06/06/2014 South Today


06/06/2014

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At noon today we raised anchor and we were ready to go.

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On the deck and in the hold the soldiers were waiting.

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The assault on the beaches will begin.

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We are over the enemy curtahn now and the run`in has started.

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One minute and 30 seconds, red light, green light, get out

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This is the day and this is the hour.

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The sky is lightning over the coast of Europe as we go in.

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The sea crowded, infested with craft of everx kind.

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On the horizon, flesh upon flesh, from the guns

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They are being attacked pretty hostily, as you will hear.

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It is only 70 summers since this area was a battle ground. For many

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of us it is a moment of his day but for many veterans it was thd

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defining moment of their lives. Welcome to a special edition live

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from Normandy. We pay tribute to those who took part in the D`Day

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invasion 70 years ago. We are here at a German gun placement and it was

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absolutely crucial that these guns here were designed in the e`rly

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hours of D`Day. The Merville Battery was arled with

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four big German guns in thick concrete emplacements.

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From here they could fire on British and French troops landing on

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Sword Beach next to Gold and Juno. This was the right`hand sidd

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of the Allies' invasion zond. The guns had to be taken out

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the night before the landings or they would cause

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heavy casualties on the beach. X hundred men from the ninth Italian

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of The Parachute Regiment on Salisbury Plain were tasked with the

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mission of flying in in a D`kota, an aeroplane very similar to the one

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you see behind me, setting off from places like Arias Brize Norton ``

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RAF. In a sense aeroplanes are a bit

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like people, some The Dakota

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does just that. Built largely by women

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in the factories. It would have been one

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like this that brought Pilot and co`pilot`pilot navigate

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a radio operator and back hdre you would have had our 25 paratroopers

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hooked on and sitting They would have had parachutes on,

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they would have had their kht bags, their weaponry, very heavy,

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all squeezed in here, anxiots, I bet not a word was said

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because they were waiting for one thing, the green light

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telling them to jump. As one Private recalls, the jump

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was more luck than judgement. The plane reared up

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and I was thrown out the door. My head hit the tailplane

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and it took my helmet off. Hundreds of men found themsdlves

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scattered across a 20 mile `rea Magazine and grenades and a

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fighting knife, that is all I had. Luckily within 200 yards we were

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at the rendezvous, which was amazing considering

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the green light had not comd on Of the 600 men, hundreds of them

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drowned in an area you can see just behind me. Because the Germ`ns had

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flooded that area around thd river. Only 150 men had landed in the right

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area. The commander had to decide whether to give up or to go on. They

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continued on, but this was no easy task because across here just beyond

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those hedges was a massive minefield. They had to cut through

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barbed wire and five foot thick wire and then they had to face the

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Germans with machine guns. This footage gives you an idea of what it

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might have been like on that night. Get in! The four gun emplacdments

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were heavily guarded, built by the Germans over four years. It was the

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RAF bombings in the area th`t caused all sorts of problems for the

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paratroopers. Because of thd bombings the area behind me had huge

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craters that the paratroopers had to get up and over and up again on the

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other side. This is where spread remembered `` this man remelbered.

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When I went in I had a strange feeling of being outside myself

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Trying to keep their feet up off the minefield.

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Once we got to the coast, that passed and that was it.

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As well as the Dakotas, the red three gliders bringing in more men

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and a lot of the explosives that would be used for the guns. They did

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not arrive. The paratroopers were at the door. What happened next? I will

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tell you later. The last few days we have been focusing on the vdterans

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who have returned your time and time again to be alongside their

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colleagues again and to remdmber comrades from 70 years ago.

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70 years ago they came here to the Normandy beaches to fight. This

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afternoon they came back to remember. I cannot forget. H cannot

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push it away. Veterans from the south of England joined hundreds of

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others a around the world at Sword beach to pay tribute to colleagues

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who were killed. Along with the bigger events, veterans havd

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attended many smaller ceremonies in the towns and villages they helped

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in the summer of 1944. It is lovely to see you. Members of one

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association were in a village on top of a strategically important hill

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just outside one town. The fighting here was particularly fiercd. One

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soldier said you could go through a hedgerow and find a group of German

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soldiers heading in the opposite direction. This man was amongst

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those who battle to drive ott the Germans. It was tough and wd are

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thankful we survived. We ard the lucky ones. The heroes are the men

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who line the cemeteries. Whx was the fighting here so difficult? The

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Germans were trying to stop us advancing. During the Normandy

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campaign this man was a 20`xear`old lieutenant who took on some

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formidable German forces. It was a bit like the and a bit and to hand.

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I had not done that before. I learned very quickly. Richard was

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evacuated back to the UK after being injured by shrapnel. The colpany

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commander said, there is blood coming from your leg, I said no he

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said yes, get off to the drdssing station, and that was my war over.

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They have been many moving scenes. Here, children presented thd

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veterans with flowers. We will come to another cerdmony in

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a moment. This evening, behhnd me, you can probably see people getting

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dressed up, and that is bec`use there is a French re`enactmdnt group

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who are going to pay tributd in a very different way by interpreting

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what happened here 70 years ago and I know some of the Paras have been

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here talking to them and guhding them through what happened. It does

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not matter whether the cerelony is large or small, they are always very

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moving and very poignant. A few days ago when we came over we were with

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some of the veterans in thehr 9 s. In some ways it seems you c`nnot do

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them justice by calling thel veterans. In America they c`ll them

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the golden generation because of what they achieved. The men who did

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not give up 70 years ago certainly haven't given up on returning here

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time and time again for as long as they can. This was a poignant

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ceremony. The red berries are harder to pick

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out the crowd never days because the passage of time, but they c`rd here

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and proud to be here. The rdal heroes are laying here and they

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should never be forgotten. To see the French people gathered here

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they love us to bits and we were pounding them with bombs, wd

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destroyed our farms and yet they love us because we got them liberty.

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This story patties from one generation to another. `` p`tties. A

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moment of gratitude as the people of this French community ensurd that

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the sacrifice of these men will never fade away. It is important to

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come back, isn't it? I realhsed it time and time again. I am pleased I

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have come back. Will you return If possible, yes. I would like to keep

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this up. Our numbers are getting fewer and fewer. If I am able I

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would like to return until H can no longer do it. They have the most

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wonderful spirit, even 70 ydars on, they all have amazing storids to

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tell of what happened. Everx person I meet always very humble. We are

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here at a museum and the director of the museum is with us. Thank you for

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letting us be here because H know you have a big event this evening.

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Over the years, you have met so many of the veterans who come back time

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and time again. They must fdel like family. Yes. It is family for all of

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the people and it is my famhly with my heart. We have contact whth the

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French and British grandsons. It almost goes through the famhly. That

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Israeli important. `` is re`lly Why are you so passionate about what you

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have achieved? I was ten ye`rs old when my family, we went to

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Arromanches to the museum and I visited and afterwards I sahd to my

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father, I know where I will work. I will work, I have worked here for 25

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years and every year after ly work with the volunteers... Your father

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was involved in this. The fhrst time I worked here my father camd here

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and he said, I worked for the Germans. The Germans forced your

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father to build part of that. That must have been a strange fedling.

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Yes. He said, I built your job. Good luck tonight. The weather h`s been

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fantastic. Thank you. We can return to the story of what

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happened here 70 years ago. A handful of paratroopers had made it

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and had to disarm the guns, but what was it like for the Germans inside

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the bunkers? This is what the paratroopers would

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not have seen, inside the gtn in the. Four of these. Inside, you have

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the Germans who are living, sleeping, eating on sentry duty

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probably around about nine or ten of them and the museum has dephcted

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life inside including one Gdrman using a Paris court to see what is

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happening out there it. Thex were surrounded and entombed in this

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concrete. Over there is the gun Nothing had gone right for the

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paratroopers up until this point. They had a stroke of luck. These

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would have been thick steel doors, the hall entrance, this is where the

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paratroopers had to get in, and the Germans had left them open. All they

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needed was the explosives, which they had lost. There were pdople

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outside lien on the ground, Germans and our chaps, when I got there I

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was told to go in and see if it was clear and I went in and there was

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movement in one room. It was dark. The Sergeant came along and I gave

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him the bombs and he said, get out, and I got out, and that was it. They

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blew the guns but did not m`nage to disable them completely. Thdy had

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killed so many Germans the guns would not operate fully. Evdn though

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this mission was a huge success it came at a massive cost, will because

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of 150 men who attacked herd, half of them were killed and winded. This

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mission was to save lives on the Normandy beaches `` injured. The

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next story involves a doubld agent and a little bit of cunning.

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It was then these humble he`rts that the codebreakers of Bletchldy Park

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decrypted and sorted messagds. Some of the information gleaned help

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staff plot the movement of dnemy shipping as well as Allied forces in

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the English Channel in the run`up to D`Day. It was very exciting. We knew

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about all of the bits of hardware that were going across. The German

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boats would have been a gre`t deal of trouble to us. There was a

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tremendous amount of activity going on. There was so much work that

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sometimes you could not go warm at the end of your shift. Quitd a lot

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of pressure. We felt very responsible because we felt that if

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we did not keep things up`to`date it could mean people being killed.

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Together those landing on the beaches of Normandy the best

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possible chance, a decoy D`Day operation had been planned. A double

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agent was one of a network of spies feeding the Germans both information

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that the invasion would be `t Calais. We were intercepting the

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German transmissions and by decrypting them could see whether or

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not the Germans had swallowdd the bait which we were giving them. They

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did. The message is behind ts tell us that the elaborate decoy was a

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success. It allowed British intelligence to monitor what was

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being said to ensure that the lies that were being fed was being

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believed. It kept the Germans sitting in Cali right up until

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August when we actually att`cked them, they were still waiting for

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the invasion across the sea that never happened. Everybody w`s

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working flat out to try to dnd the war. We really desperately wanted

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the end because we had had dnough. Such was the secrecy that even when

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the end did come, it was another 30 years before they were able to tell

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that family exactly what thdy bid in the war. `` did.

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As you travel around this area, there are many cemeteries to visit,

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many of them `` all of them well kept. We wanted to tell the story of

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one soldier so we chose a gravestone at random near Gold beach.

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This story starts with a gr`ve. The inscription tells us that Charles

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Martin was from Dorset. He died on D`Day, but who was he? Born on

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Boxing Day 1916 he was one of the Mack children growing up in Dorset.

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It was a fun time as his yotnger brother recalls. We were behng

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looked after by our great and. They wonderful people. It was a large

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estate. My family owned the village. We got up to all sorts of nonsense.

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We got on very well with people He had girlfriends and so forth. A

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career in the army beckoned. After training at Sandhurst rejoined the

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Dorset Regiment at the north`west Frontier. Then came war. In 194 he

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led the Cicely invasion. In a hazardous red he stormed a German

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gun possession single`handedly. It was surely the beginning of him

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winning a reputation for hilself that the fighting soldier. He seemed

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to know instinctively what ` lot of soldiers take time to learn and that

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is that in an assault landing you need to keep going. You cannot hang

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about on the beach. On returning to Britain has talent at the soldier

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and leader were recognised `nd he was promoted to the Hampshire

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Regiment as second`in`command of the 1st Battalion appealing for

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Normandy. His experience was not quite unique but it would h`ve been

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very rare. He had won Mackex reputation by then for being very

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swift and brave and effective in action. On the 6th of June the first

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wave of landing craft carryhng the Regiment arrived here. Little went

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as planned. RAF bombs overshot their targets and the German defences

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which should have been cleared were still in place. Wet, cold and

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seasick, 600 men from the Rdgiment poured onto the beach. Unemployed

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stands including this one poured relentless fire on the troops `` gun

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emplacements. The commanding officer was injured. Charles to comland It

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was not to be. Shortly after stepping from the landing craft onto

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French soil, he was shot by a sniper and died on the beach. He w`s 2 . I

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think about him a tremendous amount because I have a very good

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photograph of him on my desk. Each one of these graves tells its own

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story of courage and selflessness. This one is about a teenager from

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Dorset who was swept up in war. Many lost their lives, but their

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sacrifices secured the peacd and freedom which was so nearly lost.

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We have almost reached the dnd of the programme. We have a spdcial

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programme tomorrow. The vetdrans will keep returning to France to

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remember what happened 70 ydars ago. Memories of friendships forged in

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the days of war as they stand together again. D`Day was a success

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but came at a huge cost. Thd families left behind and other men

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who did not come home. The families have put their own inscripthon. They

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remain a moving testament to all the men who never returned. We will

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leave you with some of them tonight. After a lovely day today with blue

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skies overhead, tomorrow will be very different. Tonight we `re

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looking at every boundary r`in moving up from France and that could

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have some hail as well as lhghtning over the course of the day tomorrow.

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The Met Office have issued ` yellow weather warning. Thunderstorms after

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a dry start to the night will start drifting up from the south. There

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could be heavy torrential downpours at times and there will be gusty

:26:05.:26:10.

winds at times. Temperatures staying mild overnight. 15`17 Celsits. A

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damp start to the day tomorrow for some. The thunderstorms will rattle

:26:18.:26:22.

through during the morning. Clearing during the mid morning and darly

:26:23.:26:25.

afternoon from the south co`st but taking their time to move

:26:26.:26:30.

northwards. We should have drier conditions during the afternoon with

:26:31.:26:36.

sunny spells. Today we reached 3 Celsius, tomorrow will be 20

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Celsius. Tomorrow night it turns quiet. We may have a shower tomorrow

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evening but the showers will generally clear and temperatures

:26:48.:26:58.

will fall away. 12`14 Celsits. A mild, mist the start to the day on

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Sunday and Sunday will be a much better day than Saturday. I pressure

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in charge until the evening when we will start to see another wdather

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front which could potentially during Sunday night into Monday morning

:27:15.:27:19.

produce more thunderstorms. As we head through the rest of thd week we

:27:20.:27:23.

have the Met Office warning for tomorrow for thunderstorms hn a few

:27:24.:27:29.

places, the rain could be hdavy and torrential, a much better

:27:30.:27:30.

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