D-Day on the 大象传媒
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National television
D-Day (大象传媒 ONE)
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It was the largest seaborne invasion in history, involving
over 156,000 troops. But how did it really feel to take part in D-Day?
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Based entirely on historical fact and veterans' stories,
this two-hour drama tells first hand the untold and extraordinary tales
of the everyday men and women who made D-Day possible.
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Using archive footage, drama reconstruction, profiles
of key historic figures, in addition to interviews with surviving English,
American, French and German veterans, the film maps the events that
led up to the most historic invasion in history and allows viewers to
experience something of the courage, terror and carnage of the battle
itself.
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Each character featured has a part to play in the narrative
- their individual stories merging as the assault on the Normandy beaches
begins - thereby piecing together the vast jigsaw of planning, events,
tragic heroism and lucky coincidences that encompass D-Day.
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D-Day brings to life not only key military leaders such
as Eisenhower and Rommel, but also the ordinary men and women caught
up in the drama of the invasion - from Allied intelligence deception
operations and the daring master plan, codenamed Operation Overlord,
to its execution, the assault on the beaches of Normandy.
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The men of the 9th Parachute Battalion knew their mission
would be crucial but had little idea how crucial.
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Their orders were to disable the Merville gun battery,
which was pointed directly at key D-Day landing beaches. If they had
failed, Allied causalities would have been catastrophic.
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This heroic attack is told by three key men who lived
through it.
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Leading the Battalion was Lieutenant Colonel Terence
Otway. One of his officers, Lieutenant Alan Jefferson, was in charge
of a platoon of men that included 18 year-old Private Sid Capon.
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On landing in Normandy Otway discovered that 80 percent
of his men were missing. "I had a choice, didn't I? Give up
or go on. Could you face your friends? Could you have them pointing
at you saying, 'Oh he gave up'. No. So I decided to go and we went."
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Bill Farmer and Bob Littlar were firm friends from the
King's Shropshire Light Infantry who found themselves making their way
to Sword beach in the second wave of the attack.
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They knew they may not survive but vowed to stay together.
They survived the beaches, but experienced a counter offensive from
the German 21 Panzer division on the way to liberate Caen.
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They remained at Bieville outside the city for a month,
enduring terrible conditions. Their story is one of the everyday solider
and the unbelievable hardships they suffered.
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"... You've become a man all of a sudden,"
states Bill Farmer, "and it's a nightmare, an absolute nightmare."
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As a member of the French Resistance, Andre Heintz had
been waiting for D-Day for many years.
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Once the Allied bombing began he made his way to the
hospital in Caen to see how he could help. Fearing that the hospital
would also be bombed, he dipped bed sheets in pails of blood and created
a giant red cross to warn Allied aircraft to steer clear.
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He no doubt saved hundreds of lives with this one act
of incredible foresight and bravery. His account of D-Day gives a new
insight into the work of the French Resistance, allowing the viewer
to experience what it was like to be in occupied territory when the
landings began.
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Franz Gockel was a 20-year-old German gunner deployed
on Omaha beach.
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At 5.30am on the morning of D-Day approaching ships
began shelling his position; once the invasion began he stayed at his
post firing his machine gun for six hours.
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To him, the wave upon wave of Allied troops was a terrifying
sight; he was sure he was going to die. "I've told people I
was praying a lot during the attack and one of the Americans that I
am now friends with today said 'we were also praying'. We were praying
and killing each other at the same time."
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These and many more incredible true stories combine
with special effects and original locations in both France and the UK
to enhance the realism of the drama.
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Interviews, audio galleries and moving personal testimonies
from the veterans featured in the drama can be found online at bbc.co.uk/ww2
and via the red button on the interactive service.
D-Day is a Dangerous Films production for 大象传媒 ONE.
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There is a book to accompany the programme, together
with a DVD and VHS tape. (EF/CC).
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D-Day To Berlin (大象传媒 ONE)
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In the months leading up to D-Day, General Eisenhower
made a 拢5 bet with Field Marshal Montgomery that the war would
be over by Christmas.
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D-Day To Berlin is a new three-part series recounting
the Allies' struggle from the beaches of Normandy, to their ultimate
victory in Germany nearly one year later.
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It is the story of how, and why, Eisenhower lost his
bet.
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In the days following the D-Day landings, Allied troops
carved a tenuous foothold on the coast of Normandy.
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But as occupied Europe waited expectantly, the Allies
still faced the real possibility of defeat and even annihilation.
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Monty was a highly experienced soldier, the hero of
the battle of El Alamein; Eisenhower was the Supreme Commander with
ultimate authority to direct the vast resources of the allied war machine.
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D-Day To Berlin uses testimony from veterans, archive
footage and drama reconstruction to throw new light on the tensions
between the two men, the highs and lows of life of the soldiers who
fought for them and the strategic decisions they took which were to
alter the very fabric and shape of post-war Europe.
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D-Day To Berlin comes from the team responsible for
the award-winning 大象传媒 series The Nazis and The Battle Of the Atlantic.
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It is shot on location in Europe and America.
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Programme One 聳 The Struggle To Break-out
The battle for the beaches had been won, and the narrow
sliver of French coastline gained on D-Day was slowly extending.
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But the optimism born of the successful D-Day landings
quickly began to fade as the Allies confronted a skilful enemy who was
determined to throw them back into the sea.
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British troops became trapped in a terrible battle of
attrition reminiscent of the grim battles of the First World War.
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Sixty thousand men were killed or wounded in the first
three weeks of the campaign.
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By the end of June a million men were caught in a grim
struggle in the wheat fields and hedgerows of Normandy.
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Monty was obliged to crack down on a strange new sickness
that appeared to be gripping his men 聳 'Tiger Fever' - as they
faced the Germans' superior Tiger tanks.
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It was not Allied ground forces that finally broke Hitler's
elite SS divisions in Normandy but Allied air power.
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By the end of August 1944, Allied victory seemed assured.
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Rommel had been wounded and his replacement, Field
Marshal von Kluge, had committed suicide.
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Hitler was directing the battle and, despite hysterical
demands for self-sacrifice, the German army was in full retreat.
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Programme Two 聳 Allies At War
Hitler's armies were in headlong retreat. Paris was liberated in August,
Brussels in the first week of September.
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Only one thing stood between the Allies and the German
border - the Allied generals themselves.
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Allies At War looks at how the most basic debate remained
unsolved 聳 how to conquer Germany itself.
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Personality differences and radical disagreements in
strategy threatened to create a rift between Eisenhower and Montgomery
and burst the alliance open.
Until autumn 1944 the direction of the land campaign had been Montgomery's
responsibility but, on 1 September, the Allied Supreme Commander, Eisenhower,
announced he would take personal control of the armies in the field.
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Monty was convinced that only a single powerful British-led
thrust into Germany would finish the war and, in an effort to force
Eisenhower (Ike) into supporting him, launched the ill-fated drive towards
the Rhine - Arnhem.
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Ike's Generals, Bradley and Patton, insisted the advance
into Germany should be on a broad front and that the final victory should
be led by an American.
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Eisenhower chose the broad front and, by spreading Allied
troops too thinly, he turned hope of an early victory into a pipe dream.
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Using eye-witness testimony and first-hand written sources,
Allies At War pieces together the bitter behind-the-scenes struggle
over strategy.
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It revisits Monty's disastrous defeat at Arnhem, where
more than 10,000 British soldiers were dropped into occupied Holland
to capture a vital bridge over the Rhine.
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Archive and drama sequences also capture the bitter
and bloody Battle of the Bulge 聳 the German counter-offensive which
punched a hole through Eisenhower's broad front.
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Monty's leadership of two American armies would help
to reverse an embarrassing and costly defeat.
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As 1945 approached, Monty reminded Eisenhower of the
bet he'd made that the war would be over by Christmas. It was time for
Ike to pay up.
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Programme Three 聳 Unconditional Surrender
"The only answer to total war is total defeat and total occupation,"
President Roosevelt warned the German people.
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This warning was to set the tone for the final months
of destruction that would leave Europe torn apart.
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Hitler's last great offensive in the Ardennes failed.
With British and American armies poised to cross the Rhine in the west,
and Soviet forces advancing towards the River Oder in the east, there
was only one offer on the table for Germany - unconditional surrender.
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The Allies would not negotiate with a country that had
plunged Europe into war twice in 30 years.
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A new world order would have to emerge, one based on
democracy and freedom.
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But for Goebbels unconditional surrender was a propaganda
gift - evidence that the last battle must be fought for the survival
of the German 'folk'.
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And the Allies seemed to be prepared to go to any lengths
to secure their victory.
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In Feburary, two nights of bombing reduced the city
of Dresden to rubble, and Roosevelt and Stalin already agreed a plan
to divide post-war Germany.
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The Western Allies seemed prepared to trust and make
common cause with Stalin to the end.
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Goebbels predicted that the dream of a new world order
would leave Europe divided by an 'iron curtain'.
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Unconditional Surrender offers interviews with German
veterans who resisted the Allied advance and who tell of their willingness
to fight on to the bitter end.
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Berlin was left to Stalin and on 16 April the Russians
began their final assault on the city.
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Fourteen days later, Hitler was dead, and the streets
were commanded by a new army.
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Even before the victory celebrations were over, a new
chill had gripped the alliance.
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The unconditional surrender of Germany had given birth
to a new European order 聳 but it was dominated by Stalin.
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D-Day To Berlin is a 大象传媒 production for 大象传媒 ONE.
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There is a book to accompany the series. (CC/EF)
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Live Coverage and News
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Throughout the first week of June on 大象传媒 ONE and TWO,
Huw Edwards anchors D-Day 60, 大象传媒 Television's extensive live
coverage of the D-Day commemoration events in the UK and Normandy.
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Nick Vaughan-Barratt, Executive Editor of 大象传媒 Events,
said: "Of all the poignant national and international events we've
been privileged to cover in recent years, this anniversary will be perhaps
the most evocative and symbolic.
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"Everyone involved on that June day 60 years ago
lost friends and loved ones in the cause of liberating France and bringing
the horrors of World War Two to a close, and they will never forget
the suffering so many went through."
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D-Day 60, 1聳4 June (大象传媒 ONE & TWO)
In the week leading up to the anniversary, Huw Edwards presents
a special 大象传媒 ONE daily daytime programme live from the very place where
the final stages of the D-Day campaign were planned.
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Southwick House was used as General Eisenhower's secret
headquarters; Huw will be talking to special guests and veterans about
the build-up to D-Day and the invasion itself.
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Each day Hugh and his team of experts and reporters
will paint a picture of life in Britain five years into World War Two
and tell the story of the build-up to D-Day.
Rageh Omaar goes Behind Enemy Lines to reveal the characters
of the German commanders and investigate their military tactics;
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Sandhurst-trained ex-paratrooper and 大象传媒 ONE news presenter
Darren Jordon plans to put his Jamaican military experience to
the test and jump in commemoration of the famous airborne assault on
Pegasus Bridge;
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a presenter of 大象传媒 TWO's Crafty Tricks of War, Dick
Strawbridge, shows viewers some of the cunning trickery used during
World War Two to outmanoeuvre the enemy;
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and cameras follow veterans of the US 29th Division
as they tour the West Country to revisit the camps and beaches where
there they prepared for the invasion.
On Tuesday 1 June there is a live link from HMS Belfast, the
last surviving UK battleship to take part on D-Day, and some of the
men who served on the ship on the day itself.
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On Wednesday 2 June the theme is Intelligence and
Deception, with live reports from Bletchley Park, the secret HQ
where German codes were broken.
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Thursday's programme looks at the last-minute preparations
for D-Day itself; the training of an invasion force of over two million;
and how they were prepared for action and eventually moved into sealed
camps ready for H-Hour.
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To demonstrate the massive effects of the D-Day planning
on the South of England, there is a live visit to the abandoned village
of Tyneham in Dorset where, in 1943, the villagers were given one month
to vacate their homes so the village and its surrounding land could
be used for vital military training.
Also on Thursday on 大象传媒 TWO at 4.00pm James Naughtie introduces
around 500 veterans who, led by the band of HM Marines, will march past
The Prince of Wales.
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The band will then perform a traditional Beating Retreat
in front of those who took part 60 years ago and the crowds on Southsea
Common.
On Friday 4 June, Huw and his team move to France to see the build-up
to the commemorative events of D-Day 60, visiting the cemetery at Bayeux,
Pegasus Bridge and the seaside town of Arromanches, where UK veterans
of D-Day will march past HM The Queen.
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D-Day 60 聳 Sunday 6 June
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From a studio overlooking the beaches where British
troops first landed 60 years ago, Huw Edwards presents 大象传媒 ONE's extensive
live coverage of the weekend's commemorative events in Normandy.
He is joined by acclaimed D-Day historian Sir Max Hastings and by Major
General Julian Thompson, who, as commander of 3 Brigade in the Falklands
War, planned the landings and fought the majority of the land battles;
he is now visiting professor in War Studies at King's College London
and regularly writes and broadcasts on defence and military matters.
Live coverage takes viewers right to the heart of the day's ceremonies
and reflects the emotions and memories of the veterans who, 60 years
on, are making perhaps their last-ever pilgrimage.
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From all over the United Kingdom and from as far away
as Canada, New Zealand and the United States, men and women now in their
eighties and nineties are returning to remember with pride and with
honour.
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Service of Remembrance, Bayeux
"We, once conquered by William, have now set free the Conqueror's
native land."
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So reads the inscription above the memorial at the
Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Bayeux, where almost 4,000 soldiers,
sailors and airmen lie buried.
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A further 1,800 have no known grave and are remembered
on a memorial to the missing.
The day's live coverage begins in the peace and calm of the cemetery.
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Here, in the shadow of the great medieval cathedral,
The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, the Prime Minister and President Chirac
will attend a service of remembrance for all those who died on D-Day
and during the Normandy campaign.
More than 8,000 veterans and their families are expected to gather around
the headstones, among them the Sherwood Rangers who reached Bayeux in
the last few hours of D-Day.
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Today's survivors will remember their comrades who
died liberating the town.
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Cameras follow childhood sweethearts Amy and Nobby Newell
as they visit the cemetery and mourn the loss of comrades and family.
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International Commemorative Event
"You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade. The eyes of
the world are upon you." General Eisenhower's D-Day message
to the Allied troops.
Sixty years on, that spirit is remembered and celebrated as 15 Heads
of State participate in a ceremony which will commemorate the values
the veterans fought for.
As well as The Queen, President Bush will attend and, for the first
time ever, Chancellor Schroeder of Germany has been invited to mark
the D-Day commemorations.
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Pegasus Bridge
Travelling 5,000 miles from his home in Vancouver, Jim Wallwork says
"we weren't extraordinary, we were just doing a job."
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That job involved piloting a flimsy wood and canvas
plane to land just yards from vital bridges that needed to be secured
before the seaborne invasion got under way, with just moonlight to guide
them.
Among those paying tribute to all the Airborne Forces is The Prince
of Wales, who is Colonel in Chief of the Parachute Regiment and the
Army Air Corps.
Reporter Darren Jordon will be at Pegasus Bridge, talking to veterans
of the British 6th Airborne Division.
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Darren, ex-Sandhurst and Jamaican Defence Forces with
almost 200 successful jumps behind him, will be hearing the memories
of the veterans who parachuted into Normandy in the first few minutes
of Operation Overlord.
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British National Event, Arromanches
Sixty years ago the people of the tiny seaside town of Arromanches welcomed
their liberators.
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Radio 4's James Naughtie commentates as 10,000 British
Normandy veterans are cheered once again by the townspeople.
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Led by a military band and with standards flying, they
march onto the town square.
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The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh will receive the
salute and later The Queen is expected to address the assembled veterans.
With the veterans throughout the afternoon will be ex-soldier-turned-TV
presenter Dick Strawbridge. (ED'A)
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Songs Of Praise
In a special Songs Of Praise for D-Day on 大象传媒 ONE on Sunday 6 June,
Huw Edwards meets Ron Picken, a Normandy veteran from Wolverhampton.
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Ron was training to be a Baptist lay preacher when
he decided that his duty was to his country and he joined the army.
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He became a Bren gunner and was taught to kill - a
far cry from his Christian pacifist background.
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At the Old Malton Priory, in North Yorkshire, Songs
Of Praise recreates a Forties church congregation.
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Music includes some of the well-loved hymns that meant
so much to people on the home front, including For All The Saints and
I Vow To Thee My Country.
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The programme also visits Eden Camp, near Malton, to
re-enact scenes from the home front in 1944.
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Performances come from Peter Skellern, playing a song
he wrote specially for Songs Of Praise, Libera, the Mark Gillbanks Swing
Orchestra and The Cupcakes.
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