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[Music]
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1944
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and on the eastern front hitler's forces
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were being pushed back towards the
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german border
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but germany was about to face a new
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threat
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in the west allied forces have been
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preparing for months to open a new front
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in northwest france
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training for it was well underway
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but it was an attack hitler had long
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been expecting
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his problem was knowing when and above
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all where
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it would come the stage was set for one
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of the greatest battles of world war
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ii d-day the allied landings along the
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normandy coast of france
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since the early years of the war
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britain's prime minister winston
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churchill
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had always been certain that at some
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point an allied invasion of northern
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europe would be necessary
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[Music]
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the only questions were when where
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and how to test the waters british
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forces had already mounted a number of
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practice operations
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in december 1941 british commandos
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raided the wagso islands
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off the coast of nazi occupied norway
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it was an attempt to probe german
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defenses and tied down hitler's troops
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in the north
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the fish oil factory and coastal
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defenses were blown up
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before the commandos withdrew
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eight months later canadian and british
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troops were sent in to mount a more
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ambitious raid
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on the french port of dieppe
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it too was designed to test the defenses
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and also to provide
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combat experience for the canadians
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[Music]
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but this time it was a catastrophe
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craft approached the main beach they
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were met by withering fire
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those troops that made it ashore were
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immediately
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pinned down
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behind them the supporting tanks became
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bogged down in the shingles
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few managed to scale the sea wall
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over 3 000 allied soldiers were killed
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or taken prisoner britain had learned
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an important lesson never attempt a
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direct assault
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on a german-occupied port
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equally importantly the diet disaster
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reinforced the british view
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that an invasion of europe could not be
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rushed
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[Music]
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churchill understood it would require
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careful planning
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eventually in april 1943 at an allied
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conference in washington
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churchill and the u.s president franklin
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roosevelt
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agreed upon a date
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[Music]
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d-day or operation overlord as the
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seabourn invasion of france was formally
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called
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would take place in the summer of 1944
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but by now the germans were preparing
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for it in earnest
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since the winter of 1941 they had been
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building
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an atlantic war
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it was a massive series of
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fortifications running along the
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european coast
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from denmark to the spanish border
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gun emplacements have been constructed
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at likely landing sites
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beaches have been mined and covered in
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barbed wire
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obstacles have been placed in strategic
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places to block landing craft
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hitler had posted i am the greatest
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builder of fortifications of
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all time
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in the summer of 1942 in the wake of the
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diep attack
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work on the atlantic war had been
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stepped up
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hitler had also ordered an increase in
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troop numbers in the region
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the german overall commander in the west
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field marshal guert von roenstedt
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had been given 15 further divisions
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but the western european coast stretched
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for some
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two thousand miles he didn't have the
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numbers to man the entire length
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von rundstedt faced a difficult decision
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where should he position his
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overstretched forces to maximize their
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effect
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the question led to bitter arguments
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inside the german leadership
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von roenstedt proposed holding a large
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force of panzers in reserve
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northwest of paris he could then send it
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in against an invasion
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once he knew where it was happening
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but the hugely respected field marshal
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ervin rummel
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commander of the troops covering the
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sector from holland along the french
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coast to the loire
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had a different view
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rommel's concern was allied air power
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he'd seen it first hand when he fought
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the british in north africa
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and it had left a profound impression
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he feared that any counter-attack would
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be broken up by allied aircraft
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long before it could go into action
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rommel had also inspected hitler's
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atlantic war
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and found much of it wanting
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it had forced him to the conclusion that
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the best place to position the panzers
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was as close as possible to the most
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likely landing sites
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that way an invasion could be
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immediately pushed back
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before it got a foothold
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hitler compromised
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roonstead was given a small force he
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could hold in reserve
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though hitler himself would have the
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final say as to when it could be used
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the rest of the additional troops were
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scattered along the entire atlantic
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seaboard
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in accordance with rommel's wishes
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it would turn out to be the worst of all
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the solutions
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there were neither enough reserves nor
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enough tanks near the coast
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but in the autumn of 1943 none of this
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was clear
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in britain the allied planners were also
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grappling with the problem of location
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where was the best place to land
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their chief planner general frederick
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morgan
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quickly realized there were two
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principal options
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the paddock alley and
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it offered the shortest sea crossing and
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it often the shortest and most direct
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way to germany
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but it was also the most obvious route
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and morgan was sure the germans were
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expecting it
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[Music]
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so he decided to wrong football morgan
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would land in normandy
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it was the beginning of a huge gamble on
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which the fate of hundreds of thousands
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of soldiers
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would depend
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[Music]
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in the autumn of 1943 allied photo
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reconnaissance aircraft
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swept over the beaches of northern
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france
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it was part of a huge planning operation
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for the seabourn invasion of europe
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the fortifications of the atlantic wall
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were monitored by the french resistance
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men crept ashore to collect sand samples
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to test whether armored vehicles could
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be landed
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northern france became the most
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reconnoited coastline
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in the history of warfare
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it soon became clear any landing would
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need some kind of port facilities
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[Music]
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but the disaster at dm had shown that it
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was too dangerous to attempt a direct
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assault on a german-occupied port
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[Music]
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britain's planners were forced to come
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up with an ingenious alternative
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giant hollow concrete boxes were
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constructed in britain
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that could later be towed to the french
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coast
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though they would be sunk to form an
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artificial harbor
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they were known by their code name
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mulberries
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[Music]
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the mulberries would be supplied with
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fuel by a pipeline
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unwound from giant reels and dropped on
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the seabed
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it would run for a hundred miles
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[Music]
00:13:03
the pumping station on the isle of wight
00:13:05
was disguised as an ice cream parlor
00:13:10
but the raid on deer had also revealed a
00:13:12
second problem
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how to get the first wave of troops off
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the beaches
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and through the german fortifications
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the man told to solve that question was
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general percy hobart
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one of the pioneers of armored warfare
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hobart came up with a series of
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ingenious devices
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the troops called them the funnies
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they included such extraordinary
00:13:47
machines as flame throwers
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and floating tanks
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flail tanks for clearing mines
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the bobbin for laying firm paths across
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sand or shingle
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an armored ramp for climbing sea walls
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the fascine carrier for tackling ditches
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[Music]
00:14:27
and the bridging tank for wider
00:14:30
obstacles
00:14:35
[Music]
00:14:36
that left just one problem how to stop
00:14:39
the germans rushing in overwhelming
00:14:41
reinforcements
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before the allies had established a
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foothold
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the answer was to keep them guessing
00:14:52
until the very last moment
00:14:53
as to where the invasion would take
00:14:55
place
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bodyguard was a massive and complex
00:15:00
deception campaign
00:15:04
german double agents in britain now
00:15:06
began sending back to germany
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huge amounts of carefully coordinated
00:15:10
false information
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this emphasized that the main landings
00:15:14
would be in the paddock
00:15:16
although a faint attack might be
00:15:19
launched in normandy
00:15:25
to muddy the water still further the
00:15:27
allied military created a fictitious
00:15:29
army unit
00:15:30
the so-called first u.s army group or
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fusan
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it was stationed very obviously in kent
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bang opposite the paddock
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the man in charge of it was the pistol
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toting us general
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george patton who'd been removed from
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action in sicily
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after slapping shell-shocked soldiers
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patton was rated by the germans as the
00:16:05
allies best attacking general
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just the man they expected to command
00:16:10
the invasion of western europe
00:16:16
radio transmissions mimi the wireless
00:16:19
traffic of an army
00:16:23
for the benefit of any luftwaffe
00:16:24
reconnaissance aircraft flying over
00:16:26
britain
00:16:27
the fields of kent were filled with
00:16:29
inflatable tanks
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and carefully faked track marks
00:16:36
[Music]
00:16:43
there were dummy aircraft made of wood
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and canvas
00:16:50
harbours along the kent coast were
00:16:52
filled with dummy landing craft
00:16:56
[Music]
00:17:00
there were even troops though these were
00:17:03
in reality
00:17:04
backup units
00:17:09
in late 1943 the allies appointed u.s
00:17:12
general dwight eisenhower
00:17:14
the supreme allied commander for the
00:17:16
invasion of europe
00:17:22
british general bernard montgomery would
00:17:24
be in overall command of the initial
00:17:26
assault troops
00:17:30
d-day was fixed for june 5th 1944.
00:17:44
two months before the landing eisenhower
00:17:46
launched an elaborate air offensive to
00:17:48
disrupt german links to the coast
00:18:00
once again it was carefully planned to
00:18:01
give the impression the allies target
00:18:04
was the pada calais region
00:18:11
as the date of the invasion approached
00:18:13
allied troop numbers in england reached
00:18:15
over
00:18:15
2 million
00:18:18
they were supported by more than 3 000
00:18:21
tanks
00:18:23
and 12 000 aircraft
00:18:30
the germans were well aware an invasion
00:18:32
was imminent
00:18:34
but they had been completely taken in by
00:18:36
the allies phony preparations in kent
00:18:39
and were convinced the most likely
00:18:40
landing spot was the paddock alley
00:18:50
everything seemed to be going the allies
00:18:54
way
00:18:57
the troops were briefed
00:19:01
then the weather turned against them
00:19:07
rain lashed down visibility was poor
00:19:11
and the channel was stormy
00:19:15
[Music]
00:19:19
nevertheless on june 4th 1944
00:19:22
the assault troops boarded their landing
00:19:24
ships and the armada of more than 5
00:19:26
000 vessels set sail
00:19:34
but the rain continued to lash down and
00:19:37
later that day the invasion had to be
00:19:39
bespoke
00:19:44
the ships returned to port and the
00:19:46
assault troops faced
00:19:47
a nerve shredding weight
00:19:57
early the next morning the military
00:19:59
leadership met again
00:20:03
the naval commanders were keen to go
00:20:05
ahead
00:20:08
but the air chiefs were dumped they
00:20:10
worried the visibility would still be
00:20:12
too
00:20:13
poor to provide effective air support
00:20:20
after a long silence eisenhower looked
00:20:22
up
00:20:25
let's go he said
00:20:36
operation overlord the greatest seabourn
00:20:39
invasion ever was underway
00:20:42
d-day had begun
00:20:56
at 1 15 in the morning of june the 6th
00:20:58
1944
00:21:00
british aircraft towing gliders arrived
00:21:03
over the coast of northern france
00:21:08
then the gliders were released and
00:21:10
plunged down to capture vital bridges
00:21:12
over the corn canal
00:21:14
in eastern normandy
00:21:19
the allies had launched their great
00:21:21
gamble to invade hitler's empire
00:21:23
in western europe
00:21:30
50 miles to the west u.s paratroops came
00:21:33
down around the village of san mariglies
00:21:42
there was a fierce firefighter
00:21:52
but three hours later the village was in
00:21:54
u.s hands
00:21:59
one of the most crucial battles of world
00:22:02
war ii
00:22:03
was underway
00:22:04
[Music]
00:22:08
an hour later horrified german centuries
00:22:11
along the normandy coast
00:22:13
saw a vast armada appear out of the mist
00:22:19
they had had no warning
00:22:28
the allied fleet had sailed under cover
00:22:30
of darkness
00:22:33
moreover allied countermeasures had
00:22:35
confused the german radar
00:22:37
into believing the main weight of the
00:22:38
attack was approaching the french coast
00:22:40
further east
00:22:41
at the bada calais
00:22:49
allied warships off the normandy coast
00:22:51
now began
00:22:52
pounding the german defensive positions
00:23:06
wave after wave of aircraft swept
00:23:09
overhead
00:23:21
under cover of the bombardment assault
00:23:24
troops headed for the shore
00:23:32
but as they closed in german artillery
00:23:35
and machine guns
00:23:36
opened fire
00:23:44
a number of the landing craft were hit
00:23:49
others fell foul of underwater
00:23:51
obstructions
00:23:56
but at 6 30 in the morning the first
00:23:58
waves of
00:23:59
troops hit the beaches
00:24:16
at the far western end the us fourth
00:24:18
infantry division came ashore near at
00:24:20
what they called
00:24:21
utah beach
00:24:27
[Music]
00:24:29
within two hours it was linking up with
00:24:30
the u.s paratroopers
00:24:32
who'd landed at san mariglies
00:24:41
next door at omaha beach it was more
00:24:44
difficult the beach was a defender's
00:24:47
dream
00:24:47
with high cliffs and few ways inland
00:24:57
as the us first infantry division waded
00:24:59
ashore
00:25:00
they were moaned down by german machine
00:25:02
guns
00:25:09
to make matters worse the americans
00:25:11
amphibious tanks
00:25:13
were swamped
00:25:19
the troops were trapped on the beach
00:25:24
disaster was looming
00:25:33
but finally a few of the soldiers
00:25:36
managed to scale the cliffs
00:25:46
against all the odds the americans hung
00:25:49
on to the beach
00:25:59
further east in the center of the
00:26:01
landing area britain's 50th infantry
00:26:03
division
00:26:04
came ashore at gold beach
00:26:12
they too meant savage fun
00:26:24
but now the british deployed their
00:26:26
funnies
00:26:32
the troops were soon moving inland
00:26:39
at the adjoining landing spot juno beach
00:26:42
the canadian third infantry division
00:26:44
faced a similar situation
00:26:53
here too britain's funnies were vital in
00:26:55
helping the troops off the beach
00:27:04
finally on the far left flank at sword
00:27:07
beach
00:27:07
the british third infantry division met
00:27:10
only patchy resistance
00:27:17
within hours its commandos had linked up
00:27:19
with the glider-borne troops at the corn
00:27:21
canal
00:27:29
by early afternoon the allies had
00:27:31
successfully established
00:27:32
all of the beachheads
00:27:40
the timing of the invasion had caught
00:27:42
the germans completely by surprise
00:27:44
they'd expected the allies to wait until
00:27:47
the weather had cleared
00:27:50
rommel the operational german commander
00:27:53
for the whole of the north west french
00:27:55
coast
00:27:55
had taken the opportunity of bad weather
00:27:57
to visit his family in germany
00:28:02
his immediate subordinate in normandy
00:28:05
and brittany
00:28:06
general friedrich dolman was over a
00:28:08
hundred miles away
00:28:10
taking part in a war game exercise
00:28:16
only the overall german commander for
00:28:18
the whole of western europe
00:28:20
field marshal kurt von roenstedt was at
00:28:22
his hq
00:28:27
but he needed hitler's permission to
00:28:29
move his panzer reserves to the
00:28:31
battlefield
00:28:35
however hitler was asleep and his aides
00:28:39
wouldn't wake him
00:28:42
it wasn't until midday that the fuhrer
00:28:45
finally learnt about the invasion
00:28:47
but he didn't take it seriously
00:28:52
he was still convinced the main attack
00:28:53
would come in the padakale
00:28:56
normandy he believed was just a thing
00:29:04
finally in the late afternoon when the
00:29:06
scale of the invasion was becoming all
00:29:08
too
00:29:08
clear hitler unleashed his reserves
00:29:18
but they were too far away to provide
00:29:20
immediate support
00:29:27
[Music]
00:29:32
despite stubborn german resistance the
00:29:35
beach heads around utah
00:29:37
gold and juno and sword were secure
00:29:40
[Music]
00:29:44
only at omaha was a situation more
00:29:46
precarious
00:29:52
here german resistance had prevented the
00:29:54
u.s troops moving more than a mile in
00:30:05
[Music]
00:30:06
land
00:30:09
by nightfall on june 6th over a hundred
00:30:12
thousand
00:30:12
allied troops had been landed in
00:30:16
[Music]
00:30:20
normandy
00:30:22
it had been an extraordinary feat of
00:30:25
planning
00:30:26
ingenuity and courage
00:30:30
the first day of the allies great gamble
00:30:33
had paid off
00:30:36
but it was just the beginning now they
00:30:39
had to build up
00:30:40
break out and push off into europe
00:30:56
as the second day dawned on the greatest
00:30:58
seabourn invasion
00:31:00
ever attempted thousands of allied
00:31:02
troops had broken out of their
00:31:03
beachheads
00:31:04
and were moving inland
00:31:11
but they found the normandy countryside
00:31:16
hard-going the patchwork of woodland and
00:31:19
small fields
00:31:20
provided ideal terrain for german tanks
00:31:23
and machine guns
00:31:37
the allies suffered heavy casualties
00:31:47
allied air power provided crucial
00:31:50
support
00:31:51
when von runster's panzer reinforcements
00:31:53
arrived
00:31:54
they'd been so depleted by the air
00:31:56
attacks that they were unable to mount a
00:31:58
major
00:31:59
counter-attack
00:32:04
the german reinforcements were also
00:32:06
hampered by french resistance fighters
00:32:08
operating behind german lines
00:32:18
they ambushed troop convoys and blew up
00:32:21
bridges
00:32:25
as a result the dasrai ss panzer
00:32:28
division
00:32:28
took over two weeks to make a journey
00:32:30
which should have lasted
00:32:32
a mere three days
00:32:36
its troops took out their fury on the
00:32:38
french civilian population
00:32:45
the village of aurador glen and its 642
00:32:49
inhabitants were wiped out
00:33:03
after four days of fighting all the
00:33:05
allied beachheads
00:33:06
were finally able to link up
00:33:14
but they'd still only manage to
00:33:16
penetrate 10 miles in
00:33:28
eventually six days after the landing
00:33:31
the british commander general montgomery
00:33:33
launched a major assault on the
00:33:34
strategically important town of kong
00:33:40
the british 7th armored division the
00:33:42
desert rats
00:33:43
advanced
00:33:50
but its spearhead ran into four german
00:33:52
tiger tanks
00:34:00
the allies sherman tanks were completely
00:34:02
outclassed
00:34:04
their guns were out ranged and their
00:34:06
shells unable to penetrate the german
00:34:08
armor
00:34:11
they were particularly vulnerable
00:34:13
because many ran on petrol fuel
00:34:15
and were liable to burst into flames
00:34:17
when hit
00:34:20
the germans nicknamed the sherman the
00:34:22
ronson after the cigarette lighter
00:34:24
or more macabrely the tommy cooker
00:34:31
in less than five minutes more than 10
00:34:33
british tanks were destroyed
00:34:38
the attack on kong stormed
00:34:49
outmatched by the german tanks the
00:34:52
allies relied on air power
00:34:54
and artillery
00:34:59
but it wasn't enough the desert rats
00:35:02
retreated
00:35:06
kong remained in german hands
00:35:19
meanwhile further west u.s forces
00:35:21
advanced on the equally important port
00:35:24
of sherburne
00:35:34
it would take them nearly 10 days to get
00:35:36
close to it
00:35:44
they weren't helped by the weather
00:35:50
during the first week of the invasion it
00:35:53
had been relatively calm
00:35:54
and supplies and reinforcements had
00:35:56
poured in through the mulberry
00:35:58
artificial harbors
00:36:02
but now the weather turned gail swept
00:36:05
the english channel
00:36:10
the us mulberry harbor at omaha was
00:36:12
destroyed
00:36:14
[Music]
00:36:16
the other mulberry in the british sector
00:36:18
was badly damaged
00:36:20
put out of action for several days
00:36:25
the flow of reinforcement slowed
00:36:29
it meant the port of cherbourg was an
00:36:31
even more
00:36:32
vital objective
00:36:37
as the u.s forces now approached it the
00:36:40
german garrison
00:36:41
resisted
00:36:52
there was fierce house-to-house fighting
00:37:00
take the allies a week to secure the
00:37:06
city
00:37:12
but the port had been trashed by the
00:37:14
fleeing germans
00:37:17
it would take a further month before it
00:37:19
could be brought back into service
00:37:28
meanwhile montgomery launched another
00:37:31
assault on kong
00:37:39
the storms had turned the fields into a
00:37:40
sea of mud
00:37:42
low cloud meant air support was
00:37:48
impossible
00:37:56
to make matters worse the newly arrived
00:37:58
elite german second ss
00:38:00
panzer corps was thrown into the defense
00:38:02
of the city
00:38:09
after four days the british were again
00:38:12
forced to halt
00:38:19
then as the clouds cleared nearly 500
00:38:23
allied bombers devastated
00:38:37
british troops fought their way into the
00:38:39
north suburbs
00:38:44
but the ruins made ideal defensive
00:38:46
positions for the germans
00:38:58
allied casualties mounted
00:39:02
[Music]
00:39:06
after 48 hours the attack was yet again
00:39:16
three weeks later montgomery tried for a
00:39:19
fourth time
00:39:23
the plan was to capture the remaining
00:39:24
german strongholds
00:39:26
and then push on south deeper into
00:39:28
france
00:39:41
after two more days of fighting the city
00:39:44
was finally won
00:39:49
the way now seemed open for the british
00:39:51
tanks to move south
00:39:52
deeper into france
00:40:00
but the germans were waiting with a
00:40:02
large force of panzers
00:40:11
the british advance stopped again
00:40:20
the americans in the west however were
00:40:22
having an easier time
00:40:24
the fighting around kong had sucked in
00:40:27
the majority of the german defenders
00:40:32
as the american forces prepared to
00:40:34
thrust further into france
00:40:36
they faced only scattered opposition
00:40:40
the scene was set for the allied forces
00:40:43
to break out
00:40:44
at last
00:40:55
at 9 30 in the morning of july the 25th
00:40:57
1944
00:40:59
over 1800 allied aircraft carpet bombed
00:41:02
a four-mile stretch of the german front
00:41:04
line
00:41:05
south of sherborne
00:41:09
it was the beginning of operation cobra
00:41:12
the u.s breakout into france
00:41:20
german defenders were stunned by the
00:41:21
size of the assault
00:41:23
[Music]
00:41:25
so too were some of the us soldiers
00:41:30
the plan had been for the bombers to fly
00:41:32
in from the east parallel to the u.s
00:41:34
front line
00:41:35
to minimize the risk of bombing american
00:41:38
troops
00:41:40
[Music]
00:41:44
but most of the aircraft came in over
00:41:46
the top of the u.s
00:41:47
lines
00:41:50
bombs fell short
00:41:53
over a hundred u.s troops were hit and
00:42:00
killed
00:42:02
yet despite the ferocity of the
00:42:04
bombardment when the u.s
00:42:06
forces later picked themselves up and
00:42:08
moved forward
00:42:09
they found to their astonishment
00:42:11
substantial numbers of german troops had
00:42:14
survived
00:42:19
the survivors mounted a stubborn
00:42:21
resistance
00:42:27
this fighting raged it looked as though
00:42:30
the americans would fail to break
00:42:31
through the german lines but then
00:42:44
the german defenses crumbled
00:42:56
the next morning u.s tanks broke through
00:42:59
and moved forward into open country
00:43:03
there was now almost no german
00:43:05
resistance left
00:43:07
and the americans quickly pushed deeper
00:43:10
into france
00:43:14
the hilltown of couture's fell
00:43:20
then the crossroads town of avranche
00:43:28
as the allies pressed forward they were
00:43:30
helped by change and confusion in the
00:43:33
german high command
00:43:37
at the beginning of july three weeks
00:43:39
after the d-day landings
00:43:41
hitler dismissed the german
00:43:42
commander-in-chief field marshal guert
00:43:45
von runstedt
00:43:46
for defeatism
00:43:49
von runstedt had made little attempt to
00:43:51
hide his belief
00:43:52
that germany faced an unwinnable
00:43:54
struggle
00:44:00
he was replaced by field marshal gunter
00:44:02
von kluger
00:44:03
fresh from the eastern front but with
00:44:05
little knowledge of north northwestern
00:44:07
france
00:44:13
two weeks later rommel the second most
00:44:16
senior german officer on the front
00:44:18
was severely injured when his staff car
00:44:20
was strafed by a british fighter
00:44:25
[Music]
00:44:29
then with the nazi command already in
00:44:32
confusion
00:44:33
there was an assassination attempt on
00:44:35
hitler's life
00:44:37
on july the 20th 1944 a disillusioned
00:44:41
aristocratic war hero colonel klaus
00:44:43
shank graf von schaufenberg
00:44:46
planted a bomb in the planning hut at
00:44:48
hitler's headquarters in east prussia
00:44:50
[Music]
00:44:56
four officers were killed
00:45:00
but hitler was sheltered by a heavy
00:45:02
solid oak conference table
00:45:04
and escaped with only minor injuries
00:45:07
[Music]
00:45:10
the plot was swiftly and brutally put
00:45:13
down
00:45:16
and stauffenberg was shot and his
00:45:19
principal collaborators
00:45:20
put on trial
00:45:24
they would later be hanged
00:45:29
hitler put a brave face on it and
00:45:31
visited some of the wounded in hospital
00:45:33
[Music]
00:45:37
but it hardened still further his
00:45:40
distrust of his senior officers
00:45:43
he would despite his many earlier
00:45:45
misjudgments
00:45:46
demand even greater control over events
00:45:49
on the battlefield
00:46:01
back in france general george patton
00:46:05
back in charge of a real fighting force
00:46:07
ordered his troops to fan out
00:46:10
they took ren mayenne
00:46:14
and headed for le mans
00:46:19
they were now moving round behind the
00:46:21
german forces
00:46:23
still battling it out with the british
00:46:24
and canadians near khan
00:46:34
with the americans to their south and
00:46:36
the british to their north
00:46:37
it seemed the german forces in normandy
00:46:39
would be surrounded
00:46:46
hitler issued his usual order that there
00:46:49
should be no retreat
00:46:51
but as the allies squeezed in on them
00:46:53
the germans began to flee
00:47:00
they were remorselessly harried by
00:47:02
allied aircraft and artillery
00:47:12
[Music]
00:47:16
the casualties were appalling
00:47:24
finally on august 20th 1944
00:47:27
the allied forces moving in from both
00:47:29
the north and south
00:47:30
met up the so-called
00:47:34
thales gap named after the nearby french
00:47:36
village
00:47:37
had been closed
00:47:42
large numbers of germans were trapped
00:47:55
over ten thousand more germans caught in
00:47:58
the allied pincer
00:48:00
died
00:48:02
[Music]
00:48:05
a further 50 000 were taken prisoner
00:48:19
the german army in western europe was in
00:48:22
chaos
00:48:30
meanwhile far to the south on the french
00:48:32
mediterranean coast near cannes
00:48:35
there was a second allied seaborn
00:48:37
invasion
00:48:40
u.s troops came ashore virtually
00:48:43
unopposed
00:48:45
they were helped by paratroopers from
00:48:47
the free french army
00:48:49
men who had escaped from german occupied
00:48:51
french territory in europe
00:48:52
and north africa
00:48:57
the landing had always been opposed by
00:48:59
the british who regarded it as a
00:49:01
diversion
00:49:02
[Music]
00:49:05
but the united states had long regarded
00:49:07
it as an essential part
00:49:09
of clearing the germans out of france
00:49:19
the troops were greeted by an ecstatic
00:49:21
civilian population
00:49:32
soon advancing rapidly up the rhone
00:49:35
[Music]
00:49:42
valley
00:49:44
lyon was liberated on september 3rd 1944
00:49:49
[Music]
00:49:55
ten days later they reached dijon and
00:49:57
made contact with patton's forces
00:49:59
advancing from western france
00:50:02
[Music]
00:50:06
german units stationed across the region
00:50:10
fled
00:50:12
[Music]
00:50:20
in barely three weeks of headlong
00:50:22
advance
00:50:23
the allied invasion of europe had
00:50:25
liberated
00:50:26
most of france that left
00:50:30
paris where french resistance fighters
00:50:32
now rose up
00:50:33
against the german occupation
00:50:36
[Music]
00:50:38
there seemed little to prevent the
00:50:40
allied on russia
00:50:42
from continuing to the german border
00:50:55
[Music]
00:51:18
you
