D-Day: The Tide Turns

A mysterious radio broadcast summons help from behind enemy lines. British spies steal their way through France, as Resistance operatives sabotage key German targets. Civilians gather vital intelligence while hiding in plain sight. And a wave of brutal reprisals horrifies the French people… A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson. Special thanks to Martyn Cox for the excerpts from his Our Secret World War II archive. To view the full interviews visit legasee.org.uk For ad-free listening, join Noiser+. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started with a 7-day free trial. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

General Dwight D. Eisenhower and his confidante spend the eve of D-Day wracked with nerves. The Supreme Commander writes a heartfelt letter of apology… to be released if the operation fails. And, from airfields in England, the first Allied planes take to the skies… A Noiser production, written by Jo Furniss. A special thanks to Legasee for the use of their archive of personal recollections from the men and women who witnessed D-Day. To view the full interviews visit legasee.org.uk For ad-free listening, join Noiser+. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started with a 7-day free trial. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the dead of night, airborne troops become the first Allied soldiers to set foot in France. Engineless gliders carrying men and equipment crash-land behind enemy lines. A paratrooper lands on a church steeple… yet somehow survives the battle. And, with Pegasus Bridge in the crosshairs, D-Day claims its first British casualty… A Noiser production, written by Edward White. A special thanks to Legasee for the use of their archive of personal recollections from the men and women who witnessed D-Day. To view the full interviews, visit legasee.org.uk For ad-free listening, join Noiser+. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started with a 7-day free trial. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Seven thousand ships depart Britain. The King intervenes to prevent Churchill from personally crossing the Channel. On board, soldiers prepare themselves in whatever ways they can - fevered prayers, photos of loved ones, slap-up meals. As dawn breaks, the first Allied landing craft will make their way to shore… A Noiser production, written by Edward White. A special thanks to Legasee for the use of their archive of personal recollections from the men and women who witnessed D-Day. To view the full interviews, visit legasee.org.uk For ad-free listening, join Noiser+. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started with a 7-day free trial. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

American forces land on Omaha, the most deadly of the D-Day beaches. So many are killed in the first few hours that a US general almost calls off the attack. It’s the closest D-Day ever comes to failure. But amidst the turmoil, as the tide literally turns, can the Allied soldiers just break through?… A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson. A special thanks to the American Veterans Center for their partnership in highlighting the real stories from Omaha Beach. Visit their YouTube channel for more interviews and stories. For ad-free listening, join Noiser+. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started with a 7-day free trial. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, a very personal D-Day story - the story of our host’s own father. Paul is joined on the podcast by his brother, Stephen, to explore how D-Day impacted the McGann family. On June 6th 1944 a British commando fights his way up Gold Beach. What happens to him in the next few minutes will change his life and reverberate down through the generations. A Noiser production, written by Duncan Barrett. For ad-free listening, join Noiser+. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started with a 7-day free trial. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

D-Day from the German perspective. Star general, Erwin Rommel, celebrates his wife’s birthday… 500 miles from Normandy. A dinner party at his vacant headquarters is interrupted by alarming news, as the first Allied troops arrive in France. But as the Nazi top brass scramble to respond, Hitler quite literally snoozes. Will anyone dare to wake him before the Longest Day is over? A Noiser production, written by Edward White. For ad-free listening, join Noiser+. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started with a 7-day free trial. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Allied journalists parachute into France and land on the beaches with the invasion force. Legendary reporter Martha Gellhorn stows away on a ship, determined to beat her estranged husband, Ernest Hemingway, to the D-Day scoop. And a homing pigeon known as Gustav brings the first news of D-Day to Britain… A Noiser production, written by Edward White. For ad-free listening, join Noiser+. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started with a 7-day free trial. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Thousands of nurses begin landing in France, some of them never to return. Codebreakers at Bletchley Park decrypt German communications, feeding vital intel to the front lines. Female pilots dodge German fighters in the skies above Britain. And on a sinking hospital ship in the Channel, an extraordinary act of sacrifice unfolds… A Noiser production, written by Jo Furniss. A special thanks to Legasee for the use of their archive of personal recollections from the men and women who witnessed D-Day. To view the full interviews, visit legasee.org.uk For ad-free listening, join Noiser+. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started with a 7-day free trial. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We conclude our D-Day story. What happened after the sixth of June? Three months of bitter fighting across Normandy. Hundreds of thousands of casualties. And, as Operation Overlord draws to a close, the fate of Paris hangs in the balance… A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson. A special thanks to Legasee for the use of their archive of personal recollections from the men and women who witnessed D-Day. To view the full interviews, visit legasee.org.uk When you finish this episode, why not head to noiser.com to discover your next history podcast? More podcast box-sets from the Noiser network will be launching in the coming months. Stay tuned. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices