D Day Coverage

Some news bulletins are more important than others. Imagine reading this one.

6 June 1944 saw worldwide radio announce the biggest invasion in history. This was ‘D day’. Codenamed 'Operation Overlord', a huge military force set out towards Northern France. The allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy and broke through the German army's defences. 75,215 British and Canadian troops and 57,500 US troops were landed by sea with 23,400 landing by air. As the chief of staff pointed out, it could well have been “the most ghastly disaster of the whole war”.

German state radio first announced the Normandy landings on the 07.00 bulletins, promising to deal with the intruders. As you'll hear on this audio, American radio picked up on those broadcasts. The special BBC news bulletin came two-and-a-half hours later, presented, as you'll hear, by the reader who'd announced so much Twentieth Century history, John Snagge. The media was, nevertheless, well prepared; and you can also hear here Richard Dimbleby watching the airborne troops take off.