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Adolf Hitler in his retirement from the Bavarian mountains. We are in September 1938, and Hitler just enlisted in an even more dangerous way than all those he had dared to take so far. He proclaimed German territory, the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia, and the mighty Czechoslovak army mobilized for war. Czechoslovakia, being allied to France and England, war would mean conflagration which would engulf the whole of Europe. Hitler is convinced that he will come to an end without causing disaster.
In 1935, he embarked on a massive rearmament campaign. The next year, despite the advice of his generals, he had defied France and England and reoccupied the demilitarized Rhineland. As Hitler predicted, the Allies did nothing. In March 1938, he had annexed Austria to Germany. One more time, France and England did nothing. Hitler is now convinced that to win in Czechoslovakia, all he has to do is mobilize his armies, and all resistance will disappear.
In the whole of Europe, Hitler's demands sow consternation. The horrors of the Great War still vivid in the memories, few dare to contemplate terror. What would another conflict bring? In the streets of English towns, trenches appear in almost all open spaces, and the public buildings disappear behind large walls of sandbags. It's Munich crisis week. Peace in Europe is my goal. I hope this trip will pave the way.
In a desperate attempt to avoid war, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain travels to Germany. Each time, Hitler increased the pressure. It seems that war is inevitable. It's the Italian dictator Mussolini who suggests a last attempt to keep the peace with the conference of the four great European powers. On September 30, 1938, in Munich, the fate of Czechoslovakia is settled. While the Czechoslovak envoys are forced to wait outside, from the conference room, England, France, and Italy concede the Sudetenland to Hitler.
This morning I had another conversation with German Chancellor Herr Hitler. Here is the document that bears his name and mine. We consider the agreement signed last night, and the symbolic Anglo-German naval agreement, from the desire of our two peoples to never go to war again. In England, the reaction to Chamberlain's statement, "peace in our time," leads to unreserved jubilation. Admiration in the face of the success of Chamberlain is so great that he becomes the first of the chiefs of the British government to be presented to the people from the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
The euphoria of Munich barely lasts six months. In March 1939, Germany annexed what's left of Czechoslovakia. This flagrant violation of the Munich agreements shocks even those who supported Chamberlain's policy of appeasement. In the eyes of the British public, Hitler is now an aggressor that nothing can stop. Almost everyone agrees that next time, war or no war, we will resist him. At the forefront of opposition to appeasement stands the English politician Winston Churchill. Churchill's calls to resist Hitler, as well as the introduction of conscription, touch the sensitive chord of the English people.
The military weakness of this country encourages potential enemies. Everyone knows that public opinion is only growing in favor of compulsory national service in all its forms, especially in the highest of its forms. Chamberlain's government is obliged to respond. In the following weeks after the invasion of Czechoslovakia, England introduces conscription for all men aged 18 to 20. For thousands of young men torn from the factories, on farms, and universities, life now consists of endless circles and routine life in the barracks. Few of them realize that in just over five months, their country will be at war with Germany.
Ignoring the considerable mood swing that just occurred in England, Hitler moves on to the next phase of his program of conquest. This time he claims the port of Memel, which had been part of the past of the German Empire. Helpless in the face of German power, Lithuania cedes Memel. Encouraged, Hitler now watches towards Poland. The Baltic port of Danzig has been linked to Poland since 1918 through a corridor considered Polish territory. The Polish corridor separates Eastern Prussia from the rest of Germany.
Hitler, with the support of a powerful Nazi faction within the city, demands to take possession of Danzig and close the corridor. When Poland shows stubbornness, Hitler begins to make threats. This time the effect is the opposite of what he had expected. Far from abandoning Poland, Neville Chamberlain, stung by humiliation after Munich, hand-writes a British guarantee of Polish independence. It is a guarantee that has weak military meanings, but Hitler is furious and orders his generals to prepare for the invasion.
Before unleashing his armies, Hitler strengthens his international position. The pact of steel between Germany and Italy was signed on May 22. On August 23, a non-aggression pact is concluded with Stalin's Soviet Union. The pact is intended to ensure that the U.S.S.R. will not actively oppose the invasion. Secret deals are made between Germany and the Soviet Union for the partition of conquered Poland. Poles, trapped between two starving empires, see their closest allies hundreds of kilometers away quickly mobilizing for war.
On September 1, 1939, Hitler's armies pass the Polish border. While the German armored formations easily cross the Polish defenses, the Luftwaffe attacks the command posts, the railway junctions, and troop concentrations. The goal is to isolate the battlefield, destroying the means of communication. Such coordination of land and air forces represents a form of war entirely new. An Italian journalist gives it the name that will make it go down in history; he calls it Blitzkrieg.
The Polish resistance is brave but hopeless. Inadequate equipment, as well as outdated tactics, can't compete with the power and speed of the German assault. Disaster is compounded by the repugnance of the Polish high command to withdraw its forces to defend its positions more easily in central Poland. Soon it is too late. With the annihilation of the air forces on land and the Stuka bombers always ready to attack troop movements, resistance becomes truly impossible. The Polish divisions, one after the other, are surrounded and destroyed.
On September 3, Neville Chamberlain addresses the English people. This morning, the ambassador of Great Britain in Berlin presented the German government with a final note, meaning that unless he announces before 11 a.m. his intention to withdraw his troops from Poland, the state of war will exist between us. I have to tell you now that we haven't received any commitment of this kind, and in consequence, this country is at war with Germany.
In the minutes that follow Chamberlain's announcement, air raid sirens of London resound, and we watch a race frantically towards the shelters. It's a false alarm, but the fear of the power of destruction from the bombardments has deep roots. The British government has predicted 600,000 civilian deaths for the first two months of the war. News from Poland only increases the fear of mass bombings, which haunt the British population.
From September 10, the city of Warsaw is besieged by the Germans. Refusing to surrender, its inhabitants are mercilessly bombarded. Tens of thousands of them die in the ruins of the city. The day England declared war on Germany, France followed it reluctantly. French military forces are the largest and strongest in Europe. And while almost all the German army is engaged in the Polish countryside, a French attack on the western border of Germany would meet little opposition. Instead of taking the offensive, France is content to strengthen its Maginot line and to attack the Germans in occasional artillery fights. Meanwhile, the Polish armies can only fight and hope that the French will act.
On September 17, the Poles take the final blow. With the complicity of Germany, Soviet troops invade eastern Poland. The Polish government is forced to flee into exile. The destruction of the Polish state is just the beginning of the agony in which the Polish people are now immersed. Not content with a mere conquest, Hitler is convinced that the Polish people must become a people of slaves at the service of his new order. In order to ensure that there will be no rebellion in the future, the most educated Poles and most influential—this includes doctors, lawyers, and members of the clergy—are collected and executed summarily.
At the same time, announcing the beginnings of the Holocaust, the Jews of Poland are put by force in ghettos, waiting for deportations and assassinations. From a Jewish population of 3 million in Poland, 2 and a half million will be killed in the death camps. With the fighting almost over, Hitler is free to send his own armies to the West to defend his border with France. A fact unknown to France and England is that Germany has almost exhausted its fuel and ammunition resources. If he had been attacked in the West, it is almost certain Hitler would have had to end it. It will be necessary to wait five long years before Germany is again as vulnerable.
With the fall of Poland, there's no shadow of a doubt for England and France that Hitler will attack in the West. The most likely point of attack is not on the French border, where the Maginot line presents a formidable obstacle, but further north, in neutral Belgium. To counter such a move, a British Expeditionary Force of 150,000 men and 24,000 vehicles is sent to France. They now stand ready for rapid progress in Belgium in the event that a German attack would seem imminent.
As fall gives way to winter, the planned invasion does not materialize. It's the beginning of a difficult lull nicknamed by an American journalist, the Phoney War. While on the ground the war is caught in an impasse, at sea, a deadly battle rages. There are 79 ships sunk by the German mines off the English coast at Christmas 1939. The submarines patrol, and although Hitler did not go to war with only 23 submarines, a fraction of the number claimed by his admirals, it doesn't take long to make a name for himself.
British naval forces have at their head a new Minister of the Navy. Winston Churchill was appointed to government at the start of the war. His reputation is known to German propaganda officials, and he is the target of programs insulting to the English, broadcast by a new German radio station. Churchill now proposes that England takes the offensive at sea, closer to national territory. Using a plan from the Ministry of the Navy dating from the First World War, he suggests that England and France lay mines in the waters of neutral Norway, and in this way prevent the export of Swedish iron ore in the direction of Germany.
But better still, the Allies would have to embark on an expedition to take Narvik, the Norwegian port which holds a key position. By April 1940, an expeditionary force of 14,000 men is assembled, ready to embark for Narvik. The laying of mines has begun. Hitler knows that England has the intention to intervene in Norway. Until then, he was content to take advantage of the commercial advantages offered by Norwegian neutrality. The Allies' plan forces him to react.
It was at dawn this morning that the first information fell, indicating that German troops are crossing the border to enter Denmark. At the same time, attacks were launched from the open sea on several of the main Norwegian ports. The Allied Expeditionary Force, which was waiting to go into action in Norway, is hastily sent from England in a desperate attempt to dislodge the Germans from the Norwegian port. Badly calculated and badly planned, the operation is doomed to fail from the start. Strong naval support cannot compensate for insufficient Allied air cover. Moreover, the troops, 30,000 strong, are under-equipped for war in the harsh climate of Norway.
Pounded by German air attacks, the Allies will hold out three months before being finally evacuated, after suffering heavy losses in ships and men. While the tragedy of the Norwegian campaign unfolds, the British people do not reject the responsibility on Churchill, but on Neville Chamberlain. There is great disappointment about the conduct of the war. Its cost to the nation is at 6 million pounds a day, and few things are there to testify to it. Worse still, the government doesn't take measures which seem obvious. One million people are unemployed, while industrial production should be the first priority. The price of first-class products is growing rapidly, and a ration program has not yet been implemented to ensure fair distribution.
On May 8, 1940, the cup of dissatisfaction is full. Criticizing the war cabinet, Mr. Attlee said, "It's the same story everywhere. Too late. To win the war, others must be at the helm." Following the debates of the deputies without government portfolio, Mr. Attlee quoted the well-known statement by Oliver Cromwell: "You've been here too long for the little good you've done. Go, I say, let's get it over with, in the name of God, go!" I requested an audience with the King and handed him my resignation. His Majesty graciously accepted. Her Majesty has now appointed my friend and colleague Mr. Winston Churchill.
Having received the warrant from His Majesty, I formed a government of men and women from each party and of almost all opinions. We've had differences in the past, but now a bond unites us all: to make war until the victory is ours. Never give in to submission and shame, whatever the price and the agony to bear.
The British War Cabinet met at 8 a.m. The Ministry of the Interior warns civil defense and the anti-raid patrol to be alert. In light of the events of this morning in Holland and Belgium, the ministry says the wearing of gas masks has become necessary again. Three days after the German assault over the Netherlands, an action recalls the vulnerability of cities to aerial bombardment. While the Dutch are already in negotiations for peace, the center of Rotterdam is bombed. Six hundred people are killed, and 78,000 are homeless.
On May 15, the Dutch army surrendered, fearing additional deaths among civilians. It suffered 100,000 casualties, a quarter of its entire strength. I stand on the Franco-Belgian border. We watch the long lines of troops and supplies, and passing British guns from France to Belgium. At this border is a small village, which is a priori half French and half Belgian, with trenches on both sides. Almost the whole village is outside and stands in the streets watching the transport arrive. The welcome given by the Belgians is really fantastic. But the enthusiasm of the Belgians contrasts enormously with the suffering of the refugees in places like Liege.
We saw several trucks filled with these sad people, and at a place on another road, we met a small group of Belgians—old people, women, and children. Some with blankets rolled on their shoulders, their few wretched belongings on their backs, or carried by hand in inexpensive suitcases. This is roughly the situation when the British squadron was ordered to attack. A French troop was in the process of falling back on the lines of defense to the northeast of Antwerp while it was engaged in a race with a German motorized column trying to cut it off.
It seemed impossible for the Germans to succeed, and that is why the order was issued to stop this German column. But the Germans have still bombed today, especially the main roads, airfields, and refugees, and in one village, they even bombed a hospital. Allied strategists always thought that the dense woods and the hills of the Ardennes would make this territory impassable to tanks. But the Germans prepared for months. On May 10, this Panzer division, with military engineers at their head, makes its way and crosses the Ardennes to Luxembourg and into the south of Belgium.
Once through the forest, the major obstacle that presents itself beyond the Germans is the Meuse. The French division that defends the sector of the Ardennes withdrew to the other side of the river. From there, it collects all the weapons available in a desperate attempt to repel the crossing of the Germans. A fierce exchange of artillery takes place throughout the night of May 12. The next morning, the French are pounded by bombers, while the German shock troops cross the river under heavy fire.
As the elite forces establish and hold the bridgeheads, military engineers work feverishly to construct passages for the waiting German armor. As the Panzers quickly cross the Meuse at Sedan and Dinant, the French can only establish a few disorganized counterattacks, which are quickly discarded. In just three days, the Germans made a breakthrough in the French lines, 75 kilometers wide. Before them, the way is open to access the center of France.
I speak to you for the first time as Prime Minister at a solemn moment in the life of our country, our empire, our allies, and more of the cause of freedom. A terrible battle rages in France and Flanders. The Germans, by bombing aerial combined with heavily armored tanks, break through the French defense north of the Maginot line, and mighty ranks of their armored vehicles wreak havoc on the countryside which, for the first or second day, were defenseless. They advanced far inland and spread alarm and confusion by their power.
Behind them, now comes the infantry in trucks, and behind her again, the great masses advance. We fought three or four to one with our enemies. By shooting down the German bombers, we are fighting for the Battle of France. After this battle of France will take place the battle on our island. For England and for all it stands for.
In this supreme emergency, we should not hesitate to take all necessary measures, and even the most draconian. And ask our people to give the maximum and the best of themselves. Within a week, Boulogne surrendered, and Calais is besieged. As the two arms of the German advance are only 15 kilometers away, the bulk of the British Expeditionary Force and part of the French First Army retreat towards the city of Dunkirk. Now the English have lost almost all of their heavy artillery. Units must fight tanks with nothing more than machine guns and grenades.
Then, unexpectedly, the German tanks, which were ready to strike the final blow, withdraw abruptly to rush on Paris, although the Battle of Dunkirk is far from over. In England, a momentous decision has been made. The British Expeditionary Force must be evacuated by sea. Churchill warns the House of Commons to prepare for harsh and heavy news. He does not say that the government plans to save only 35,000 of the 300,000 men trapped in Dunkirk. From the start, it seems certain that the evacuation is going to be a colossal failure.
Ships that survived the fire rolling air attacks, to minefields and torpedoes, find themselves under heavy German fire at Calais. Once in the port of Dunkirk, the water is not deep enough for larger vessels. Only 7,000 men can be evacuated on the first day. The second day, a new path approach wins better results. Under the influence of formidable aerial attacks, the ships save 47,000 men. But the price to pay is high; in one day, three destroyers were sunk and six seriously damaged. The port of Dunkirk is blocked by damaged ships, and all the other evacuations must be done from the beaches.
Nevertheless, the operation continues. Those who attend know that they are witnesses of historical moments. Day and night, vessels of all types ensured the Channel link, under attack from enemy bombers, without worrying about the dangers, and released the British expeditionary forces locked up, every ship being packed with British soldiers, battle-scarred and bloodstained. Shortly after dawn this morning, I observed two warships enter the port under the enormous weight of men they carried on their deck.
In a few minutes, the command exhausted, docked his ship, and a gangway was launched from its decks towards the quay. Transport officers counted the men as they disembarked. No question of unit, no question of regiment, not even a question of nationality, since there were French and Belgian soldiers who fought alongside the English during the Battle of Flanders. They were all tired; some were completely exhausted. The most incredible was that almost all men were in a rather cheerful mood, and some even managed to smile. Even when a man was apparently about to collapse from fatigue, it was always possible to read in his eyes that his morale was irrepressible. And it's something that all German bombers will never crash.
Evacuation in Dunkirk is largely considered close to a miracle. Three hundred thirty-eight thousand men, including 139,000 French soldiers, were saved. The welcome they receive in Great Britain is not that of an army of vanquished, but that of heroes of an epic fight. Churchill warns that wars are not won by evacuations, but Dunkirk transforms, despite all, the morale of the English. With the fall of Paris and the final surrender of France on June 21, the sentiment is spreading in England that alone, she will do better. The problem now is a simple matter of survival.
What General Weygand called the battle of France is over. The Battle of Britain will soon begin. On this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. On it depends our own life as Englishmen, the long continuity of our institutions and our empire. All the fury and all the power of the enemy will soon turn to us. Hitler knows he will have to annihilate us on this island or lose the war. If we can face it, all of Europe can be free, and the world can move towards more radiant lands.
But if we fail, then the whole world, and even the United States, including all those we have known and loved, will sink into the abyss of a new Middle Ages, making even more claims, and staying longer in the shadow of perverted science. Let's join forces to fulfill our duty, and pretend the British Empire and the Commonwealth would last for 1,000 years. The men will say in chorus, "It was a time of glory."
With long-range weapons installed on the shores of conquered France, England faces for the first time the reality of war. For the English, it's shots announcing a campaign which, many fear, can only succeed to the Nazi invasion. Despite England's vulnerability, Adolf Hitler does not wish for the moment to engage in large-scale invasion projects. He thinks that with the fall of France, England will quickly seek to broker a deal. On July 19, he made a peace offer. Quite characteristically, it comes with a threat. If the English refuse to see the reality of the situation, a pain and a misery infinite will fall upon them.
Churchill's response is typical. He even refuses to answer; England will continue the fight. During the summer of 1942, the German armies on the Russian front have once again gathered their strength. The Soviet counteroffensive in Moscow had been arrested, and German armies were saved from total debacle after Hitler's refusal to allow a general retreat. The head of the high command soldier and 35 generals were sacked, and Hitler took personal control of the war in the East. Now he's got his attention again on what he covets the most: the Caucasus oil fields.
Blue Plan is the code name of the campaign. On June 28, 1942, the great offensive begins with Army Group South, which launches in an easterly direction towards the Don, taking the city of Voronezh. The corridor between the rivers of the Don and the Donets is now safe, and the Germans can start their great advance towards the south. To protect the march of the Caucasus, the German forces are divided in two. As a game progresses in the southern oilfields, the other must attack and take the strategic city of Stalingrad, cutting off the means of communication for the Soviets in the south.
While 300,000 German troops are engaged in an epic battle, which will last five months, in North Africa, German forces are also about to launch a historic offensive. At the end of July 1942, in the desert, opponents fought to the point of being immobilized. Rommel, desperately short of supplies, and especially fuel. But in August, his armored forces increased. He now has 203 German tanks and 240 Italian tanks. With Allied air attacks increasingly efficient on deployed supply lines, Rommel concludes that he must attack immediately in the hope of a final victory or face a disintegration of his combat strength.
The English now receive large quantities of American equipment, and time can only work in their favor. Additionally, the Eighth Army has a new commander at its head, Lt. Gen. Bernard Montgomery. "Here we will stand and fight. There will never be a retreat again. I have ordered that all plans and instructions regarding troop withdrawals be eliminated, and this immediately. We will stand and we will fight."
After long preparations and a significant development of superiority in men and equipment, Montgomery's assault is on the night of October 23. The Battle of El-Alamein begins with a massive British artillery bombardment, closely followed by infantry assaults on Axis lines, heavily mined. The success of Montgomery's plan depends on the infantry, who must clear a corridor that tanks can cross. The Italians, blocking the British advance, put up strong resistance, and a counterattack by the German 15th Panzer Division is not far from cutting short the fights.
On the 25th, a second attack by the tanks of the 10th British corps still fails to break the Axis lines. Montgomery must change his plans. Fierce battles rage for a week before Rommel finally has to go back 15 kilometers to avoid being surrounded. He quickly runs out of supplies, and his tank force is gradually dwindling. On November 1, the decisive blow is struck. In a resolute assault, the New Zealand Second Division manages to open a corridor for British armor. Rommel knows that if he doesn't step aside, his forces will be completely destroyed.
Hitler vehemently refuses to authorize retirement. For two disastrous days, Rommel obeys his orders. Finally, on November 5, on his own initiative, he decides to retire. He has lost 35,000 men and he has only 22 tanks left. In 1942, in mid-November, the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad suffered appalling losses. Every street, every house, and every factory was fiercely contested. But Hitler is convinced that Russia will soon collapse.
In reality, the secret Soviet army reserve, so far saved even in the most extreme emergencies, will be launched in a huge counteroffensive. The battle begins on November 19. In two big pushes, Soviet armies smash the Italian lines in Romania on the northwest flank of Germany. A third attack hits the south. Under the weight of an assault with such ferocity, the Axis defenders are overwhelmed. After four days, the points of the Soviet attacks meet. A giant vise tightens to surround Stalingrad.
The German Sixth Army and part of the Fourth Panzer Division, that is to say, 300,000 men, are trapped in the city ruins. As one might expect, Hitler forbids any attempt to retreat. Stalingrad must be defended until the last drop of German blood. On January 23, 1943, the Red Army launches its final assault. The exhausted German defenders, victims of the cold, starving, and almost devoid of ammunition, are caught in a pocket that is visibly shrinking. Luftwaffe attempts to supply them by air have failed for a long time, and the last usable airfield fell into Soviet hands.
In 11 days, the fight is over. Sixth Army Command General Von Paulus surrendered on February 2. One hundred fifty thousand Germans died, and 90,000 are taken prisoner. Only 7,000 will survive. For Germany, it is the biggest disaster in its military history. For the Allies, this is the decisive turning point in the war. While the Battle of Stalingrad was still raging, Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt had met in Casablanca, Morocco. Churchill had clearly set out its priorities. The Allies must crush the Axis forces who are still in Tunisia, then get Italy out of the war.
Roosevelt realizes that it will not be possible to invade France in 1943, and he wishes to concentrate the American efforts in the Pacific. The two men find a compromise. They decide that once liberated North Africa, they will develop a joint invasion of Sicily. In Tunisia, the Axis forces had set up a strong line of defense and had obtained important reinforcements. Advancing Americans experience great difficulties at the Kasserine pass, and it was only at the end of March that a British offensive can break the Axis line.
Anglo-American joint actions continue until the Axis forces surrender on May 11, 1943. Two hundred seventy-five thousand Italians and Germans are taken prisoner. The way is therefore open for the Allies to attack Sicily. Operation Husky begins on July 10. The maritime landings of Montgomery's Eighth Army and Patton's Seventh American Army managed to create a surprise almost total tactic. The offensive of the Eighth Army on Messina, however, encounters strong German resistance, while the Americans advanced towards the west of Sicily, taking Palermo on July 22.
In mid-August, the Axis forces evacuate Sicily on a large scale. In 38 days, the Axis loses 160,000 men—killed, wounded, or taken prisoner—against 16,000 losses among the Allies, ten times less. The conquest of Sicily has consequences as well political as military. On July 24, Mussolini is overthrown by army conspirators, and the new leader, Marshal Badoglio, begins to negotiate peace. On the same day, the German city of Hamburg is destroyed by British bombers.
Despite the sacrifices of the Allied crews, the greatest blow suffered by Hitler's military machine in 1943 is not inflicted by Allied bombings. It is worn by the Red Army on the eastern front. In July, an offensive of huge proportion launched by German armor at Kursk becomes the biggest tank battle in history. First sprayed by the Soviet rear defense, the German tanks are finally crushed in battles putting 1,000 tanks at a time into play. Twenty German panzer divisions are completely defeated, losing 1,500 tanks.
On August 3, the Soviet counteroffensive begins. It's the start of a big step forward, which will train the Red Army in the very heart of Germany. Today, December 3, we are entering the fifth war year, and today, the Eighth Army, after fighting to move from Egypt to Tunisia, then crossed the seas to Sicily, has landed on the European continent. We had an excellent plan of attack and air support more powerful than ever. There can only be one way out to this coming battle, and it will be another success. Waiting for victory, we are going to neutralize the Italians.
From the first days of their landing in Italy, the invading forces, both British and American, come out of their bridgehead and sink inland. But the Germans are quick to regroup. Only the cannonades of the Allied ships prevent counterattacks to break through to the vulnerable bridgeheads. Six days after the Allied invasion, the Italian government asks for an armistice. Immediately, the German army occupies Rome. In Naples, the people rebel against the Germans. Bloody fighting continues for three days.
Here is the information: two hours ago, Italy declared war on Germany. Marshal Badoglio qualified the acts of the Germans as savagery towards the civilian population, and he said peace will not be possible as long as there is only one German left on Italian soil. London, Washington, and Moscow took note of the action taken by Italy. Its status will be that of a co-belligerent and not that of an ally. The terms of the armistice with the Allied command remain in force.
As the Allies begin to consolidate their positions in southern Italy, they then embark on a slow and expensive breakthrough towards Rome. The strategy of the Allies as a whole undergoes an extremely important change. The Tehran Conference of November 1943 leads to a historic decision. The main effort of the Western allies will not take place in Italy. The power of the Allies will be concentrated, on the contrary, in Great Britain for an invasion of France.
In the spring of 1944, 3 million fighters are gathered in England for the coming invasion. Thousands of ships have to transport more than 5 million tons of U.S. military equipment. An Anglo-American Joint Command is created with General Eisenhower as Supreme Allied Commander. Montgomery is recalled from Italy to command all ground forces during the opening phase in the countryside. After many talks, the decision is finally made to attack in Normandy, west of the Seine, rather than in the Pas de Calais region, which is much more fortified.
To mislead the Germans, a massive campaign of misinformation is launched. The Allies exchange countless radio messages with an invading troop not existing, located in Kent. More bombing raids are directed to Pas de Calais rather than Normandy, the real target. Adolf Hitler knows that the invasion of France is a certainty. The question is to know where it will take place. Von Rundstedt, the commander in chief of Hitler in the West, thinks the Allied attack will take place in Pas de Calais. Rommel, who is in direct contact with Hitler and who practically benefits from independence in command, is convinced that the target is Normandy.
Hitler agrees with him, but contrary to his habit, he does not support the judgment of Rommel decisively. He divides the forces equally on land to the east and west of the Seine. Rommel and Von Rundstedt are also disagree on the best way to face the landing. Rommel prefers to destroy the invaders on the beaches. Von Rundstedt thinks that German armor should be held in reserve to launch a counter-offensive after the Allied landings. Once again, Hitler does not take sides in the debate. Neither of the two defenses is truly prepared.
While the Germans are debating, the opening phase of Operation Overlord, the invasion of France by the Allies, is already underway. A large-scale air assault on roads, bridges, sorting stations, and canals cuts the means of communication and isolates the German armor in Pas-de-Calais. It is an ideal way to use tactical air power. While the gathering of Allied troops is carried out in Great Britain, the war in Italy immobilizes 23 German divisions. The Allied landings at Anzio result in many German counterattacks, and the Eighth Army launches an assault directly on the Gustav line, fiercely defended by powerful German formations.
The monastery at the top of the hill of Monte Cassino blocks the Allied advance on Rome. On February 15, the monastery was bombed by Allied aircraft. Nevertheless, the Germans stand their ground amid the rubble. On May 11, British units, French, Polish, American, and Canadian, organize a decisive attack on the abbey. The capture of Monte Cassino on May 17 finally opens the road to Rome. The commander of the U.S. Fifth Army, General Clark, now has an unexpected chance to encircle the two German armies.
However, on June 4, he enters the capital of Italy, allowing the Germans to retreat to the north and establish a new defensive line. The victory in Italy will therefore escape the Allies until May 1945. The date of the invasion of Normandy was set for June 5. On that day, the moon and the tide will be favorable. But it all depends on the weather, and the forecast weather is not good. The men and equipment already on board, the nightmare of Allied strategists seems to be taking shape. A violent storm arrives from the Atlantic and descends on the Channel ports.
If the invasion takes place, the landing grounds will be the scene of unimaginable chaos. On June 5, meteorologists forecast a clearing for the next morning. Eisenhower faces a difficult choice. An error could cause the death of 150,000 men. However, the task force in this feverish expectation cannot be kept waiting indefinitely. Eisenhower decides to leave.
On the eve of this great adventure, I send my best wishes to all Allied Empire soldiers. It is given to us the honor to carry the last blow for freedom, which will go down in history. And in the better days that lie ahead, men will speak with pride of what we have done. We have a great and just cause. Let us pray that the Lord God be with us in battle, and that this particular providence help us in the fight. I want all the soldiers to know that I am convinced that the operations that we are about to begin will lead us to victory. With a heart full of bravery and in enthusiasm for the fight, let's move on to victory.
At dawn on June 6, Operation Overlord begins. The first airborne troops already landed behind German lines. The first contingent of Montgomery's 21st Army, 150,000 strong, embarks for France. Here, the BBC, this is a special bulletin. D-Day has arrived. Early this morning, the Allies began the assault on the northwest side of Hitler's European fortress. The first official information arrived just after 9:30 a.m., when the Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Force issued communiqué number one. This indicates that, under the command of General Eisenhower, Allied maritime forces, supported by a powerful air force, have started.
It's the day and it's the hour. The sky lights up above European coasts as they arrive. The sky is clearer and the sea brighter. But along the coast, there is a dense smoke screen caused by battleships and ships of war firing non-stop. The sun is now casting rays of light; it's like an omen. The way it just came out, just as we arrive. The sky is clear and the sea is a shimmering mass of silver, with all these boats crossing it, and the great warships in the background firing incessant shots towards the shore.
Here are now the landing canoes that are beyond us. The slowest are left behind; each of them plays their part and comes at the right time to fulfill the task assigned to them: destroyers, corvettes, patrol boats. I hear the sound of anti-aircraft gunfire. I still can't see if these are ours who are under attack. There is a huge cloud of smoke along the shore, due not only to the smoke screen but to these terrible bombardments. All ships are now firing.
I find it hard to imagine something similar to this parade of boats, like soldiers marching in line. I have never seen anything that expresses as much this intense feeling of the same goal shared by so many ships and by hundreds of thousands of fighters who are now in the process of disembarking on this European coast to complete the greater task they never had to do. I have to stop my recording now because the time has come for me to put my bag on my back and prepare to land on the shore, and it's a big day.
When the first wave of Allied infantry arrives on the beaches, no one knows what awaits them. But the big secret, the place and the time of the invasion, was kept. Hitler does not hear of the landing in Normandy until the end of the morning, and it's already late in the evening before Rommel could join his headquarters. Meanwhile, the Allies have landed 150,000 troops, losing only 2,000 men. It then becomes impossible to repel them.
Hitler continues to think that the main thrust of the Allies will focus on Pas de Calais and that the landings in Normandy are just tactics. He forbids his forces to fall back to new defensive positions and doesn't realize that the main objective of the Allies is the port of Cherbourg. To the dismay of his generals, Hitler puts all his trust in a new secret weapon, the flying bomb V1. V1's first raid on Britain begins June 12. The effect is even more terrifying than a fleet of German bombers. A single V1 carries almost a ton of high explosive, and it is not possible to launch alerts for incoming raids.
The threat is constant. Half of the 1,500 V1s launched in June explode in the countryside. But those who manage to pass kill over 500 Londoners every week. Hitler's confidence in the V1 is not justified. Most English people think that the war will be over in a few months and that Hitler's new weapon can't have a real impact on their morale. The war will be won or lost, not in the sky above England, but on the battlefields in France.
On June 27, Cherbourg fell to the Allies. But in the East, a powerful German force—seven armored divisions and two infantry divisions—bar the advance of the English in Caen. On July 8, units of the Second Army succeed in entering the city but are blocked on the bridges of the Orne. Montgomery's Goodwood operation, an advance by three British armored divisions behind the German defenses, is also blocked. While the operations of the British in Caen attract most of the German armor, America's First Army fights to make their way to Saint-Lô on July 18.
After a ferocious aerial offensive, the Allies break the German lines at Avranches. Patton's Third Army steps into the breach to arrive in Brittany. Heading north, Patton advances behind German armor and heads for the capital of France. On August 19, American forces approach Paris. The French National Council of the Resistance orders its followers to rise up. For four days, street fights rage throughout the city. French leaders are determined that the capital be liberated by its own citizens.
On August 23, after a relentless fight, the forces of resistance arrive to liberate most of Paris. South of town, French troops fighting alongside the American Fifth Corps approach the capital. The fourth French armored division has already entered the suburbs. Two days later, Charles de Gaulle enters the capital. Here is the information: Paris has been liberated. A press release that we have just received from General Koenig announces that the capital of France was released by the French Forces from the interior.
Eleven days after the liberation of Paris, Hitler seeks revenge using a new secret weapon. Two V2 rockets are fired at the city, but both explode in flight without causing damage. Two days later, the V2 takes target Britain. More than 1,000 rockets are fired at London, and more than 500 of them hit their target, killing 2,700 people. There is no effective defense. It was only when the Allied forces had taken their launching pad that the V2 threat would end.
While in the west, the Allies fight towards the Rhine, to the east, the Red Army is advancing on all fronts. On January 12, 1945, Russian forces make a breakthrough towards the south of Warsaw and advance towards Silesia. Warsaw falls on January 17, and to the north, two Russian armies invade a vast expanse of East Prussia, thus isolating a large number of German troops. Then the Soviet offensive, 180 divisions strong, advances 350 kilometers in 15 days. The front of the Red Army now lies barely 150 kilometers from Berlin.
Hello, here BBC. The Americans crossed the Rhine. Supreme Headquarters announced a few minutes ago that General Hodgers' First United States Army had reached the Rhine. The troops crossed it to establish a bridgehead somewhere south of Cologne. Hello, this is the BBC, Stewart McPherson, direct from Germany. Just spent a few minutes among our troops advancing towards the Rhine to feel the almost frenetic state of mind that prevails within each formation. This morning I crossed one of the Rhine bridges, and all along the way, I got caught up in the rush and the momentum of each formation.
Before the advance on the Rhine, it was always important to slow down when approaching a bridge, but this is no longer the case now. Things have changed. When I had barely advanced the nose of my car towards the bridge, an English policeman shouted at me: "Go ahead, man, cross the bridge at full speed!" The crossing of the Rhine by the Allies marked the final phase of the war in Europe. Germany's Western Front is still held by 70 German divisions, who fight stubbornly for every square centimeter of their homeland.
But to the east, the Red Army gathered 2.5 million men for the final assault on the capital of Germany. Three Soviet army groups, accompanied by 6,000 tanks, 42,000 guns, and 7,500 planes, are ready to go south and north of Berlin. The last offensive of the Second World War starts on April 16. In three days, the Soviets cross the suburbs of Berlin. On April 25, the city is completely surrounded. The same day, the Soviet armies and Americans meet at the Elbe. The fate of the Third Reich is sealed. West and East have come together.
At 5:20 a.m. on April 25, 1945, American troops of the 12th corps of General Bradley's Army came into contact with the Soviets from the First Army Corps of Ukrainian Marshal Khoja near the German town of Torgau on the Elbe. This is the news that all the allied populations were waiting for. Nazi Germany, tottering towards its total collapse, has been cut in half. Now we're living through the worst of modern times. I beg you to surrender; expect the fight to continue.
I will only say that the men who died during the Battle of Berlin gave their lives to show that whatever happens, Germany will live. No torture, no oppression, no measure of tyranny from the enemy can annihilate Germany. Germany will live because the Germans have in them the secret of life, endurance, will, and patience. And that is why I tell you these last words; you probably won't hear me talk for a few months. And I declare it: Ich liebe Deutschland, Heil Hitler, and farewell.
While Adolf Hitler, in his blockhouse sunk deep below the Reich Chancellery, refuses to conceive the possibility of defeat, the Red Army makes its way to the heart of the city. In 18 days, 93 German divisions were destroyed. Now 30,000 desperate defenders and 2 million civilians find themselves in the middle of hell. On April 30, Soviet units reach the Reichstag.
Here, London, this is a newsflash. German radio is just coming to announce that Hitler is dead. I repeat, German radio is coming to announce that Hitler is dead. Hitler's order to continue the fight cost the lives of over a million men. The Red Army lost 305,000. One hundred twenty-five thousand German civilians perished in the rubble of the city. Six thousand committed suicide. Berlin was virtually wiped out.
Here, the BBC Domestic Service, we interrupt broadcasts to make the following announcement: We have every reason to believe that, in accordance with the arrangements made by the three great powers, an official statement will be issued by the Prime Minister at 3:00 p.m. tomorrow, May 8. Yesterday, at 2:41 a.m., at General Eisenhower's headquarters, General Leeuwarden, representing the German high command, and Grand Admiral Donitz, designated head of the German state, have signed the unconditional agreement of surrender of all German forces—land, sea, and air in Europe—and handed it over to the Allied Expeditionary Force, simultaneously with the Soviet high command.
We can afford a brief period of rejoicing. The Second World War is not finished yet. The fight against Japan will last another three months. However, the biggest enemy has been defeated decisively and unconditionally. And for Europe, the long nightmare is coming to an end. The English have a unique satisfaction: that of knowing that in facing Hitler in the dark days of 1940 and preserving an island of freedom on the edge of Hitler's empire, they are the ones who made the victory possible.