( dramatic music)
Downloaded from YTS.MX
(breathing heavily)
Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX
Go, go!
This is it.
(gunfire)
CAPTAIN (over radio): All on you now, George.
(explosion)
Fire!
(scraping)
Someone tell me that's not a bloody mine.
Anytime you like, sir.
We're on.
(winces in pain)
Copper One to Copper Six.
ELDRIDGE: We were told there are no conditions for abort!
It's time.
TAILOR: Damn tank came right through into the middle of us.
You couldn't stop it.
SPALDING: Back in the water, boats were in flames.
Now!
Let me go first.
- Sergeant! - Direct hit.
Bombs away.
HONOUR (over radio): Our commander said they were looking for volunteers
for hazardous underwater work.
The qualifications were that you had to be able to swim, and were single.
How are we looking, Lyne?
We're drifting a little.
NARRATOR: 26-year-old Lt George Honour is the captain of midget submarine, X23.
15 feet slow ahead.
15 feet, slow ahead.
NARRATOR: Honour's mission sounds simple.
Park his tiny sub right on the Nazi's doorstep.
Remain undetected on the seabed for days.
Then guide the invasion to shore.
But it's extraordinarily dangerous.
On the surface,
they'll be exposed to attack by enemy aircraft and patrol boats.
Beneath the waves, lie hidden minefields that could atomize the tiny craft.
HONOUR: Our part of the operation was called Gambit.
We looked up the code name in the dictionary and much to our horror it said,
"Pawn given away before big move in chess."
NARRATOR: George and his crew are in the vanguard of the largest invasion
of the 20th century...
A massive armada led by British, American and Canadian forces.
Over 5000 ships, supported by more than 11,000 aircraft
will land 132,000 men...
All in a single day.
The Germans know it's coming.
But they have no idea when or where.
The plan is for troops to come ashore on five Normandy beaches.
Their codenames...
Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword.
But east of Sword Beach,
where 29,000 British troops will land, are lethal mudflats.
If the invasion force hits them, the landing on Sword could be a disaster.
It's George Honour's job to stop that happening.
On the morning of D-Day,
X23 will surface a mile off Sword Beach.
Honour will then light a beacon to guide the first wave in.
Those troops will be in 40 amphibious, Sherman tanks
converted specifically for D-Day.
These extraordinary crafts, known as "DD" tanks,
are key to the success of the invasion.
HONOUR: The DD tanks were in flotation bags, great big canvas bags,
and carried two propellers.
The tanks would be launched all around us
and they would swim ashore under their own power.
NARRATOR: If X23 fails to guide the DDs safely to Sword Beach,
the thousands of troops that follow will be defenseless.
It's a high-risk strategy
that relies on the courage and skill of George and his crew.
For just over 24 hours, the tiny sub avoids enemy contact.
(scraping)
All stop!
(scraping)
Someone tell me that's not a bloody mine cable.
(scraping)
You could hear it scraping along the side.
(scraping)
We are assuming being in the middle of a mine barrage that it was a mine.
(scraping)
Even if you hook one and you slid up...
(scraping)
...you might set the mine off.
(scraping)
Slow astern.
(scraping)
Half astern.
(scraping)
(clanking)
Pop on a brew, Jim.
(chuckles)
NARRATOR: 50 hours after leaving Britain,
X23 surfaces a mile off Sword Beach.
Honour is expecting a crucial coded radio transmission.
(radio static)
MAN (over radio): For Padfoot. For Padfoot.
Auntie Nelly is unwell in Scarborough.
It's postponed, lads.
Bloody weather.
We had the postponement. It didn't say how long it was for.
NARRATOR: Honour has to wait another 22 hours
for the next scheduled transmission.
X23 must sit on the seafloor and remain undetected until then.
HONOUR: We had this awful problem.
Did we have enough oxygen?
NARRATOR: The tiny sub is just six feet in diameter and 50 feet long.
It was designed for a crew of four, but X23 carries five.
So the sub has been fitted with extra oxygen tanks for this mission.
But these were salvaged from a crashed German bomber.
The Oxy bottle didn't seem to have anything on it
to say how much there was left,
and it did seem to be a bit short.
LYNE: (coughing)
You alright, Lyne?
NARRATOR: Honour has no idea how long the remaining oxygen will last.
Eighty miles away, off the coast of England,
566 battleships, destroyers and other warships
are also nervously waiting...
Among them, 29,000 British invasion troops...
destined for Sword Beach.
(wind whistling)
Twenty two long hours after the last contact,
George Honour fires up the radio once again.
(static)
It's no good. I can't hear a thing. There's too much interference.
It was only a wire really,
(chuckles) we got very bad reception.
I think it might be one of the pumps.
HONOUR: Kill it now.
MAN (over radio): For Padfoot. For Padfoot.
What is this?
Henry would like his pom...
For Padfoot.
Henry would like his pomade.
We're on.
NARRATOR: Honour now has just a few more hours to wait on the seafloor,
so long as the oxygen lasts.
On the surface, the Allied forces are moving into position.
Let's get some fresh air, shall we?
Blow Ballast.
NARRATOR: It's now or never.
Okay, boys, this is it.
NARRATOR: Midget submarine X23 surfaces just a mile off Sword Beach.
Seven miles away, 40 DD tanks,
418 landing craft and 29,000 men
are relying on George Honour and his crew.
The D-Day invasion at Sword Beach hangs on this moment.
Pass me the beacon.
NARRATOR: X23 lights up.
(wind whistling)
HONOUR: As you looked back towards England
there were ships as far as the eye could see.
All forms of ships.
One was very pleased they were on our side.
(wind whistling)
NARRATOR: Zero hour.
As dawn breaks,
Allied ships unleash a massive bombardment of the French coastline.
Despite shells flying overhead, the sub must hold its position.
If the DD tanks don't see X23's beacon,
everything Honour's crew have gone through is for nothing.
Can you see the tanks?
Skipper?
(noise passes)
HONOUR: Bloody hell, here they come.
We were right on the spot that we were told to get to
and they all came and passed us.
NARRATOR: The first DD swimming tanks pass the mini-sub and land at Sword Beach.
29,000 British troops follow the tanks in.
After a marathon 81-hour mission,
George Honour and his crew have done it.
D-Day has begun.
Over 132,000 troops are now approaching Normandy.
54,000 British at Sword and Gold.
21,000 Canadians at Juno.
57,000 Americans at Utah and Omaha.
These original images show men of the 4th Infantry Division.
They face a dangerous 11-mile journey across rough waters
in one of 65 landing craft bound for Utah Beach.
Some of these soldiers will not survive the day.
Utah is the most westerly invasion beach.
In just a few minutes,
the first of over 23,000 American troops will land there.
But ahead of them lie deadly fortifications...
(tense music)
Roaring over the English Channel in the nose of a B26 Marauder,
is 26-year-old bombardier 2nd Lieutenant George Eldridge.
Switches in bombardier compartment, checked.
All bombsight switches, on.
Switches in power compartment checked.
NARRATOR: A total of 341 bombers are heading to Utah.
Eldridge is in the lead group.
Looks like every plane we've got is up here.
MAN (over radio): Copy that.
NARRATOR: Their mission is to fly directly through German anti-aircraft fire...
And destroy the heavily fortified bunkers defending Utah Beach.
CAPTAIN (over radio): Better keep your eyes peeled, George.
There's a lot of people counting on us today.
NARRATOR: American ground troops will land minutes after the last bombs drop.
So the B26s will get one shot at their targets.
If they miss, the soldiers below will be slaughtered.
There are no second chances.
CAPTAIN (over radio): How are you doing, George?
Cold, sir.
Guess it's better than being down there though.
You could see the boats, the landing craft in the water, en-route.
Some of the people I went to school with were in that initial assault on the beach.
NARRATOR: But the entire mission is now threatened by low cloud.
To target the German defenses,
the bombers will have to fly beneath the cloud layer,
far lower than planned.
13 months ago, a squadron of B26s flew a mission this low.
Every plane that reached the target was shot down.
ELDRIDGE: We were told there were no conditions for abort!
That's what the old man said,
"You're in it, it's time."
NARRATOR: Off Utah Beach,
Allied ships are now pounding German positions inland.
To avoid friendly fire and have the best chance of hitting their targets,
the B26s hug the coastline.
But it puts them in the crosshairs of every anti-aircraft gun along the coast.
(explosions)
(gunfire)
ELDRIDGE: They were using 88s and small stuff, 50 calibers, 37 mill.
And we were low enough that they could reach us.
(explosion)
NARRATOR: In the lead aircraft, is 46-year-old news reporter Ivan Peterman.
PETERMAN: I see bright flashes and then my neck begins to prickle.
Red tracers go shooting past our plane.
One puts an incendiary into a bomber.
Come on, bail out, bail out.
Do we see any chutes?
CAPTAIN (over radio): I see three... That's all.
NARRATOR: George is just seconds from his target.
The lives of the men below are in his hands.
CAPTAIN (over radio): All on you now, George.
NARRATOR: George Eldridge is in the lead group of 341 B26 Marauders
on their final approach to bomb German defenses at Utah Beach.
But they're flying at a low altitude they haven't trained for.
Captain Albert Hill is in one of the other bombers.
HILL: At 5,000 feet, you don't have any time at all.
When you drop to that elevation,
everything is moving a lot faster than you realize.
By the time you see the target, it's behind you.
NARRATOR: The success of the Utah Beach landings hang in the balance.
Bomb bay doors open.
Bombsight stabilizers on.
Dammit! Keep her steady.
PETERMAN: We were approaching a battery of Nazi guns.
They look like a series of golf bunkers,
neatly arranged like some sandy folly on the beach.
Come on, baby.
Bombs away.
NARRATOR: The squadrons of B26s drop more than 500 tons of explosives.
PETERMAN: An awesome spectacle is spreading below.
There are spouts of flame and belching smoke
which seems to leap at us like some angry monster.
NARRATOR: The bombing run devastates German fortifications
the whole length of Utah Beach.
Just six minutes later, right on cue,
the first of 23,000 American troops,
including men from the 4th infantry, begin hitting the shore.
George Eldridge and the crews of the B26 Marauders are so effective,
the ground troops at Utah suffer fewer than 300 casualties.
Godspeed, guys.
NARRATOR: 20 miles to the east, on Omaha Beach,
the same plan goes disastrously wrong.
Omaha Beach is a bloodbath.
(gunfire)
But between two of the largest bunkers is a weaker area in the German defenses.
The few landing craft that come ashore here,
avoid the worst of the slaughter.
Among them are Easy Company, 16th Regiment, 1st Division.
This photograph called "Into the Jaws of Death," shows the moment they wade ashore.
Around the same time the photo was taken, 1st platoon of Easy Company
storm out of their landing craft.
They make it up the beach unscathed.
Second Lt John Spalding is in command.
It's his first time in combat.
We went as fast as we could.
We moved on across the shale straight inland.
The first place we stopped was at a demolished building.
NARRATOR: His sergeant is Philip Strecyzk,
a decorated veteran of two previous campaigns.
Check your weapons are dry.
Something funny, Ramundo?
No, sir!
(groans)
NARRATOR: Either side of them, thousands of troops are still arriving on the beach.
They're being cut to ribbons by machine gunfire.
Every passing minute means more dead and injured Americans.
(grunts)
Copper One to Copper Six.
Copper One to Copper Six. This is One!
NARRATOR: The radio is dead.
They're on their own.
(gunfire)
The platoon is hemmed in on both sides by enemy fire.
Their only possible route out is directly inland
between the two largest German bunkers,
WN62 and WN64.
This route gives them an extraordinary opportunity
to change the outcome of D-Day.
If they can make it, they will end up behind enemy lines.
Sir, what are your orders?
The beach is out of the question.
What do you think, Sergeant?
We're going to get slaughtered if we go out towards those bunkers head-on.
Could be there's a way up through here.
NARRATOR: The route is extremely dangerous.
It's protected by barbed wire, minefields, snipers and machine-gun nests.
Let me go first.
We were getting heavy small arms fire.
One burst left a series of dots along the wall in front of us.
Ramundo was killed.
NARRATOR: Louis Ramundo is just one of over 2,400 American casualties
at Omaha Beach that day.
(inaudible)
(gunfire)
(explosion)
Sergeant?
Minefield, sir.
NARRATOR: Spalding's platoon is trapped.
NARRATOR: On Omaha Beach, 1st Platoon of Easy Company
is trying to get behind enemy lines.
But they've run into a minefield.
Dammit.
You see a way around it?
Stick to the areas with grass and we should be okay.
Here's hoping.
(explosion)
Sergeant?
I'm okay, sir.
Okay, men, move out.
Heads down.
Stay on the grass. Go!
Sgt. Bisco kept saying, "Lieutenant, watch out for the damn mines."
They were a little box type mine, and the place was infested with them.
The Lord was with us and we had an angel on each shoulder on that trip up the hill.
We lost no men.
NARRATOR: Spalding and his men reach the top of the hill.
They're the first of the 16th Infantry to make it this far.
Down on the beach, there's no let-up in the slaughter.
SPALDING: We didn't know what had become of the rest of Easy Company.
Back in the water, boats were in flames.
We decided we wouldn't look back anymore.
NARRATOR: All the platoon can do is push on inland.
(gunfire)
But their way forward is blocked by deadly machine-gun nests.
(gunfire)
(indistinct)
NARRATOR: Sargent Strecyzk takes out the machine guns without losing a single man.
The platoon is now behind enemy lines.
For the first time, they can take the offensive.
Spalding and Streczyk have one target in mind;
the deadly bunker complex known as WN64.
It's one of the largest enemy strongholds
and is still raining down murderous fire on Omaha.
It has four separate gun positions, joined by concealed trenches and tunnels,
and manned by at least 30 soldiers.
1st platoon are massively outgunned.
But they have one advantage.
The enemy has no idea they are there.
How many do you think are in there?
NARRATOR: They only have 22 men.
They cannot risk a pitched battle.
Streczyk goes in alone.
(gunfire)
SPALDING: Streczyk fired shots into the dugout.
Come out, hands up.
Then he yelled in Polish and German for them to come out.
You've got 10 seconds.
Four men, disarmed, came up.
They brought 2 or 3 wounded with them.
NARRATOR: Streczyk's bold move works.
Led by Streczyk, the platoon fight their way through the entire bunker complex.
Down!
(explosion)
(gunfire)
(panting)
Just an hour later,
the deadly guns of WN64, finally fall silent.
The weight of fire onto Omaha Beach is drastically reduced.
The tide of battle begins to turn.
By taking out WN64,
1st Platoon have opened a route away from the slaughter
for the exhausted troops on the beach.
One American newspaper describes Streczyk as "The One Man Invasion."
His actions are pivotal in the success of the assault on Omaha.
Across every Normandy beach, Allied troops are now fighting their way ashore.
But for 18,000 soldiers, D-Day began long before the first beach landings.
They were dropped behind enemy lines just after midnight.
This reconnaissance photograph shows discarded parachutes
and abandoned gliders.
These were used by US and British Paratroopers
and glider troops in one of the largest airborne landings of the war.
(gunfire)
Just outside the village of Benouville,
soldiers from the 7th battalion Parachute Regiment
and the Ox and Bucks light infantry have dug in.
Benouville sits at a key junction.
Roads come from the south and the east over the River Orne and the Caen canal.
These would give German tanks direct access to the invasion beaches.
To prevent that, this tiny band of British soldiers must hold the town.
NARRATOR: So far no heavy armor has tried to break through their lines.
Even so, after hours of fighting, the troops are barely clinging on.
Major John Nigel Taylor is in charge of A Company.
We were getting casualties the whole damn time.
You couldn't stop it.
We were really very thin on the ground.
We were down to about...
it couldn't have been more than 30.
What's your name, private?
McGee, sir.
How are you holding up, McGee?
Hoping Jerry gets bored and buggers off home.
Sir? Bastards!
NARRATOR: Private Michael McGee is just 20 years old.
(explosion)
MCGEE: Ammunition!
NARRATOR: They're running out of men and running out of bullets.
Sir, armor coming up the road.
(ringing)
Tight! Argh!
NARRATOR: British soldiers dropped behind lines
have been under attack for nine hours in the village of Benouville.
Now German heavy armor is trying to break through their paper-thin lines.
Major Taylor, one of the last surviving officers, is wounded by shrapnel.
Keep that fire going. We cannot let them get behind us.
NARRATOR: Lance Corporal Eddie Gurney is fighting alongside them.
GURNEY: At about 1000 hours, three large tanks came down the main road
from the direction of Caen.
Alright, Jones. You're up.
Grab the Piat and make ready.
(winces)
NARRATOR: The Piat is a lightweight anti-tank weapon.
It uses a powerful spring to launch an explosive charge
that can pierce armor up to four inches thick.
But it's only effective at close range.
Just a handful of the paratrooper's Piats survived the drop.
It's coming toward us...
Alright, Jones. Hold your fire until I say.
20 feet...
TAYLOR: Wait.
10 feet...
TAYLOR: Wait.
Anytime you like, sir.
Go.
And he pulled the trigger...
Fire!
(click)
And there was just a click.
TAYLOR: Bloody Piat.
Don't just sit there, get in.
NARRATOR: Just three soldiers and one machine gun
now stand between the German armor...
and the British troops on Sword Beach.
Looks like this is on us then. Gammon bombs you got them.
We have things called gammon bombs.
We all carried this plastic explosive
in the inside pockets of our battle dress,
and mechanisms to set it off.
I'm gonna lay down covering fire.
You get to that building there, wait for the tank to stop.
- Why will it stop? - Because I'm going to make it.
Just make sure you're ready yeah?
TAYLOR: Damn tank came right through into the middle of us,
From where I was it was...
four yards away.
Okay, this is it. Go. Go. Go.
GURNEY: Private McGee started to walk up the middle of the road towards the tanks.
We could hear the bullets ricocheting off the tank's armor plating.
The drivers closed down their visors,
making them blind as to what was happening.
NARRATOR: McGee's Bren gun is as much use as a pea shooter against heavy armor.
But in shut down position,
the Germans can't see what's going on right under their noses.
Now!
GURNEY: Corporal Kilean ran up the side of the road.
He threw the first bomb which hit the leading tank.
The crew bailed out and attempted to escape.
They were shot by McGee.
NARRATOR: Not long afterwards,
McGee destroys a second piece of German heavy armor.
The wrecked vehicles block the road.
Not a single piece of enemy armor breaks through this village on D-Day.
Because of Michael McGee's quick-thinking actions,
the ragged Allied line at Benouville holds.
It's nearly six hours since the first troops came ashore.
All five beaches are now under allied control.
Men and machines are pouring ashore.
But that success is causing problems.
This reconnaissance photo of Sword Beach
shows a mass of tanks and trucks on the shore.
Traffic is backed up on the tiny lanes leading away from the beach.
Paralyzed by the traffic jams, the tanks are easy targets for a counter-attack.
(tense music)
The only defense against the Panzers hitting Sword
are 54 British Sherman tanks of the Staffordshire Yeomanry.
They've finally cleared the traffic on the beach and are pushing inland
towards the town of Caen where the Panzers are based.
The Shermans have been ordered to intercept the German tanks.
But this is enemy terrain.
Hidden in it are minefields and heavy artillery.
Come on. Come on. Foot down, Mills.
NARRATOR: For Sergeant Les Joyce, the hunt is on.
He will play a pivotal role in the only tank battle of D-Day.
In a head-on shooting match with the Panzers,
the Sherman' are outnumbered.
If we get contact, we fire first.
NARRATOR: They have to find a tactical advantage.
Joyce's orders are to race for high ground.
Get there before the Panzers and ambush them.
Joyce's best bet is a ridge near the village of Periers-sur-le-Dan.
It overlooks the shortest route for the German tanks to get to the beaches.
On your toes, everybody, be ready for contact.
NARRATOR: But up ahead, there's trouble.
MAN (over radio): We're hit, we're hit. Bailing out. Artillery in the trees.
NARRATOR: A squadron of Shermans have been ambushed.
NARRATOR: Sergeant Les Joyce is pushing inland through enemy territory.
Ahead of him, five British Sherman tanks have been hit.
The Germans have hidden powerful artillery in the woods.
These 88-millimeter guns were designed to shoot down aircraft.
They can destroy a tank from over a mile away.
2nd Lt David Render is another tank commander.
RENDER: I still wince at the memory of the ear-splitting crack
of the high-velocity projectiles.
They gouged lightning-quick furrows in the ground around us.
NARRATOR: Despite armor two inches thick, Shermans have a notorious reputation...
(explosion)
Germans call them the "Tommy Cooker".
Allies nickname it the "Ronson" after the American lighter slogan,
"Lights first time, every time."
RENDER: All tank crews have a horror of being burned alive in their vehicles.
NARRATOR: Then comes the news the Allies have feared all day.
MAN (over radio): Panzers on the move. Panzers on the move.
NARRATOR: A British reconnaissance platoon spots the Germans heading north.
If they reach the ridge first,
they will have a direct route to the invasion beaches.
(dramatic music)
But the German Panzers have left it too late...
The British Shermans get there first.
There you are.
NARRATOR: Joyce is outnumbered and outgunned.
His one advantage is that he has the high ground.
Right five.
NARRATOR: But it will only take the Panzers seconds to target him.
Keep turning.
NARRATOR: Everything depends on his first shot.
Turn five.
Steady, steady.
Okay, 500.
And fire!
Direct hit. Reload.
NARRATOR: He takes out the lead Panzer with one shot.
Now the tanks behind can't get through.
Joyce is in control of the battle.
Tank ahead 600.
Fire!
That's it!
Steady, steady!
Fire!
NARRATOR: Sargent Reuben Welsh sees it happen.
WELSH: He knocked out the three leading tanks with three shots.
The rest panicked and veered north.
I believe we saved the day.
Our thin red line held and they never came again...
NARRATOR: Three shots. Three tanks.
The 22nd Panzer regiment lose 13 tanks that day.
They're forced to retreat.
One of the single greatest threats to the D-Day invasion has been halted.
Les Joyce is instrumental in stopping the threat from the German tanks.
By day's end, 156,000 Allied troops are now on mainland France.
This single day has witnessed the largest invasion in the 20th century.
D-Day was won by the actions of ordinary men
confronted by extraordinary circumstances.
These men were just a handful
among hundreds, perhaps thousands of other soldiers,
whose actions transformed the outcome of the war.
X23 commander George Honour survived the war.
He died in Dorset, England in 2002.
Sergeant Philip Strecyzk logged 440 days of frontline combat.
He fought all the way to Germany before returning safely to America.
Sergeant Leslie Joyce followed in his father's footsteps
to become a gamekeeper.
Private Michael McGee, did not survive D-Day.
He was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his actions at Benouville.
Lt Jim Booth became a teacher.
He's 97 and lives in Somerset, England.
George Eldridge retired with the rank of Colonel.
He now lives in Idaho. He's 101 years old.
Captioned by Visual Data Media Services