Normandy Road Trip: Gold Beach, D-Day, and Operation Overlord Explained

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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This is the BBC Home Service.

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Here is a special bulletin read by John Snagg.

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D Day has come.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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Early this morning, the Allies began the assault on the northwestern

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face of Hitler's European fortress.

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The first official news came just after half past nine, when Supreme

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Headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Force, usually called SHAPE from

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its initials, issued number one.

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This said, under the command of General Eisenhower, Allied naval

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forces supported by strong air forces.

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began landing allied armies this morning on the northern coast of France.

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The roar of the aircraft engines was deafening.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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As a British paratrooper, I knew the success of Operation Tonga hinged on

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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our ability to land and secure key positions behind enemy lines in Normandy.

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The night of June 5th, 1944 was pitch black, and the only light in the sky.

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came from the moon and the distant flashes of anti aircraft fire.

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As we approached our drop zone, the tension among us was palpable.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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I clutched my rifle tightly, my heart pounding in my chest.

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The red light turned green and we jumped.

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The air hit me like a wall and I plummeted down towards the dark fields below.

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My parachute opened with a jolt and I began my descent.

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I landed awkwardly in a hedgerow, quickly unbuckling my harness

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and scanning my surroundings.

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The sounds of war were everywhere.

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Gunfire, explosions, and the distant rumbles of tanks.

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I quickly regrouped with my fellow paratroopers and we moved towards our

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objective, securing the bridges over the Orne River and the Cane Canal.

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Our mission was critical.

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If we failed, the Germans could use the bridges to launch a counterattack

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against the beaches where our comrades were landing in the morning.

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We advanced cautiously, using the cover of darkness to our advantage.

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As we approached the first bridge, we encountered heavy resistance.

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German soldiers were well entrenched, and a fierce fight ensued.

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Despite being outnumbered, we fought with determination and grit.

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I fired my rifle, took cover, advanced, and fired again.

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The rhythm of combat.

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The training kicked in and we moved as one cohesive unit.

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Slowly, we began to push the Germans back.

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Keep moving.

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We have to secure them.

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The bridge was ours, but the cost was high.

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Many of my comrades lay wounded or dead.

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We moved to the next objective, knowing there was no time to mourn.

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The battle for the second bridge was equally brutal, but we were relentless.

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By dawn, we had secured both bridges, cutting off the German

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reinforcements and protecting the flank of the invasion force.

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Exhausted but triumphant, we dug in and prepared for the inevitable counterattack.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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Looking at the faces of my fellow paratroopers, I felt a surge of pride.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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We had accomplished our mission against all odds.

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The success of Operation Tonga played a crucial role in the overall

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invasion of Normandy, and I was honored to have been a part of it.

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As the sun rose over the battle scarred landscape, I knew

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this was just the beginning.

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The road to victory would be long and arduous, but we had

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taken the first crucial step.

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Something glinted out of the corner of my eye.

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I thought I could almost see the horizon lined with ships

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as they landed on the beaches.

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I said a prayer for my little brother.

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He was part of the 50th Division, landing at Gold Beach.

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I had told my mom nothing would happen to him, and I was

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determined to keep that promise.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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Welcome to Talk With History.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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I'm your host, Scott, here with my wife and historian, Jen.

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On this podcast, we give you insights to our history inspired world travels,

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YouTube channel journey, and examine history through deeper conversations

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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with the curious, the explorers, and the history lovers out there.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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Now, Jen, we're just going to jump right into it because this is a series

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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we have been anxiously wanting to get out into the world for quite some time.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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Quite a few months ago, you made plans.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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We, I mean, you for you to get out to Normandy.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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So if anybody follows us on our Walk with Us YouTube channel, they would have

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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just seen our first video from there.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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And you went to the 80th anniversary.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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You went to do a multitude of things out there.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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But the day before the actual 80th anniversary day, you were out at the

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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Gold Beach kind of memorial out there.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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Why don't you tell us a little bit about that?

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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Yes, so I went to the 80th anniversary of D Day ceremony

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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and celebration at Normandy and there was a lot of people there.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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It was.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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very busy.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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The tour guide said it's the busiest they have ever seen it.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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And, if anybody's listening to this, it makes sense, right?

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:04:57</time>
This being the 80th anniversary, there's not going to be another

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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kind of big number anniversary, really, where there's going to be any

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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veterans that'll most likely be there.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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We'll see.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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There was a, about 120 veterans at this one.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:05:12</time>
I bet the 85th will be another big one and we'll see maybe the 90th.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:05:17</time>
I think those will probably be our last three big, these

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:05:21</time>
will be our last three big

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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Yeah, and I think because the majority of the World War II vets

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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that were there were probably in their, in the youngest, in their 90s.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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nineties.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:05:30</time>
Oh, absolutely.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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the, at the absolute youngest.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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I mean, there's, there's some I've seen recent interviews with that are 102, 103.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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Exactly.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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So it was just a real honor to be there, but because it was so busy, we, the first

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:05:45</time>
day we got there, we were supposed to go to the American Normandy cemetery.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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We couldn't get there.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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It was too crowded.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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They shut it down.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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We went to Omaha beach, but we were barely there for 10 minutes and then that

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:05:58</time>
got shut down for the next three days.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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So it really didn't get to make it back out to Omaha beach again.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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We'll talk about it on another podcast.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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Thanks.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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just the little bit we got to do, which is mostly in reels on Instagram.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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I don't even think we can, we can't even make a full video on YouTube

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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because we just went there long enough.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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Yeah, because you were there, I, I didn't get to go I had to

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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stay back with the kids and work.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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But you got, you got to get out there with, some Navy, veteran friends of ours.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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So when you say we, that's, that's who you're talking about for our listeners

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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Yeah, I went with two other female Navy veterans

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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officers that I had served with.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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And when Scott says he had to stay back and work, Scott

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:06:37</time>
had to stay back and, and be.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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a naval officer in the United States Navy.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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So he couldn't make it to D Day because he is actually doing the real deal.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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But the first place we were able to really go and get out and see and

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:06:52</time>
just experience it all was Gold Beach.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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Now that one was a little bit unique.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:06:57</time>
This time, because and I know we'll touch on this and I'll, I'll let you

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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walk us through what you saw for the day.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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But one of the big things there was obviously there was like memorial

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:07:07</time>
there, but they also had the standing with giants silhouettes, which a lot

<cite>Scott:</cite>
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of people may have seen pictures of but talk, walk us through or walk our

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:07:17</time>
listeners through, getting there and what all is there at, at gold beach.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:07:22</time>
So just just a quick background.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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We're not going to go right.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:07:26</time>
into much of the history of gold beach, but I'm gonna give you a quick

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:07:30</time>
background so you know what gold beach is.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:07:32</time>
So remember there are five beaches that are part of operation overlord

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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and operation overlord is the entire operation of the landing on the

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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French beaches against the Nazis.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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So these are the allies, the, the British, the Americans, the

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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Canadians, the Polish, the Dutch.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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It's everybody who the New Zealand's, if you can think Australians,

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:07:56</time>
everybody who is together trying to overcome Nazi Germany.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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And they have since been, they've been joined with Italy and Japan.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:08:07</time>
So they are the Axis powers.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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And so they have taken.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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France, the entire country of France.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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For four years, they've occupied this country.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:08:17</time>
And the British basically have gotten away back to England and been planning.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:08:23</time>
And that's what's been going on for about a year.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:08:25</time>
They've been planning this big operation.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:08:27</time>
And Eisenhower at the time, General Eisenhower is in charge

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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of all of it, oversees all of it.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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So this is the day, D Day.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:08:37</time>
And when people ask me, what does D Day mean?

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:08:40</time>
It means day, day day.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:08:43</time>
So D Day is day day.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:08:44</time>
it's like the

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:08:45</time>
It's like the day.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:08:46</time>
So the D doesn't really stand for anything.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:08:48</time>
It's the day.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:08:50</time>
So It's Operation Overlord is the entire operation.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:08:54</time>
We're going to get Operation Point Blank, where British and American bombers are

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:08:58</time>
going to start bombing at midnight, the night of June 6th, and you're

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:09:02</time>
going to get over 2200 bombers just bombing all of these strategic areas.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:09:08</time>
on the French soil, which is now occupied Nazi Germany.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:09:12</time>
And then Operation Neptune will be the naval side.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:09:17</time>
Neptune will start first, because Neptune will start with the bombardment,

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:09:21</time>
amphibious bombardment of the coast.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:09:23</time>
So it always will have Neptune before the landings.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:09:28</time>
There's five beaches, basically.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:09:30</time>
And if you go from east to west, I guess that's the best way to go.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:09:38</time>
Or maybe from from west to east.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:09:40</time>
It's going to start with Utah Beach, an American beach, Omaha Beach, another

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:09:45</time>
an American beach, Gold Beach, the one we're talking about is like the

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:09:48</time>
joining beach between the American beaches and the other allied beaches

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:09:53</time>
and Gold Beach will be British.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:09:55</time>
Then you're going to have Juno, which will be a Canadian beach and Sword,

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:10:01</time>
which will be another British beach.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:10:02</time>
Utah and Omaha are named by the Americans.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:10:06</time>
The story is that when Eisenhower was planning the men who were writing, he

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:10:10</time>
asked, where are you, where are you from?

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:10:11</time>
And the two men who were typing out the, the operation plans, one was from

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:10:18</time>
Omaha, and one was from the state of

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:10:20</time>
I, I did not know

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:10:21</time>
So they named the beaches after those two men.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:10:24</time>
For the Allied side the British side Churchill went with fish names So

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:10:30</time>
swordfish goldfish and it's supposed to be jellyfish for Juno, but Winston Churchill

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:10:36</time>
couldn't see Men dying on jellyfish

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:10:40</time>
Yeah.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:10:40</time>
Yeah.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:10:40</time>
so he changed it to Juno Beach.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:10:43</time>
So when you hear gold Beach Sometimes it's referred to as gold But it's goldfish.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:10:48</time>
That's where it comes from.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:10:50</time>
So again, this is the middle beach of these five beaches.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:10:53</time>
It's completely British authority.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:10:56</time>
It's the British who are taking this beach.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:10:58</time>
So what we went to was the British Normandy Memorial.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:11:05</time>
And I don't want it confused with the American Normandy Cemetery because

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:11:10</time>
the American Normandy Cemetery is a cemetery where men are buried.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:11:14</time>
The memorial men are not buried there.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:11:17</time>
It's a memorial and it overlooks the entire gold beach.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:11:23</time>
Yeah.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:11:23</time>
And it's, I mean, you guys did a good job of, as, as much as I

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:11:27</time>
love and I'm, I'm biased towards my own B roll footage, right?

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:11:30</time>
A little behind the scenes here of YouTube, you and, and Bonnie and whoever's

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:11:34</time>
holding the camera kind of did a good job of kind of really showing what the,

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:11:37</time>
the view look like, it's a, it is a beachhead kind of going uphill, right?

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:11:42</time>
So you can look out.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:11:43</time>
over this beach and you can see down to the water, right?

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:11:48</time>
And it's, it's not super steep, right where you guys were.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:11:51</time>
So it's pretty long.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:11:52</time>
So there's a long way to go to get all the way to the top of the beachhead.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:11:56</time>
Now, when I was doing the editing and putting the video together, the,

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:12:01</time>
the fighting on this speech wasn't, wasn't but this is a very this is

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:12:04</time>
specifically a British memorial, right?

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:12:07</time>
I think you were saying when you were there, it looked like there, there

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:12:10</time>
were some British soldiers practicing and stuff like that, potentially for

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:12:13</time>
Prince William or somebody like that,

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:12:15</time>
so I was at the American ceremony.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:12:17</time>
I was at the American Normandy ceremony at the American Normandy cemetery.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:12:23</time>
Oh, the, so that, oh, that was at the cemetery.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:12:25</time>
That's where the, that's where the ceremony was.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:12:27</time>
The British ceremony was at that location.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:12:32</time>
and that's what you saw they were prepping for when you were

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:12:35</time>
there the day before the actual 80th

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:12:37</time>
And it was Prince William.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:12:39</time>
Prince William had come And he was in, in replace of King

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:12:42</time>
Charles and he, he, he served.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:12:45</time>
So he, he was the big dignitary there.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:12:49</time>
So when you think of Gold Beach, it's going to be the British, the

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:12:53</time>
Dutch, the Polish and other allies.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:12:55</time>
So it's really their militaries that were also part of that ceremony there.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:13:02</time>
And so that's what you see in the video is those militaries.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:13:06</time>
can hear the band playing in the background Which is neat because

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:13:08</time>
they were playing old school music and

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:13:09</time>
It was really neat.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:13:10</time>
And they're.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:13:11</time>
Memorial, if you look down from the sky, looks like a British flag.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:13:16</time>
So with the walkways are making that crisscross design of the British

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:13:22</time>
flag, and they have names on pillars.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:13:27</time>
About 300 little over 300 men will die on Gold Beach that day, they'll land

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:13:33</time>
25, 000 men, the British and allies.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:13:37</time>
And they'll have a little over a thousand casualties, but 350 men will die.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:13:43</time>
It is announced a little later that General Montgomery is in command of

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:13:46</time>
the Army Group carrying out the assault.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:13:49</time>
This Army Group includes British, Canadian, and United States forces.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:13:53</time>
The Allied Commander in Chief, General Eisenhower, has issued an order of

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:13:57</time>
the day addressed to each individual of the Allied Expeditionary Force.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:14:01</time>
In it, he said, Your task will not be an easy one.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:14:05</time>
Your enemy is well trained, well equipped, and battle hardened.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:14:09</time>
He will fight savagely.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:14:11</time>
But this is the year 1944.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:14:14</time>
The tide has turned.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:14:16</time>
The free men of the world are marching together to victory.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:14:20</time>
I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:14:25</time>
We will accept nothing less than full victory.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:14:29</time>
Good luck and let us all beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:14:33</time>
this great and noble undertaking.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:14:42</time>
The world seemed to slow down.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:14:44</time>
Every move I made on this cursed boat felt like a lifetime.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:14:49</time>
Was that Winston Churchill over the radio earlier?

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:14:52</time>
The only thing I could hear now was the deafening sound of

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:14:56</time>
gunfire and artillery in the air.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:14:58</time>
All around me, the sea had red patches.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:15:01</time>
Never seen that before.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:15:04</time>
As an infantryman, I was among thousands of British soldiers.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:15:08</time>
Landing at Gold Beach on D Day.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:15:12</time>
Attention on my fellow countrymen's face was palpable as our landing

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:15:15</time>
craft approached the beach.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:15:17</time>
We were under heavy fire, but we were determined.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:15:20</time>
As soon as our landing craft hit the beach, I jumped out and ran

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:15:23</time>
towards the sand dune for cover, my heart pounding in my chest.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:15:26</time>
I could see the German bunkers up ahead.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:15:27</time>
We were outgunned, but we pushed forward.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:15:30</time>
We were trained for this.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:15:31</time>
We knew our mission.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:15:33</time>
I fired my rifle, took cover, advanced, and fired again, a

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:15:36</time>
rhythm of survival and duty.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:15:39</time>
Despite the chaos around me, I felt a strange sense of clarity.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:15:43</time>
I was fighting for my country, for our freedom.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:15:46</time>
I saw comrades fall, but we kept going, driving the Germans

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:15:49</time>
back, securing the beachhead.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:15:51</time>
By the end of the day, we had accomplished our mission.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:15:55</time>
I was one of the lucky ones who survived.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:15:56</time>
Looking back at the beach, I barely realized the enormity

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:15:59</time>
of what we had just done.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:16:01</time>
I wondered if my brother had made his jump okay.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:16:12</time>
Their names are the closest inside the memorial.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:16:17</time>
And then as you walk outside the memorial, there's names on pillars.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:16:21</time>
They consider Normandy landings from June 6th to the end of August.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:16:27</time>
So all of the men who died from June 6th to the end of August are listed

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:16:32</time>
as you walk out towards those pillars.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:16:35</time>
They also honor 20, 000 French civilians who were killed

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:16:40</time>
during this Normandy landing.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:16:41</time>
And they're also listed a little bit farther out as well.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:16:45</time>
But again, you had the civilian casualties of war

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:16:49</time>
And that was another interesting thing in in the the listener will

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:16:53</time>
if you're listening to this podcast you'll hear in some of the vignettes

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:16:55</time>
as we go through this that they were actually You know, the the Allied

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:17:00</time>
forces were actually making radio kind of announcements, or You know good guy

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:17:07</time>
propaganda trying to announce things to the French people via the radio

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:17:11</time>
saying you know, hey, don't fight back, essentially keep your hopes up.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:17:16</time>
And then they also gave them a little bit of warning

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:17:19</time>
to get out into the

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:17:20</time>
to get out into the countryside because it's like it, which makes sense.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:17:23</time>
You'd never really think about it.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:17:25</time>
You're like, well, aren't they giving away?

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:17:26</time>
What they're doing to the Germans, well, the Germans would have

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:17:28</time>
known long before that, right?

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:17:30</time>
Long before an hour before the actual landing.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:17:33</time>
They would have detected them, they're like, okay, they're coming, but the

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:17:36</time>
people, the French people wouldn't know that, and so they hear it over the

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:17:39</time>
radio, they're like, okay, it's time to hightail it out of here, but of course

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:17:42</time>
there's still going to be casualties.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:17:44</time>
So there was a lot of espionage, but there was a lot of what's the

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:17:48</time>
word I'm looking for where you're like

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:17:49</time>
Kind of like gamesmanship,

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:17:51</time>
gamesmanship.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:17:51</time>
They were projecting these false operations.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:17:56</time>
So to keep the Germans guessing, and they were doing that for about three

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:18:00</time>
months before they actually did this pretending, I forget what they called

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:18:04</time>
it operation bodyguard, I think, but these fake operations that they were

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:18:08</time>
doing to keep the Germans on their toes.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:18:11</time>
And.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:18:12</time>
Fortunately, I think I remember correctly, Hitler had gone to bed.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:18:18</time>
early on June 5th and told not to be awakened for any reason whatsoever.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:18:23</time>
Oh my gosh.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:18:24</time>
So when things were happening on June 6th, they didn't wake him and tell

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:18:27</time>
him, even though this is a big deal.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:18:30</time>
They, he was, he was not woken up until well into the day on June 6th.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:18:35</time>
And so he couldn't send even quick responses because they

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:18:40</time>
were too afraid to wake him.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:18:42</time>
Lucky for him.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:18:44</time>
the allies.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:18:45</time>
Now, like you said, things start at midnight on June 6th.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:18:48</time>
You're going to get gliders coming in from the British, which are so accurate.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:18:53</time>
They're taking out these big bridges because when you think of

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:18:56</time>
Normandy, I want you to think of farmland and this farmland, the

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:01</time>
way that it's fertile is it floods.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:04</time>
Think of the Nile.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:05</time>
Is they flood this farmland to keep the soil very fertile.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:09</time>
And when they do that, there's no way to connect these areas, but

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:13</time>
these big bridges that bring you in.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:16</time>
And the Germans occupied these big bridges.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:19</time>
And they also, the Germans had flooded farmland on purpose to,

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:24</time>
to make some roads unusable.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:26</time>
So what the allies had to do was capture these bridges.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:30</time>
And that's, is what they're going to do for Utah beach and Omaha beach.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:33</time>
That's what our airborne.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:35</time>
They're doing the same thing.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:36</time>
They're trying to capture these strategic bridges to get not only the

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:40</time>
allies onto the beaches and get all of their material across the bridges

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:44</time>
into theater, but to stop the Germans from using those bridges to fight back.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:19:48</time>
Yeah, they're also trying to cut off the, the German

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:19:50</time>
kind of supply and logistics.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:19:51</time>
Yeah.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:52</time>
So you get the ally, the Americans are doing it at Utah and

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:56</time>
Omaha beach, and then The, the the British and the Dutch and the Canadians

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:03</time>
are doing it over on Gold Beach and Sword Beach and Juno Beach as well.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:07</time>
So they're really the first to go.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:10</time>
It's the airborne and the gliders that are going to be the first out.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:14</time>
And the bombardment the bombing.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:17</time>
Also of that strategic outside of that area, but those gliders are so accurate.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:22</time>
They land right where the bridges are.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:24</time>
They pop open this like 20 minute glider and they were able to take those bridges

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:28</time>
really with no, with no fight back.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:31</time>
So it was really nice for the British.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:34</time>
Now you had said, Gold Beach is not like Omaha Beach.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:37</time>
No beach will be like Omaha Beach.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:20:38</time>
I mean, there were still casualties.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:40</time>
still casualties, but no beach of the five are going to encounter as much

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:45</time>
resistance and firepower and just the way that the topography of the beaches

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:52</time>
are against the allies like Omaha.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:56</time>
It's why it's called bloody Omaha.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:58</time>
You will have more losses on Omaha than any other beach.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:21:01</time>
And we'll talk about that.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:21:02</time>
But the topography of Utah and Omaha are not like these nice gold

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:21:07</time>
has a nice straight, clear beach.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:21:11</time>
Utah and Omaha are very rocky.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:21:13</time>
And they have the point to Hawk is in the middle of them.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:21:16</time>
So the kind of like cuts off and it it's not as easily The terrain is not

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:21:21</time>
It's easier for the germans to defend right because

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:21:24</time>
because of the terrain yeah,

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:21:26</time>
So gold beach again, you're going to what happens is the

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:21:30</time>
Navy bombardment starts at 530.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:21:32</time>
So you're going to get the bomber starting at midnight, the airborne

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:21:36</time>
and the gliders go at midnight.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:21:38</time>
And then the Navy bombardment starts at 530.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:21:40</time>
So what does that mean?

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:21:41</time>
The Navy gets as close as they can to the beach and just starts

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:21:44</time>
hitting the beachhead as hard as they can with their guns.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:21:47</time>
And what's very lucky is they take out the three of the four major guns.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:21:50</time>
They're taken out by 620.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:21:52</time>
So that's great.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:21:53</time>
You only got one major gun then still manned on Gold Beach.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:21:56</time>
Now that gun takes a day to get out.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:21:59</time>
They really don't even get it out to June 7th, but it's only one major gun.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:22:05</time>
So the Navy, their Navy ships are.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:22:07</time>
pretty accurate taking out those those big artillery guns.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:22:11</time>
And then the first landings happened about 725.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:22:14</time>
Now that's about an hour after Omaha beach.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:22:17</time>
And the reason why is because of tides.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:22:19</time>
Oh sure

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:22:20</time>
So when we talk about these beaches and what they did with the

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:22:23</time>
obstacles on the beaches is you remember in saving pride, right?

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:22:26</time>
And they have all the hedgehogs out.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:22:27</time>
And those are those.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:22:28</time>
Weird twisty metal looking things that keeps amphibious

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:22:32</time>
craft from landing on the beach.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:22:34</time>
What it also does is during high tide, when you can't see them, if boats

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:22:39</time>
hit them, it makes boats capsize.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:22:42</time>
And what they would also do is put mines on the end of those.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:22:45</time>
So if you also hit them, you would blow up.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:22:48</time>
So you had to wait to low tide because you had to wait till

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:22:53</time>
you could see all those things.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:22:54</time>
But low tide, we're Navy officers also means you have a

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:22:57</time>
huge amount of beach to cover.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:23:00</time>
Yeah, and it was in Depending on where you're from what beach you're used

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:23:04</time>
to right growing up in california when the tide goes out It doesn't it drops off

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:23:08</time>
pretty quickly It's not like beaches in florida where you can walk out, Or in that

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:23:14</time>
part of the country where you can walk out for a quarter mile You And the water

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:23:17</time>
is only knee deep the entire time, where in California, it drops off to incredibly

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:23:24</time>
deep water within, 50 yards or less than even sometimes even less than that.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:23:30</time>
The what I saw and you were able to show a little bit of the of the gold

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:23:33</time>
beach there But you see from some of the historical footage that we cut in is

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:23:37</time>
that these are one of those beachheads Just like you said for farmland is that

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:23:41</time>
the shoreline when the tide goes out.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:23:43</time>
There's a lot Of beachhead, it's it's it's long for them to come in from the

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:23:50</time>
ship on all the way up to where it's essentially dry, where the tide wouldn't

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:23:54</time>
go up any higher, and then get to the, whatever it is, the embankment, the guns,

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:24:00</time>
the, where the Germans actually were.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:24:01</time>
So that's kind of the, the risk on each side.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:24:05</time>
It was actually less risky to wait for the tide to come out so they could land

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:24:10</time>
these landing craft, roll the tanks up, or the soldiers, or whatever it was.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:24:15</time>
So that they didn't run into these hedgehogs and mines and things like that.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:24:18</time>
Exactly.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:24:19</time>
And then you think of all that beach you have to cover with all that gear.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:24:23</time>
And it's, it's just seems daunting.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:24:26</time>
I, the only place I really understood the expansiveness of it was Omaha because

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:24:30</time>
I happened to be on Omaha when the tide was out and it was a huge beach.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:24:35</time>
Even when you think from the shore all the way to the first grassy area, that's

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:24:40</time>
a lot of beach to cover in full gear.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:24:42</time>
I'm thinking 50 pounds of gear.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:24:44</time>
Yeah.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:24:45</time>
when you're taking tons of hostile fire.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:24:48</time>
So you can imagine this is what's happening on Gold Beach as well.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:24:51</time>
Now, like I said, they're landing 25, 000 men, and they're,

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:24:56</time>
they, they are, they secure the beachhead by the end of the day.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:25:00</time>
So they're able to meet their goal.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:25:04</time>
Now, Gold Beach is instrumental because it has to join Omaha

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:25:08</time>
with Sword and, or with Juno.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:25:11</time>
So it has to join Omaha with, with Juno.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:25:13</time>
Like it's the middle beach.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:25:14</time>
It's,

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:25:15</time>
if people aren't familiar, if you haven't really looked into

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:25:17</time>
the beachheads there, it's over 50 miles of continuous beachhead

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:25:21</time>
across these five beaches, right?

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:25:24</time>
So when we say that, like it's all, they're all continuous kind of along the

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:25:28</time>
French coast, but it's a well over 50 miles from one end of one beach all the

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:25:34</time>
way to the other end of the other beach.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:25:35</time>
So it's a pretty expansive, Piece of the coast that they are they are landing on.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:25:41</time>
yeah, it's really beautiful now.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:25:43</time>
It's really flat now, but at the time I can imagine it was just overwhelming.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:25:47</time>
What we got to see was the British Normandy Memorial and

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:25:53</time>
they just have recently built it.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:25:54</time>
It just was unveiled June 6th, 2021 for the

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:25:58</time>
wow

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:25:59</time>
anniversary.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:26:01</time>
Well, the British felt like they don't have their place, right?

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:26:04</time>
Like the American cemetery at Normandy is like where we had the ceremony.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:26:10</time>
It's our place.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:26:11</time>
It's also a cemetery.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:26:13</time>
Now there is this, there is this World War Two cemetery for the British.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:26:16</time>
It's a little farther inland, but But it doesn't have the place on the beach.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:26:21</time>
So they wanted something to show the memorial of what the

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:26:24</time>
men did where you can see it.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:26:26</time>
And it lists over 22, 000 names from more than 30 countries under British command

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:26:33</time>
who were killed at Normandy from June 6th, again, to the end of August 31st.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:26:38</time>
And as you move from the center out, their names will be listed

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:26:42</time>
as the days go out from June 6th.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:26:44</time>
So you can look on the pillars and find names.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:26:46</time>
And I found Benny's and I found Mitchell's.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:26:48</time>
And so it was really neat to see all those names on there.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:26:51</time>
But yeah.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:26:51</time>
The centerpiece is a bronze statue of three British soldiers attacking the beach

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:26:59</time>
and it was made by David William Ellis.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:27:02</time>
It really is reminiscent to me of the one at Omaha Beach

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:27:06</time>
and the one we saw at Bedford.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:27:07</time>
Again, just about you with your comrades together.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:27:12</time>
handling it together

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:27:13</time>
they're they're it's a classic kind of world war ii soldiers charging it

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:27:16</time>
yes.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:27:17</time>
And you would know they were different because of their helmets.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:27:19</time>
They have different helmets than the Americans.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:27:22</time>
Now the standing with giant silhouettes is what's really impressive there as well.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:27:27</time>
Those were really cool and it's it's the thumbnail Yeah, we used one

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:27:31</time>
of them a picture of one of them as the thumbnail of this particular video, but

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:27:35</time>
they have They're displaying all these different kinds of soldiers and airmen

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:27:41</time>
and sailors that were involved in this.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:27:45</time>
Yeah, so it depicts 1475 giants who are the number of servicemen who

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:27:51</time>
died under British command on D Day.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:27:55</time>
So not at Gold Beach, but of all And all the beaches and

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:27:59</time>
the airborne and the bombers.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:28:02</time>
So anyone who died that day under British command is depicted with a silhouette.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:28:08</time>
And that's why there's 1475 of them.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:28:11</time>
And they all look different because they're different.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:28:14</time>
doing different jobs in the military.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:28:17</time>
And so it's very neat to see pilots or naval officers or army officers.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:28:23</time>
It's very neat to see how they look, their silhouettes look different and that people

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:28:30</time>
have little placards with quotes on them.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:28:34</time>
And we found Dick Winters at those placards will

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:28:38</time>
Oh, okay.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:28:39</time>
but the silhouettes will go.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:28:41</time>
they were only there for the basically for the 80th

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:28:43</time>
Yes, they're supposed to leave the The end of August, but there's two women

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:28:47</time>
depicted There's two army nurses sister ever shed and sister field They died on

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:28:55</time>
deed on D day trying to save men on a sinking hospital ship So they're also

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:29:01</time>
their silhouettes are also depicted there.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:29:03</time>
So that's very neat to see

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:29:04</time>
Yeah, theirs was cool because it had that cut out.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:29:06</time>
Like the from the waist down, you could see the metal kind of silhouette of them.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:29:10</time>
And then there was like that hollow so you could see the sky as there, they

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:29:14</time>
would fill in, the rest of the gaps.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:29:16</time>
It was really neat how they did it.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:29:17</time>
Yeah, they were really neat and it's a and to have women depicted.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:29:20</time>
They're the only two women of the fourteen hundred seventy five You I

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:29:24</time>
think it's such a neat memoir, I really don't want them to take it down at all.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:29:28</time>
I think it would just be great.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:29:29</time>
It doesn't really impede on the view.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:29:32</time>
And I thought it was just an amazing thing to see.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:29:34</time>
It really feels like it's called standing with giants.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:29:36</time>
And I really feel like you are standing with them.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:29:39</time>
And it gives a real to me, humanization of the area.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:29:44</time>
And I almost I don't want to see it go.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:29:47</time>
But it was really neat to be there and to see that and you can walk among them,

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:29:51</time>
you're allowed to walk out in there, it wasn't cut, and the grass was high.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:29:55</time>
But you're allowed to walk in there and take pictures and Find ones that maybe

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:30:00</time>
could be dedicated because each of them is supposed to be a certain person to maybe

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:30:05</time>
your ancestor or somebody that you knew from your family or something like that.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:30:09</time>
So that was really neat to see, but I'm happy we got to go there.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:30:13</time>
It is an impressive monuments.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:30:16</time>
And again, this is the middle beach.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:30:19</time>
So when you think of the five beaches, this is the middle beach.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:30:22</time>
If you do make it out to gold beach, gold beach is one of the

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:30:26</time>
few beaches that has preserved a lot of those big guns and a lot of

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:30:30</time>
those what do they call those, babe?

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:30:32</time>
little bunkers.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:30:33</time>
they preserve the bunkers there.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:30:35</time>
So you can actually go and see them.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:30:36</time>
They're, they're really well preserved.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:30:38</time>
And so if you make it out to Gold Beach, it's one of those places

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:30:41</time>
that if you walk the beach, you can really see a lot of the history still

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:30:45</time>
there for you to participate in.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:30:46</time>
So I'm happy we got to go there.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:30:48</time>
I never thought about it as an American.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:30:50</time>
I was like, Oh, it's like, it's I mean, after Omaha and Utah, you're kind of

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:30:54</time>
like, Oh, what are the other beaches?

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:30:56</time>
So for me, I learned a lot.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:30:57</time>
I got to see it.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:30:58</time>
I really did appreciate it.

<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:30:59</time>
So I'm happy we went.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:31:01</time>
People in enemy occupied territory who lived near the coast were warned

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:31:05</time>
to leave their homes as soon as they received a warning of the coming attack.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:31:08</time>
It would come about an hour before the attack, and then they ordered once to make

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:31:12</time>
it with all speed for the open country.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:31:15</time>
After Communique No.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:31:16</time>
1 had been issued, General Eisenhower broadcast to the people of Western

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:31:20</time>
Europe announcing the landing as part of the concerted United Nations

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:31:24</time>
plan for the liberation of Europe.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:31:27</time>
He asked them to wait for the signal to rise and strike the enemy.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:31:32</time>
The day will come, he said, when I shall need your united strength.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:31:36</time>
Until that day, I call on you for the hard task of discipline and restraint.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:31:41</time>
Addressing the French people especially, General Eisenhower expressed his

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:31:45</time>
pride at having under his command the gallant forces of France.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:31:49</time>
As the initial landing was Being made in France, he emphasized the

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:31:53</time>
importance of his warning message.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:31:55</time>
A premature rising of all Frenchmen, he tell them, may prevent you

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:31:59</time>
from being of maximum help to your country in the critical eye, be

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:32:03</time>
patient, prepare great battles.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:32:06</time>
Lie ahead.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:32:08</time>
The

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:32:11</time>
sun was beginning to set as I walked through the narrowest streets of the

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:32:14</time>
French town we had just liberated.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:32:17</time>
The air was filled with a mixture of relief and apprehension.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:32:21</time>
The residents, though cautious, peeked out from their homes, some

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:32:24</time>
offering smiles of gratitude.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:32:26</time>
It felt surreal to be standing here in Aramajus, a town that had been under

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:32:31</time>
German occupation just hours before.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:32:35</time>
Gold Beach had been a crucible of fire and steel.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:32:38</time>
As an infantryman in the British 50th Division, I had

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:32:40</time>
faced the fiercest resistance.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:32:43</time>
The memory was still fresh.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:32:44</time>
The roar of the guns, the whizzing of the bullets, and the cries of my comrades.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:32:50</time>
We had pushed through, determined to secure the beach and move inland.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:32:53</time>
Our objective was clear, to link up with the Americans on Omaha Beach

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:32:57</time>
to the west, and the Canadians on Juneau Beach to the east.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:33:01</time>
Now as I stood in the heart of this French town, I reflected on what we had achieved.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:33:05</time>
The Mulberry Harbors were already being constructed, an engineering marvel that

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:33:08</time>
would allow us to bring in the supplies we needed for the rest of the campaign.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:33:13</time>
The liberation of this town was just the beginning.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:33:15</time>
We had paved the way for Allied forces to establish a foothold in Normandy,

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:33:20</time>
but our mission was far from over.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:33:22</time>
The road ahead was fraught with danger, but Germans were

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:33:24</time>
not going to give up easily.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:33:26</time>
Kane, a major objective late of the southeast.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:33:29</time>
We had to push forward, liberate more towns, and secure critical supply routes.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:33:33</time>
The success of Operation Overlord depended on our ability to maintain momentum.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:33:41</time>
As I looked around, I saw my fellow soldiers, weary but resolute.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:33:45</time>
Subconsciously, I think I was looking for my older brother.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:33:48</time>
His unit should have jumped in the middle of the night.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:33:51</time>
God willing, I will see him soon.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:33:53</time>
I found a moment of solace knowing that today we had made a difference.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:33:57</time>
Tomorrow, we would continue the fight for freedom, for peace, and for a future where

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:34:01</time>
such a conflict would never happen again.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:34:05</time>
General Eisenhower concluded, I call upon all who love freedom to stand with us.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:34:11</time>
Keep your faith staunch, our arms are resolute.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:34:15</time>
Together, we shall achieve victory.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:34:19</time>
And that is the end of this special news bulletin.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:34:29</time>
Thank you for listening to the Talk With History podcast and please reach out

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:34:32</time>
to us at our website, talkwithhistory.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:34:34</time>
com.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:34:34</time>
But more importantly, if you know someone else that might enjoy this

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:34:36</time>
podcast, please share it with them.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:34:38</time>
Shoot them a text and tell them to look us up.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:34:40</time>
We rely on you, our community, to grow and we appreciate you all every day.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:34:44</time>
We'll talk to you next time.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:34:45</time>
Thank you.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:34:48</time>
, I'm debating over whether or not to talk about this on Talk with History.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:34:51</time>
So we are going to start kind of a, a, a premium podcast and, and I'll talk

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:34:57</time>
about more about this in the future.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:34:58</time>
So if you're listening, if you made it to the end of this particular episode I've

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:35:02</time>
got some stuff in the works and we're going to talk a little bit more about

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:35:05</time>
the, the, the travel aspects of things.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:35:08</time>
And I've got a newsletter and kind of more to follow.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:35:11</time>
So if you're one of our loyal listeners, this is something that you, you most

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:35:15</time>
definitely will be interested in.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:35:17</time>
And, and again, I'll tease it a little bit more.

<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:35:19</time>
And we'll talk a little bit more about, about that kind of stuff.

The Story