0:00:07 > 0:00:11On the 6th June 1944, British and Allied forces put a top-secret plan into action.
0:00:16 > 0:00:18D-Day.
0:00:20 > 0:00:24There was smoke, there was fire,
0:00:24 > 0:00:27there were explosions.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30I thought nobody could survive in that. Nobody.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34It looked like dead bodies all over the place to me.
0:00:34 > 0:00:38In a single day, 14,000 men would be captured,
0:00:38 > 0:00:42wounded or lose their lives.
0:00:42 > 0:00:44You can't give more than your life, can you?
0:00:44 > 0:00:48I ran so fast, I would have beat Jesse Owens on that day.
0:00:49 > 0:00:54I was fighting for the country and I was fighting for me.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57Their sacrifice gave the Allies
0:00:57 > 0:01:01their best chance of defeating Nazi Germany.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06But there's another untold story that begins years before D-Day.
0:01:06 > 0:01:11It's a story of how the invasion was minutely planned
0:01:11 > 0:01:14in the most incredible detail.
0:01:14 > 0:01:18D-Day was a victory, not just of bombs, bullets and bayonets,
0:01:18 > 0:01:21but of things like aerial reconnaissance,
0:01:21 > 0:01:26espionage and state-of-the-art technology.
0:01:26 > 0:01:30In this film, we reveal how the Allies planned D-Day
0:01:30 > 0:01:33and created a three-dimensional picture
0:01:33 > 0:01:35of the entire German war machine
0:01:35 > 0:01:38that faced them in Northern France.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43No doubt about that, those pictures did save lives.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47Didn't save all, naturally, but at that type of thing...
0:01:49 > 0:01:51..somebody dies.
0:01:51 > 0:01:57This is the story of that heroism and self-sacrifice.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01This is the story of a day that helped save the world
0:02:01 > 0:02:04from the greatest menace of the 20th century.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17EXPLOSIONS AND SHOUTING
0:02:20 > 0:02:23They get off the craft and the fellas are dropping
0:02:23 > 0:02:25left and right of me.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31I didn't even know what our objective was.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34All I was supposed to do was shoot a German if I saw him.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38We had very little information.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41All we were told to do - follow my leader.
0:02:42 > 0:02:44You did as you were told.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47You were a soldier, or tried to be.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53Normandy, France.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56Just after dawn,
0:02:56 > 0:03:01British and Canadian troops storm a beach in enemy territory.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06I was as scared as hell but I knew I had to keep moving,
0:03:06 > 0:03:08keep moving, keep moving.
0:03:10 > 0:03:16The Germans had time to zero in wherever they wanted.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19They really rattled our boat.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22My mate got one right through the back, yeah.
0:03:24 > 0:03:29A heavily fortified German stronghold fires deadly salvos
0:03:29 > 0:03:31into the advancing Allied soldiers.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35Tanks flounder on the pebbles.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39The result is a killing field.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45But that terrible day on the beaches of Normandy
0:03:45 > 0:03:48wasn't 6th June 1944.
0:03:48 > 0:03:50It wasn't D-Day.
0:03:50 > 0:03:52It was Dieppe,
0:03:52 > 0:03:55here on 19th August 1942,
0:03:55 > 0:03:57two years earlier.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01It was here that the Allies made their first major attempt
0:04:01 > 0:04:05at a landing on French soil, and the result was a disaster.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16I came across a sergeant I knew.
0:04:18 > 0:04:24His whole front was laying right out...just laying there,
0:04:24 > 0:04:29and he said, "Howard, Howard. Oh," he says, "I'm in so much pain."
0:04:29 > 0:04:32He says, "Please shoot me," you know?
0:04:32 > 0:04:35I said, "No, I'm not going to."
0:04:35 > 0:04:42So he didn't have a weapon, so I... I just handed him a weapon.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47GUNSHOT
0:04:48 > 0:04:51Yeah... Yeah.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58Why I wasn't hit there, I haven't the vaguest idea.
0:04:58 > 0:05:01Maybe the Germans just got tired of shooting at us.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05We took a good hiding there.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10They were ready for us when we went in.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19Allied leaders wanted to test German fortifications
0:05:19 > 0:05:23and see if they could seize a well-defended port.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29They got the answer they feared.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34More than half of the 6,000-strong force were killed,
0:05:34 > 0:05:37wounded or captured.
0:05:40 > 0:05:4470 years on, some of the few survivors from Dieppe
0:05:44 > 0:05:48remember those who died that day.
0:05:48 > 0:05:52BUGLES PLAY "Last Post"
0:05:56 > 0:06:02A lot of people lost their lives at Dieppe...unnecessarily, I think.
0:06:05 > 0:06:10But I can never understand
0:06:10 > 0:06:13why they tried to take a port.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16You know, it was a mistake,
0:06:16 > 0:06:18and it shouldn't have happened.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21You don't attack a well-defended port.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27For a long while, I refused to think about it,
0:06:27 > 0:06:31because every time I thought about it, I would get nightmares.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37I sort of blanked Dieppe out,
0:06:37 > 0:06:40just blanked it out,
0:06:40 > 0:06:43didn't talk about it.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00Dieppe was the defining moment in the Second World War.
0:07:00 > 0:07:04It taught the Allies a bitter but a timely lesson
0:07:04 > 0:07:08and that was, if they wanted to invade Nazi-occupied Western Europe,
0:07:08 > 0:07:12if they wanted to punch through these massive fortifications,
0:07:12 > 0:07:14they would have to get the preparation right,
0:07:14 > 0:07:17the intelligence right, and execute it far better,
0:07:17 > 0:07:20and if they didn't do those things,
0:07:20 > 0:07:23then as that corpse-covered beach down there showed,
0:07:23 > 0:07:26the consequences would be unthinkable.
0:07:32 > 0:07:341934.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38Adolf Hitler became Fuhrer of Nazi Germany.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42HITLER SPEAKS IN GERMAN
0:07:47 > 0:07:49- CROWD:- Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil!
0:07:49 > 0:07:52Didn't like old Mr Adolf Hitler, did we?
0:07:52 > 0:07:54Bit of a rascal, you know?
0:07:54 > 0:07:58The Nazis swept through Czechoslovakia and Poland.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01- NEWSREEL:- Poland and the world learn
0:08:01 > 0:08:05the meaning of a grim new word - Blitzkrieg.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08There's no doubt they were brutal oppressors
0:08:08 > 0:08:12and believed they were a master race.
0:08:12 > 0:08:14France followed.
0:08:14 > 0:08:18The German onslaught forced Britain into a humiliating retreat.
0:08:18 > 0:08:19- NEWSREEL:- From the hell that is Dunkirk...
0:08:19 > 0:08:21We were fighting for self-preservation,
0:08:21 > 0:08:26to make sure that we came through this, one way or the other.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29By 1941, it had become a world war.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33The United States entered the conflict.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36- NEWSREEL:- Japan, like its infamous Axis partners,
0:08:36 > 0:08:39struck first and declared war afterwards.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41Britain and her North American allies
0:08:41 > 0:08:44acknowledged the only way to defeat Hitler
0:08:44 > 0:08:46was a full-scale invasion of mainland Europe,
0:08:46 > 0:08:49to match Russian efforts on the Eastern Front.
0:08:49 > 0:08:54WINSTON CHURCHILL: ..That with proper weapons and proper organisation
0:08:54 > 0:08:58we are able to beat the life out of the savage Nazis.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03The plan for D-Day was born.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18The area where the invasion would eventually take place
0:09:18 > 0:09:20was never seriously in doubt.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23It would be the coastline of northwest Europe,
0:09:23 > 0:09:25but it was heavily defended.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27The Nazis dominated the area
0:09:27 > 0:09:31and they were turning Europe into a fortress.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35Haunted by the memory of Dieppe, the Allies would need to scrutinise
0:09:35 > 0:09:38every inch of the German fortifications from the air.
0:09:41 > 0:09:45They turned to a trusted friend, the Spitfire.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05But this was a Spitfire with a difference.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08Instead of guns, it was armed with cameras...
0:10:10 > 0:10:13..to photograph Nazi Europe.
0:10:15 > 0:10:20The whole point was to get the photographs and get home.
0:10:20 > 0:10:25Don't mix it up with any other aircraft.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30That was the key.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38In the hands of a skilled pilot, these aircraft could capture
0:10:38 > 0:10:43detail from 30,000 feet with astonishing clarity.
0:10:44 > 0:10:48The cameras would pick up far more detail
0:10:48 > 0:10:51than you could by a visual inspection.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57These top-secret photographs and the intelligence they provided
0:10:57 > 0:11:00underpinned the planning for D-Day
0:11:00 > 0:11:05and set the Allies on the path to victory.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14The aerial photos were brought here to RAF Medmenham,
0:11:14 > 0:11:16just west of London.
0:11:16 > 0:11:21This was home to the Photo Interpreters, PIs.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24The heroes of D-Day weren't just those men
0:11:24 > 0:11:26who fought their way ashore in landing craft
0:11:26 > 0:11:28and attacked the beaches,
0:11:28 > 0:11:32but also the men and women who worked tirelessly behind the scenes
0:11:32 > 0:11:34in this warren of dusty rooms.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37The head of the US Army Air Force estimated
0:11:37 > 0:11:42that 80% of his intelligence was generated here.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49Really, nothing was happening in Europe
0:11:49 > 0:11:52that we didn't know about to some degree.
0:11:52 > 0:11:57Industry, defences, anti-aircraft provisions.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00Oh, heaven knows what! Such a multitude.
0:12:00 > 0:12:02I really was very lucky indeed
0:12:02 > 0:12:05in that it was a fascinating thing to be doing
0:12:05 > 0:12:06and you got hooked on it,
0:12:06 > 0:12:11in the way you get hooked by a cryptic crossword puzzle.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19Of course, there was nothing new about aerial photography,
0:12:19 > 0:12:22but what made the PIs here at Medmenham unique
0:12:22 > 0:12:26was their use of an additional intelligence-gathering tool -
0:12:26 > 0:12:28the stereoscope.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33Basically a Victorian invention, but it was one that allowed them
0:12:33 > 0:12:38to enter enemy territory as never before, in three dimensions.
0:12:41 > 0:12:47A flat photo will hardly give you an idea of the lie of the land.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50If you look down at a chimney, all you see is a circle,
0:12:50 > 0:12:53so you can get exactly the wrong impression.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55If you put it through a stereoscope,
0:12:55 > 0:12:59it comes up and you can tell that it's a chimney, and so on,
0:12:59 > 0:13:02so it gives you another dimension
0:13:02 > 0:13:06and that often is the clue to what you're looking at.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14It's wonderfully simple.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17You get a pair of aerial photographs of the same object,
0:13:17 > 0:13:19you place them side by side,
0:13:19 > 0:13:23making sure that the object is under either lens of the stereoscope.
0:13:23 > 0:13:27If you look through it, you get this magical optical illusion.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30Your brain fuses the two images
0:13:30 > 0:13:33to allow you to see the object in three dimensions.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37It's almost like you can reach out and touch it.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39These are some fantastic original images
0:13:39 > 0:13:42of one of the German dams that was breached
0:13:42 > 0:13:46by the bouncing bombs during the famous Dambusters raid in 1943.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49We've been able to enhance them digitally.
0:13:53 > 0:13:57The raw intelligence that could be unlocked from photos like this
0:13:57 > 0:13:59was invaluable.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04The Allies realised that 3D was a powerful weapon that could
0:14:04 > 0:14:09make the difference between success and failure on D-Day.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23The technique proved itself in early 1942,
0:14:23 > 0:14:27with this seemingly innocuous aerial photograph.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33Using the stereoscope, a PI noticed a small blob
0:14:33 > 0:14:38next to a cliff-top chateau at Bruneval in Normandy.
0:14:40 > 0:14:42They had no idea what it was.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45It wasn't until a brave pilot went in
0:14:45 > 0:14:48and took a low-level photograph sideways on
0:14:48 > 0:14:51that you could see a great deal more of what was going on.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57The photo was a revelation.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01Medmenham had uncovered one of the enemy's best-kept secrets...
0:15:05 > 0:15:07..radar.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20We knew that the Germans were using it for directing their bombers in,
0:15:20 > 0:15:23but we didn't know how it might be used to detect
0:15:23 > 0:15:28early warning of an attack, so it was important to find out.
0:15:31 > 0:15:36Rather than destroy the radar, it was decided to steal it.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41In one of the war's most audacious operations,
0:15:41 > 0:15:46paratroopers were sent in at night, taking the Germans by surprise.
0:16:02 > 0:16:04After a brief gun battle,
0:16:04 > 0:16:08they captured the radar equipment and escaped.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14Within hours, they were on the way home with a captive...
0:16:16 > 0:16:18..the German radar technician.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27It was a major coup for the PIs here at Medmenham.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31They had uncovered a deadly part of Hitler's Fortress Europe.
0:16:36 > 0:16:41For years, the Nazis had been preparing for an invasion
0:16:41 > 0:16:43by fortifying the European coastline.
0:16:46 > 0:16:503,000 miles from Norway to Spain.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54Thousands of concrete bunkers and heavy gun emplacements.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57More than six million mines.
0:16:58 > 0:17:00It was known as the Atlantic Wall.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10As proven at Dieppe,
0:17:10 > 0:17:14punching a hole through it from the sea was a high-risk strategy.
0:17:20 > 0:17:24But all 3,000 miles were impossible to defend.
0:17:26 > 0:17:28There had to be a weakness.
0:17:30 > 0:17:34The PIs began probing every inch of coastline
0:17:34 > 0:17:38from the Netherlands to the Spanish border.
0:17:40 > 0:17:45We covered the whole of the Channel coast,
0:17:45 > 0:17:49with as much information as possible about all the defences.
0:17:49 > 0:17:54Oh, yes, it looks as though there is something there.
0:17:54 > 0:17:56Hmm, there's a central path
0:17:56 > 0:17:59and then three that branch off to equal positions.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03If there are a number of pits being dug in a particular pattern,
0:18:03 > 0:18:06it's almost certainly that they're making sites
0:18:06 > 0:18:08to establish a gun battery.
0:18:10 > 0:18:15The most obvious invasion route was straight to Calais,
0:18:15 > 0:18:17barely 20 miles,
0:18:17 > 0:18:22but the aerial photographs revealed this could be suicidal.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25The Pas-de-Calais was heavily defended,
0:18:25 > 0:18:27not least by the Todt Battery -
0:18:27 > 0:18:31four vast 380-millimetre guns.
0:18:35 > 0:18:41The PIs focused their search on less well-defended beaches further west.
0:18:42 > 0:18:46There's only a very few beaches that could be used for landing
0:18:46 > 0:18:48and that was the key to the whole thing,
0:18:48 > 0:18:51to pick out the spot where we were going to land.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54Now, no-one, including me, knew where this was,
0:18:54 > 0:18:56but we had the pictures.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08Eventually, the Allies found what they thought might be
0:19:08 > 0:19:10a chink in the Nazi armour -
0:19:10 > 0:19:13a 60-mile stretch of the Normandy coastline
0:19:13 > 0:19:16where they hoped to take the enemy by surprise.
0:19:16 > 0:19:19The advantage of that stretch of coast was that there were less
0:19:19 > 0:19:23of these German defences, and there were no major ports,
0:19:23 > 0:19:27so no huge concentrations of German military power,
0:19:27 > 0:19:29as there had been at Dieppe.
0:19:31 > 0:19:35The PIs had provided the Allied leadership
0:19:35 > 0:19:38with a crucial piece in a vast jigsaw.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43A plan for the D-Day invasion took shape.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47It was to attack five beaches.
0:19:48 > 0:19:52British and Canadian forces would seize three beaches in the east,
0:19:52 > 0:19:55code-named Sword...
0:19:57 > 0:19:59..Juno...
0:20:01 > 0:20:03..and Gold.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07The Americans would take two western beaches -
0:20:07 > 0:20:09Omaha...
0:20:11 > 0:20:13..and Utah.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17The date - 5th June 1944.
0:20:18 > 0:20:24But landing 150,000 troops on enemy territory was no mean feat.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33Amphibious assault is one of warfare's toughest challenges
0:20:33 > 0:20:36and that's why today's Royal Marine Commandos
0:20:36 > 0:20:39practise it again and again and again.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43I'm heading out now to a naval vessel, to join 45 Commando,
0:20:43 > 0:20:47who are about to launch a beach assault on Cornwall.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03..Recce. We'll secure the beach.
0:21:03 > 0:21:05We'll move in.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09The Marines are fully briefed using satellite intelligence,
0:21:09 > 0:21:13the modern-day equivalent of the aerial photos used at Medmenham.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16..This area, where we actually exit the boats...
0:21:23 > 0:21:26The guys have just been called to their assault stations,
0:21:26 > 0:21:28and already the atmosphere onboard has completely changed.
0:21:28 > 0:21:32There's less laughing and joking, and now people are quite serious.
0:21:32 > 0:21:34They're thinking about the night that lies ahead.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37There's a lot of last-minute checking of kit,
0:21:37 > 0:21:39adjusting body armour, running through their drills.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42There's a tension. It really does just make you wonder
0:21:42 > 0:21:46what the atmosphere onboard those ships crossing the Channel
0:21:46 > 0:21:47must have been like in 1944.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52Weather's picked up a bit. Got quite strong easterly winds now.
0:21:52 > 0:21:552.2-metre surf. But be prepared to get a bit damp.
0:21:58 > 0:22:00You see these are the vulnerabilities
0:22:00 > 0:22:02of amphibious warfare, when the weather can turn on us.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05This must be a real problem with amphibious landings,
0:22:05 > 0:22:07you are very vulnerable to bad weather.
0:22:07 > 0:22:09Yes, it can swing either way. Sometimes it helps you,
0:22:09 > 0:22:11sometimes it can stop the operation completely.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17Sadly, on this occasion, the powers that be decide
0:22:17 > 0:22:21the waves are too high for a conventional beach assault.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25They adapt their tactics to a more covert operation.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32The Commandos were formed in World War II,
0:22:32 > 0:22:36specialising in amphibious assaults and stealth raids.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41New warfare required a new type of warrior,
0:22:41 > 0:22:45and the Commandos and their American counterparts, the Rangers,
0:22:45 > 0:22:46trained hard.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50By the time we got into England,
0:22:50 > 0:22:54we finally developed a feeling that our mission would be
0:22:54 > 0:22:55landing on a hostile shore.
0:22:56 > 0:22:58Everybody knew that.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02First, though, we were taught to transition from boats
0:23:02 > 0:23:05to the attacking of fortresses or beach defences.
0:23:07 > 0:23:09We exercised day and night
0:23:09 > 0:23:12until we got it absolutely right,
0:23:12 > 0:23:14and the Rangers were very good troops,
0:23:14 > 0:23:18trained by our Commandos, and first-class soldiers,
0:23:18 > 0:23:20and they got it right.
0:23:20 > 0:23:22The British Commandos, in my opinion,
0:23:22 > 0:23:24were the best troops in the world.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27We were abseiling off those cliffs,
0:23:27 > 0:23:31going across that river on the death slide.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36It was a case of we wanted to kill Germans.
0:23:36 > 0:23:38We had some very, very good people
0:23:38 > 0:23:42in Achnacarry to teach us how to do just that.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45We got a taste of what war was like.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48And kill him!
0:23:51 > 0:23:55We were experts on all the weapons in the battalion
0:23:55 > 0:23:59and we were introduced to night operations.
0:24:02 > 0:24:06- In those days, we were ready for anything, really.- Yeah.
0:24:06 > 0:24:08Whatever they slung at us, we'd do.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11- Yeah.- And that was it. - That's right, that's right. Yeah.
0:24:14 > 0:24:18We've been on the landing craft for about 40 or 50 minutes.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21Everyone's getting a bit colder, rain's started to come down,
0:24:21 > 0:24:23and you get that sense that all the veterans talk about,
0:24:23 > 0:24:26which is that the waiting seems absolutely interminable,
0:24:26 > 0:24:28and by the time they actually cross the Channel
0:24:28 > 0:24:31on these landing craft, they were just desperate to get off,
0:24:31 > 0:24:33no matter what they faced on the beach ahead.
0:24:53 > 0:24:58(So it's going to be a fight for the top. Just break in as far as...)
0:25:00 > 0:25:04(We've been walking a couple of hundred metres from the beach
0:25:04 > 0:25:07(and it's an important reminder of what they had to do on D-Day -
0:25:07 > 0:25:09(not just land on the beach,
0:25:09 > 0:25:11(but penetrate the German defensive line,
0:25:11 > 0:25:13(and that's what we're doing now.)
0:25:21 > 0:25:25(The scout has just come back to report the enemy is 50 metres ahead.
0:25:25 > 0:25:29(We're now going to wait here until H-hour
0:25:29 > 0:25:32(which is the pre-agreed time that the assault is going to go in.)
0:25:39 > 0:25:42GUNFIRE
0:25:42 > 0:25:45- Go! Go! Go! - Get some fire in that door!
0:25:47 > 0:25:49- Go! Go! Go!- Door!
0:25:54 > 0:25:57It's absolutely remarkable watching these guys firing
0:25:57 > 0:25:59and manoeuvring with expert skill.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01Start moving!
0:26:02 > 0:26:04EXPLOSIONS AND SHOUTING
0:26:06 > 0:26:10Charging into this fortress really demonstrates why the Atlantic Wall
0:26:10 > 0:26:12was such a formidable defensive position,
0:26:12 > 0:26:15complex networks, tunnels, corridors.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18It takes elite troops to be able to clear a place like this
0:26:18 > 0:26:21without doing themselves huge damage in the process.
0:26:21 > 0:26:24The way they're communicating to each other
0:26:24 > 0:26:26and putting down suppressing fire,
0:26:26 > 0:26:28they HAVE to have done the preparation.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30GUNFIRE
0:26:35 > 0:26:3845 Commando are coming to the end of clearing this fortress now.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41It's been an absolute privilege watching them work
0:26:41 > 0:26:43but it's also given me a bit of an insight
0:26:43 > 0:26:45into the massive challenges
0:26:45 > 0:26:48for those who planned and executed the Normandy invasion,
0:26:48 > 0:26:53the largest and most complex amphibious operation of all time.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02If the Allied planners got D-Day wrong,
0:27:02 > 0:27:05there'd be a bloodbath on an unimaginable scale.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12Every German defensive position that posed a threat
0:27:12 > 0:27:15to the troops landing in Normandy had to be identified.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20The role of the spies in the sky was critical.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25And pilots had to fly the entire length of the French coastline
0:27:25 > 0:27:28to keep the Nazis from guessing that Normandy was the target.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32It's always wise to err on the side of caution.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35Other people's lives may be at stake.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38When you think of that, you don't rush your judgment.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44The Atlantic Wall that the Germans built along this coast
0:27:44 > 0:27:46isn't really a wall at all, of course.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49It's actually a whole series of different elements,
0:27:49 > 0:27:52things like minefields and barbed-wire obstacles,
0:27:52 > 0:27:55a machine-gun nest down on the beaches,
0:27:55 > 0:27:58but, of course, a far more efficient way of dealing with the invasion
0:27:58 > 0:27:59is to knock out the Allies
0:27:59 > 0:28:02before they ever set foot on French soil,
0:28:02 > 0:28:05and that's why, for me, the most important, the most powerful element
0:28:05 > 0:28:08of the Atlantic Wall are these huge naval guns.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12These things can fire a huge shell 12 miles out to sea.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28It sounds a bit strange to say this,
0:28:28 > 0:28:31but this bunker is so powerfully constructed,
0:28:31 > 0:28:34so perfectly designed to do the job required of it.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37It just speaks to me of this German determination
0:28:37 > 0:28:42to fight for every inch of this coast.
0:28:50 > 0:28:56One of the most lethal gun batteries was on a cliff-top promontory,
0:28:56 > 0:28:58close to the American landing zones.
0:29:00 > 0:29:01Pointe du Hoc.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08In 3D, the PIs could measure that the cliffs were 30 metres high
0:29:08 > 0:29:13and work out that the six guns were 155-millimetre calibre.
0:29:18 > 0:29:21And that is why they treated Pointe du Hoc as a target
0:29:21 > 0:29:24of the utmost importance, as this aerial photo shows.
0:29:24 > 0:29:25Chilling photograph.
0:29:25 > 0:29:27Pointe de Hoc was particularly dangerous
0:29:27 > 0:29:32because both the Utah landing zone and Omaha were both within range.
0:29:32 > 0:29:36If these guns were operational on D-Day, it could be disastrous.
0:29:39 > 0:29:41The unenviable task of silencing these guns
0:29:41 > 0:29:43was given to the American Rangers.
0:29:47 > 0:29:49It would be one of the most dangerous missions of D-Day.
0:30:02 > 0:30:05After penetrating whatever defences there were in front of us,
0:30:05 > 0:30:08We would then have to attack a fortification.
0:30:08 > 0:30:11It made sense to go up the cliffs.
0:30:18 > 0:30:21The cliff assault demanded rigorous training
0:30:21 > 0:30:26and some imaginative new ways of waging war.
0:30:26 > 0:30:33Someone thought of the idea of putting fire ladders onto DUKWs.
0:30:33 > 0:30:36The ladder would then be extended with a man
0:30:36 > 0:30:39sitting at the top and as he reached the top of the cliff,
0:30:39 > 0:30:41he would just hold the trigger
0:30:41 > 0:30:43and these four-calibre fifties
0:30:43 > 0:30:46would be pouring out rounds at a magnificent rate.
0:30:55 > 0:30:59Even if the Allies smashed through this line of artillery,
0:30:59 > 0:31:00there were still dangers beyond.
0:31:04 > 0:31:07Within 100 miles of the invasion zone,
0:31:07 > 0:31:12six Panzer divisions were capable of driving them back into the sea.
0:31:15 > 0:31:19To prevent a counter-attack, Medmenham's PIs needed to
0:31:19 > 0:31:24identify and target every bridge in Normandy of strategic importance.
0:31:26 > 0:31:28One stood out.
0:31:32 > 0:31:36Four miles inland from Sword Beach, a bridge crossed the Caen Canal.
0:31:38 > 0:31:42If the Germans held it or destroyed it,
0:31:42 > 0:31:45British forces would be dangerously exposed.
0:31:46 > 0:31:50The bridge, code-named Pegasus, had to be secured.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54There was only one way to get troops in.
0:31:57 > 0:31:59Horsa Gliders.
0:32:00 > 0:32:03The Horsa was an excellent glider.
0:32:03 > 0:32:07Plywood tube, a couple of high wings.
0:32:07 > 0:32:10A very primitive design,
0:32:10 > 0:32:15but it carried 30 troops and it was quite a weapon.
0:32:20 > 0:32:23180 men of the British 6th Airborne
0:32:23 > 0:32:26and six glider pilots were hand-picked for what would be
0:32:26 > 0:32:28the opening assault of D-Day.
0:32:30 > 0:32:33Jim Wallwork remembers the selection process.
0:32:34 > 0:32:38You fly the glider and deliver the troops,
0:32:38 > 0:32:42and then you're one of the troops then, aren't you?
0:32:42 > 0:32:46"You mean I fly the bloody thing in, get it to the right place,
0:32:46 > 0:32:48"and then take part in the, er..?"
0:32:48 > 0:32:49"Yes."
0:32:49 > 0:32:52"Oh, well, it can't be helped, I suppose."
0:32:52 > 0:32:56So I became a glider pilot and I became very good at it.
0:32:56 > 0:32:58Says he with his usual modesty(!)
0:33:01 > 0:33:02To take Pegasus,
0:33:02 > 0:33:06the pilots would crash-land in a narrow field between the Caen Canal
0:33:06 > 0:33:12and the River Orne. The men would leap out and storm the bridge.
0:33:13 > 0:33:16Success depended on detailed planning.
0:33:33 > 0:33:36I've just got a few of the photographs here,
0:33:36 > 0:33:41which the men would have pored over for days and weeks
0:33:41 > 0:33:43and months before taking part in this operation.
0:33:43 > 0:33:46You can see the landing zone here on the east bank,
0:33:46 > 0:33:49you can even see the body of water which is still there,
0:33:49 > 0:33:51the waterway here is still running
0:33:51 > 0:33:54like a ribbon right across the landscape
0:33:54 > 0:33:57and without that preparation, landing in the dead of night
0:33:57 > 0:34:00in the heart of enemy territory would have been absolute suicide.
0:34:04 > 0:34:07Detailed measurements were taken from 3D aerial photos
0:34:07 > 0:34:11using a hi-tech survey machine called the Wild.
0:34:14 > 0:34:17And a scale model of the bridge and surrounding area was created.
0:34:21 > 0:34:24But Medmenham's ingenuity did not end there.
0:34:26 > 0:34:30A state-of-the-art fly-through training film of the landing
0:34:30 > 0:34:33was used to brief the glider pilots.
0:34:35 > 0:34:38It was almost from the same height we would be making the approach,
0:34:38 > 0:34:45you could see the dangerous bits, the fences,
0:34:45 > 0:34:50the canals, the rivers, the ditches to avoid.
0:34:50 > 0:34:52And one of the pilots said,
0:34:52 > 0:34:56"You know, someone's taking this thing rather seriously."
0:34:56 > 0:35:02So from then on we agreed to take it seriously. And we did.
0:35:16 > 0:35:19The Americans were also training their elite soldiers
0:35:19 > 0:35:21to go behind enemy lines.
0:35:24 > 0:35:28Ed Shames was in the 506th Regiment of the Screaming Eagles,
0:35:28 > 0:35:29the 101st Airborne.
0:35:32 > 0:35:34The 506 was an experimental unit
0:35:34 > 0:35:38and it became the finest fighting force
0:35:38 > 0:35:42in the history of the United States military.
0:35:42 > 0:35:44I'm very proud to have been part of it.
0:35:52 > 0:35:55We were on top of Currahee Mountain.
0:35:55 > 0:35:59We used to run this thing at least two or three times per week,
0:35:59 > 0:36:05sweat like hell. Up and down ropes, ladders,
0:36:05 > 0:36:10jumped off of platforms 30 feet high. Tough, tough, very tough.
0:36:12 > 0:36:13Made men out of all of us.
0:36:26 > 0:36:31101st Airborne faced a daunting task - a night-drop
0:36:31 > 0:36:35to capture another important bridge over the River Douve.
0:36:37 > 0:36:39Without the bridge in American hands,
0:36:39 > 0:36:41the men landing at Utah and Omaha
0:36:41 > 0:36:46would struggle to join forces and would be at the mercy of the enemy.
0:36:52 > 0:36:56The Germans were across this area of Carentan.
0:36:58 > 0:37:02They had to penetrate across the bridges
0:37:02 > 0:37:05to go to the beach here,
0:37:05 > 0:37:09Utah Beach, where the landings were taking place.
0:37:11 > 0:37:13To compound the problem,
0:37:13 > 0:37:173D photography of the area revealed a flat, marshy terrain.
0:37:19 > 0:37:23American troops advancing into this would be an easy target.
0:37:33 > 0:37:34It's not until you come here
0:37:34 > 0:37:38and actually look at this landscape for yourself, that you realise just
0:37:38 > 0:37:41how difficult it would have been to move forces through this area.
0:37:41 > 0:37:44Not only do you have the river here joining Carentan to the sea,
0:37:44 > 0:37:47but you've also got these incredible low-lying fields
0:37:47 > 0:37:49that would have been boggy,
0:37:49 > 0:37:51effectively impassable for troops
0:37:51 > 0:37:54and certainly heavy vehicles and tanks. And that's why
0:37:54 > 0:37:58the planners placed so much emphasis on seizing the roads,
0:37:58 > 0:38:00the bridges here on this high ground,
0:38:00 > 0:38:02dykes like this one, because this is the area
0:38:02 > 0:38:06that basically linked Omaha over there and Utah there.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09It was vitally important for the two bridgeheads to meet up
0:38:09 > 0:38:11and this is where it was going to happen.
0:38:19 > 0:38:23By early 1944, the Allies were fully committed to D-Day.
0:38:26 > 0:38:29Then the latest aerial photographs
0:38:29 > 0:38:33revealed intense enemy activity on the landing beaches.
0:38:38 > 0:38:40The photo reconnaissance pilots were sent in
0:38:40 > 0:38:42to find out what the Germans were up to.
0:38:44 > 0:38:46These daredevil so-called dicing missions
0:38:46 > 0:38:50involved flying just ten metres off the ground.
0:38:50 > 0:38:53A daisy cutter...
0:38:54 > 0:38:56..scraped the ground.
0:38:56 > 0:38:59We were so low that a machine gun on top of the cliffs
0:38:59 > 0:39:01couldn't shoot at us.
0:39:03 > 0:39:07Quick in, cameras on and out.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10We were going so fast that the men working on the beach
0:39:10 > 0:39:11didn't know we were coming.
0:39:13 > 0:39:15No second run.
0:39:15 > 0:39:17Second run is death.
0:39:20 > 0:39:25Their extraordinary photos revealed the beaches now covered
0:39:25 > 0:39:29in an array of deadly obstacles, dubbed the Devil's Garden.
0:39:31 > 0:39:33They're all embedded in the sand at low tide,
0:39:33 > 0:39:35which means that our landing ship coming in
0:39:35 > 0:39:40would have to hit these things before they even reached the beach.
0:39:43 > 0:39:47The architect of these German defences was one of Hitler's
0:39:47 > 0:39:50most brilliant military commanders, Erwin Rommel.
0:39:52 > 0:39:55But what was the Desert Fox doing in Normandy?
0:39:59 > 0:40:02For months, the Allies had been attempting to convince Hitler
0:40:02 > 0:40:07that the invasion site was further east, in the Pas-de-Calais.
0:40:09 > 0:40:11In a top-secret game of deception,
0:40:11 > 0:40:14they assembled an invasion force of dummy tanks,
0:40:14 > 0:40:16inflatable landing craft and aeroplanes
0:40:16 > 0:40:18in the southeast of England.
0:40:21 > 0:40:25It was known as Operation Fortitude.
0:40:25 > 0:40:27But had Fortitude failed?
0:40:29 > 0:40:35Were the Allied forces about to enter a killing field?
0:40:38 > 0:40:40To tackle beach obstacles
0:40:40 > 0:40:44like those identified in the aerial photographs,
0:40:44 > 0:40:46the British Royal Engineers had been developing
0:40:46 > 0:40:51a new generation of tanks Hobart's Funnies.
0:40:56 > 0:40:59The Funnies were extraordinary
0:40:59 > 0:41:02and they could be deployed anywhere and everywhere,
0:41:02 > 0:41:05and certainly those that laid bridges... Extraordinary!
0:41:05 > 0:41:07Yes, yes.
0:41:07 > 0:41:10But that was the use of imagination, again, you see.
0:41:10 > 0:41:13What problems would you meet and how would you overcome them?
0:41:16 > 0:41:19They all had specialised equipment. For instance,
0:41:19 > 0:41:26the flail tank had the flail on the front for dealing with minefields.
0:41:26 > 0:41:30So this would fly around and it would churn up the earth?
0:41:30 > 0:41:33These chains would take you down about
0:41:33 > 0:41:39nine inches into the ground and strike any buried mines.
0:41:40 > 0:41:42When you saw them in training, did you think,
0:41:42 > 0:41:45"Actually, these are going to really help win us the war,
0:41:45 > 0:41:47"these are going to help us get ashore on the D-day beaches?"
0:41:47 > 0:41:53No, we didn't think that at all. We thought, "We want to go shooting!"
0:42:00 > 0:42:04One of the greatest challenges was getting tanks off the landing craft
0:42:04 > 0:42:05and onto the beaches.
0:42:11 > 0:42:14This is a DD tank, known by the troops as a Donald Duck.
0:42:14 > 0:42:18In fact, it stands for Duplex Drive.
0:42:18 > 0:42:23That means that this tank is the single most extraordinary innovation
0:42:23 > 0:42:25that the Allies made in the build-up to D-Day
0:42:25 > 0:42:28because this tank swims.
0:42:33 > 0:42:37Complete with waterproof canvas hull and propeller, the DD tank,
0:42:37 > 0:42:40it was hoped, would spearhead the beach assault,
0:42:40 > 0:42:43providing covering fire for the troops.
0:42:46 > 0:42:49We were so excited about the project of going into a new secret weapon
0:42:49 > 0:42:52which was going to actually lead the assault.
0:42:52 > 0:42:58When we knew we were going to swim from the sea for up to 5,000 yards,
0:42:58 > 0:43:03we wondered how we were going to do it, but we became quite confident.
0:43:13 > 0:43:17As D-Day approached, the intelligence flooded in to Medmenham
0:43:17 > 0:43:21and another threat was revealed by an observant PI.
0:43:25 > 0:43:31We could see where they were digging pits and putting stakes in them
0:43:31 > 0:43:35and, er, just exactly where we were planning to land the gliders.
0:43:37 > 0:43:39Just inland from the beaches,
0:43:39 > 0:43:42the Germans were burying wooden stakes in the ground.
0:43:43 > 0:43:46For the plywood gliders landing at Pegasus Bridge,
0:43:46 > 0:43:50these medieval defences could prove disastrous.
0:43:52 > 0:43:55They were going to put wire between the tops of the posts
0:43:55 > 0:44:00and explosive charges and if a parachutist or a glider
0:44:00 > 0:44:04struck the wire, this explosive would go off and likely damage them.
0:44:04 > 0:44:06I remember saying,
0:44:06 > 0:44:09"Well, do you know, that's not playing the game at all."
0:44:10 > 0:44:13It wasn't a game Commanding Officer Major John Howard
0:44:13 > 0:44:15wanted to play, either.
0:44:17 > 0:44:23Howard was concerned, of course, so, "Oh," we said, "Not to worry,
0:44:23 > 0:44:28"the Germans think it's going to put us off, but the most difficult thing
0:44:28 > 0:44:33"with a loaded glider is to stop the thing and I can easily go between
0:44:33 > 0:44:40"a couple of poles, shed the wings, it might be a good thing at the end."
0:44:40 > 0:44:42"Oh, really?" he said.
0:44:42 > 0:44:46I said, "Oh, yes," and, er, look the other way quick!
0:44:49 > 0:44:53Then another last-minute set-back.
0:44:53 > 0:44:58The gun battery at Pointe du Hoc, the target for the US Rangers,
0:44:58 > 0:45:01had been "softened up" by Allied bombardment.
0:45:05 > 0:45:09The latest photos revealed a cratered moonscape.
0:45:10 > 0:45:13But additional intelligence suggested that
0:45:13 > 0:45:15the guns had been moved.
0:45:19 > 0:45:21It was decided that the Rangers
0:45:21 > 0:45:24should carry out their cliff assault regardless.
0:45:25 > 0:45:28The commander due to lead the attack didn't agree.
0:45:30 > 0:45:33Major Lytle unfortunately got very drunk.
0:45:33 > 0:45:38He slugged the battalion doctor and he told everybody that
0:45:38 > 0:45:41the mission was hopeless, we're all going to die.
0:45:42 > 0:45:45Lytle was relieved of his duties
0:45:45 > 0:45:49and the location of the guns remained a mystery.
0:45:54 > 0:45:57The Allies needed to be more prepared than ever.
0:46:01 > 0:46:05Two months before D-Day, British forces gathered
0:46:05 > 0:46:08for a full dress rehearsal at Studland Bay, Dorset.
0:46:13 > 0:46:16This is where the Prime Minister Winston Churchill,
0:46:16 > 0:46:22the Supreme Allied Commander General Eisenhower and King George VI
0:46:22 > 0:46:26all came to watch one of the days of Exercise Smash.
0:46:26 > 0:46:30It would be the largest live-fire exercise of World War II,
0:46:30 > 0:46:34a huge, simulated beach attack here on the Dorset coast
0:46:34 > 0:46:37and these beaches were chosen because they closely resembled
0:46:37 > 0:46:40the Normandy beaches that would be used on D-Day.
0:46:47 > 0:46:52Part of the attack involved putting the DD swimming tanks to the test.
0:46:54 > 0:46:57They failed to live up to expectations.
0:46:58 > 0:47:00I could see a wave coming which was
0:47:00 > 0:47:05three or four feet higher than the top of our canvas screen
0:47:05 > 0:47:11and the next moment I knew, the water poured over the top
0:47:11 > 0:47:14and we sank down to the bottom.
0:47:14 > 0:47:15So we were entombed.
0:47:17 > 0:47:20We lost six all together.
0:47:20 > 0:47:24We'd all become part of a crew
0:47:24 > 0:47:26and I knew them all very well.
0:47:26 > 0:47:27Very sad.
0:47:32 > 0:47:36In total, four tanks were lost and six men died.
0:47:41 > 0:47:45The tragedy was repeated on a larger scale in Exercise Tiger
0:47:45 > 0:47:49the American rehearsal at Slapton Sands in Devon.
0:47:52 > 0:47:54To harden the men to the sight and sound of battle,
0:47:54 > 0:47:57live artillery rounds were to be fired over their heads
0:47:57 > 0:47:59before they hit the beach.
0:48:03 > 0:48:07But on the morning of April 27th, the warships were delayed.
0:48:08 > 0:48:12H-hour was postponed till 8.30am.
0:48:15 > 0:48:18The message didn't get through to the landing craft.
0:48:19 > 0:48:23And with terrifying consequences, the men stormed Slapton Sands,
0:48:23 > 0:48:26at the same time as their artillery opened fire.
0:48:28 > 0:48:31We got about halfway to the beach when we were straddled
0:48:31 > 0:48:36by a salvo from the United States' Battleship Texas.
0:48:36 > 0:48:41And we were swamped, almost, by this "friendly fire",
0:48:41 > 0:48:43so called, on the way in.
0:48:45 > 0:48:47Tracer bullets were firing all over the place.
0:48:47 > 0:48:50So it was a complete shambles.
0:48:53 > 0:48:57Later that day, torpedo-armed German E-boats
0:48:57 > 0:49:01attacked American troop carriers taking part in the exercise.
0:49:04 > 0:49:08In total, 947 men were needlessly killed.
0:49:12 > 0:49:14It didn't bode well.
0:49:17 > 0:49:22Despite the disaster, D-Day was still set for June 5th.
0:49:24 > 0:49:26Conditions were ideal.
0:49:26 > 0:49:27There was a full moon,
0:49:27 > 0:49:31and the Normandy tides were perfect for a beach landing.
0:49:35 > 0:49:36Before D-Day, this room
0:49:36 > 0:49:40was one of the most important places in the world.
0:49:51 > 0:49:54This was the beating heart of the naval operation,
0:49:54 > 0:49:57the thousands of ships that were going to
0:49:57 > 0:49:59gather in the middle of the Channel
0:49:59 > 0:50:02and take the amphibious force across to land them on the French coast.
0:50:02 > 0:50:04Just look at the scale of it.
0:50:07 > 0:50:09This here was called Piccadilly Circus.
0:50:09 > 0:50:12This is where the ships were due to meet,
0:50:12 > 0:50:14assemble from all over the British Isles
0:50:14 > 0:50:17and then head through the German minefield here, this white barrier
0:50:17 > 0:50:23and on to the D-Day beaches - Gold, Juno, Sword, Omaha and Utah.
0:50:24 > 0:50:27For me, this map represents the extraordinary effort
0:50:27 > 0:50:29and preparation that went into D-Day.
0:50:29 > 0:50:33Nothing was being left to chance, not even the assembling of this map.
0:50:33 > 0:50:36Nothing like this had ever been made before
0:50:36 > 0:50:39so they had to get it specially made by a toy company in Birmingham.
0:50:39 > 0:50:41But this meant that the two guys from the toy company
0:50:41 > 0:50:43knew where the invasion was going to take place
0:50:43 > 0:50:48so they were interned here at Southwick House until September.
0:50:48 > 0:50:50I'm sure they were paid though.
0:50:54 > 0:50:56The secrecy extended to the troops.
0:50:57 > 0:50:59A week before the invasion,
0:50:59 > 0:51:02they were held in closed camps along the south coast.
0:51:03 > 0:51:05Security was tight.
0:51:08 > 0:51:12Two years of planning, based on Medmenham's top-secret work,
0:51:12 > 0:51:15was finally unveiled to the men.
0:51:17 > 0:51:24It's salutary to know that what you say or do can be
0:51:24 > 0:51:29responsible for other people's lives...being saved, or lost.
0:51:29 > 0:51:32It weighs with you.
0:51:36 > 0:51:40Aerial photos, models and maps revealed in detail what the men
0:51:40 > 0:51:42would encounter on the ground,
0:51:42 > 0:51:45from the gradient of the beach and the number of obstacles,
0:51:45 > 0:51:48to the position of minefields and machine guns.
0:51:51 > 0:51:53They began to show us maps
0:51:53 > 0:51:57and photographs of what was going to take place.
0:51:57 > 0:52:01That's when we see those cliffs with those machine guns.
0:52:02 > 0:52:05Where we were landing, there was going to be two machine guns.
0:52:07 > 0:52:09It scared everybody pretty good.
0:52:10 > 0:52:15I think the intelligence we received was excellent.
0:52:15 > 0:52:18Every day, new intelligence would come through,
0:52:18 > 0:52:21largely by reconnaissance photographs.
0:52:23 > 0:52:26This is your best buddy, so get to know it.
0:52:26 > 0:52:29Another vital briefing tool used by the Airborne troops
0:52:29 > 0:52:32dropping behind enemy lines was the sand table.
0:52:32 > 0:52:34See this place here?
0:52:34 > 0:52:38Detailing every tree, farmyard and German position.
0:52:39 > 0:52:41Nazis all over. You find yourself there,
0:52:41 > 0:52:43you get the hell out of there.
0:52:43 > 0:52:47You could mould it and make roads,
0:52:47 > 0:52:50make mountains, hills, buildings.
0:52:50 > 0:52:55You had little steeples for churches, anything you wanted.
0:52:55 > 0:53:00It was a guide, a map that you could actually almost feel.
0:53:03 > 0:53:05This is our opportunity to shine, gentlemen.
0:53:11 > 0:53:16Finally on the 4th of June 1944, the eve of D-Day,
0:53:16 > 0:53:18after months of physical training,
0:53:18 > 0:53:22the men prepared themselves mentally for what lay ahead.
0:53:25 > 0:53:28Couldn't sleep on the last night in the camp.
0:53:28 > 0:53:30No, no.
0:53:30 > 0:53:32- We were all sitting talking about it.- Yeah.
0:53:32 > 0:53:34And smoking and...
0:53:34 > 0:53:37- All anxious, yeah.- Yeah.
0:53:37 > 0:53:39Oh, yeah. Sure
0:53:39 > 0:53:43Even the Germans get like that, don't worry, yeah.
0:53:46 > 0:53:50They were sharpening knives, blackening their face,
0:53:50 > 0:53:53they were cutting their hair and they were doing
0:53:53 > 0:53:56everything except probably worrying to death.
0:53:58 > 0:54:01There was a lot of punching and pushing about,
0:54:01 > 0:54:04throwing knives at pictures of Hitler.
0:54:04 > 0:54:08It's the sort of thing soldiers get up to and I think it's a bravado
0:54:08 > 0:54:11cos we knew that we were going on something quite big.
0:54:15 > 0:54:17Then a very British delay.
0:54:17 > 0:54:20THUNDER RUMBLES
0:54:20 > 0:54:21Predicting the weather was, well,
0:54:21 > 0:54:25pretty much the most important part of the build-up to D-Day.
0:54:25 > 0:54:27There was no point taking this collection of ships
0:54:27 > 0:54:28across the English channel
0:54:28 > 0:54:30if the weather was going to be appalling,
0:54:30 > 0:54:31in the teeth of a summer gale,
0:54:31 > 0:54:33because the Armada would be scattered
0:54:33 > 0:54:35and the landing craft would be bashed to bits
0:54:35 > 0:54:39on that shore over there and so it became an incredibly fine art.
0:54:39 > 0:54:44And as you can see, the days leading up to D-Day were not looking good.
0:54:44 > 0:54:45On the 3rd of June it became clear
0:54:45 > 0:54:48there were two deep low-pressure systems here.
0:54:48 > 0:54:51These would make it absolutely impossible to go
0:54:51 > 0:54:53and a 24-hour postponement was ordered
0:54:53 > 0:54:55from the 5th to the 6th of June.
0:54:57 > 0:55:00The fear was, if the weather got any worse,
0:55:00 > 0:55:03it could be weeks before conditions were right again.
0:55:05 > 0:55:09164,000 troops waited for a decision.
0:55:17 > 0:55:18At the eleventh hour,
0:55:18 > 0:55:22the weather offered a small window of opportunity.
0:55:23 > 0:55:26Conditions weren't ideal, but Eisenhower,
0:55:26 > 0:55:31the Allied Supreme Commander, gave the green light.
0:55:31 > 0:55:36He walked into this room and said, "OK, let's go."
0:56:09 > 0:56:13On the evening of June the 5th 1944, 6,000 vessels
0:56:13 > 0:56:16left harbours and ports along the British coastline.
0:56:16 > 0:56:20For the troops leaving Portsmouth Harbour here, they'd have known
0:56:20 > 0:56:22that they were walking in the footsteps
0:56:22 > 0:56:24of countless invasions that had gone before,
0:56:24 > 0:56:29but now it was their turn to write a chapter in military history.
0:56:29 > 0:56:33The next 48 hours would be decisive.
0:56:37 > 0:56:39It would be the last time
0:56:39 > 0:56:41many of the soldiers would see British shores.
0:56:43 > 0:56:47- What a sight, what a sight. - It was...
0:56:47 > 0:56:52It was like playing for England and all the crowd cheering like mad
0:56:52 > 0:56:55and we got to the stage where I think, if my grandmother
0:56:55 > 0:57:00had come past me with a German tin hat on, I think I'd have killed her.
0:57:03 > 0:57:07We recognised that we would probably have about 50% casualties
0:57:07 > 0:57:14and that of those, one in five would be killed
0:57:14 > 0:57:19and, ever the optimist, the American soldier goes into battle,
0:57:19 > 0:57:23no matter what, expecting that HE will be the one to survive.
0:57:27 > 0:57:33I was scared to death, everybody's thoughts were to themselves.
0:57:36 > 0:57:41God Almighty, in a few short hours we will be in battle with the enemy.
0:57:42 > 0:57:49We ask this, that if we die, we must, that we die as men would die,
0:57:49 > 0:57:52without complaining, without pleading
0:57:52 > 0:57:56and safe in the feeling we have done our best for what we believed in.
0:58:12 > 0:58:17Next time, two years of intelligence gathering
0:58:17 > 0:58:19is put to the ultimate test...
0:58:21 > 0:58:23..in a single day of fighting.