With the promise of summer, the Second World War entered a very positive phase for the Allies in 1944. After success in North Africa in the latter part of 1942, and the Allied invasion of Sicily and the landings at Salerno in 1943, followed by the Anzio attack in January 1944, the German forces were losing their Italian stronghold. The Russians were becoming more powerful in the east, pushing ever closer towards Germany since the surrender of Hitler’s troops at Stalingrad early in 1943.Even in South East Asia the Allied battle against the Japanese, part of Adolf Hitler’s Axis of Evil, was gaining momentum daily.
And of course, the daring Operation Overlord, which had culminated in the D- Day landings of June 6th, along the coastline of Normandy, had been a triumph beyond even the wildest dreams of the Commander in Chief, General Dwight D Eisenhower.
Remarkably, Eisenhower had never actually seen active service, but he was nevertheless a superb administrator who was greatly admired by all the men he commanded, not least because of his pleasant and affable character. The respect and trust of the troops was of vital importance to Eisenhower, because he knew that once Operation Overlord began, every soldier, sailor and airman, regardless of rank or experience, would be key if the battle for Normandy was to be won. The Allies could have taken a shorter route to France across the English Channel, from Dover to Calais, but they deliberately chose a different route.
Directed and narrated by Liam Dale
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