We Fought on D Day

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We Fought on D-Day

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Brian Henry Martin

Diarmuid Lavery

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02/06/2004

BBC One - We Fought on D-Day

The untold stories of the men from Northern Ireland who fought in Normandy on 6 June 1944.

Powerful documentary recounting the untold stories of men from Northern Ireland who fought in Normandy on 6th June 1944. Featuring rare archive footage and eye-witness interviews.

From the BBC archives, using rare archive footage and eye-witness interviews, this documentary recounts the previously untold stories of the local men from Northern Ireland who fought for the beaches, towns and villages of Normandy on 6 June 1944. 

The Royal Ulster Rifles was the only regiment in the Allied Forces to have two battalions serve on D-Day; one airborne and the other by sea. The film reveals the vital role that Northern Irish servicemen played in D-Day, as they landed on Sword Beach and experienced heavy German resistance as they liberated several villages in their push towards the city of Caen. 

Central to the film are interviews with veterans of the Royal Ulster Rifles, such as Bill McConnell who, as a fresh-faced teenager, flew into battle in a glider, and Stanley Burrows, who fought and was badly wounded in the battle for Cambes Woods.

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