Operation Overlord

Uh, and we've decided so far on touring Omaha Beach and both the American and German cemeteries.

My question is, what would you recommend as the other must-see D-Day and Battle of Normandy sites to see over two days?

You know what I would do, two things.

First of all, there's a whole cottage industry of English expats that are World War II buffs that live and work in Normandy, and what they do is they take either private tours or minibus tours around.

I'm Lucy, and in the background you might hear rain tapping against my window, which is actually the perfect soundscape for this episode, 'cause today we are talking all about Pressure.

Pressure is the remarkable true story of some of the decisions behind D-Day, also known as Operation Overlord, the massive seaborne invasion of German-occupied Normandy in 1944.

Now, what I didn't know, and what the film lays out in tense, riveting detail, is that the final word about the timing of this invasion actually had to come from weathermen.

Captain James Stagg, the leading meteorologist of the time, was called in to give his forecast, but what he predicted was exactly what the Allied leaders, including future US President Eisenhower, did not want to hear.

The date, June the 6th, is now fixed in the history books.

But Operation Overlord should have taken place 24 hours earlier, and it was forecasts of an Atlantic storm that changed the date.

Maureen Flavin sent in the crucial weather report.

[instrumental music] I felt very happy about it that we did give the right readings.

Now the invasion has started.

Four thousand ships and thousands of smaller craft, the gathering of the mighty armada.

Operation Overlord had finally begun.

In the first 24 hours, 160,000 Allied troops landed on a 50-mile stretch of Normandy coast, their aim to drive German forces out of Western Europe.

I mean, it's a matter of the fact that most people in Greece are with us, that they want to be liberated from the Germans and the Italians.

It's a matter of the fact that Belgium is not just sending, you know, a brigade in eventually in the Battle of Normandy and beyond.

It's what it means for Belgium's political future and what they want for their country.

Same is true with France, which, of course, is just torn apart by all these difficulties and divisions and is paying such a terrible price for its own liberation.

And I don't just mean in terms of a military price that You know, eventually you're going to, you know, you've got French commandos on D-Day.

You've got French second armor that's going to be in the tail end of second armor division that's fighting at the tail end of Battle of Normandy and beyond.

and liberates paris you know um but i'm talking about the average people too who are under the bombs and under the shells and you know really suffering and and so paying a price that we as americans can't fathom in a way you know so it's a i think it's also worth thinking about it in that respect For Americans in World War II and Europe especially, it's very easy, very unambiguous.

There's the enemy, kill them, liberate this country, and then go home.

The months leading up to June 1944 saw the assembly and mobilisation of the largest invasion force in history.

It was around Hearn, here on the south coast of England, that hundreds of thousands of men, vehicles and all of their equipment were gathered and trained, all in preparation for Operation Overlord.

Overlord was the codename given to the Allied invasion of France.

It involved nearly 3 million Allied troops, 5,000 fighter aircraft and 6,000 ships.

By the end of D-Day, the Allies had successfully landed on five key beaches along the Normandy coast, but that success had come at a high price with some 10,000 casualties.

And what's more, the really vital job of joining up those beachheads and securing key strategic towns in the area was still ahead of them.

At the end of August 1944, Paris was finally liberated, effectively bringing to an end Operation Overlord.

At the same time, huge numbers of Allied planes were being moved from Britain to France.