1 00:05:07,100 --> 00:05:14,540 step on the road to forever removing the Nazi tyranny from Europe and the world. 2 00:04:55,200 --> 00:05:00,300 Their sacrifice meant an end to Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. 3 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:55,200 No one died in vain. 4 00:05:00,300 --> 00:05:07,100 Another year of bitter fighting lay ahead, but D-Day – June 6, 1944, was a pivotal 5 00:04:49,740 --> 00:04:52,560 Of these, five thousand were killed. 6 00:04:43,420 --> 00:04:49,740 Of the 156,000 Allied personnel who hit the beaches that day, ten thousand became casualties. 7 00:04:34,340 --> 00:04:39,100 Churchill had expected twenty thousand to be killed on D-Day. 8 00:04:39,100 --> 00:04:43,420 Fortunately, heavy though they were, the losses were much lower. 9 00:04:32,119 --> 00:04:34,339 five landing beaches. 10 00:04:22,999 --> 00:04:26,599 were not ordered to Normandy until the afternoon. 11 00:04:26,599 --> 00:04:32,119 Before the Germans could mount an effective counter-attack, the Allies had secured all 12 00:04:18,300 --> 00:04:22,999 Nazi reinforcements, including hundreds of tanks, which might have made all the difference, 13 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:18,300 began to fold. 14 00:04:10,340 --> 00:04:16,160 However, by mid-day – with US naval support – the Germans, low on supplies and ammunition, 15 00:04:08,910 --> 00:04:10,340 intense gunfire. 16 00:04:04,540 --> 00:04:08,910 Further along, Army Rangers also took heavy casualties as they scaled the cliffs under 17 00:04:02,130 --> 00:04:04,540 We couldn’t help; they just drowned.” 18 00:03:52,540 --> 00:03:57,890 Dr. Harold Baumgarten, with the U.S Army’s 116th Infantry, remembered, “Some of the 19 00:03:57,890 --> 00:04:02,130 fellows were pulled under by their wet combat jackets and heavy equipment. 20 00:03:47,980 --> 00:03:49,620 one of the bunkers. 21 00:03:49,620 --> 00:03:52,540 The rough surf also took its toll. 22 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:47,980 “I might have killed hundreds that morning,” reflected German soldier Hein Severloh, manning 23 00:03:40,900 --> 00:03:43,120 the Americans took heavy losses. 24 00:03:35,310 --> 00:03:40,900 At Omaha Beach, overlooked by cliffs honeycombed with trenches, cannon and machine-guns, 25 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:26,819 D-Day was an all-or-nothing affair. 26 00:03:31,739 --> 00:03:35,310 The initial battle reports were seriously troubling. 27 00:03:26,819 --> 00:03:31,739 A new invasion strategy would take months, if not years, to devise. 28 00:03:21,959 --> 00:03:23,760 catastrophe. 29 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:21,959 As they sailed toward the French shoreline, Eisenhower wrote a press release in case of 30 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:12,340 The average age of the American GI was 21. 31 00:03:12,340 --> 00:03:17,160 Most had never seen combat or even been fifty miles from their hometown. 32 00:02:57,820 --> 00:03:01,740 Immediately, the greatest invasion fleet ever assembled set sail. 33 00:03:01,740 --> 00:03:05,800 On board were over 130,000 young soldiers. 34 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:09,200 Consider for a moment who these soldiers were. 35 00:02:54,910 --> 00:02:57,819 Eisenhower gave the order: We go. 36 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:54,900 There might be a 12-hour window of opportunity. 37 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:52,280 The weather appeared to be breaking. 38 00:02:48,380 --> 00:02:50,320 Then came a new forecast. 39 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:48,380 All the plans, all the deceptions, could be exposed at any moment. 40 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:35,900 Dwight Eisenhower postponed the invasion date of June 5th by twenty-four hours. 41 00:02:40,420 --> 00:02:43,360 All forces were concentrated and ready to go. 42 00:02:35,900 --> 00:02:40,420 That might not sound like a significant delay, but it was. 43 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:30,280 When high winds and rain began pummeling the Channel, Allied supreme commander General 44 00:02:17,100 --> 00:02:20,720 The invasion fleet of six thousand vessels needed calm seas. 45 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:25,560 And there had to be a low tide to expose Nazi obstacles and mines. 46 00:02:13,340 --> 00:02:17,100 The twelve thousand Allied aircraft needed clear skies. 47 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:13,340 to be effective. 48 00:02:06,210 --> 00:02:12,160 The 23,000 paratroopers and glider-borne infantry jumping into Normandy needed moderate winds 49 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:06,200 Mother Nature was just as threatening. 50 00:01:55,640 --> 00:01:58,500 The Germans swallowed it all. 51 00:01:58,500 --> 00:02:02,760 But the Nazis were not the only enemy the Allied forces faced. 52 00:01:53,900 --> 00:01:55,640 pilots and spies. 53 00:01:50,060 --> 00:01:53,900 army preparing to cross near Dover for the benefit of German reconnaissance 54 00:01:43,960 --> 00:01:50,060 And movie set designers built phony tanks, planes and ships to support the ruse of an 55 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:43,960 Double agents leaked fake details of units forming in South East England. 56 00:01:38,100 --> 00:01:39,560 would be the landing point. 57 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:33,880 Everyone knew the attack was coming; the key was to keep the Germans guessing. 58 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:38,100 Fake radio chatter was broadcast to suggest the beaches near Calais 59 00:01:20,320 --> 00:01:25,440 Their air forces destroyed bridges, roads and railways that might be used by the Germans 60 00:01:16,820 --> 00:01:20,320 To prevent this, the Allies took every possible precaution. 61 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:28,200 to rush troops to the invasion site. 62 00:01:11,320 --> 00:01:16,820 them and turn the beaches of northern France into killing fields. 63 00:01:04,460 --> 00:01:06,040 And it had to be kept secret. 64 00:00:58,410 --> 00:01:03,210 that had to be moved one hundred miles across one of roughest bodies of water in the world 65 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:11,320 If the Germans knew where and when the allies were landing, they could mass forces against 66 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:58,400 First there were tens of thousands of men and millions of tons of material and supplies 67 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:53,280 Brooke’s fears were entirely reasonable. 68 00:01:03,210 --> 00:01:04,460 – the English Channel. 69 00:00:46,570 --> 00:00:50,720 It may well be the most ghastly disaster of the whole war.” 70 00:00:25,460 --> 00:00:30,880 We, of course, know the good guys – America, England and its allies – won. 71 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:38,500 In fact, there was just as much doubt as confidence. 72 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:46,570 very uneasy about the whole operation. 73 00:00:38,500 --> 00:00:44,000 Winston Churchill’s senior advisor, Field Marshal Brooke, wrote in his diary, “I am 74 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:34,520 But in 1944, there was no certainty of success. 75 00:00:22,950 --> 00:00:25,460 have been defeated. 76 00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:17,430 D-Day: the Allied invasion of Normandy in Nazi-occupied France. 77 00:00:17,430 --> 00:00:22,950 It did not end World War II, but without it, the Nazi war machine would not and could not 78 00:05:14,540 --> 00:05:20,220 I’m Peter Caddick-Adams, author of Sand and Steel: A New History of D-Day, 79 00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:12,640 Of these, none was more consequential than June 6th, 1944. 80 00:05:20,220 --> 00:05:22,400 for Prager University. 81 00:00:02,100 --> 00:00:07,640 There were 36,525 days in the twentieth century.