D-DAY: CODE NAME OVERLORD

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SUMMARY:
Celebrate the 60th anniversary of the compelling story of the Normandy Invasion: Code Name Overlord. On June 6, 1944, the Allies launched the largest combined land, air and sea operation ever in history to liberate Europe from Hitler and Nazi oppression. The Normandy invasion was a tremendous gamble and the element of surprise was paramount. This program includes rare color footage from the Library of Congress and interviews with combat veterans.

PRODUCED BY: Norm Anderson
DOCUMENTARY / MILITARY WARS, 3 x 1 hr, 1998

DVD SPECIAL FEATURES :
• Color / B&W
• Program Chapters
• Statistical Information on D-Day
• Time Capsule 1944


DETAILED SYNOPSIS:
It is first light on the 6th of June, 1944, D-Day. On this day, the Allied launched the largest combined land, air and sea operation ever from Southern England to liberated Europe from Hitler and Nazi oppression. Code named Overlord, the entire operation was a tremendous gamble. The element of surprise was paramount and through a tangle of intrigue, the German high command was led to believe the invasion would occur not at Normandy, but at Calais, only twenty miles from England across the narrow Strait of Cover.

The assault phase of Operation Overlord was a tremendous victory for the Allies. Six beachheads were established and more than 150,000 men and hundreds of tanks landing in Normandy. The Allies had won their foothold on the continent. Soon afterwards, they were celebrating in a liberated Paris. Yet, 80 days of war and its uncertainty lay between the two events.

This series retells the compelling story of Operation Overlord and includes rare color footage from the George Stevens Collection at the Library of Congress.

I. The Build Up - Approx. 55 Minutes Color and Black & White

With the exception of total victory, nothing in world War II was so eagerly awaited by the citizens of the Allied countries as the Invasion of Fortress Europe. Hitler had built his defenses for four years into an impregnable wall of concrete, steel and men. To crush it, the Allies mounted an army of nearly 3,000,000 men and the greatest sea and air armada the world had ever known.

II. The Invasion - Approx. 55 Minutes Color and Black & White

Countless hours of preparation had gone into developing Overlord, but the outcome was by no means certain. Had the Germans sifted through the “Bodyguard” cover-up schemes and determined the true invasion site? As little as 48 hours might spell disaster.

Infinitely confident in his men, Supreme Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower expected nothing less than total victory, but as the invasion armada set forth from the ports of southern England, the weight of the world was squarely on his shoulders.

III. The Breakout - Approx. 55 Minutes Color and Black & White

The cross channel attack beginning on the 6th of June had accomplished the first phase of the invasion. The second phase called for the Allies to expand their foothold. They needed space to maneuver and room to handle the large amounts of men and material streaming over from England.

From the day the allies landed, the assaulting forces had counted on speed and boldness to gain an early advantage. What they had not counted on was the skill and resolve of the German defenders, or the terrible toll the French countryside would take.

The grim push through the hedgerows of Normandy ended on July 27th with the complete breakout from the Normandy beachhead.

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