June 6, 1944 – The Light of Dawn | History - D-Day - World War II Documentary
June 6, 1944 – The Light of Dawn | History - D-Day - World War II Documentary
The Light of Dawn บอกเล่าเรื่องราวของ Operation Overlord มันติดตามหนึ่งในหน่วยปฏิบัติการทางทหารที่ใหญ่ที่สุดเท่าที่เคยมีมานับตั้งแต่ฤดูร้อนปี 2484 เมื่อเชอร์ชิลล์และรูสเวลต์พูดถึงเรื่องนี้เป็นครั้งแรกจนถึง 6 มิถุนายน 2487 เขาถอดรหัสกลยุทธ์ของ ‘ฮิตเลอร์เพื่อให้ล้มเหลว ภาพยนตร์เรื่องนี้กล่าวถึงจุดเปลี่ยนที่สำคัญในสงครามโลกครั้งที่สองซึ่งมีคำถามเกี่ยวกับภูมิรัฐศาสตร์ (พันธมิตรที่ยากลำบากระหว่างลอนดอน มอสโกว และวอชิงตัน) กลยุทธ์ทางทหารที่หลากหลายและความสามารถทางเทคโนโลยี ตลอดจนชะตากรรมของทหารหนุ่มที่โจมตีกำแพงมหาสมุทรแอตแลนติก จะจ่ายราคาหนัก
การลงจอดจะได้รับการบอกเล่าในรูปแบบการเล่นที่มีความน่าสนใจ ละคร ศิลปะแห่งการบลัฟ และชะตากรรมของโลกที่กำลังจะเกิดขึ้น
ภาพยนตร์ความยาว 90 นาทีที่เขียนและกำกับโดยฌอง-คริสตอฟ โรเซ่นี้เขียนขึ้นทั้งฉบับและรีมาสเตอร์และลงสี สร้างให้กับ France Télévisions ซึ่งเป็นส่วนหนึ่งของการครบรอบ 70 ปีของการขึ้นบกใน D-Day ในเดือนมิถุนายน 2014 ภาพยนตร์เรื่องนี้อำนวยการสร้างโดย Kuiv Productions .
00:00 วันที่ 6 มิถุนายน พ.ศ. 2487
03:07 การประชุมเตหะราน ค.ศ. 1943
05:42 แอตแลนติก วอลล์
28:17 เดสมอนด์ โอนีล
28:46 ฟรังก์ฝรั่งเศส
45:40 หาดโอมาฮา
53:26 หาดดาบ
58:04 หาดจูโน
01:03:28 นายพลมอนต์โกเมอรี่
01:09:55 Charles de Gaulle
01:24:14 วินสตัน เชอร์ชิลล์
Content
5.5 -> June 6th, 1944,
8.541 -> a gray day breaks over the Channel,
revealing an awe-inspiring sight.
16.583 -> Never had such an armada
been seen in the history of mankind.
33.333 -> On board 7,000 vessels,
35.25 -> 130,000 men crossed the stretch of sea
with air cover from 20,000 planes.
59.541 -> At dawn, after a hail of fire,
the men would land on the coast of France.
68.458 -> Twenty thousand of them
would also arrive by air.
79.791 -> 10,500 Allied soldiers
would be lost on that day
83.791 -> and almost as many Germans.
90.833 -> Eleven weeks later,
Paris would be liberated
93.333 -> and the road to Berlin opened wide.
108.333 -> This film will tell from the viewpoint
of both Allies and Germans,
112.25 -> this epic tale from its planning
in Britain launched in January 1944
117.5 -> until its outcome in the summer.
125.875 -> With the US generals: Dwight Eisenhower,
131.167 -> Omar Bradley,
134.875 -> British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery,
138.832 -> British Prime Minister Winston Churchill,
144.457 -> German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel,
149.792 -> and all the anonymous heroes
who took part in the landings.
158.125 -> Not to mention men like Sergeant Grant,
who risked their lives filming it.
167.167 -> They all participated
in this staggering event,
169.542 -> which, contrary to legend,
was no victory march.
187.625 -> December 1st, 1943, the Tehran Conference,
194.667 -> three heads of state
had just made a key decision.
202.917 -> The satisfied-looking Joseph Stalin,
205.25 -> supreme leader of the Soviet Union
and its armies at the top of the steps.
209.75 -> Lower down, the concerned-looking
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
218.5 -> For two years, Stalin, Churchill,
and US President Roosevelt
222.832 -> had been struggling to reach an agreement
on the invasion date in Western Europe.
230.082 -> The outcome of the war
and of the world would depend upon it.
238.707 -> From the moment his country entered
into the war with Germany in June 1941,
243.082 -> the Soviet leader had been demanding
the opening of a second front in the West
246.792 -> to relieve the pressure on his troops
alone against Hitler in the East.
257.25 -> Meanwhile, influenced by Churchill,
who feared attacking Germany head-on,
262.083 -> the Anglo-Americans
had vainly hoped to weaken the Axis
265.125 -> by passing through North Africa
268.791 -> in order to invade
southern Europe via Italy.
274.75 -> However,
they were stopped short near Naples
276.916 -> and were unable to advance
any closer to Germany.
284.041 -> For a long time, Roosevelt was hesitant.
288.125 -> He didn't think his country was ready
enough for such a huge operation.
292.416 -> However, he now wanted to put an end
to the Third Reich as soon as possible
295.958 -> and to do so in the West.
298.916 -> He also hoped to cooperate
with the Soviets after the victory.
309.041 -> Churchill could only resign himself to it.
320.708 -> Since the United States
had entered the war in 1941,
324.166 -> Hitler had feared an invasion
325.708 -> of the German-occupied
West Coast of Europe.
337.666 -> In 1942,
he began planning a gigantic operation:
342.541 -> the construction of the Atlantic Wall,
345.125 -> a continuous line of fortifications
running almost 4,000 miles,
350.458 -> from northern Norway
to the Spanish border,
356.458 -> despite the fact that most Germans
believed the Allies would try to land
360.083 -> in the Calais region,
only 25 miles from the British coast.
368.833 -> The German authorities,
therefore, requisitioned thousands of men,
372.166 -> free laborers, Frenchmen
in the Compulsory Work Service,
375.375 -> refugees, Jews, and prisoners of war,
to carry out this outrageous project,
380.125 -> which would require
13 million tons of concrete.
393.791 -> As 1943 drew to a close, Fortress Europe
seemed to be firmly in German hands.
405.875 -> On January 15th, 1944,
408.25 -> having been handpicked by Roosevelt
to lead the landings,
411.708 -> Ike Eisenhower arrived in London
to plan Operation Overlord.
425.5 -> In effect, the stage is being set
429.541 -> for the beginning of the great
and crucial test all over the world.
434.5 -> I am completely confident
that the soldiers, sailors, and airmen
440.166 -> and all the civil populations
of the United Nations
443.375 -> will demonstrate once and for all
that an aroused democracy
447.708 -> is the most formidable
fighting machine that can be devised.
453.5 -> A few days later, Eisenhower
introduced his team to the press.
459.166 -> As an American supreme commander,
his second needed to be British.
465.791 -> He, therefore, appointed as commander
of the Allied ground forces,
469.041 -> General Montgomery, alias Monty,
471.416 -> hero of the desert campaign
in North Africa against Rommel
474.875 -> and much loved by his compatriots.
482.958 -> The military leaders had their plan,
but it had to remain top secret.
488.958 -> Hence, the best pose in front
of an illegible, faded map.
495.625 -> As always,
Monty tried to grab the limelight
497.958 -> as he paid more attention to the cameras
than to his colleagues' phony gesturing.
512.583 -> In truth, despite all this tomfoolery,
516 -> the leaders had already chosen France
for the landings,
519.458 -> but Normandy
rather than the Calais region.
522.541 -> Because although the Normandy beaches
were farther from Britain,
525.416 -> they were less well-defended.
530.916 -> The invasion was planned for spring,
between Ouistreham and Carentan,
535.541 -> at the foot of the Cotentin Peninsula.
539.791 -> However, Montgomery
wanted to widen the front line to Caen
542.75 -> so as not to get stuck
in a small perimeter along the beaches.
549.833 -> He also wanted to extend
the front farther west
552.375 -> to get closer
to the deep water port of Cherbourg,
555.583 -> which the Allies would need to seize
557.458 -> in order to ensure
the logistics of a huge army.
566.666 -> Secrecy was paramount
if they were to succeed.
570.083 -> The Germans needed to be kept totally
in the dark about the Allies' plan.
575.958 -> Early in 1944, they were still unsure
578.5 -> of where exactly
the landings would take place.
590.833 -> This was another reason to start spinning
the big wheels of propaganda.
597.041 -> [foreign language spoken audio]
616.75 -> Eisenhower's arrival in London
nevertheless confirmed Hitler's fears
620.541 -> of an invasion in the West.
624.458 -> In 1942, he had appointed
one of his most brilliant generals,
627.958 -> the popular Erwin Rommel,
to the rank of field marshal.
632.5 -> After commanding the Afrika Korps,
634.291 -> the so-called "Desert Fox" had thwarted
the British time and time again,
638.75 -> so it was only natural for the Führer
to entrust this energetic soldier
642.416 -> with reinforcing the defenses
of Fortress Europe.
652.5 -> By early 1944, Rommel was in France.
657.5 -> With the Nazi Air Force
stationed in Germany
659.75 -> to counter Allied bombing raids,
661.541 -> he was unable to use it in Normandy.
666.833 -> The theatre of war
would be the land and the beaches,
669.5 -> which he considered badly defended.
675.666 -> Rommel wanted to fill in the gaps
677.291 -> between fortified towns
with a continuous line of defense.
683.166 -> He also asked for the coast
to be more heavily mined.
694.125 -> However,
one mine is a mere drop in the ocean
697.166 -> when you consider
that from Calais to lower Brittany,
700.041 -> France has 750 miles of coastline.
709.25 -> Rommel's new energy was little cause
for concern for Eisenhower
712.75 -> because for months,
the British and Americans
714.833 -> had been building artificial ports,
717.416 -> which meant they didn't have
to immediately capture a real port
720.708 -> and had the flexibility
to choose their point of attack.
728.75 -> The Allies were not put off
by this titanic task.
732.208 -> These huge concrete caissons,
called "Phoenixes,"
735.416 -> would one day
be towed off the Normandy coast,
738 -> where they would be sunk
to form the first breakwaters.
747.541 -> As would these floating docks
where tons of material
750.708 -> and thousands of men would be unloaded
once moored to the immense steel pontoons
755.833 -> providing access to the beaches,
whatever the level of the tide.
765.708 -> A gigantic life-sized construction toy
devised in the ports of Britain.
782.875 -> In Britain, training exercises continued.
788.625 -> British and Americans
used all available means,
791.25 -> even though, once again,
it was all for the cameras.
797.541 -> Synchronized swimming and pyrotechnics
were the order of the day.
808.875 -> Material and equipment were also tested.
811.75 -> Anti-mine tanks to clear the beaches,
matting to cross the sand more easily,
827 -> gymkhanas on wavy artificial roads
829.333 -> to get used to these new Jeeps
from America,
838.041 -> not to mention
these new Churchill crocodiles
841.166 -> flame-throwing tanks,
which would reduce to ashes
843.791 -> anything that had been missed
during bombing raids.
852.125 -> The Allies had already lost several
hundred men in exercises in Britain.
856.625 -> Why choose such an extreme site
in the deepest Cornwall?
870.791 -> Despite the fact
that the British Fourth Commando Brigade
873.958 -> was a battle-hardened unit,
878.416 -> because every type of topographical
scenario had to be envisaged.
898.166 -> It's a well-known fact
that the Americans never go into battle
900.916 -> if the balance of power
isn't in their favor.
907.625 -> Hailing from Utah, Kansas, Ohio, Kentucky,
911.125 -> how many of these young men had any idea
913.291 -> of where Britain and France
were on the map?
917.583 -> How many of them suspected what lay
in store on the beaches of Normandy?
926.125 -> In February 1944,
928.291 -> over 800,000 US servicemen
were already in Britain,
932.166 -> with more and more set to arrive.
943.875 -> Straight away, a taste of home
offered by British servicewomen:
948.791 -> The inevitable donut.
950.666 -> A first sign of sweetness,
but maybe more if things should heat up.
960.583 -> America continued
to bring across its material,
963.666 -> such as its Sherman tanks,
965.458 -> designed to match the fearsome Panzers
of the German Army.
975.541 -> While pubgoers
in small gray towns of England
978.583 -> discovered these new P-38 bombers
981.125 -> whose flying range
outclassed that of British planes.
994 -> It wasn't always easy to make way
for these new arrivals
997.416 -> who had to be housed somewhere,
999.666 -> even if it meant
moving out entire families
1002.333 -> as tearful children looked on.
1010.416 -> Stereotypes were strengthened
between the "poor old British bloke,"
1013.958 -> and his "spoiled cousin" from America,
1016.375 -> notably because his rations
were far superior
1018.75 -> to anything his British host had to eat.
1036.333 -> Good relations
were nonetheless established,
1040.166 -> like here in the seaside resort
of Blackpool,
1042.916 -> where US servicemen relaxed when off duty,
much to the delight of the local girls
1049.041 -> and probably to the dismay
of their absent husbands
1051.791 -> off fighting the war.
1057.416 -> Never in the history
of His Majesty's realm
1059.833 -> had there been so many divorces
1061.458 -> and illegitimate children
born as during that period.
1064.916 -> However, wartime is wartime
and long live British girls.
1071.208 -> Fraternization was the order of the day,
1073.291 -> and it certainly looks as if everything
was going according to plan.
1112.458 -> However,
there was more than jiving to win hearts.
1115.333 -> General Eisenhower
had always respected his allies.
1120.75 -> In March, he visited the prestigious
Military Academy of Sandhurst,
1125.041 -> where young Winston Churchill had studied
1127.375 -> and where Ike was firmly intent
on telling the young cadets
1130.916 -> what would be expected of them.
1135.75 -> You young men have this war to win.
1139.625 -> It is up to you, men,
1141.583 -> to give your units,
whether it is a tank crew,
1144.875 -> a platoon or it becomes a company,
1147.375 -> leadership every hour of the day,
every day of the week.
1151.5 -> You must know
every single one of your men.
1154.375 -> It is not enough
1155.833 -> that you are the best soldier
in that unit.
1158.875 -> That you are the strongest, the toughest,
1162.083 -> the most durable,
1164 -> and the best equipped, technically.
1167.375 -> You must be their leader,
their father and mentor.
1172.166 -> Then you will be doing your duty,
1174.708 -> and you will be worthy
of the traditions of this great school
1178.541 -> and of your great country.
1184.041 -> These young Brits
were all in their early 20s
1186.666 -> as Ike addressed them
with his habitual human touch,
1190.041 -> knowing that some of them
would soon lose their lives,
1192.75 -> fighting for a country
that had spent the past four years
1195.708 -> proudly resisting the Nazis.
1215.208 -> In that same month of March,
as D-Day approached,
1218.291 -> it was Churchill's turn
to attend a life-sized training exercise
1221.75 -> of a US paratrooper unit
in the presence of Ike himself.
1231.375 -> British newsreel producers also decided
to go the whole hog with onboard cameras.
1244.833 -> If it weren't for the cigar,
you'd think this was the real thing.
1261.375 -> The guy with the cigar
even has his own camera
1264.458 -> and a smile to boot.
1273.5 -> A number of filmmakers would later use
the footage of this training exercise
1277.5 -> to represent the first US
paratroop landings in Normandy,
1281.166 -> never filmed in reality.
1283.416 -> More importantly, Churchill
was now totally behind Operation Overlord,
1288.166 -> despite his initial reticence.
1299.583 -> While the Allies were united
and grouped in Britain,
1302.541 -> Hitler was far from operations
in his Eastern HQ,
1305.791 -> close to the Soviet front,
1308.833 -> where he still continued to divide,
to rule.
1315.083 -> In the West, he split the German command
between Marshal von Rundstedt,
1319.166 -> chief of the Western Front,
1320.666 -> and Marshal Rommel,
chief of coastal defense.
1329.625 -> However, the two men disagreed.
1332.708 -> Von Rundstedt wanted to keep
his armored divisions inland
1336.041 -> so they could converge on precise zones
after the Allies had landed.
1346.291 -> Rommel believed
that British and American aviation
1348.958 -> would paralyze German troop movements.
1352.375 -> He, therefore,
wanted to bring the armored divisions
1354.708 -> as close as possible to the coast
1356.75 -> to confront the enemy
as they were landing.
1359.416 -> However, his wishes were rejected.
1364.083 -> He, therefore,
focused on protecting the beaches
1366.875 -> and installing anti-tank obstacles.
1375.125 -> They also set up
anti-landing craft barrages
1378.375 -> and chevaux-de-frise
built from old railroad tracks,
1381.75 -> making any advance almost impossible.
1391.375 -> He even altered the terrain
1393.166 -> to impede the landings
and movements of paratroopers.
1400.583 -> When possible,
1401.75 -> the Germans intentionally
flooded land just inside the coast.
1422.916 -> Devon, in southwest England.
1425.541 -> The American infantry:
1426.708 -> training for a beach landing
at the foot of a cliff
1429.291 -> where the enemy might be stationed.
1437.208 -> The first thing to do
1438.833 -> is establish a beachhead
beneath a cliff face
1441.25 -> to set up a radio link
for those following the assault wave.
1447.875 -> Dig in to create shelter,
1451 -> but to save your skin
from enemy fire, young soldier,
1454.375 -> you'll need to show
a little more enthusiasm
1460.625 -> and wait for the right moment
to collect your equipment,
1463.458 -> and attend to the wounded.
1472.333 -> What if on D-Day, it's impossible
to dig in on a pebble beach?
1476.625 -> If a low tide
were to mean staying undercover,
1479.291 -> unable to reach the wounded,
1481.541 -> like on the future Omaha Beach
so similar to this one in Devon,
1485.375 -> but where the Americans
would lose 3,000 men.
1491.375 -> The reason this beach so closely resembles
the one the GIs would land on
1495 -> is because the Allies
knew exactly what to expect.
1508.125 -> For weeks,
often held by the French resistance,
1510.916 -> faced with severe repression,
1513.166 -> the Allies had access to thousands
of photos of the German defenses.
1524.375 -> Whether protected or not,
1525.833 -> the entire Channel coast
had been studied with a fine tooth comb.
1534.541 -> Everything had been spotted and noted.
1541.708 -> All intel, collected and analyzed,
1544.5 -> was integrated
into the Allied plan of attack.
1547.416 -> Still, of course, top secret.
1556.583 -> Except perhaps for the tons of information
made available to the Germans,
1560.791 -> or rather, disinformation.
1568.291 -> For months,
1569.375 -> the Allies had been spoon-feeding
the enemy with false information
1573.458 -> to lure them to different landing sites,
1576.416 -> notably in the Calais region.
1584.666 -> Over in Britain, the ploy continued
with the installation of phony airfields
1589 -> just across from the Calais coastline,
1591.333 -> where fields of inflatable aeroplanes
sprang up.
1598.5 -> While elsewhere in the south of England,
1600.666 -> where the majority
of troops were assembled,
1603.041 -> supplies, arms, and munitions
were kept well camouflaged.
1617.5 -> By the month of May,
it was no longer possible
1620.125 -> to conceal the enormity
of the means being deployed.
1626.541 -> Hundreds of thousands of men
were now grouped into various camps
1629.875 -> to bring them closer
to their embarkation points
1632.291 -> and to isolate them from locals
in order to avoid leaks.
1638.375 -> One, two!
1639.791 -> Out, back!
1641.125 -> Come on, out, back!
1647.666 -> Officers concerned about keeping up
the morale of their troops
1650.958 -> went easy on the usual
disciplinary requirements.
1654.708 -> At this RAF squadron, for example,
1656.958 -> they decided not to clip the wings
of its pilots before they would fly off
1660.666 -> to crush the German eagle
in the heart of the Normandy countryside.
1677.541 -> Amongst all these men,
and forever unseen, of course,
1681 -> were those who filmed the events,
1682.916 -> those we never see:
1685.333 -> students of the British Army Film School
and all volunteers
1689.125 -> entrusted with capturing
the preparations for posterity.
1695.75 -> The youngest among them,
20-year-old Desmond O'Neill.
1700.333 -> He was intent on covering D-Day.
1704 -> Like his colleagues,
he had been made a sergeant,
1706.666 -> the ideal rank to stay close to the men.
1710.75 -> "My camera was welcome,
it distracted them,"
1713.416 -> he would say later.
1722 -> On May the 27th, his fellow soldiers
were introduced to a new currency,
1726.75 -> the French francs printed by the Allies,
1728.958 -> much to the anger
of General Charles de Gaulle.
1732.666 -> He saw it as a breach
of French sovereignty,
1734.833 -> since only France should be allowed
to print or mint its money.
1738.708 -> For the moment,
he was kept out of the loop
1741 -> and had little idea
of what was being planned.
1753.708 -> "These men knew
they had a good chance of being killed,"
1756.666 -> "and that created a strange mood,"
1759 -> O'Neill would remark.
1769.5 -> Another Army cameraman
was 27-year-old Sergeant Ian Grant.
1775.208 -> Always wearing his Scottish beret,
1777.5 -> he had chosen the film corp
to escape from chores
1780.541 -> and to immortalize his brothers in arms.
1789.208 -> On May 31st,
Grant filmed them receiving the booklet,
1792.708 -> informing them about the country
they would soon be invading.
1804.75 -> "It was in that camp that we first
found out our target was Normandy,"
1808.458 -> he would say later.
1814.166 -> He also filmed the few extra rations
being handed out to the men
1817.833 -> as they were readying to face the worst,
1823.208 -> for it was now a matter of days.
1829.583 -> On June the 1st, Norman Clague,
1832.25 -> a cameraman
who sadly left us only his clapperboard,
1835.791 -> filmed the final instructions
given to his company.
1840.875 -> He filmed from above
as if he were already taking risks.
1846 -> It was so as not to reveal
where his fellow soldiers
1848.666 -> would be landing.
1851.083 -> Even they had little idea
where in Normandy Ouistreham was.
1856.125 -> Everything was still top secret,
1858 -> the reason they had been kept
in perfect isolation
1860.5 -> for the past two weeks.
1864.708 -> From now on,
the cards had been dealt for Clague
1867.208 -> and his fellow cameramen
as they headed to the ports
1869.916 -> and the start of their great adventure.
1875.541 -> The US Army was perfectly equipped.
1878.75 -> With 1.5 million men,
there were more American servicemen
1882 -> in the south of England
than their British counterparts were.
1896.166 -> In early June, hundreds of thousands
of men left their camps
1899.916 -> before the locals who had gathered
to see off their new heroes.
1912.625 -> All were heading
to their various embarkation points,
1915.916 -> 19 ports on the south coast of England.
1928.666 -> While British troops embarked in the east,
American GIs embarked in the West.
1938.583 -> The next time they would leave
these ships would be to land.
1951.208 -> The Canadians under British command
and the third biggest Allied force
1955.375 -> provided 21,000 men.
1964.75 -> The reversing of 20,000 vehicles
into the holds of the ships
1968.291 -> so they could drive onto the beaches
as quickly as possible
1971.041 -> was a remarkable task in itself.
1978.208 -> Not to mention the thousands of tonnes
of supplies that had to be transported
1982.208 -> over those first two days.
1995.583 -> To give every chance
of success to his invasion plan,
1998.875 -> Eisenhower had taken into account
several parameters,
2002.25 -> notably the combination of a night
with a full moon for maximum visibility,
2007.791 -> and a half tide at dawn for the landings.
2013.25 -> In the month of June,
only the 5th, 6th, or 7th would do.
2019.208 -> To catch the enemy by surprise,
the earlier in the day, the better.
2023.666 -> Ike decided the landings
would take place on June the 5th.
2030.583 -> However,
in the days leading up to the 5th,
2032.833 -> the weather worsened.
2037.125 -> On June the 4th,
as the ships based in the north of England
2040.291 -> were heading for the Channel,
a violent storm broke.
2056.541 -> It forced Eisenhower
to call back all the ships,
2059.125 -> which had already set sail.
2066.791 -> Operation Overlord was under threat
2069.083 -> as any movements carried out so far
might have alerted the Germans.
2078.208 -> Day and night, Ike and his team
2080.458 -> stayed in constant touch
with the Weather Office.
2083.791 -> However, the news wasn't good.
2085.708 -> The forecast was poor
for the next fortnight.
2089.875 -> That would spell disaster.
2092.083 -> The men would need remotivating
2094.083 -> and the full campaign
would be shortened by two weeks.
2101.625 -> In the ports where Eisenhower
had to delay the departure,
2104.75 -> the wait became unbearable
as landing crafts circled and circled
2109.166 -> like crocodiles in a waterhole.
2119.625 -> On that day, June 4th,
2121.583 -> Desmond O'Neill was at work
among fellow Brits of the 3rd Division
2125.291 -> in a wind
that didn't look like letting up.
2128.458 -> He made the following observations.
2133.291 -> "We just sat there on board with nothing
to do other than eat or smoke."
2138.083 -> "We didn't lack victuals,"
2140 -> "I had ten men's rations just for me."
2147.541 -> "A mood of bitter disappointment
came over us."
2150.833 -> "We still didn't know
where we were going,"
2152.708 -> "other than that,
we were about to cross the Channel."
2159.416 -> "Later, we were told
we'd be landing at Lion-sur-Mer."
2163.541 -> "It didn't mean a thing to any of us."
2181.291 -> The Canadians were known
for their devout Christianity,
2185.875 -> and maybe that made them pray so hard
for the help they would soon need.
2191.708 -> Never had religious services been attended
so keenly as on Sunday, June 4th, 1944,
2197.833 -> in all the ports of southern England.
2211.125 -> The Americans, meanwhile,
tried to keep busy
2213.458 -> because they knew that nothing fatigued
the men as much as being idle,
2216.875 -> which would make them
more vulnerable on the big day.
2227.708 -> On the evening of June the 4th,
2229.458 -> the weather forecast
was a little less pessimistic.
2234.5 -> Calmer seas were predicted
for the 5th and 6th.
2240.916 -> That night, in 30 minutes,
2242.833 -> Eisenhower took a decision
that would change the course of the world:
2248.208 -> the fleet would set sail
on June 6th, 1944.
2254.666 -> On June 5th, the wheels
of the huge machine began turning.
2258.958 -> Allied planes attacked
northern and western France
2261.458 -> to prevent the German rearguard
from reaching Normandy.
2279.708 -> Allied bombers were unparticular
about their targets.
2285.208 -> They struck Lower Normandy
for three full days,
2288.333 -> claiming almost 4,000
German and civilian lives.
2301.75 -> The bombing raids
2302.916 -> led to heated discussions
between Eisenhower and Churchill.
2307.125 -> The latter was concerned
about the weight of hatred
2309.791 -> they would cause amongst the French.
2320.125 -> To the surprise of the Allies,
the French resistance replied,
2323.916 -> "This is war,
we must accept people will die."
2336.833 -> On June 3rd in Algiers,
2339.125 -> General de Gaulle had transformed
2340.916 -> the French Committee
of National Liberation
2343.458 -> into the Provisional Government
of the French Republic.
2349.625 -> Until then, he had been kept silent.
2352.208 -> The Allies had concealed everything
from the French.
2355.208 -> As the liberation of France drew nearer,
the British and Americans needed de Gaulle
2359.166 -> to ensure the full cooperation
of the people and the French resistance.
2371.208 -> On June the 4th
after being summoned by Churchill,
2373.875 -> de Gaulle left for Britain,
intent on speaking his mind.
2378.916 -> He refused to let the Allies
lay down the law.
2383.625 -> However, despite the fact they refused
to entrust him with full power,
2386.791 -> the sensitive general
agreed to back Overlord.
2394.916 -> On June 5th at sea, diversion tactics
continued to be deployed.
2401.833 -> Dozens of small ships
headed north of Le Havre.
2406.833 -> Their funnels billowed out steam
both as a smokescreen
2411.083 -> and to have the Germans believe
a huge fleet was crossing the Channel
2414.75 -> towards a position far north
of the targeted Normandy beaches.
2434.875 -> General Eisenhower
had always believed that a leader's place
2438.375 -> is alongside his men,
before and during battle.
2445.875 -> Late in the afternoon of June 5th,
at Greenham Common airfield,
2449.666 -> a few hours before they took off,
he visited the US 101st Airborne Division.
2458.083 -> They would be amongst the first
to reach French soil.
2466.5 -> Ike's smiling face
masked his underlying tension.
2470.5 -> All the more reason for paratroopers
to put on a brave face
2473.541 -> and reassure their leader.
2480 -> That evening,
Eisenhower stayed till the end,
2482.916 -> till the last plane had taken off.
2489.75 -> A little farther away,
2491.166 -> not having their leader there
to cheer them on in person,
2494.041 -> the reconnaissance paratroopers
came up with their own way
2496.708 -> to put on a brave face.
2501.375 -> Whether real Redskins,
2502.791 -> or just the white man's myth
of the Native American warrior,
2506.416 -> their scarlet war paint at least
helped these 20-something Iroquois
2510.416 -> to get ready for action.
2523.666 -> Those without war paint
simply blackened their faces with charcoal
2528 -> so as to be less visible.
2532.458 -> As well as their weapons and parachutes,
2534.583 -> these men would be jumping
with radio transmitters
2537.083 -> to signal marked zones where the gliders
could drop the majority of troopers.
2547.416 -> Three men were needed
to help one paratrooper on board
2551 -> who had a 50 percent chance
of survival and who knew it.
2559.25 -> That same night,
2560.458 -> Ike wrote a letter
in case the landings ended in disaster,
2563.958 -> proof of how the Allies
were certain of nothing.
2571.083 -> "My decision to attack
at this time and place"
2573.291 -> "was based
on the best information available."
2577.416 -> "If any blame or fault
attaches to the attempt,"
2580 -> "it is mine alone."
2592.583 -> However, for weeks,
2593.666 -> the Allies had been perfecting
a well-established plan.
2607.875 -> During the night of June the 5th,
2609.833 -> German coastal defenses
were to be wiped out by bombs.
2614.833 -> Naval artillery would start firing
at dawn from 45 miles offshore.
2621.75 -> The British and Canadians would take
the right flank of the invasion.
2626.5 -> They were assigned three beaches:
Sword, Juno, and Gold,
2631.333 -> located between Ouistreham
and Arromanches.
2635.416 -> The Americans would take the left flank
with Omaha and Utah beaches.
2644.916 -> The British would need to capture Caen
as quickly as possible.
2648.5 -> The city was an important
communication hub
2650.791 -> through which the Germans
could bring in reinforcements.
2656.875 -> It also opened onto flat land,
2659.25 -> which would allow
Allied armored divisions to spread out
2662.333 -> and planes to land at temporary airfields.
2667.458 -> The Americans
would have to move up to Cherbourg,
2670 -> which they planned
to capture within a week,
2671.958 -> so that hundreds of thousands of other men
could land with all their material
2675.458 -> needed for the next stage
of the offensive.
2681.625 -> On June 6th, from 3:15 in the morning,
2684.25 -> Allied planes
started bombing German positions
2686.708 -> across every sector of the landings.
2713.416 -> At dawn, naval artillery took over
in order to smash the Atlantic Wall.
2742.875 -> Omaha Beach near the Cotentin
was the first objective.
2748.916 -> The Americans would have to quickly
establish a beachhead,
2751.625 -> then join up with their colleagues at Utah
before heading towards Cherbourg together.
2765.833 -> After arriving too soon or too late,
2768.75 -> many of the aerial bombardments
missed their targets.
2773.125 -> Naval artillery didn't fare much better.
2778.541 -> The early hour of the landings
determined by the tide,
2781.291 -> didn't give it enough time
2782.5 -> to successfully carry out
its pulverization of the Atlantic war.
2794.083 -> The main part of the attack fell
to the experienced GIs of the Big Red One.
2800.75 -> However, attached to them
was the 116th battalion,
2803.625 -> made up of young men
who had never been in the line of fire.
2813.166 -> To keep out of the range of enemy fire,
2815.541 -> the landing craft were released
onto a rough sea too far from the coast.
2822.125 -> The men were crammed in like pack animals.
2825.875 -> Robert Cappa, the only photographer
present that day, said,
2829.333 -> "When the noise
of the first shell hit our ears,"
2831.625 -> "we hit the deck and lay in our vomit
without watching the coast approach."
2845.416 -> Barely on the beach, the men were greeted
by an almost intact German defense.
2850.208 -> It was like a turkey shoot.
2863.583 -> The wind brought in the tide
earlier than forecast.
2866.916 -> The following waves of attack
floundered on Rommel's sea defenses,
2870.416 -> forcing the men
to leave their craft in deep water.
2879 -> Unable to advance, they grouped together
in the center of the beach,
2882.5 -> reduced to sending
the same terrifyingly precise message,
2885.875 -> "Nailed to the spot by enemy artillery."
2888.583 -> More like crucified, as shown
by these few remaining photos by Capa.
2894.166 -> The rest were accidentally destroyed.
2905.583 -> Strong currents
swept the landing craft off course.
2909.083 -> Men drowned as the weight
of their equipment dragged them down.
2913.333 -> The sea turned red
2914.916 -> and Omaha Beach would later
be referred to as "Bloody Omaha".
2933.875 -> The US command
considered calling off the offensive.
2937.875 -> A desperate measure
that would mean abandoning
2940.041 -> those who had already
landed to their fate.
2951.791 -> There were already hundreds
of dead and wounded.
2954.958 -> Their sacrifice would have been in vain.
2960.583 -> Stopping the operation would open
a huge breach in the Allied front,
2964.333 -> just as the gigantic war machine
was moving up to full throttle.
2974.583 -> The morning of June 6th,
2976.583 -> daybreak revealed an armada
of 7,000 vessels
2979.833 -> approaching the Normandy coast.
2984.625 -> As always, Ike wasn't far away.
2987.458 -> At 9:45 AM,
he spoke to the world via the BBC:
2993.541 -> I call upon all who love freedom
to stand with us now.
2997.416 -> Keep your faith staunch.
2999.666 -> Our arms are resolute.
3001.541 -> Together we shall achieve victory.
3006.833 -> Across a 45-mile front,
3008.791 -> there was practically one boat
every 250 meters
3012.208 -> with air cover from 11,000 planes.
3018.625 -> All were painted with white stripes
3020.416 -> so that Allied artillery
wouldn't mistakenly fire at them.
3032.75 -> Fortunately, not every sector
along the coast resembled Omaha,
3037.125 -> especially since the Germans
had been taken in by allied disinformation
3040.75 -> and still believed the main attack
would come in the Calais region
3044.333 -> and they were having trouble regrouping.
3053.833 -> The unbreakable Atlantic Wall
began to crumble
3058.916 -> as did the German anti-aircraft defenses,
which became overrun.
3070 -> Allied Aviation imperviously
flew 10,000 sorties on that day.
3089.333 -> As the B26s
were releasing their last bombs inland,
3093.666 -> the fighter planes entered into action.
3104.25 -> Not only were coastal defenses targeted,
3108.416 -> but airfields too,
3110 -> in order to keep what remained
of enemy planes on the ground.
3121.083 -> Communication hubs,
roads, bridges, railways,
3124.791 -> were all systematically destroyed.
3138.916 -> The French resistance,
3140.166 -> having completed its intel
and sabotage missions,
3143.125 -> now went on the attack
3144.333 -> in an attempt to stop the Germans
bringing reinforcements to the front.
3177.125 -> The combined action
of the Allied Forces and the resistance
3180.125 -> meant that German troops
summoned from Brittany
3182.416 -> and south of the Loire River
had trouble advancing.
3188.541 -> Rommel, who from the outset had wanted
to position his men close to the beaches
3192.541 -> to counter an invasion,
had been proved right.
3207.458 -> The British 3rd Infantry Division
was heading for Sword.
3212.708 -> Its mission: to neutralize
the defenses at Ouistreham
3216.416 -> and take Caen the same day.
3226.458 -> This unit, the Scotsman
of the 45th Commando of the Royal Marines,
3230.541 -> filmed by their compatriot
Sergeant Ian Grant,
3233.5 -> were to land at Ouistreham.
3242.708 -> He wrote, "This was the real thing."
3245.625 -> "I filmed the gigantic fleet
as best I could,"
3248.166 -> "as I was more or less at sea level."
3259.166 -> "We'd been given good rations
and even seasickness pills."
3266.625 -> "However, with the diesel fumes, most men,
even the strongest amongst us got sick."
3278.791 -> "The sky was black with planes."
3280.875 -> "Some of them
had been told to fly at low altitude"
3283.458 -> "so we could be told over the loudspeaker
the specific types,"
3286.583 -> "and tell them apart from enemy planes."
3300.583 -> "We told the men to ignore the cameras
as much as possible."
3306.666 -> "They were natural actors
deep in their thoughts,"
3309.166 -> "living their own experiences."
3314.333 -> "I wasn't afraid
because there was no fear on their faces."
3319.375 -> "Just the desire to get out
of that bloody boat"
3321.583 -> "that was making them seasick."
3336.125 -> "The closer we got to the beach,
the more deafening the noise became."
3342.25 -> "In the rush, a ramp broke."
3344.541 -> "Everyone converged
on the remaining gangplank."
3347.416 -> "You just had to get off
as best you could"
3349.208 -> "with the your backpack's weight
pulling you down."
3358.416 -> Grant and the others
were spared the first assault.
3361.583 -> For them,
the hard part was about to begin.
3364.291 -> Joining up with the paratroopers
who had been dropped behind enemy lines.
3377.5 -> Another cameraman
was already on Sword Beach,
3380.583 -> the youngest among them, Sergeant O'Neill
had arrived 45 minutes before Grant.
3385.583 -> It was he who filmed
the last moments of the battle.
3395.125 -> "In the thick of that gray smoke,
everything seemed unreal."
3398.875 -> "It wasn't a battle that you could imagine
or see in a movie."
3405.458 -> "The exits from the beach were congested."
3408.166 -> It was nigh on impossible to get off.
3416.958 -> "I followed an infantry platoon
which was trying to get out of there."
3422.25 -> At this point, the jolting camera
indicates that O'Neill has been shot.
3426.958 -> He had just time to film
the last few sequences
3430.166 -> before being repatriated for medical care.
3439.208 -> Farewell, Sergeant O'Neill
and well done to all your comrades
3442.958 -> who captured Sword on that day
at a cost of 600 dead and wounded.
3447.375 -> All lost in the mass of unknowns,
most of whom were barely 20 years old.
3461.833 -> Germans who had been taken prisoner
were rounded up on the beaches.
3485.958 -> A few miles away from Sword,
Juno Beach in the Canadian sector.
3490.708 -> Their mission:
to take Carpiquet Caen Airport.
3499.791 -> What were these young soldiers thinking
after making the 5,000-mile journey
3503.583 -> to land at Bernieres, a small,
an unknown seaside resort in Normandy?
3532.291 -> This is footage
of the first wave of attack,
3535.125 -> the only one to be filmed
during the landings,
3537.791 -> but by an automatic camera
fixed to the bullock.
3541.666 -> Yet even the cold eye
of a mechanical camera
3544.583 -> can't fail to capture
a simple human gesture.
3553.375 -> Soon, the very first French house
would be liberated in Normandy.
3558.625 -> It would cost the lives of 100 men,
3560.541 -> which Allied cameramen
had been asked not to film.
3569.083 -> It was better to focus
on the first German prisoners
3572.208 -> and the anger that one proud Frenchman
showed towards them.
3584.708 -> The German surrender did nothing
to mask the difficulties met
3587.791 -> by the men on Juno Beach,
3589.958 -> where a rough sea was causing problems
for the second assault wave's landing.
3612.125 -> A total of 300 young Canadians
lost their lives.
3625.916 -> The sacrifice wasn't in vain.
3630.083 -> With the beachhead established,
3631.708 -> their surviving colleagues
began their advance inland towards Caen.
3640.083 -> Already the first reward,
in the shape of these young French women
3643.916 -> delighted at seeing their country
liberated by these men,
3647.208 -> many of whom spoke French
albeit with a funny accent.
3664.75 -> Yet at Allied headquarters in Portsmouth,
and despite British Admiral Ramsay
3669.208 -> smiling with pride
at the part played by his fleet,
3672.125 -> General Eisenhower still seemed anxious.
3680.291 -> Since dawn, he had been receiving
message after message,
3683.916 -> some alarming, like those from Omaha,
some encouraging like those from Utah
3688.375 -> or in the British sector.
3690.5 -> From the look on Ike's face,
3691.875 -> you can tell the battle
hasn't yet been won.
3704.041 -> Because six hours after landing at Omaha,
3706.458 -> the boys were still stuck
at the foot of the cliff.
3730.666 -> The Americans
always do the best for their men,
3733.125 -> whatever extra backup is required.
3737.708 -> Even the first assault waves
3739.208 -> were accompanied
by an experienced medical corps
3741.75 -> ready to take immediate care
of the wounded, including the enemy.
3752.75 -> Never had first aid been so needed
as at Bloody Omaha,
3756.291 -> where the dead lay
alongside a handful of prisoners.
3766.208 -> Three thousand Americans lost their lives
3768.833 -> on the most deadly
of the five beaches used for the landings.
3777.125 -> Yet, late in the day, with the sun out
and after the first waves
3781 -> had managed to establish
beachheads and advanced inland,
3784.208 -> more troops began to arrive at Omaha.
3787.333 -> At last, it was possible to say
that the landings had been a success.
3793.791 -> Now it was on to the next battle
for Normandy and for France.
3809.5 -> General Montgomery arrived two days later
3817.291 -> and he had cause for concern.
3822.5 -> Always wanting to have
a crushing balance of power in his favor
3825.708 -> before taking action,
3827.375 -> he delayed deploying his armored divisions
and was unable to take Caen
3831.375 -> as he was supposed to have done
on day one.
3837.583 -> Moreover, his troops,
relieved at having been able to land
3840.708 -> without too much damage,
seemed to have a lack of bite.
3849.708 -> Their cameramen embodied this in a way,
3851.958 -> strolling around filming
these first funny Frenchmen,
3855.875 -> asked to pose for the cause.
3859.375 -> These ones seem more than happy to oblige.
3871.375 -> On this day, June 8th, Norman Clague,
the man with a clapperboard,
3875.875 -> filmed the first moments of appeasement
when German prisoners
3879.125 -> and wounded no longer had anything
to fear from their enemies of yesterday.
3892.625 -> Five days later,
Clague would be killed by German fire.
3904.416 -> With him, compassion and morbidity
would never be far apart.
3914.625 -> However, this footage also illustrates
3916.625 -> how the British slackened off
the day after D-Day.
3920.625 -> A slackening of which the Germans
would take full advantage.
3929.375 -> Although the German forces
held back from the front,
3932.25 -> as Von Rundstedt had ordered,
3934 -> were unable to reinforce their colleagues
on the coasts, they now reacted.
3940.166 -> Two armored divisions including
the famous 12th Panzer Hitlerjugend SS,
3945.125 -> counterattacked on June 7th, 8th and 9th,
3947.916 -> barring the road to Caen
to the British and Canadians.
3973.083 -> They also set up their defenses
outside the city.
3991.083 -> This made the bombing raids
on Caen itself ineffective.
3997.458 -> Although they did allow
the German propaganda machine
3999.75 -> to show that its own soldiers
were suffering the same fate
4002.666 -> as the city's inhabitants.
4007.25 -> The German Army
maintained control of the city,
4010.166 -> while for the first refugees,
4011.875 -> the approach of the liberators
meant they had to leave.
4023.166 -> The German counterattack also isolated
a number of Allied paratrooper divisions.
4031.125 -> Often dropping at imprecise locations,
4033.541 -> they had been unable
to link up with their comrades
4035.958 -> advancing inland from the sea.
4043.25 -> Many were recaptured,
but few seemed resigned to their fate.
4058.541 -> American airborne troops
had lost over half their equipment
4062 -> and one in five of their men.
4070.708 -> All these men had paid dearly
4072.583 -> for the honor of being the first
to tread on French soil.
4077.458 -> However, their overwide dispersion
4079.291 -> at least managed
to keep the Germans confused,
4081.791 -> making them believe
that a far greater number of men
4084.041 -> had been dropped than in reality.
4091.625 -> Now it was the turn
of the 81st Airborne to be laid to rest,
4096.833 -> before their comrades-in-arms
paid them a final tribute.
4119.541 -> Ready, aim, fire!
4122.583 -> Aim, fire!
4125 -> Aim, fire!
4128.958 -> On June 9th, the Americans
captured the small town of Isigny,
4133.166 -> which was furiously bombarded
to drive the Germans out for good.
4141.333 -> The German defense of Isigny
had prevented Allied forces from Omaha
4145.5 -> from linking up with those from Utah
and continuing together towards Cherbourg.
4163.083 -> However, with Isigny taken,
4164.75 -> the Allied front was reunited
and stretched over 60 miles
4168.166 -> from Ouistreham
to the beachhead in the Cotentin.
4176.375 -> However, beyond the rubble,
4178.041 -> where were the inhabitants
of Isigny looking?
4187.083 -> Perhaps farther off towards the sea
4189.708 -> where a French ship
was finally crossing the Channel.
4197.416 -> With the Allies firmly established
along the coasts,
4200.041 -> it was time to bring in General de Gaulle,
4202.208 -> leader
of the Provisional French government.
4214.333 -> Charles de Gaulle
had never liked being in need of help
4218.458 -> and stepping onto French soil
at Courseulles after four years of exile
4222.458 -> was no exception.
4225.5 -> The day before, Churchill,
still distrustful of de Gaulle,
4228.708 -> had written to Montgomery,
4230.708 -> "I must inflict on you
a visit from General de Gaulle."
4234.541 -> "I do not think
you should greet him on the beach,"
4237.125 -> "it'd be sufficient for him
to arrive at your headquarters.
4250.916 -> De Gaulle
would only spend one day in France.
4253.875 -> For him, too, time was pressing.
4255.958 -> Time to tell Montgomery
what he wanted to hear
4258.375 -> and the British Field Marshal
even let him hog the limelight.
4270.375 -> Monty also gave Norman Johnson,
his own cameraman,
4274.125 -> the task of following de Gaulle,
possibly to keep an eye on him.
4278.875 -> Although used to working
to his leader's whims,
4281.291 -> Johnson also thought
de Gaulle was a good story.
4287.375 -> "It was hard to follow him," he said,
4289.583 -> "but luckily, he was tall."
4292.791 -> He always had
the same serious expression on his face,
4295.666 -> but he did create a good atmosphere.
4299.791 -> He always ignored the camera,
or at least pretended to.
4305.583 -> In short, a star in the making.
4313.458 -> In Bayeux, people everywhere
were delighted to finally see Frenchmen
4317.5 -> who weren't under the German yoke,
a sign of renewed sovereignty.
4324.208 -> Especially as de Gaulle was intent
on showing himself off with his own people
4328.291 -> and the men and women of the resistance,
with no British or Americans present,
4333.166 -> before heading to the town hall
where he installed his men
4337 -> without referring to the Allies.
4344.166 -> He denied them any say
in France's political choices
4347.5 -> and forced them to recognize
his own power in the country.
4368.958 -> Although men did not need ports to land,
they now had a need for artificial ports
4373.833 -> to continue the battle
and to provide logistics and supplies
4377.416 -> for the hundreds of thousands
of Allied soldiers.
4385.916 -> Every day, 150 to 200 ships
unloaded some 7,000 vehicles,
4391.583 -> 15,000 tons of supplies,
4393.75 -> and thousands of men in the port
of Arromanches on the British side
4397.833 -> and the port of Omaha
on the American side.
4414 -> Soon the weather worsened,
4415.75 -> and once again threatened
to compromise the operation.
4427.208 -> Normandy hadn't seen
a storm like it in 40 years.
4431.125 -> Inside the anchorages,
ships were tossed around like rag dolls.
4446.583 -> The wall of caissons
was unable to withstand the cataclysm.
4450.458 -> Worse still, some of them broke away,
letting the waves surge into the port.
4465.333 -> Floating docks
and gangplanks became detached
4468.416 -> and were swept away like flotsam.
4478.666 -> The storm would last for a full four days,
4481.583 -> interrupting the supply
of materials and reinforcements.
4489.166 -> On the morning of June 23rd,
clear skies revealed the sorry sight
4493.375 -> of hundreds of ships and wrecks
run aground along the beaches.
4499.25 -> Although British engineers quickly
rebuilt the port of Arromanches,
4503 -> the US port of Omaha
remained out of commission.
4513.875 -> The plan was running ten days late.
4516.208 -> US troops had to capture
the deep water port of Cherbourg
4519.375 -> as quickly as possible.
4521.875 -> Although surrounded,
the city was still in German hands.
4526.25 -> Finally, on June 26th,
US Infantry entered the suburbs.
4540.166 -> That same day, before a gathered press
he clearly seemed not to appreciate,
4544.791 -> Lieutenant-General von Schlieben,
4546.916 -> the commandant of the garrison,
surrendered.
4551.083 -> Although this giant of a man
politely wiped his feet before his victor,
4554.916 -> the young General Collins,
4556.5 -> he nonetheless balked
on his oath made to Hitler
4559.333 -> to prefer death
over the shame of surrender.
4566.5 -> Schlieben even surrendered before his men,
4569.416 -> who didn't lay down their weapons
until the following day.
4581.583 -> The Americans
weren't always easy on prisoners,
4584.25 -> which is somewhat understandable.
4589.208 -> Since D-Day,
they had already lost 22,000 men.
4599.958 -> The average age of the prisoners,
some old, some very young,
4603.916 -> showed the decline
of the German Army in the West,
4606.625 -> while its younger, battle-hardened troops
were deployed in the east
4610 -> fighting the Red Army.
4613.791 -> Thirty-six thousand prisoners
are at Cherbourg,
4616.375 -> a huge number
in terms of what cameras can capture,
4619.208 -> although they do often take us
by surprise and mark us forever.
4637.208 -> With Cherbourg taken,
one of the last sections
4639.916 -> of the Atlantic Wall
had come tumbling down.
4643.708 -> Unlike the faces of their men,
4645.583 -> those of the captured officers
maintained a degree of haughtiness.
4654.333 -> Or was it perhaps shame?
4663.625 -> After Cherbourg,
4664.75 -> Hitler decided to personally oversee
the German Army in the West.
4669.375 -> He removed Von Rundstedt,
who had suggested calling a truce,
4672.916 -> and replaced him with a more
obliging Field Marshal Von Kluge.
4683.5 -> Rommel, dismayed
by the Führer's hard-line policies,
4687.083 -> knew that all he could do now
was to delay the ultimate disaster.
4702.791 -> Meanwhile, Eisenhower was also worried.
4707.416 -> Yes, the Americans had taken Cherbourg,
4709.708 -> but Montgomery
was yet to have captured Caen,
4712.083 -> the planned launch pad
for an attack on German lines.
4719.166 -> Installed inland,
the German Army had the advantage of space
4722.916 -> and the possibilities
of supplies and reinforcements,
4725.833 -> whereas the Allies remained hemmed in
along the Channel coast.
4737.875 -> The Americans had no choice
4739.708 -> but to pierce the enemy front
in the Cotentin.
4747.041 -> Not easy in a region of bocage
where the hedgerows made defense easier.
4766.083 -> To see without being seen.
4768.333 -> A big advantage for the enemy
4769.75 -> in a battle for which none
of the American youngsters were prepared.
4778.333 -> In this huge checkerboard maze,
4780.625 -> a handful of resilient combatants
could stop an entire battalion.
4787.041 -> When they did concede
one of these square fields,
4789.5 -> they simply had to come back
around the sides.
4800.208 -> American tanks were obliged
to stick to the roads,
4803.125 -> making them easy targets.
4811.958 -> Just as they were
when they had to cross levees
4814.791 -> openly presenting
their unarmored bellies to enemy fire.
4829.916 -> These bocage traps
accounted for thousands of GI lives
4834 -> and resulted in a failed attempt
to penetrate what became known as:
4837.708 -> "this goddamn country!"
4845.583 -> With the Americans in difficulty,
the British simply had to capture Caen.
4856.125 -> Montgomery finally decided
to employ considerable means.
4866.208 -> He asked for backup
from the Royal Air Force.
4874.208 -> Over 2,500 tons of bombs
were dropped on the city.
4908.583 -> Some advance on Caen, as others leave it.
4912.166 -> No point in even looking at each other.
4914.25 -> That's life.
4920.375 -> After two days of fierce combat,
4922.333 -> 115,000 British troops
entered the east of the city,
4926.125 -> which was now three-quarters destroyed.
4937.5 -> On July 13,
Montgomery arrived in the city.
4941.458 -> It had taken him over a month
to capture only part of Caen,
4944.625 -> a city he had hoped to take in one day,
setting up the Allied push inland.
4949.416 -> Clearly in the kingdom of the blind,
the one-eyed man is king.
4958.125 -> Although the inhabitants
raised the flag of the Cross of Lorraine,
4961.458 -> much of the city
was still in German hands.
4970.583 -> That didn't prevent
the British propaganda machine
4973.166 -> from having people
believe that the inhabitants
4975.333 -> of the City of a Thousand Steeples
and British troops
4978.208 -> were happy to drink a toast together.
4984.166 -> "Goodbye, thanks again."
4986.583 -> "Don't mention it, pleasure was all mine."
4991.666 -> Were such intensive bombing
and the 2,000 deaths it caused
4995.125 -> when the German defenses were placed
around the city really necessary?
5000.041 -> The debate still rages today.
5011.708 -> Each man and woman
reacted in their own way.
5014.875 -> Who was this German playing the organ
in a ruined Normandy church?
5018.833 -> A madman?
5020.041 -> A filthy Jerry?
5022.041 -> A music lover?
5024.791 -> Or a lost soldier of Hitler,
now weighed down by his leader's excesses,
5029.416 -> simply enjoying a moment's escape
from this holocaust scenery.
5052.333 -> A few days later,
5053.708 -> it was the British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill's turn to land.
5062.291 -> He wanted to check the state of operations
ongoing in the Caen sector in person.
5073 -> However much Montgomery
played the good tour guide,
5076.208 -> he only dominated his car
and not the plain of Caen,
5079.5 -> which was still under German Army control.
5084.458 -> Ten days after taking the city,
5086.083 -> the British were yet to break
through German lines,
5088.666 -> and Churchill's agitation
wasn't about to change that.
5097.75 -> For Eisenhower, who had hoped
for a breakthrough in this sector,
5100.875 -> it was a total failure
considering the huge means deployed.
5111.208 -> The supreme commander
placed more and more trust
5113.5 -> in the discreet three-star general,
Omar Bradley,
5116.625 -> who had organized the landings at Omaha
and Utah before taking Cherbourg.
5124.791 -> Eisenhower appreciated his calm,
his clear-headedness,
5128.25 -> and his effectiveness.
5131.416 -> Bradley thought the Americans could break
through enemy lines in the Cotentin.
5135.5 -> The operation codeword: Cobra,
5137.5 -> like a snake that leans back
then goes for the jugular.
5149.875 -> To help his men get out of bocage country,
5152.583 -> Bradley had planned to crush
the German positions on the front line
5156.041 -> with precision bombing raids.
5167 -> Once the breach had been made,
5168.958 -> his troops would simultaneously advance
on Brittany, the Seine, and the Loire.
5184.875 -> On July 25th,
5186.25 -> Allied bombers attacked the road
between Saint-Lô and Périers,
5189.875 -> where the two armies faced off.
5197.583 -> The famous armored division
of General Lehr,
5200.5 -> Field Marshal Rommel second in command,
was wiped out.
5210.583 -> American troops could finally leave
the hell of the bocage
5213.625 -> and force the breakout.
5222.041 -> It was a long-awaited breach
in the enemy's front line.
5235.708 -> Moreover, seeing the numbers
who surrendered,
5237.875 -> they made a good catch,
5239.166 -> even if many in the net
were only small fry.
5250.875 -> In the bestiary that Normandy had become,
tanks were now fitted with blades
5255.208 -> to cut down hedgerows
and cross the last miles of bocage.
5265.75 -> Even before July was over,
once the breach had been achieved,
5269.375 -> American armored divisions
had reached Coutances, Avranches,
5272.875 -> and Granville, the last ports
in Normandy before Brittany.
5281.791 -> In early August,
5282.916 -> the 2nd French Armored Division
landed at Utah Beach.
5290.666 -> For months, even years,
these Frenchmen had left everything behind
5294.791 -> to fight the Germans
and Italians in North Africa.
5298.833 -> Only this time,
5299.916 -> they were ready to be as victors
on their beloved French soil.
5318.416 -> Leading them was General Leclerc,
as thin as his cane,
5322 -> but valorous and upright.
5325.291 -> This aristocrat had all the attributes
to have sided with Vichy,
5329 -> but he chose to follow de Gaulle
as early as June 1940.
5334 -> Now he was landing
as his homeland's liberator.
5342.333 -> His division was integrated
into the American Third Army,
5345.541 -> with which he would finally be able
to take part in operations on French soil.
5357.083 -> General Bradley's headquarters.
5362.416 -> Before the lens
of American filmmaker George Stevens,
5365.416 -> Montgomery, as always aware of the camera,
decorates a handful of Yankee soldiers.
5374.625 -> That is something he was good at.
5377.666 -> Under pressure from Eisenhower,
the British Field Marshal had agreed
5380.833 -> to leave the organization
of the final battle to the Americans.
5386.083 -> For a successful outcome,
5387.75 -> Bradley was also counting
on a certain General Patton.
5392.458 -> The man who wore a Colt 45 in his holster,
was a go-getter.
5397 -> "At the first fart, they expect me
to get them out of their shit,"
5400.708 -> he was famously quoted as saying,
5402.916 -> and just as well…
5406.166 -> At dawn, the Germans
tried a last throw of the dice.
5411.875 -> From the plain of Caen, they launched
a counter-offensive on Mortain,
5415.75 -> hoping to drive
the Allies back to the sea.
5428.291 -> The attack, planned in person by Hitler,
5430.75 -> was soon curbed by the rockets
launched from the Allies' Typhoons.
5444.875 -> "It had no chance of success,"
5446.708 -> Von Kluge would write
before taking his own life.
5450.916 -> It would be the last
German offensive in the West.
5459.291 -> Worse still for the Germans, at Mortain,
5462.083 -> Bradley had willfully allowed the enemy
to make inroads into the Allied flank.
5468.333 -> Now, they were trapped
by the Americans to the south
5478.625 -> and the British to the north.
5488.125 -> Bradley would finally
be able to use the maneuver
5490.541 -> he had been planning for a long time:
5493.041 -> to catch the enemy in a pincer movement
5495.375 -> between the British divisions
advancing from the plain of Caen
5498.916 -> and the US armies in the south,
trapping the retreating Germans
5503.083 -> between Argentan and Falaise.
5512.791 -> As soon as the German counter-offensive
had been stopped short at Mortain,
5516.625 -> Patton and his divisions headed
to Le Mans in the direction of Paris.
5521.791 -> However, some of them
suddenly turned off towards Argentan
5524.75 -> and made a wide, sweeping movement
that encircled the Germans.
5534.416 -> While in the north, the Anglo-Canadians
formed the lynchpin between the Allies.
5545.041 -> The German Army was annihilated.
5549.666 -> Eisenhower later called
the battlefield at Falaise
5552.625 -> the biggest bloodbath
that any warzone had ever known.
5558.708 -> He added that only Dante
could have been capable of describing it.
5563.916 -> For hundreds of yards,
without interruption,
5567.125 -> he stepped over dead and rotting flesh.
5583.791 -> Between 5,000 and 6,000 Germans
were killed.
5587 -> From the look of those
who were taken prisoner,
5589.041 -> it seems as though Ike
wasn't exaggerating.
5598.291 -> It would take several days
5599.666 -> to evacuate the 30 to 40,000
prisoners of war from Falaise.
5604.625 -> For them, captivity was a victory:
5607.5 -> that of life over death.
5617.791 -> The German Army had mobilized a number
of men in the countries it occupied.
5622.25 -> Not all of them were prepared to defend
the Third Reich with their lives.
5633.125 -> The German Army was finished in Normandy.
5636.583 -> With the Battle of Falaise won,
and the prisoners dispatched,
5639.583 -> Patton's armies
crossed the Seine and the Loire.
5643.041 -> Eisenhower had now attained
the two geographical limits established
5646.416 -> in Operation Overlord.
5648.333 -> Now he wanted to move on to the next step,
the push towards Germany itself.
5656.541 -> On August 19th,
a blanket of smoke hung over Paris.
5662.375 -> On the ground,
with news of the Allies' approach,
5665.208 -> the city had risen up.
5677.625 -> It was the German Army itself
5679.375 -> which decided
to abandon the French capital.
5682.541 -> Seen from above,
convoy after convoy leaves Paris,
5686 -> heading east without caring too much
about barricades in the way.
5692.75 -> Footage of a real-life event
that lives long in the memory:
5697.041 -> five Germans in flames.
5707.375 -> It takes nothing away
from the men and women who rose up
5710 -> against the occupiers
before the Allies' arrival
5713.041 -> and the dozens of them who died
fighting the retreating German Army.
5721.791 -> The next day, de Gaulle showed up
at Eisenhower's headquarters.
5726.416 -> Ike wanted to avoid turning Paris
into another battlefield.
5732.208 -> He preferred to surround the capital,
forcing the Germans to surrender
5735.958 -> and to pick the city like a ripe fruit.
5743.25 -> But the eloquent French leader
5744.666 -> managed to persuade Eisenhower
to enter the city
5748 -> in order to avoid a possible bloodbath,
5750.583 -> but also to quash the rise
of Communist resistance members.
5756.5 -> Ike yielded, and Bradley agreed
to detach Leclerc's 2nd Armored Division,
5761.458 -> which had won renown at Falaise,
so that it'd be the first unit into Paris
5766.166 -> and would accept the German surrender.
5781.833 -> After several fierce battles,
south of the capital,
5785 -> the suburb's sky turned blue.
5787.583 -> Women wore red
and the men sported white shirts,
5791.125 -> forming a tricolor world
5793.583 -> to welcome Leclerc's boys
at the gates of Paris.
5813.666 -> Now, in the city itself,
it was time for jubilation.
5836.5 -> On that day, the gamble of the man
who had appealed to the French people
5840.5 -> back on June 18th, 1940, had paid off.
5844.166 -> The miracle had happened:
5845.625 -> France, once crushed and humiliated,
5848.166 -> now stood shoulder to shoulder
with the victors.
5853 -> Now for the victory parade
down the Champs Elysées
5855.916 -> to reinforce the legend,
5859.583 -> but that's a very French story.
5865.875 -> Our story ends the following day
on a less magical Place de la Concorde.
5871.291 -> At the head of a country whose political
future was still uncertain,
5874.875 -> de Gaulle had asked Eisenhower
5876.625 -> to back his authority
before the French people.
5881.958 -> Eisenhower happily obliged,
as did General Bradley.
5887.541 -> However, it was modesty alone
that kept him in the background
5890.708 -> as de Gaulle took center stage.
5901.416 -> Eisenhower was intent
on holding a march past of the US troops
5905.041 -> who would continue the fight
against the Third Reich.
5908.458 -> The Americans astutely knew
that in the post-war period,
5911.708 -> when the world
would be politically divided,
5914.291 -> they needed France
on their side in Europe.
5920.375 -> Our story has been high in color,
5923.25 -> but the original images,
are often in black and white.
5927.208 -> In the end,
whether in color or black and white,
5930 -> each piece of footage has tells
about the fate of all those men
5933.583 -> who took part in the Normandy landings,
5935.958 -> so many of them anonymous
amongst the massed troops.
5948.708 -> Who were you:
lost amongst the crowd of faces?
5952.625 -> Or you, turning around?
5955.125 -> Whoever you are, thank you.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UJYYkK4d8s