had finally subsided, - 32 00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:35,240 and the war could be finished as they believed. 33 00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:18,680 In the morning of June 6th, - 34 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:22,200 I still lived with my parents. 35 00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:29,080 Their house was near Saint Sauveur Square. 36 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:35,560 I saw the first allied prisoners brought by the Germans. 37 00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:39,920 Then we were assured that the landing had begun. 38 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:44,840 In case that invasion begins in Normandy, 39 00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:49,040 it was asked who of the lycée pupils - 40 00:25:49,120 --> 00:25:53,400 could go to serve the Red Cross. 41 00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:58,920 The mission of the organization is to help those in need. 42 00:25:59,360 --> 00:26:05,080 The purpose was to take care of the food, 43 00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:08,080 if the city was destroyed, - 44 00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:10,840 and there would be no more shops. 45 00:26:11,120 --> 00:26:14,520 I agreed like many others. 46 00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:19,800 When the landing was confirmed to have begun on June 6th, - 47 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:23,320 I went to school where I attended lycée. 48 00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:27,320 I applied for service. 49 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:42,400 In the morning of the landing, - 50 00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:47,280 The Royal Air Force sent planes over the city. 51 00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:52,560 They dropped leaflets intended for the townspeople. 52 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:57,840 They said Caen would be bombed, - 53 00:26:57,920 --> 00:27:01,560 as the bridges across the river were to be destroyed. 54 00:27:01,680 --> 00:27:04,480 The river flows right in the middle of the city. 55 00:27:04,560 --> 00:27:08,480 So the residents had to leave. 56 00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:10,680 It was a good initiative, - 57 00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:14,240 because right from the morning of June 6th, - 58 00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:20,400 many Caen residents decided to leave the city and go to the countryside. 59 00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:24,240 Or they went to the north side of the city, - 60 00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:27,800 which was less threatened to be bombed. 61 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:24,280 You only thought that I hope it wouldn't hit me. 62 00:28:24,360 --> 00:28:28,040 I was lucky. 63 00:28:28,120 --> 00:28:34,120 Our post was fired, and many comrades were lying on the ground. 64 00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:37,840 There were both wounded and dead. 65 00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:40,680 I saw some shot to stomach. 66 00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:43,840 On one, I opened the trouser buttons. 67 00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:48,120 I don't know if I could tell you this. The intestines burst out. 68 00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:21,120 You were ordered to request reinforcements. I did that many times. 69 00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:25,560 In an hour, or one and a half they said, - 70 00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:30,720 that reinforcements should already be there. I was told to look. 71 00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:36,960 I went outside and looked left towards Saint―Laurent and Vierville. 72 00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:40,440 I saw movement in the bushes. 73 00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:45,160 I stood up and whistled. 74 00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:47,440 I waved my hands invitingly. 75 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:52,920 They came and fired. So I knew the enemy was close. 76 00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:32,960 They shot to the casemate and we had to protect ourselves. 77 00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:38,320 I was in the ammo bunker looking for grenades, - 78 00:33:38,400 --> 00:33:44,640 when suddenly everything was blue and I couldn't see anything. 79 00:33:44,720 --> 00:33:48,800 I had put my rifle next to the cannon. 80 00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:53,160 When the light came on again, I was standing alone in the casemate. 81 00:33:53,240 --> 00:33:56,360 My comrades had gone away. 82 00:33:56,440 --> 00:33:59,720 I didn't want to leave without a rifle. 83 00:34:01,440 --> 00:34:05,120 I looked at the cannon. 84 00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:09,480 One wheel was here and another was there, and the cannon was on the ground. 85 00:34:09,560 --> 00:34:12,200 Maybe they were... 86 00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:18,240 It had been hit up, down, sides and finally straight into the barrel. 87 00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:21,440 It was totally destroyed. 88 00:43:31,800 --> 00:43:35,600 He found a wounded American. 89 00:43:37,560 --> 00:43:39,360 The dugouts had already been abandoned. 90 00:43:39,440 --> 00:43:43,840 After a short battle, prisoners are brought from the bushes. 91 00:43:47,480 --> 00:43:50,160 The wounded are taken to first aid. 92 00:44:09,360 --> 00:44:12,720 US Prisoners from the melting pot of races. 93 00:44:15,720 --> 00:44:19,160 Crushed, they drag themselves into the camps. 94 00:44:19,240 --> 00:44:23,280 They have seen the strong German resistance. 95 00:44:23,360 --> 00:44:28,240 It is not eased up but strengthens day by day. 96 00:44:29,960 --> 00:44:34,520 Some German units were ordered, ― 97 00:44:34,600 --> 00:44:38,320 that when an enemy does not take prisoners, neither do we. 98 00:44:38,400 --> 00:44:44,400 Attempts were made to agitate men by questionable ways: 99 00:44:44,480 --> 00:44:48,440 "Prisoners are not taken. Fight to the last bullet." 100 00:44:48,520 --> 00:44:53,640 However, it was not a general order on either side. 101 00:44:53,720 --> 00:44:58,360 These commands were given in some units, but not in general. 102 00:44:58,440 --> 00:45:04,880 On the Allied side, especially during the first hours, - 103 00:45:04,960 --> 00:45:08,840 it was difficult to take prisoners for tactical reasons. 104 00:45:08,920 --> 00:45:13,840 So, it was predetermined that no prisoners would be taken. 105 00:45:13,920 --> 00:45:17,520 In the first few days, ― 106 00:45:17,600 --> 00:45:23,040 it was not known on either side were the prisoners well treated. 107 00:45:24,040 --> 00:45:29,120 Violence happened especially, ― 108 00:45:29,200 --> 00:45:34,880 when the SS―troops faced allied elite forces.