The Left of the Line

Heat. Heat. [music] [music] >> [music] [music] >> In the spring of 1944, the Allied plan for the invasion of Europe was ready. [music] London seemed calm. But as the air assault against Germany grew in intensity, so the tension in the capital became acute. [music] [music] On a certain day in May, from offices in quiet London squares where so much of the planning had been done, operational orders were sent out. And from the north, east, and west began the movement of men and materials towards the special areas which should be prepared to receive them in the south. Heat. Heat. [music] [music] [music] [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music] >> [music] [music] >> as the vast convoys converged towards the points of imbarcation. [music] The people of England saw for the first time something of the mighty war machine that had sprung from their own labors and those of the people of the United States. [music] [music] [music] >> [music] >> The roads leading south to the sea grew more and more close packed with tanks, trucks, [music] and guns. And in harbors all over Britain, ships of the invasion fleets cast up and began to move down coastal waters to the channel. Many of these [music] little ships had been built far from the sea in the heart of America. Others hailed from the Mury or the Clyde. Escort vessels, assault craft, tank and infantry landing craft were crammed into the harbors of the south coast. In the concentration areas, officers and men studied maps and models of the enemy held coastline they were soon to attack. Photographic reconnaissance by the RAF from the 8th and 9th US Army Air Forces, which had gone on ceaselessly through the past weeks, [music] made it possible to pass on to the men detailed and accurate information of the enemy defenses. [music] They knew, these men, that nothing had been left undone, and they would go out from England with a confidence born of knowledge and strength. [music] They knew where they were going and why. The army had trained hard and waited long for this [music] four years. Some of them some were at the end. Others [music] fought through the desert war and onto Salerna. Many would be seeing action for the first time. [music] [music] [music] >> [music] >> When do we start was the question on everyone's lips. [music] On the night of the 5th of June 1944, the Supreme Commander General Eisenhower gave the signal for the attack on Hitler's [music] fortress of Europe to begin. Heat. Heat. [music] [music] [music] >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] >> As dawn broke on that gradual morning, the greatest armada ships the world has ever seen filled the narrow waters of the English Channel. Protected from the sea by the combined fleets and by the air forces in the sky above. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Once again we were back on the soil of France. Parachutist and airborne troops had done their work well. The much vaunted Atlantic wall was cracked and through the crack poured our main assault forces to fight their way inwardland. Strong points were bypassed and mopped up by succeeding waves of infantry. The German high command, not knowing from which direction the real thrust would come and fearing landings elsewhere on the north coast of France, was reluctant to commit its main forces and supported by the heavy guns of the fleets, the beach head was secured. The first real counterattack of the evening of D-Day was held and on June the 7th, all the beaches were cleared of the enemy. When General Montgomery established his headquarters in Normandy 3 days later, he was able to say, "We have won the battle of the beaches." Even before the Germans left it, the old Norman town of Baya put out its [music] flags to welcome the liberating army. [music] The foothold in Normandy was secured and the British and Canadians battled their way south towards K through orchards and fields very like those of the England they had left behind. The fighting in this area was always tough. and gains were slow and spectacular. But a sure defensive screen of guns and armor was built up behind which concentration for a major battle went on a pale. Now I want to give you some idea of the picture of operations up to date. Right from the outset, the enemy has concentrated about 2/3 of his armored strength opposite the British and Canadian front. We fought hard without gaining much ground, but at the same time, we stopped the enemy reinforcing on the American front, which has enabled them to cut off the Sherburgg Peninsula and capture the port. And throughout June, the British and Canadians in a series of sharp attacks with limited objectives maintained the pressure. The Americans with greater freedom of movement were clearing the Sherborg Peninsula and beginning to push south through difficult country to try to break out into Britain. But above con the enemy fought bitterly. The rich weak fields of Normandy were churned into battlefields and went unh harvested. But our tanks and infantry made slow but sure advances. And daily our bag of prisoners was growing. Not however without cut. In the Allied plan, core was recognized as a hinge holding together the enemy's hopes of limiting our penetration on a strategically important scale. It was the strong point of the German right flank and General Montgomery was now ready to launch an allout attack on the town. During the night of the 3rd of July, the British and Canadian armor began to assemble Heat. Heat. Did you know On July the 10th, the town was cleared as far as the Orn River, but our true objective was the enemy's armor, which although knocked about, was still virtually intact. Over a thousand Lancasters and Halifaxes of bomber command operating in daylight for the first time and also for the first time against the German army in the field blasted a corridor east of the or the Germans withdrew and the whole of K was ours. Infantry advanced into the battered town and our armor was able to cross the orn in great strength. This was not a complete breakthrough, but to hold us had strained the enemy to his utmost. The scope of Allied strategy now became clear. The Americans broke out into Britain. The Yanks are through into Britany. One thrust is going for breath, the other south and east. The Germans have collected a lot of tanks and are attacking fiercely towards Avrron to try to cut the Americans in half. If that attack can be held until the thrust east gets to Le, we've got them where we want them. The attack was held. Our reconnaissance planes had spotted the German tank concentration and rocket carrying typhoons were whistled up from their airfields on the British front. In the first attack, they destroyed the equivalent of a division of tanks. The British and Canadians with the Polish armored division to the north were now well astride the file road and file was to become the anvil on which the German armor would be cracked. Meanwhile, the Americans with magnificent audacity were racing east to form one of the sides of the famous Normandy pocket. To the west of the Canadians, the British captured Turi Akur, thus narrowing The pocket still fed. Once again they rolled across the or the final assault on Falz began. I'm not. The best part of the German 7th Army is trapped. The Canadians have taken filelets and the gap is almost closed. Inside the pocket, the enemy will be systematically destroyed. The German 7th Army was bombed and shelled to near extinction. >> [music] >> This was no stab in the back. Here was an army outgeneralled and out [music] fought, destroyed. >> [music] [music] >> to the North, the further bank of the same was now the immediate go. In a great drive, American troops had sped on to Paris, and while its people rejoiced in their new freedom, the British and Canadians were on the move, leaving behind them the bloody battlefields of Normandy. On the coast, Dutch and Belgian troops were fighting their way home. The remnants of the battered enemy divisions, which had set out with high hopes of driving the Allies into the sea, were in full flight. The race for the river crossings was on. Assault boats were brought up and troops assembled for the crossing. Under cover of darkness, the attack was pressed home. And at dawn, the engineers were at work on the first bridge. On the further bank, the bridge head was secured and troops began to cross in a steady stream. Three main crossings were forced over the same. The British at Velno and Mont. the Canadians at Elbe. The engineers worked hard at their bridges and tanks and trucks were soon rolling over the river. The British bound for Amya, key to the Pardell. the Canadians north towards Rome. [music] [music] The river once crushed, the Allies began to move with astonishing speed. Columns of General Dempsey's armor covered 240 mi in 4 days in an attempt to maintain contact with the retreating enemy. [music] The Canadians entered RAW from the north and pushed on towards the coast [music] while the British soldiers found themselves in towns they had heard their fathers talk about, remembered from the last war. >> [music] [music] >> On the coast, the Canadians were again in depth, looking out across the beaches where so many of their gallant comrades fell just 2 years before. Canada will remember, dear, [music] nor shall those who lie there be forgotten. >> [music] [music] [music] >> This time they entered the town without [music] a shot being fired and General Kira took the salute from members of the same unit [music] that took part in the famous raid in 1942. [music] [music] >> [music] [music] [music] >> As the Allies swept on across a country delirious with joy, it was realized that the Battle of Normandy was in fact the Battle of France. Behind them, the Allies left over 400,000 of the enemy dead or captured. 1300 tanks, 20,000 cars and lries, and 1,500 field guns had been [music] destroyed across the border and into Belgium. This was lightning war indeed, beyond anything the Germans dreamed of. [music] >> [music] [music] [music] >> On September the 3rd, Brussels was free. But already the armies of the Allies were rolling on towards the Rhine. The Battle of Germany was [music] about to begin. >> [music] [music] [music]