D-Day: The Last Voices

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The story of D-Day, using rediscovered testimonies of those who were there, on all sides.

Eighty years on: the story of D-Day as it unfolds, using rediscovered testimonies of those who were there, on all sides.

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The History Podcast: D-Day: The Last Voices: D-Day: The Last Voices - 5. The Road to Liberation

D-Day: The Last Voices - 5. The Road to Liberation

BBC Radio 4 - The History Podcast, D-Day: The Last Voices, D-Day: The Last Voices - 5. The Road to Liberation

The ferocious Battle for Normandy rages on, and memories turn to those who were lost.

The aftermath of D-Day becomes the ferocious Battle for Normandy. Paddy O’Connell hears from veterans who remember those they fought alongside, and the legacy of the invasion.

D-Day: The Last Voices brings together a rich collection of historical audio testimonies recorded with those who fought in the invasion of Normandy, alongside extraordinary new interviews with the last surviving veterans, to tell their story of D-Day as it unfolded.

Presented by Paddy O’Connell, each programme charts a distinct chapter of the complex, visceral and moving story of the invasion, from subterfuge and secret planning, to the approach of H-Hour, the landings by air and sea, and on into the battles beyond the beaches.

Commissioned as a collaboration with D-Day: The Unheard Tapes for BBC Two, and drawing on the same longitudinal access and research, the series tells the story of D-Day through the last voices of those who lived it, leading us through their personal experiences of the invasion. Supported by the historical recordings of those who were there with them – this is their story, told in their own words.

As the series draws to a close, Paddy spends time with and hears from the last surviving veterans of D-Day, both those who were part of the Allied invasion force, and others who grew up in the shadow of the operation in a decimated Normandy. In the aftermath of 6th June 1944, veterans recall their sense of loss, of legacy and contribution, and above all, their responsibility to remember friends and comrades who lost their lives in the conflict. 

This final part of the story explores what came next, in the aftermath of the invasion. The ferocious and bloody battle that followed, in which over 100,000 people lost their lives, and the weeks of brutality that paved the road to liberation, and made it possible. Hearing about the impact, in both nightmares and memories, that it had on those who were there is deeply moving, and commemorates this 80th anniversary with power, humility, pathos and emotion, remembering those who were left behind on the battlefields, in the marshes, fields forests and on the beaches of Normandy.

Featuring:
Joe Cattini
Geoffrey Weaving 
Alec Penstone 
John Dennett
Mark Packer 
Michel Deserable 
John Forfar 
Christian Lamb 
Pat Owtram 
Eddie Edwards
James Kelly
Nat Hoskot
Roy Crane

Written and presented by Paddy O’Connell

Produced by Paul Kobrak
Technical production by Richard Courtice 
Sound design by Roy Noy, Tom Chilcot, Alex Short, Adam Palmer, Paul Donovan
Music composed by Sam Hooper 

Production Executive – Anne-Marie Byrne 
Archive Assistant Producer – Hannah Mirsky 
Archive: BBC News, The D-Day Story Portsmouth, Paddy O’Connell, made in partnership with Imperial War Museums.
Executive Producers - Morgana Pugh and Rami Tzabar

A Wall to Wall Media production for BBC Radio 4

The History Podcast: D-Day: The Last Voices

BBC Radio 4

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