0:00:08 > 0:00:10Stitch by stitch,
0:00:10 > 0:00:14this unique work of art draws together the threads of
0:00:14 > 0:00:17the biggest seaborne military invasion
0:00:17 > 0:00:18in the history of the world.
0:00:22 > 0:00:28This is the Overlord Embroidery, named after Operation Overlord,
0:00:28 > 0:00:32the codename given to the Allied invasion of Nazi occupied France
0:00:32 > 0:00:37which heralded the beginning of the end of World War Two in Europe.
0:00:37 > 0:00:43And it all started on 6th June 1944, which is 70 years ago this week.
0:00:46 > 0:00:50With hymns recorded over the years from congregations with
0:00:50 > 0:00:52special reasons to remember D-day,
0:00:52 > 0:00:56we hear how Christian soldiers kept the faith during times of war.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59And we discover that not all war memorials
0:00:59 > 0:01:00are made of stone and bronze.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14Although Remembrance Sunday is marked just once a year,
0:01:14 > 0:01:19war memorials stand at the heart of communities all over the country
0:01:19 > 0:01:24to remind us of our promise that at every going down of the sun
0:01:24 > 0:01:28and in the morning, we will remember them.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32On this 70th anniversary of the largest mobilisation of troops
0:01:32 > 0:01:35ever seen, I've come to Portsmouth.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38This is the home of the D-day Museum.
0:01:38 > 0:01:42And that's because this was one of the most crucial locations
0:01:42 > 0:01:46along our southern shores from which troops set sail
0:01:46 > 0:01:48on what has become known as 'the longest day.'
0:01:51 > 0:01:54Today is Ascension Sunday when we remember Christ,
0:01:54 > 0:01:59who had overcome death, ascending into heaven to reign as Lord,
0:01:59 > 0:02:02which is how he is depicted in the D-day memorial window
0:02:02 > 0:02:05of Portsmouth's Anglican Cathedral.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11Based on the words of a 16th century military chaplain, our first hymn
0:02:11 > 0:02:15reminds us that however frail or vulnerable we might be feeling,
0:02:15 > 0:02:19we are assured of the might and protection of our heavenly Father.
0:04:45 > 0:04:50By 1943, the Allies knew that if they had any chance of winning
0:04:50 > 0:04:54the war, they had to invade mainland Europe.
0:04:54 > 0:04:55But how?
0:04:55 > 0:04:56And where?
0:05:00 > 0:05:04Months of bluff and double bluff had tricked Hitler into thinking
0:05:04 > 0:05:06the attack would come via Calais,
0:05:06 > 0:05:08the shortest route across the Channel...
0:05:10 > 0:05:12..when the real target was Normandy.
0:05:14 > 0:05:20They came by air, just after midnight on 6th June 1944.
0:05:20 > 0:05:27The first assault by 29,000 British, American, and Canadian paratroopers.
0:05:31 > 0:05:35And amongst the first to jump was the late British film star
0:05:35 > 0:05:39Richard Todd who, some years ago, described for Songs Of Praise
0:05:39 > 0:05:42how he and his comrades prepared for battle with prayer.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49On the day that D-day was to take place, in the early evening,
0:05:49 > 0:05:52we had a drumhead service...
0:05:53 > 0:05:56..with blackened faces, cos we'd been issued
0:05:56 > 0:05:59with our camouflage paint, and, I suppose,
0:05:59 > 0:06:02the thought probably occurred to me at the time,
0:06:02 > 0:06:05the contrast between...
0:06:06 > 0:06:12..what these chaps were preparing for and the job they were going to do...
0:06:14 > 0:06:17..and the service they were taking part in at that moment,
0:06:17 > 0:06:19it was a different world.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23Here they were, singing, Onward Christian Soldiers,
0:06:23 > 0:06:27and repeating their prayers. A few hours later...
0:06:28 > 0:06:32..they were going to be in battle. Many of them didn't survive.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35That's the way of war.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44I think I'm probably a better person as a result.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47I think I learnt a lot of humility.
0:06:47 > 0:06:51I learnt how to care for other people, I lost a lot of friends.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56And there's a great deal of my saying thank God
0:06:56 > 0:07:01because whether it was someone up there, or wherever it was,
0:07:01 > 0:07:02I was looked after.
0:09:56 > 0:10:01Operation Neptune was the codename given to the seaborne assault
0:10:01 > 0:10:03that followed at dawn that morning.
0:10:03 > 0:10:08134,000 men left the shores of England in a flotilla
0:10:08 > 0:10:12of 7,000 ships. 24 hours later,
0:10:12 > 0:10:1519,000 of them had lost their lives.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20The 50 mile stretch of Normandy coastline
0:10:20 > 0:10:22was divided into five sections.
0:10:22 > 0:10:27Utah, Omaha, Gold, Sword, and Juno, which is where
0:10:27 > 0:10:31this ship, now in Southampton docks, was then HMS Calshot,
0:10:31 > 0:10:36a floating headquarters, which sent men, like Ted Turner,
0:10:36 > 0:10:40just 18 years old, a British Royal Marine, struggling on to
0:10:40 > 0:10:43Juno beach in support of a team of Canadian comrades.
0:10:47 > 0:10:52Coming in that morning, nobody spoke, nobody said a word. It was quiet.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58The only order we had was when we were going over,
0:10:58 > 0:11:01when we left Portsmouth to go to going to Normandy,
0:11:01 > 0:11:03if anybody fell overboard,
0:11:03 > 0:11:06we just had to keep going, we couldn't stop.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09Somebody else we hoped would pick them up.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15As you got closer to the beach, the big guns started opening up,
0:11:15 > 0:11:17and the noise, it was...
0:11:17 > 0:11:18oh...
0:11:18 > 0:11:21You never heard so much noise. It was terrific.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26As we approached, you see, we were being fired at.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30I could also see the Canadians getting off the landing craft,
0:11:30 > 0:11:33and you could see them, they went onto the beach,
0:11:33 > 0:11:37and a lot of them went down. So, they were being shot, you know.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42You just hope and pray that you would get through it.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47When it comes to things like going to Normandy,
0:11:47 > 0:11:51then they start praying, even those that are not religious.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53Everybody starts praying.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56I don't know if we prayed together.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59I think we just prayed singly, on our own.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03Did you feel that God was on your side?
0:12:03 > 0:12:06I think he's always been on my side. Even now.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11How does going back to Normandy make you feel?
0:12:11 > 0:12:16I go back to Normandy twice a year. My friends are over there.
0:12:23 > 0:12:24Very emotional.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32And some people say they've got a brother, or somebody like that,
0:12:32 > 0:12:34or a husband over there...
0:12:35 > 0:12:38Well, I say, "When I go over there,
0:12:38 > 0:12:40"I will put some flowers on their grave."
0:12:44 > 0:12:49After the men had taken the beaches, supplies and vehicles were sent,
0:12:49 > 0:12:54landing on offshore piers called Mulberry harbours.
0:12:54 > 0:12:55Many of these were constructed
0:12:55 > 0:12:58in the peaceful setting of Buckler's Hard,
0:12:58 > 0:13:00an ancient ship building village
0:13:00 > 0:13:03on the Beaulieu River, near Southampton water.
0:13:03 > 0:13:07It's said that Isaac Watts was gazing across this view
0:13:07 > 0:13:10when he was moved to write our next hymn,
0:13:10 > 0:13:14performed for us now in Beaulieu Church by the Waynflete Singers.
0:15:39 > 0:15:44One of the heroes of D-day was Army chaplain Henry Lovegrove.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47His Military Cross is among the unique artefacts
0:15:47 > 0:15:51at the British Army Chaplaincy Museum in Andover.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54John Holliman, a former Archdeacon to the Army,
0:15:54 > 0:15:57knew Lovegrove in later life.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01Henry was a Baptist,
0:16:01 > 0:16:05but it has always been the situation in the forces, certainly in recent
0:16:05 > 0:16:08years, of not worrying about what denomination your chaplain is.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11The most important thing is you've got a chaplain, and a man,
0:16:11 > 0:16:13or woman, of faith serving you in that capacity.
0:16:15 > 0:16:20Henry was one of those people who was quite humble about his whole history.
0:16:21 > 0:16:26I am certainly aware that he managed to do a lot of rescuing of wounded
0:16:26 > 0:16:30people in order to save others from having to see rather gruesome sights.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33War is not pretty. Battles are even less pretty.
0:16:33 > 0:16:39They are ugly, dirty, messy, bloody, and totally hellish.
0:16:39 > 0:16:41And that's perhaps one of the reasons why
0:16:41 > 0:16:44we actually need chaplains on board on such occasions
0:16:44 > 0:16:48because people need reminding that there is a God after all.
0:16:48 > 0:16:53People need reminding that there are things other than what's
0:16:53 > 0:16:55going on around them in the battle.
0:16:55 > 0:16:59They also need to know, it's sometimes said that,
0:16:59 > 0:17:02certainly in my time, that soldiers, or a soldier,
0:17:02 > 0:17:05wants to know that if he's wounded, he will get quick medical care.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08But he wants to know if his mate is killed that his mate's body
0:17:08 > 0:17:11will be looked after properly, and he'll get a decent burial.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15A chaplain goes in as a non-combatant,
0:17:15 > 0:17:18he's not taking part in the actual fighting bit of the war.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22He is there to bring strength and hope,
0:17:22 > 0:17:25and faith where it might otherwise be missing.
0:19:50 > 0:19:54Down the years, men have traditionally marched off to war,
0:19:54 > 0:19:57leaving women to support the war effort at home.
0:19:59 > 0:20:03900 years ago, women whose men were away
0:20:03 > 0:20:05fighting in the Norman conquest
0:20:05 > 0:20:09used needlework to depict a timeless record of that conflict
0:20:09 > 0:20:11in the Bayeux Tapestry.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17More than two decades after the Second World War,
0:20:17 > 0:20:20women once again got busy with needle and thread
0:20:20 > 0:20:25to record the events of D-day in the Overlord Embroidery.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28The Royal School of Needlework embroidered designs taken from
0:20:28 > 0:20:32a series of 8ft paintings by artist Sandra Lawrence.
0:20:33 > 0:20:37It took 20 of them five years.
0:20:37 > 0:20:41And it took me four years to produce those panels.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46I mean, the amount of different stitches you've got in here,
0:20:46 > 0:20:49different sorts of fabrics, I mean, it's astonishing, really.
0:20:51 > 0:20:55The beginning of it starts with what we term the Beleaguered Island,
0:20:55 > 0:20:58where we're being attacked by Germany.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00And it's the Battle of Britain.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02And the fantastic fight that went on.
0:21:04 > 0:21:06And then the Blitz.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10And then the convoys going over to America for food
0:21:10 > 0:21:12and then getting blown up.
0:21:14 > 0:21:18Who came up with the idea for the embroidery in the first place?
0:21:18 > 0:21:2320 years after the war, Lord Dulverton liked the idea very much
0:21:23 > 0:21:28of commissioning a second Bayeux Tapestry so he discussed it
0:21:28 > 0:21:32with some friends of his, and they thought, "What a good idea!"
0:21:33 > 0:21:35We all used to meet every three months,
0:21:35 > 0:21:39and they would tell me precisely what they wanted in the next panel.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41And they were fabulous
0:21:41 > 0:21:45cos they always talked in double-o hours, you know, very military.
0:21:45 > 0:21:46It was very funny.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49Some of those meetings were absolutely wonderful, actually.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55The Admiral would practically fall asleep if there wasn't a ship to be seen in sight.
0:21:55 > 0:21:57SHE LAUGHS
0:21:59 > 0:22:02I think it's a wonderful thing that it's being portrayed.
0:22:04 > 0:22:05I'm not saying by me,
0:22:05 > 0:22:08but that it has been done
0:22:08 > 0:22:11because it was a fantastic feat.
0:22:12 > 0:22:17This is a tribute to all those people that participated in bringing
0:22:17 > 0:22:19this great event about.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23It is not a tribute to war, or the glory of war.
0:22:23 > 0:22:27This is a tribute to every single individual that participated
0:22:27 > 0:22:31making this happen, to fight this evil.
0:22:32 > 0:22:37And it took a lot of guts and a lot of courage, and faith...
0:22:38 > 0:22:40..I think is the operative word,
0:22:40 > 0:22:42in the belief of good.
0:22:47 > 0:22:55It's a memorial to those brave people that put their lives down
0:22:55 > 0:22:58for our country, and for the freedom in this country.
0:22:58 > 0:23:03And without that freedom, I wonder where we would have been today.
0:23:10 > 0:23:15Coventry was a city flattened by World War II bombs.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19Its cathedral is now dedicated to peace and reconciliation,
0:23:19 > 0:23:25and has its own famous tapestry of the ascended Christ In Glory.
0:25:48 > 0:25:53We talk of D-day, but although 6th June marked the beginning
0:25:53 > 0:25:56of the end of World War Two, it would be more than a year
0:25:56 > 0:26:01before peace would come to both Europe and the Far East.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the United States President
0:26:07 > 0:26:11Franklin Roosevelt often prayed together during the war years.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16Almighty God...
0:26:16 > 0:26:19our sons, pride of our nation...
0:26:20 > 0:26:24..this day have set upon a mighty endeavour.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26Lead them straight and true.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30We've adapted a few words of Roosevelt's D-day prayer
0:26:30 > 0:26:33and combined them with a brand-new version of the Evening Prayer,
0:26:33 > 0:26:37sung by Portsmouth's own Convivium Singers.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44We fought for liberty, justice,
0:26:44 > 0:26:48tolerance and goodwill among all God's people.
0:26:48 > 0:26:52We yearn for the end of battle and our return to the haven of home.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38Embrace those who did not return, Father.
0:27:38 > 0:27:40And receive them into your kingdom.
0:28:23 > 0:28:27And for us at home - children, mothers, fathers, wives, husbands...
0:28:27 > 0:28:32sisters and brothers of all brave men and women of the Forces.
0:28:32 > 0:28:35Our thoughts and prayers are ever with them.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33And the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son
0:29:33 > 0:29:39and Holy Spirit be with us all and those we remember ever-more.
0:29:39 > 0:29:40Amen.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47At least 55 million people
0:29:47 > 0:29:50lost their lives during the Second World War.
0:29:50 > 0:29:53Yet amongst the unspeakable pain and horror
0:29:53 > 0:29:57were countless moments of courage and sacrifice
0:29:57 > 0:30:01by people willing to lay down their lives for others.
0:30:03 > 0:30:08Christians have the certain hope of the resurrection and life
0:30:08 > 0:30:14won by Christ's supreme sacrifice once and for all upon the cross.
0:30:14 > 0:30:18And his ascension into heaven is our reassurance of His faithful
0:30:18 > 0:30:21presence and His eternal glory.
0:33:26 > 0:33:32Next week we celebrate the birthday of the church on Pentecost Sunday.
0:33:32 > 0:33:37Diane puts on her dancing shoes to rehearse with the group Rebirth
0:33:37 > 0:33:40and our hymns come from Leicester Cathedral
0:33:40 > 0:33:44where a Pentecost treat is about to be unveiled.