1 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:06,040 ♪ [theme song plays] ♪ 2 00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:59,040 [narrator] 1944. And on the Eastern Front, 3 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:00,680 Hitler's forces were being pushed 4 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:02,720 back towards the German border. 5 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:05,680 [explosions and gunfire] 6 00:01:08,960 --> 00:01:12,280 But Germany was about to face a new threat. 7 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:17,240 In the west, Allied forces have been preparing 8 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:21,160 for months to open a new front in Northwest France. 9 00:01:24,960 --> 00:01:27,680 Training for it was well underway. 10 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:35,440 But it was an attack that Hitler had long been expecting. 11 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:37,360 His problem was knowing when 12 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:40,200 and above all where it would come? 13 00:01:40,960 --> 00:01:43,080 The stage was set for one of the greatest 14 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:46,600 battles of World War II, D-Day. 15 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:50,120 The Allied landings along the Normandy coast of France. 16 00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:04,840 Since the early years of the war 17 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:07,040 Britain's prime minister, Winston Churchill, 18 00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:09,680 had always been certain that at some point 19 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:13,560 an Allied invasion of Northern Europe would be necessary. 20 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:20,200 The only questions were when, where, and how? 21 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:24,040 To test the waters, British forces had already 22 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:27,160 mounted a number of practice operations. 23 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:32,040 [explosions] 24 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:39,560 In December of 1941, British commanders raided 25 00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:43,760 the Vaagso islands off the coast of Nazi occupied north. 26 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:47,440 [explosions and gunfire] 27 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:56,600 It was an attempt to probe German defences 28 00:02:56,640 --> 00:02:59,920 and tie down Hitler's troops in the north. 29 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:05,920 A fish oil factory and coastal defences 30 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:09,000 were blown up before the commanders withdrew. 31 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:17,400 Eight months later, Canadian and British troops 32 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:20,120 were sent in to mount a more ambitious raid 33 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:22,840 on the French port of Dieppe. 34 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:29,280 It too was designed to test the defences 35 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:33,320 and also to provide combat experience for the Canadians. 36 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:39,240 But this time it was a catastrophe. 37 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:42,120 [explosions] 38 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:47,760 As the landing craft approached the main beach 39 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:50,400 they were met by withering fire. 40 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:54,200 [explosions and gunfire] 41 00:03:56,760 --> 00:03:58,960 Those troops that made it ashore 42 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:01,800 were immediately pinned down. 43 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:08,280 Behind them, the supporting tanks 44 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:11,000 became bogged down in the shingle. 45 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:18,680 Few managed to scale the sea wall. 46 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:28,560 Over 3,000 Allied soldiers were killed or taken prisoner. 47 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:33,160 Britain had learnt an important lesson, 48 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:35,120 never attempt a direct assault 49 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:37,840 on a German occupied port. 50 00:04:44,840 --> 00:04:47,560 Equally importantly, the Dieppe disaster 51 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:50,000 reinforced the British view that an 52 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:52,840 invasion of Europe could not be rushed. 53 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:59,160 Churchill understood it would require careful planning. 54 00:05:02,080 --> 00:05:06,160 Eventually in April 1943, at an Allied conference in Washington 55 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:09,600 Churchill and the U.S. president, Franklin Roosevelt, 56 00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:11,680 agreed upon a date. 57 00:05:18,200 --> 00:05:21,320 D-Day, or Operation Overlord as the seaborne 58 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:24,080 invasion of France was formerly called, 59 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:27,720 would take place in the summer of 1944. 60 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:35,800 But by now the Germans were preparing for it in earnest. 61 00:05:38,280 --> 00:05:40,880 Since the winter of 1941 they had 62 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:43,760 been building an Atlantic Wall. 63 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:50,240 It was a massive series of fortifications 64 00:05:50,280 --> 00:05:51,960 running along the European coast 65 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:55,040 from Denmark to the Spanish border. 66 00:05:56,320 --> 00:05:57,400 Gun emplacements have been 67 00:05:57,440 --> 00:05:59,920 constructed at likely landing sites. 68 00:06:04,280 --> 00:06:08,080 Beaches have been mined and covered in barbed wire. 69 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:12,280 Obstacles have been placed in 70 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:15,160 strategic places to block landing craft. 71 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:21,120 Hitler had boasted, "I am the greatest 72 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:24,720 builder of fortifications of all time." 73 00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:34,240 In the summer of 1942, in the wake of the Dieppe attack, 74 00:06:34,280 --> 00:06:37,400 work on the Atlantic Wall had been stepped up. 75 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:40,960 Hitler had also ordered an increase 76 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:43,560 in troop numbers in the region. 77 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:49,600 The German overall commander in the west, 78 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:51,840 Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, 79 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:55,160 had been given 15 further divisions. 80 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:01,360 But the Western European coast 81 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:04,400 stretched for some 2,000 miles. 82 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:07,440 He didn't have the numbers to man the entire length. 83 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:16,200 Von Rundstedt faced a difficult decision: 84 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:18,480 Where should he position his over-stretched 85 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:21,280 forces to maximize their effect? 86 00:07:23,760 --> 00:07:25,480 The question lead to bitter arguments 87 00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:28,160 inside the German leadership. 88 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:33,080 Von Rundstedt proposed holding a large force 89 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:36,840 of panzers in reserve northwest of Paris. 90 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:40,520 He could then send it in against an invasion 91 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:43,520 once he knew where it was happening. 92 00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:51,080 But the hugely respected field marshal, Erwin Rommel, 93 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:53,000 commander of the troops covering the sector 94 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:54,600 from Holland, along the French coast, 95 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:57,880 to the Loire had a different view. 96 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:07,120 Rommel's concern was Allied air power. 97 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:11,160 He'd seen it first hand when he'd fought the British 98 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:15,000 in North Africa and it had left a profound impression. 99 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:19,240 He feared that any counterattack would 100 00:08:19,280 --> 00:08:21,560 be broken up by Allied aircraft long 101 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:24,040 before it could go into action. 102 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:33,080 Rommel had also inspected Hitler's Atlantic Wall 103 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:35,440 and found much of it wanting. 104 00:08:38,800 --> 00:08:41,240 It had forced him to the conclusion that the best 105 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:43,840 place to position the panzers was as close as 106 00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:47,160 possible to the most likely landing sites. 107 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:50,160 That way an invasion could be immediately 108 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:53,120 pushed back before it got a foothold. 109 00:08:57,040 --> 00:08:59,480 Hitler compromised. 110 00:09:00,560 --> 00:09:02,520 Rundstedt was given a small force he could 111 00:09:02,560 --> 00:09:05,440 hold in reserve, though Hitler himself would have 112 00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:08,760 the final say as to when it could be used. 113 00:09:11,560 --> 00:09:13,520 The rest of the additional troops were scattered 114 00:09:13,560 --> 00:09:16,080 along the entire Atlantic Seaboard, 115 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:18,600 in accordance with Rommel's wishes. 116 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:22,200 [seagulls cawing] 117 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:26,200 It would turn out to be the worst of all the solutions. 118 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:27,880 There were neither enough reserves, 119 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:30,520 nor enough tanks near the coast. 120 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:38,400 But in the autumn of 1943, none of this was clear. 121 00:09:44,120 --> 00:09:46,280 In Britain the Allied planners were also 122 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:48,640 grappling with the problem of location. 123 00:09:48,680 --> 00:09:51,600 Where was the best place to land? 124 00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:58,280 Their chief planner, General Frederick Morgan, 125 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:01,720 quickly realised there were two principle options, 126 00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:04,320 the Pas de Calais and Normandy. 127 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:10,520 The Pas de Calais was clearly the favourite. 128 00:10:10,560 --> 00:10:13,360 It offered the shortest sea crossing. 129 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:17,680 And it offered the shortest and most direct way to Germany. 130 00:10:20,920 --> 00:10:23,160 But it was also the most obvious route 131 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:26,240 and Morgan was sure the Germans were expecting it. 132 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:32,160 So, he decided to wrong-foot them 133 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:35,200 Morgan would land in Normandy. 134 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:40,360 It was the beginning of a huge gamble on which the fate 135 00:10:40,400 --> 00:10:44,080 of hundreds of thousands of soldiers would depend. 136 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:59,800 In the autumn of 1943, Allied photo reconnaissance 137 00:10:59,840 --> 00:11:03,720 aircraft swept over the beaches of Northern France. 138 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:10,120 It was part of a huge planning operation, 139 00:11:10,160 --> 00:11:12,960 for the seaborne invasion of Europe. 140 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:18,280 The fortifications of the Atlantic Wall 141 00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:21,400 were monitored by the French Resistance. 142 00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:25,760 Men crept ashore to collect sand samples 143 00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:29,040 to test whether armoured vehicles could be landed. 144 00:11:34,480 --> 00:11:36,840 Northern France became the most reconnoitred 145 00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:39,760 coastline in the history of warfare. 146 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:44,840 It soon became clear, any landing 147 00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:48,120 would need some kind of port facilities. 148 00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:53,120 But the disaster at Dieppe had shown 149 00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:54,840 that it was too dangerous to attempt 150 00:11:54,880 --> 00:11:58,120 a direct assault on a German occupied port. 151 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:08,960 Britain's planners were forced to come up 152 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:11,600 with an ingenious alternative. 153 00:12:19,240 --> 00:12:23,080 Giant, hollow, concrete boxes were constructed in Britain 154 00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:26,080 that could later be towed to the French coast. 155 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:32,720 There they would be suck to form an artificial harbour. 156 00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:37,320 They were known by their code name, Mulberries. 157 00:12:38,120 --> 00:12:41,280 [seagulls cawing] 158 00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:46,200 The Mulberries would be supplied with 159 00:12:46,240 --> 00:12:48,520 fuel by a pipeline unwound from 160 00:12:48,560 --> 00:12:51,920 giant reels and dropped on the seabed. 161 00:12:54,880 --> 00:12:57,880 It would run for a hundred miles. 162 00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:05,480 The pumping station on the Isle of Wight 163 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:07,920 was disguised as an ice cream parlour. 164 00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:09,520 [shouting] 165 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:12,120 But the raid on Dieppe had also 166 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:14,600 revealed a second problem, 167 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:19,720 How to get the first wave of troops off the beaches 168 00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:22,360 and through the German fortifications? 169 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:28,000 The man told to solve that question 170 00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:31,480 was General Percy Hobart, one of the pioneers 171 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:33,160 of armoured warfare. 172 00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:40,520 Hobart came up with a series of ingenious devices. 173 00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:44,640 The troops called them "the Funnies". 174 00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:48,320 They included such extraordinary machines 175 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:51,680 as flame throwers and floating tanks. 176 00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:57,320 Flail tanks for clearing mines. 177 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:03,840 The bobbin for laying firm paths across sand of shingle. 178 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:10,720 An armoured ramp for climbing seawalls. 179 00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:23,000 The fascine carrier for tackling ditches. 180 00:14:27,840 --> 00:14:31,560 And the bridging tank for wider obstacles. 181 00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:38,520 That left just one problem, 182 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:40,480 How to stop the Germans rushing in 183 00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:42,600 overwhelming reinforcements before 184 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:45,760 the Allies had established a foothold. 185 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:52,880 The answer was to keep them guessing until the very 186 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:56,720 last moment, as to where the invasion would take place. 187 00:14:57,400 --> 00:14:59,200 Operation Bodyguard was a massive 188 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:02,240 and complex deception campaign. 189 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:06,520 German double agents in Britain now began 190 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:09,040 sending back to Germany, huge amounts of 191 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:12,080 carefully coordinated false information. 192 00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:14,720 This emphasised that the main landings 193 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:17,520 would be in the Pas de Calais, although, 194 00:15:17,560 --> 00:15:21,240 a faint attack might be launched in Normandy. 195 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:27,280 To muddy the waters still further, 196 00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:30,840 the Allied military created a fictitious army unit, 197 00:15:30,880 --> 00:15:35,080 the so-called First U.S. Army Group or FUSAG. 198 00:15:37,080 --> 00:15:40,080 It was stationed, very obviously, in Kent, 199 00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:43,160 bang opposite the Pas de Calais. 200 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:50,080 The man in charge of it was a pistol toting 201 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:53,360 U.S. general, George Patton, who had been removed 202 00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:57,240 from action in Sicily after slapping shell shocked soldiers. 203 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:05,280 Patton was rated by the Germans 204 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:08,200 as the Allies best attacking general. 205 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:10,520 Just the man they expected to command 206 00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:12,920 the invasion of Western Europe. 207 00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:14,560 [man] Basher-five-two, this is 208 00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:16,720 basher-one-one on alpha. 209 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:18,440 [narrator] Radio transmissions mimic 210 00:16:18,480 --> 00:16:21,320 the wireless traffic of an army. 211 00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:25,360 For the benefit of any Luftwaffe reconnaissance 212 00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:28,520 aircraft flying over Britain, the fields of Kent 213 00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:31,640 were filled with inflatable tanks 214 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:35,080 and carefully faked track marks. 215 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:48,120 There were dummy aircraft made of wood and canvas. 216 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:53,000 Harbours along the Kent coast were 217 00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:56,280 filled with dummy landing craft. 218 00:17:00,920 --> 00:17:02,920 There were even troops, though these 219 00:17:02,960 --> 00:17:06,560 were in reality, backup units. 220 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:11,720 In late 1943 the Allies appointed 221 00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:14,000 U.S. general, Dwight Eisenhower, 222 00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:15,760 as Supreme Allied Commander 223 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:18,200 for the invasion of Europe. 224 00:17:22,120 --> 00:17:24,600 British general, Bernard Montgomery, would be 225 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:27,640 in overall command of the initial assault troops. 226 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:34,440 D-Day was fixed for the 5th of June 1944. 227 00:17:44,360 --> 00:17:46,320 Two months before the landing, 228 00:17:46,360 --> 00:17:48,520 Eisenhower launched an elaborate air offensive 229 00:17:48,560 --> 00:17:51,760 to disrupt German links to the coast. 230 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:57,680 [missiles whistling] 231 00:17:57,720 --> 00:18:00,320 [explosions] 232 00:18:00,360 --> 00:18:01,960 Once again, it was carefully planned 233 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:04,080 to give the impression the Allies target 234 00:18:04,120 --> 00:18:07,320 was the Pas de Calais region. 235 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:13,160 As the date of the invasion approached, 236 00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:17,120 Allied troop numbers in England reached over two million. 237 00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:22,800 They were supported by more than 3,000 tanks, 238 00:18:23,320 --> 00:18:26,480 and 12,000 aircraft. 239 00:18:29,920 --> 00:18:33,440 The Germans were well aware an invasion was imminent. 240 00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:36,840 But they had been completely taken in by 241 00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:39,040 the Allies phony preparations in Kent 242 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:40,960 and were convinced the most likely 243 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:43,720 landing spot was the Pas de Calais. 244 00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:53,000 Everything seemed to be going the Allies' way. 245 00:18:57,160 --> 00:18:59,680 The troops were briefed. 246 00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:03,840 Then the weather turned against them. 247 00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:11,320 Rain lashed down, visibility was poor, 248 00:19:11,360 --> 00:19:13,560 and the channel was storming. 249 00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:22,240 Nevertheless, on the 4th of June 1944 250 00:19:22,280 --> 00:19:24,760 the assault troops boarded their landing ships 251 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:28,600 and the amount of more than 5,000 vessels set sail. 252 00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:37,720 But the rain continued to lash down 253 00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:40,520 and later that day the invasion had to be postponed. 254 00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:47,120 The ships returned to port and the assault troops 255 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:49,960 faced a nerve shredding wait. 256 00:19:56,960 --> 00:20:00,520 Early the next morning the military leadership met again. 257 00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:06,880 The naval commanders were keen to go ahead. 258 00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:10,480 But the air chiefs were doubtful. 259 00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:12,480 They worried the visibility would still be 260 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:15,960 too poor to provide effective air support. 261 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:23,040 After a long silence Eisenhower looked up, 262 00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:27,960 "Let's go." he said. 263 00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:38,080 Operation Overlord, the greatest 264 00:20:38,120 --> 00:20:41,480 seaborne invasion ever, was underway. 265 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:44,440 D-Day had begun. 266 00:20:56,640 --> 00:21:00,480 At 1:15 in the morning of the 6th of June 1944 267 00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:02,600 British aircraft towing gliders 268 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:05,720 arrived over the coast of Northern France. 269 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:10,560 Then the gliders were released 270 00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:13,040 and plunged down to capture vital bridges 271 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:16,400 over the Caen Canal in Eastern Normandy. 272 00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:21,640 The Allies had launched their great gamble 273 00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:25,200 to invade Hitler's empire in Western Europe. 274 00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:33,360 50 miles to the west, U.S. paratroops came 275 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:35,960 down around the village of Sainte-Mère-Église. 276 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:38,960 [gunfire] 277 00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:44,880 There was a fierce firefight. 278 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:56,120 But three hours later the village was in U.S. hands. 279 00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:01,560 One of the most crucial battles of 280 00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:04,520 World War II was underway. 281 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:11,520 An hour later, horrified German sentries 282 00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:14,080 along the Normandy coast saw a vast 283 00:22:14,120 --> 00:22:17,360 armada appear out of the mist. 284 00:22:19,760 --> 00:22:21,080 They had had no warning. 285 00:22:21,120 --> 00:22:23,360 [bell ringing] 286 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:31,760 The Allied fleet had sailed undercover of darkness. 287 00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:35,680 Moreover, Allied counter measures had confused 288 00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:38,080 the German radar into believing the main 289 00:22:38,120 --> 00:22:40,480 weight of the attack was approaching the French coast 290 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:43,120 further east at the Pas de Calais. 291 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:52,120 Allied warships off the Normandy coast now began 292 00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:54,640 pounding the German defensive positions. 293 00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:57,520 [explosions] 294 00:23:07,120 --> 00:23:10,560 Wave after wave of aircraft swept overhead. 295 00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:13,360 [explosions] 296 00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:23,720 Undercover of the bombardment 297 00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:26,200 assault troops headed for the shore. 298 00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:35,360 But as they closed in German artillery 299 00:23:35,400 --> 00:23:38,200 and machine guns opened fire. 300 00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:47,560 A number of the landing craft were hit. 301 00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:53,240 Others fell foul of underwater obstructions. 302 00:23:56,240 --> 00:23:58,360 But at 6:30 in the morning the first 303 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:01,000 waves of troops hit the beaches. 304 00:24:01,040 --> 00:24:03,440 [gunfire] 305 00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:19,880 At the far western end the U.S. 4th Infantry Division 306 00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:23,680 came ashore near, at what they called, Utah Beach. 307 00:24:29,120 --> 00:24:31,120 Within two hours it was linking up with 308 00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:34,760 the U.S. paratroopers who'd landed at Sainte-Mère-Église. 309 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:45,640 Next door at Omaha Beach it was more difficult. 310 00:24:46,120 --> 00:24:48,080 The beach was a defenders dream, 311 00:24:48,120 --> 00:24:51,240 with high cliffs and few ways inland. 312 00:24:57,320 --> 00:25:00,640 As the U.S. 1st Infantry Division waited ashore 313 00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:03,920 they were mowed down by German machine guns. 314 00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:08,080 [gunfire] 315 00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:11,080 To make matters worse, 316 00:25:11,120 --> 00:25:14,880 the American's amphibious tanks were swamped. 317 00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:21,800 The troops were trapped on the beach. 318 00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:26,400 Disaster was looming. 319 00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:36,440 But finally, a few of the soldiers 320 00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:39,280 managed to scale the cliffs. 321 00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:49,440 Against all the odds the Americans 322 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:52,280 hung on to the beachhead. 323 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:01,960 Further east, in the centre of the landing area, 324 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:06,440 Britain's 50th Infantry Division came ashore at Gold Beach. 325 00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:15,560 They too met savage fire. 326 00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:18,640 [gunfire] 327 00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:27,960 But now the British deployed their Funnies. 328 00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:35,200 The troops were soon moving inland. 329 00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:41,960 At the adjoining landing spot, Juno Beach, 330 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:44,120 the Canadian 3rd Infantry Division 331 00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:46,360 faced a similar situation. 332 00:26:52,840 --> 00:26:55,240 Here too, Britain's Funnies were vital 333 00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:57,840 in helping the troops off the beach. 334 00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:07,920 Finally, on the far left flank at Sword Beach 335 00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:10,080 the British 3rd Infantry Division 336 00:27:10,120 --> 00:27:12,880 met only patchy resistance. 337 00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:19,640 Within hours its commanders had linked up with 338 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:23,200 the glider-borne troops at the Caen Canal. 339 00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:30,840 By early afternoon the Allies had 340 00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:34,360 successfully established all of the beachheads. 341 00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:42,240 The timing of the invasion had caught 342 00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:45,160 the Germans completely by surprise. 343 00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:46,880 They'd expected the Allies to wait 344 00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:49,480 until the weather had cleared. 345 00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:53,320 Rommel, the operational German commander for 346 00:27:53,360 --> 00:27:55,640 the whole of the Northwest French coast, 347 00:27:55,680 --> 00:27:57,760 had taken the opportunity of bad weather 348 00:27:57,800 --> 00:28:00,080 to visit his family in Germany. 349 00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:06,160 His immediate subordinate in Normandy and Brittany, 350 00:28:06,200 --> 00:28:09,080 General Friedrich Dollmann, was over a hundred 351 00:28:09,120 --> 00:28:12,920 miles away taking part in a war game exercise. 352 00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:18,760 Only the overall German commander for 353 00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:20,880 the whole of Western Europe, Field Marshal 354 00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:24,000 Gerd Von Rundstedt, was at his HQ. 355 00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:30,280 But he needed Hitler's permission to move 356 00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:32,960 his panzer reserves to the battlefield. 357 00:28:36,120 --> 00:28:38,400 However, Hitler was asleep 358 00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:41,120 and his aides wouldn't wake him. 359 00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:44,960 It wasn't until midday that the Fuehrer 360 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:47,440 finally learned about the invasion 361 00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:50,120 but he didn't take it seriously. 362 00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:53,320 He was still convinced the main 363 00:28:53,360 --> 00:28:56,000 attack would come in the Pas de Calais. 364 00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:59,080 Normandy, he believed, was just a fake. 365 00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:06,440 Finally, in the late afternoon when the scale of 366 00:29:06,480 --> 00:29:09,440 the invasion was becoming all too clear, 367 00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:12,080 Hitler unleashed his reserves. 368 00:29:18,600 --> 00:29:22,160 But they were too far away to provide immediate support. 369 00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:34,800 Despite stubborn German resistance 370 00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:37,840 the beachheads around Utah, Gold, 371 00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:41,240 and Juno, and Sword were secure. 372 00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:47,480 Only at Omaha was the situation more precarious. 373 00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:53,840 Here German resistance had prevented 374 00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:56,880 the U.S. troops moving more than a mile inland. 375 00:29:58,520 --> 00:30:01,080 [gunfire] 376 00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:12,760 By nightfall on the 6th of June over a hundred thousand 377 00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:16,480 Allied troops had been landed in Normandy. 378 00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:25,000 It had been an extraordinary feet of 379 00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:28,520 planning, ingenuity, and courage. 380 00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:34,720 The first day of the Allies great gamble had paid off. 381 00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:38,720 But it was just the beginning, 382 00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:41,800 now they had to build up, break out, 383 00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:45,120 and push on into Europe. 384 00:30:56,120 --> 00:30:57,920 As the second day dawned 385 00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:01,400 on the greatest seaborne invasion ever attempted, 386 00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:03,720 thousands of Allied troops had broken out of 387 00:31:03,760 --> 00:31:06,960 their beachheads and were moving inland. 388 00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:15,640 But they found the Normandy countryside hard going. 389 00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:21,040 The patchwork of woodland and small fields provided 390 00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:25,000 ideal terrain for German tanks and machine guns. 391 00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:29,000 [explosions] 392 00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:41,040 The Allies suffered heavy casualties. 393 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:50,920 Allied air power provided crucial support. 394 00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:54,440 When von Rundstedt's panzer reinforcements arrived 395 00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:57,600 they'd been so depleted by the air attacks that they 396 00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:00,720 were unable to mount a major counterattack. 397 00:32:04,280 --> 00:32:06,480 The German reinforcements were also hampered by 398 00:32:06,520 --> 00:32:10,280 French Resistance fighters, operating behind German lines. 399 00:32:11,360 --> 00:32:14,680 [gunfire] 400 00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:22,240 They ambushed troop convoys and blew up bridges. 401 00:32:25,360 --> 00:32:28,880 As a result the Das Reich SS-Panzer Division 402 00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:31,080 took over two weeks to make a journey 403 00:32:31,120 --> 00:32:34,280 which should have lasted a mere three days. 404 00:32:36,280 --> 00:32:38,440 It's troops took out their fury on 405 00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:41,440 the French civilian population. 406 00:32:45,600 --> 00:32:47,760 The village of Oradour-sur-Glane 407 00:32:47,800 --> 00:32:51,720 and it's 642 inhabitants were wiped out. 408 00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:06,920 After four days of fighting all the Allied beachheads 409 00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:10,280 were finally able to link up. 410 00:33:14,640 --> 00:33:16,080 But they had still only managed 411 00:33:16,120 --> 00:33:18,920 to penetrate 10 miles inland. 412 00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:31,280 Eventually six days after the landing, 413 00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:33,280 the British commander, General Montgomery, 414 00:33:33,320 --> 00:33:35,680 launched a major assault on the strategically 415 00:33:35,720 --> 00:33:38,520 important town of Caen. 416 00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:42,560 The British 7th Armoured division, 417 00:33:42,600 --> 00:33:46,040 the Desert Rats, advanced. 418 00:33:50,320 --> 00:33:54,520 But it's spearhead ran into four German Tiger tanks. 419 00:34:00,120 --> 00:34:03,840 The Allied Sherman tanks were completely outclassed. 420 00:34:04,560 --> 00:34:07,120 Their guns were outranged and their shells 421 00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:09,280 unable to penetrate the German armour. 422 00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:14,280 They were particularly vulnerable because many ran on 423 00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:18,600 petrol fuel and were liable to burst into flames when hit. 424 00:34:20,720 --> 00:34:22,920 The Germans nicknamed the Sherman "the Ronson", 425 00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:27,600 after the cigarette lighter or macabrely, "the Tommy Cooker". 426 00:34:31,720 --> 00:34:33,360 In less than five minutes more than 427 00:34:33,400 --> 00:34:36,160 10 British tanks were destroyed. 428 00:34:39,160 --> 00:34:41,600 The attack on Caen stalled. 429 00:34:50,440 --> 00:34:52,520 Outmatched by the German tanks, 430 00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:55,960 the Allies relied on air power and artillery. 431 00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:03,760 But it wasn't enough, the Desert Rats retreated. 432 00:35:06,720 --> 00:35:09,800 Caen remained in German hands. 433 00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:22,360 Meanwhile, further west, U.S. forces advanced on 434 00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:25,840 the equally important port of Cherbourg. 435 00:35:34,640 --> 00:35:38,280 It would take them nearly ten days to get close to them. 436 00:35:44,880 --> 00:35:47,000 They weren't helped by the weather. 437 00:35:50,720 --> 00:35:52,880 During the first week of the invasion 438 00:35:52,920 --> 00:35:55,400 it had been relatively calm and supplies 439 00:35:55,440 --> 00:35:57,760 and reinforcements had poured in through 440 00:35:57,800 --> 00:36:00,160 the Mulberry artificial harbours. 441 00:36:02,720 --> 00:36:04,720 But now the weather turned. 442 00:36:04,760 --> 00:36:07,280 Gales swept the English Channel. 443 00:36:10,320 --> 00:36:13,840 The U.S. Mulberry harbour at Omaha was destroyed. 444 00:36:16,360 --> 00:36:18,840 The other Mulberry in the British sector was 445 00:36:18,880 --> 00:36:22,480 badly damaged and put out of action for several days. 446 00:36:25,520 --> 00:36:28,720 The flow of reinforcements slowed. 447 00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:31,280 It meant the port of Cherbourg was 448 00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:34,320 an even more vital objective. 449 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:40,280 As the U.S. forces now approached it 450 00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:42,120 the German garrison resisted. 451 00:36:42,160 --> 00:36:45,240 [gunfire] 452 00:36:53,080 --> 00:36:56,240 There was fierce house to house fighting. 453 00:37:00,840 --> 00:37:04,280 It would take the Allies a week to secure the city. 454 00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:16,040 But the port had been trashed by the fleeing Germans. 455 00:37:17,120 --> 00:37:19,080 It would take a further month before 456 00:37:19,120 --> 00:37:21,920 it could be brought back into service. 457 00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:32,320 Meanwhile, Montgomery launched another assault on Caen. 458 00:37:38,960 --> 00:37:42,040 But the storms had turned the field into a sea of mud. 459 00:37:42,080 --> 00:37:45,240 Low cloud meant air support was impossible. 460 00:37:56,160 --> 00:37:58,640 To make matters worse, the newly arrived 461 00:37:58,680 --> 00:38:01,680 elite German II SS Panzer Corps 462 00:38:01,720 --> 00:38:05,000 was thrown into the defines of the city. 463 00:38:09,360 --> 00:38:13,520 After four days the British were again forced to halt. 464 00:38:19,720 --> 00:38:21,960 Then, as the clouds cleared, 465 00:38:22,000 --> 00:38:26,120 nearly 500 Allied bombers devastated Caen. 466 00:38:37,120 --> 00:38:40,840 British troops fought their way into the north suburbs. 467 00:38:44,920 --> 00:38:49,160 But the ruins ideal defensive positions for the Germans. 468 00:38:58,040 --> 00:38:59,920 Allied casualties mounted. 469 00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:11,160 And after 48 hours the attack was, yet again, called off. 470 00:39:16,320 --> 00:39:19,800 Three weeks later Montgomery tried for a fourth time. 471 00:39:23,320 --> 00:39:26,240 The plan was to capture the remaining German strongholds 472 00:39:26,280 --> 00:39:29,840 and then push on south, deeper into France. 473 00:39:41,720 --> 00:39:45,600 After two more days of fighting the city was finally won. 474 00:39:49,320 --> 00:39:51,480 The way now seemed open for the British tanks 475 00:39:51,520 --> 00:39:54,720 to move south, deeper into France. 476 00:40:00,920 --> 00:40:02,600 But the Germans were waiting with 477 00:40:02,640 --> 00:40:04,280 their large force of panzers. 478 00:40:04,320 --> 00:40:07,240 [gunfire] 479 00:40:11,920 --> 00:40:14,040 The British advance stopped again. 480 00:40:20,160 --> 00:40:22,040 The Americans in the west however, 481 00:40:22,080 --> 00:40:24,320 were having an easier time. 482 00:40:24,360 --> 00:40:27,240 The fighting around Caen had sucked in 483 00:40:27,280 --> 00:40:30,280 the majority of German defenders. 484 00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:35,520 As the American forces prepared to thrust further 485 00:40:35,560 --> 00:40:39,240 into France, they faced only scattered opposition. 486 00:40:40,560 --> 00:40:44,640 The scene was set for the Allied forces to breakout at last. 487 00:40:55,120 --> 00:40:59,360 At 9:30 in the morning of the 25th of July 1944, 488 00:40:59,400 --> 00:41:03,680 over 1,800 Allied aircraft carpet bombed a four mile 489 00:41:03,720 --> 00:41:07,480 stretch of the German front line, south of Cherbourg. 490 00:41:09,560 --> 00:41:12,480 It was the beginning of Operation Cobra, 491 00:41:12,520 --> 00:41:15,240 the U.S. breakout into France. 492 00:41:19,920 --> 00:41:21,720 The German defenders were stunned 493 00:41:21,760 --> 00:41:23,640 by the size of the assault. 494 00:41:25,760 --> 00:41:28,480 So too were some of the U.S. soldiers. 495 00:41:30,760 --> 00:41:33,640 The plan had been for the bombers to fly in from the east, 496 00:41:33,680 --> 00:41:36,480 parallel to the U.S. front line, to minimize 497 00:41:36,520 --> 00:41:39,760 the risk of bombing American troops. 498 00:41:44,240 --> 00:41:45,880 But most of the aircraft came in 499 00:41:45,920 --> 00:41:48,160 over the top of the U.S. lines. 500 00:41:50,480 --> 00:41:52,080 Bombs fell short. 501 00:41:53,720 --> 00:41:57,080 Over a hundred U.S. troops were hit and killed. 502 00:42:02,880 --> 00:42:05,600 Yet, despite the ferocity of the bombardment, 503 00:42:05,640 --> 00:42:07,600 when the U.S. forces later picked 504 00:42:07,640 --> 00:42:09,600 themselves up and moved forward, 505 00:42:09,640 --> 00:42:12,080 they found to their astonishment substantial 506 00:42:12,120 --> 00:42:15,440 numbers of German troops had survived. 507 00:42:19,400 --> 00:42:22,840 The survivors mounted a stubborn resistance. 508 00:42:28,000 --> 00:42:31,040 As fighting raged it looked as though the Americans 509 00:42:31,080 --> 00:42:33,520 would fail to break through the German lines. 510 00:42:36,440 --> 00:42:40,360 [explosions] 511 00:42:44,080 --> 00:42:47,880 But then the German defences crumbled. 512 00:42:56,080 --> 00:42:59,040 The next morning U.S. tanks broke through 513 00:42:59,080 --> 00:43:02,360 and moved forward into open country. 514 00:43:03,920 --> 00:43:07,480 There was now almost no German resistance left 515 00:43:07,520 --> 00:43:11,280 and the Americans quickly pushed deeper into France. 516 00:43:14,360 --> 00:43:16,800 The hill town of Coutances fell. 517 00:43:21,080 --> 00:43:24,480 Then the crossroads town of Avranches. 518 00:43:28,200 --> 00:43:30,920 As the Allies pressed forward they were helped 519 00:43:30,960 --> 00:43:34,520 by change and confusion in the German high command. 520 00:43:37,520 --> 00:43:39,600 At the beginning of July, three weeks after 521 00:43:39,640 --> 00:43:41,920 the D-Day landings, Hitler dismissed 522 00:43:41,960 --> 00:43:44,960 the German Commander-In-Chief, Field Marshal 523 00:43:45,000 --> 00:43:48,680 Gerd von Rundstedt, for defeatism. 524 00:43:49,760 --> 00:43:51,880 Von Rundstedt had made little attempt to hide his 525 00:43:51,920 --> 00:43:56,000 belief when Germany faced an unwinnable struggle. 526 00:44:00,200 --> 00:44:03,280 He was replaced by Field Marshal Gunther von Kluge, 527 00:44:03,320 --> 00:44:06,040 fresh from the Eastern Front but with little 528 00:44:06,080 --> 00:44:09,520 knowledge of Northwestern France. 529 00:44:13,320 --> 00:44:15,920 Two weeks later, Rommel, the second most 530 00:44:15,960 --> 00:44:18,280 senior German officer on the front was 531 00:44:18,320 --> 00:44:20,280 severely injured when his staff car 532 00:44:20,320 --> 00:44:23,520 was strafed by a British fighter. 533 00:44:29,840 --> 00:44:33,080 Then, with the Nazi command already in confusion, 534 00:44:33,120 --> 00:44:36,760 there was an assassination attempt on Hitler's life. 535 00:44:37,480 --> 00:44:41,240 On July the 20th 1944, a disillusioned, 536 00:44:41,280 --> 00:44:43,080 aristocratic war hero, 537 00:44:43,120 --> 00:44:45,920 Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, 538 00:44:45,960 --> 00:44:48,280 planted a bomb in the planning hut at 539 00:44:48,320 --> 00:44:51,240 Hitler's headquarters in East Prussia. 540 00:44:51,280 --> 00:44:54,360 [explosion] 541 00:44:56,560 --> 00:44:58,920 Four officers were killed, 542 00:44:59,960 --> 00:45:02,880 but Hitler was sheltered by a heavy, solid oak 543 00:45:02,920 --> 00:45:06,600 conference table and escaped with only minor injuries. 544 00:45:10,320 --> 00:45:13,720 The plot was swiftly and brutally put down. 545 00:45:13,760 --> 00:45:16,720 [speaking in foreign language] 546 00:45:16,760 --> 00:45:19,000 Von Stauffenberg was shot and his 547 00:45:19,040 --> 00:45:22,040 principal collaborators put on trial. 548 00:45:24,120 --> 00:45:26,320 They would later be hanged. 549 00:45:29,200 --> 00:45:31,880 Hitler put a brave face on and visited 550 00:45:31,920 --> 00:45:35,160 some of the wounded in hospitals. 551 00:45:37,920 --> 00:45:39,800 But it hardened still further 552 00:45:39,840 --> 00:45:42,880 his distrust of his senior officers. 553 00:45:42,920 --> 00:45:46,600 He would, despite his many earlier misjudgements, 554 00:45:46,640 --> 00:45:50,480 demand even greater control over events on the battlefield. 555 00:46:01,840 --> 00:46:04,960 Back in France, General George Patton, 556 00:46:05,000 --> 00:46:07,640 back in charge of a real fighting force, 557 00:46:07,680 --> 00:46:10,360 ordered his troops to fan out. 558 00:46:10,400 --> 00:46:14,280 They took Rennes, Mayenne, 559 00:46:14,320 --> 00:46:16,600 and headed for Le Mans. 560 00:46:19,560 --> 00:46:21,680 They were now moving round behind 561 00:46:21,720 --> 00:46:24,520 the German forces still battling it out with 562 00:46:24,560 --> 00:46:27,080 the British and Canadians near Caen. 563 00:46:28,800 --> 00:46:32,760 [explosions and gunfire] 564 00:46:34,240 --> 00:46:36,320 With the Americans to their south and the British 565 00:46:36,360 --> 00:46:38,920 to their north it seemed the German forces 566 00:46:38,960 --> 00:46:41,480 in Normandy would be surrounded. 567 00:46:47,040 --> 00:46:49,680 Hitler issued his usual order, that there 568 00:46:49,720 --> 00:46:52,840 should be no retreat, but as the Allies squeezed in 569 00:46:52,880 --> 00:46:56,080 on them the Germans began to flee. 570 00:47:00,320 --> 00:47:02,480 They were remorselessly harried by 571 00:47:02,520 --> 00:47:05,320 Allied aircraft and artillery. 572 00:47:05,760 --> 00:47:08,720 [explosions] 573 00:47:16,600 --> 00:47:19,320 The casualties were appalling. 574 00:47:24,040 --> 00:47:28,280 Finally, on the 20th of August 1944, the Allied forces 575 00:47:28,320 --> 00:47:31,800 moving in from both the north and south, met up. 576 00:47:33,360 --> 00:47:35,680 The so called Falaise gap, named after 577 00:47:35,720 --> 00:47:38,840 the nearby French village, had been closed. 578 00:47:42,920 --> 00:47:46,120 Large numbers of Germans were trapped. 579 00:47:55,760 --> 00:47:58,520 Over 10,000 more Germans caught 580 00:47:58,560 --> 00:48:01,640 in the Allied pincer died. 581 00:48:05,720 --> 00:48:08,400 A further 50,000 were taken prisoner. 582 00:48:19,840 --> 00:48:23,160 The German Army in Western Europe was in chaos. 583 00:48:26,240 --> 00:48:28,560 [cars honking] 584 00:48:30,320 --> 00:48:32,080 Meanwhile, far to the south, 585 00:48:32,120 --> 00:48:35,080 on the French Mediterranean coast near Caen, 586 00:48:35,120 --> 00:48:38,520 there was a second Allied seaborne invasion. 587 00:48:41,080 --> 00:48:44,400 U.S. troops came ashore virtually unopposed. 588 00:48:45,960 --> 00:48:48,960 They were helped by paratroopers from the free French Army, 589 00:48:49,000 --> 00:48:50,960 men who had escaped from German occupied 590 00:48:51,000 --> 00:48:54,320 French territory in Europe and North Africa. 591 00:48:57,720 --> 00:49:00,560 The landing had always been opposed by the British, 592 00:49:00,600 --> 00:49:02,760 who regarded it as a diversion. 593 00:49:05,280 --> 00:49:07,480 But the United States had long regarded it 594 00:49:07,520 --> 00:49:11,520 as an essential part of clearing the Germans out of France. 595 00:49:11,920 --> 00:49:14,760 [crowd cheering] 596 00:49:19,320 --> 00:49:23,280 The troops were greeted by an ecstatic civilian population. 597 00:49:32,920 --> 00:49:36,000 It was soon advancing rapidly up the Rhone valley. 598 00:49:45,000 --> 00:49:49,240 Lyons was liberated on September the 3rd 1944. 599 00:49:55,240 --> 00:49:57,600 10 days later they reached Dijon 600 00:49:57,640 --> 00:49:59,640 and made contact with Patton's forces 601 00:49:59,680 --> 00:50:02,720 advancing from Western France. 602 00:50:06,800 --> 00:50:10,160 German units stationed across the region fled. 603 00:50:20,200 --> 00:50:23,200 In barely three weeks of headlong advance 604 00:50:23,240 --> 00:50:27,520 the Allied invasion of Europe had liberated most of France. 605 00:50:29,320 --> 00:50:32,800 That left Paris, where French Resistance fighters 606 00:50:32,840 --> 00:50:35,760 now rose up against the German occupation. 607 00:50:38,800 --> 00:50:41,960 There seemed little to prevent the Allied onrush 608 00:50:42,000 --> 00:50:44,880 from continuing to the German border. 9999 00:00:0,500 --> 00:00:2,00 www.tvsubtitles.net