THE LONGEST DAY!

June 6th 1944, D-Day codenamed "Operation Overlord" was the culmination of nearly two years of planning. It was the largest invasion force ever assembled.

Over 6,800 ships, landing craft and other vessels were used to get over 130,000 men ashore onto the Normandy beaches.

Meanwhile, overhead, nearly 25,000 men were dropped by glider and parachute, while bombers and fighters pounded the German defences.

Incredibly, Allied losses on the day were remarkably light, certainly much lighter than had been planned for.

This programme uses remarkable archive film to tell the story of one of history's most momentous events. It tells the story of how the Allies conceived, developed and finally executedtheir audacious plan. It looks at the lessons learned in operations such as the disastrous Dieppe Raid, and the successful landing in North Africa and Sicily.

The programme looks at the technologies used, including special tanks that could swim ashore or use flails to create paths through minefields. It also looks at the air campaign and how the Allies were able to enjoy total air superiority, without which D-Day might not have happened.

Finally, the programme looks at what happened once the Allies were ashore and how it would take over two months to break out from their slender foothold on continental Europe.

• A must for all D-Day historians
  Featuring material from original 1944 newsreels
• Running time: 54 minutes approx.
• Extempt from classification