D Day

The invasion of Normandy was not one single battle. Some troops coming ashore met little or no opposition. Others, on different beaches or engaged in special operations, encountered determined resistance which put the whole of the D-Day landings in jeopardy.

n the pre-dawn hours on June 6, 1944, 160,000 troops prepared to land on the French coast of Normandy. This would become the decisive turning point in World War II in Europe. Although the war would not end for another year, D-Day was the beginning of the end.

Based on the book Ten Days to D-Day by David Stafford, this program unfolds day-by-day, revealing through the letters and diaries of ten people the momentous ten days that led to the Allied invasion of Europe on June 6, 1944.
Follow 10 characters through the dramatic 10-day countdown to D-Day and the beginning of the end of World War II. D-Day on June 6, 1944 is the day of the most ambitious military operation in history. The aim: to liberate Europe from Nazi rule. However it is the dramatic 10 days leading up to the Allied invasion of Europe that have been described as the 10 most important days of the 20th century.

In early June 1944, 1.5 million Allied soldiers stand ready in southern England to embark on the largest amphibious assault in military history: Operation Overlord. For tens of thousands of young U.S. soldiers, this war against the Nazis seems almost like an adventure. Very few, if at all, have any combat experience. The sixth day of June 1944 is "D-Day", "Decision Day". American troops land on the coast of Normandy to bring the Third Reich to its knees. Platoon after platoon go ashore without any cover. Only now does the horror awaiting them begin to dawn. From the dunes above them, the Germans open fire on the GIs from bunkers and foxholes.