D-Day | 5 Minute Video
On June 6, 1944, Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy in northern France. Their goal: to liberate Western Europe from Nazi tyranny. From a distance, it might seem that victory was pre-ordained, but no one felt that way at the time. British military historian Peter Caddick-Adams tells the incredible story of what happened on that monumental day.
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Script:
There were 36,525 days in the twentieth century. Of these, none was more consequential than June 6th, 1944.
D-Day: the Allied invasion of Normandy in Nazi-occupied France. It did not end World War II, but without it, the Nazi war machine would not and could not have been defeated.
We, of course, know the good guys – America, England and its allies – won. But in 1944, there was no certainty of success. In fact, there was just as much doubt as confidence. Winston Churchill’s senior advisor, Field Marshal Brooke, wrote in his diary, “I am very uneasy about the whole operation. It may well be the most ghastly disaster of the whole war.”
Brooke’s fears were entirely reasonable.
First there were tens of thousands of men and millions of tons of material and supplies that had to be moved one hundred miles across one of roughest bodies of water in the world – the English Channel. And it had to be kept secret. If the Germans knew where and when the allies were landing, they could mass forces against them and turn the beaches of northern France into killing fields.
To prevent this, the Allies took every possible precaution. Their air forces destroyed bridges, roads and railways that might be used by the Germans to rush troops to the invasion site. Everyone knew the attack was coming; the key was to keep the Germans guessing.
Fake radio chatter was broadcast to suggest the beaches near Calais would be the landing point. Double agents leaked fake details of units forming in South East England. And movie set designers built phony tanks, planes and ships to support the ruse of an army preparing to cross near Dover for the benefit of German reconnaissance pilots and spies.
The Germans swallowed it all. But the Nazis were not the only enemy the Allied forces faced. Mother Nature was just as threatening.
The 23,000 paratroopers and glider-borne infantry jumping into Normandy needed moderate winds to be effective. The twelve thousand Allied aircraft needed clear skies. The invasion fleet of six thousand vessels needed calm seas. And there had to be a low tide to expose Nazi obstacles and mines.
When high winds and rain began pummeling the Channel, Allied supreme commander General Dwight Eisenhower postponed the invasion date of June 5th by twenty-four hours. That might not sound like a significant delay, but it was. All forces were concentrated and ready to go. All the plans, all the deceptions, could be exposed at any moment. Then came a new forecast. The weather appeared to be breaking. There might be a 12-hour window of opportunity.
Eisenhower gave the order: We go. Immediately, the greatest invasion fleet ever assembled set sail. On board were over 130,000 young soldiers.
Consider for a moment who these soldiers were. The average age of the American GI was 21. Most had never seen combat or even been fifty miles from their hometown. As they sailed toward the French shoreline, Eisenhower wrote a press release in case of catastrophe. D-Day was an all-or-nothing affair. A new invasion strategy would take months, if not years, to devise.
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source
The phony tanks were actually ingenious little tent-like structures. Like the fake planes, they were obvious props up close, but believable from the air. What really sold the false front army at Dover was that they put General Patton (on the outs because of the slapping incident) in command of the fake army there. To his chagrin, he wouldn't be part of D-Day, but because the Germans couldn't imagine him NOT being a part of it, it gave that fake military build-up an authenticity it needed.
So, not the invention of the digital computer. Not the assassination of Archdale Frans Ferdinand or the founding of the soviet union. Nah it was d day. That was the most important event of the 20th century.
Did you know De Gaulle didnt know about this intervention. it was the affair of the americans.
Franklin sent troups in normandy + soldiers brought fake french money printed in america (it was suppose to be the new french money + 3500 rapes were register in normandy by us soldiers on french women + americans bombed and destroyed more buildings than the germans there.
The us wanted to occupy france and europe. take advantage of the weak france to install a military govemt called amgot.
Thanks to de gaulle we stayed FRANCE
Kinda wrong to refer to it as d day. It's operation overlord. D day is a generic military term.
There's one crucial detail left: the Eastern front. Had Overlord failed, the Soviet Union would have defeated Nazi Germany anyway and France would have been "liberated" by Soviet troops.
the allies known as rebel alliances alliance restored peace law and order or rebellion powers were united states united kingdom soviet union china france and other allied countries vs empire alliances were nazi germany italy and japan.
As a Canadian, I would like to respectfully suggest that there are some important countries’ flags missing from the thumbnail of this video. Speaking for my country, Canada played a major role in D-Day. Canada should also be recognized for its almost exclusive role in the Dieppe RAID on August 19, 1942. The lessons learned at Dieppe were instrumental in helping to pave the way to success on D-Day.
Lmao, without the d day the n@zi war machine could not be stopped??? What are u guys smoking? By june 44 the red army were already in the estonian borders in the north and in the romanian borders in the south, in less than 2 months after already in prussias eastern borders bruh
The war would rage on for longer time no doubt about it, but saying without the d day the wehrmarcht could not be defeated is at least a joke, and a bad one btw
*America, the UK and it’s allies
everything on the tactical Level good everything else bad
🇺🇸
Happy Memorial Day Weekend 2022!
even without the d day the soviets would still have defeated germany the d day only speed up their defeat
Never did I think I would be using prageru for help on my quiz…
Eisenhower is akin to the modern-day king fighting his own battles!
Every country in the world should have been an Ally. It’s only moral, to stop the world’s most evil regime from world domination
It still boggles my mind that there are voices such as British historian Max Hastings who have demeaned the quality of the fighting ability of the British and American armies, particularly the American, in WWII, inferring that D-Day and the eventual end of the war was nothing more than sheer luck and the weight of the industrial might of the U.S. protected by the Atlantic Ocean.
Americans overrate d day a lot.
0:19 The front war was over after Stalingrad. America’s enter was important to shorten the time until Nazi loss. But the statement ,, without D Day the Nazi war machine couldn’t be stopped“ is just wrong. It already was stopped. Actually quite a long time already.
Prager U is jewish
Through the gates of hell
As make our way to heaven
Through the nazi lines
PRIMO VICTORIA
Their still are neo nazis out there.
Even if d day had failed it's very likely the soviets would have conquered Germany
By June 1944 Nazi Germany was already losing the war, particularly on the eastern front. D-Day did not so much end Nazi tyranny in Europe as keep Communist tyranny out of western Europe.
IIRC the Germans top general that was supposed to be commanding the defense of France (Rommel I believe) happened to be away when the attack happened. There were a number of things that went the allies way that were pretty well miracles.
I would actually argue D Day was more about keeping the USSR from ushering in another wave of tyranny over all of Europe and allowing the allies to at least have Western Europe liberated
I’m trying to find a PragerU video on
World War II as a whole just like they have one for World War I, but I can’t find it.
Has anyone seen it?
Or maybe it’s one of the many video YouTube has censored.
After watching this stand up and salute to the brave and fallen soldiers
Well said.
Arcross the roughes terrain in most of the world Russia insert Soviet national anthem her with dirt roads and a scourge earth policy wasteland
What he the air hair history in if you don’t want American natoinlism at its fines I’m American and I love all the other vid on the chennel
So 1.8k dislikes is the number that can be counted on for people disliking a video just because of the channel?……I'll keep that math in my head for the future.
This is a frivolous observation, I realize, but Field Marshall Brooke bears an amazing resemblance to Dr. Who's Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart, played by Nicholas Courtney.
I thank Peter Caddick-Adams for being the ideal kind of Englishman I envision. Too often I see videos done by British with an almost cockney-sounding accent that may sound comfortable to people in their locality, but gets in the way of other English-speaking people around the world. Caddick-Adams has what my mother would call fine enunciation, and to me he speaks with grace, class, and dignity.
Thank you. Semper Fi love light open roads
Operation Bagration anyone?