D-Day 360

June 6, 1944, which marked the beginning of the end for Hitler's Germany, witnessed the biggest logistical military operation in history. Two years in the planning, D-Day involved thousands of ships, aircraft, and soldiers, in an attempt to breach Hitler's Atlantic wall of defenses. On the 70th anniversary of D-Day, filmmaker Ian Duncan's PBS-aired documentary combines first-person narratives with animation to explore the desperate gamble by the Allies to win a foothold on the Normandy coast of France. Although the Allies outnumbered the Germans 4 to 1, the operation was anything but a sure thing. The brilliant German general Rommel had seeded a "devil's garden" of stakes, pikes, and “castrator” landmines on the beach, with the intention of trapping soldiers at the water's edge, while the Germans waited in well-fortified bunkers, armed with dreaded weapons including the 88mm guns, which were aimed down the beaches rather than out to sea, creating a deadly crossfire trap. Meanwhile, the Allies employed a "conveyor belt" tactic to move soldiers off the beach quickly and make room for successive waves of fresh troops and supplies. In the fog of war, mistakes were naturally made, as Allied guns from ships and aircraft overshot German targets, and tricky tides and poor weather visibility only added to the problems. The first wave of American soldiers on Omaha beach paid a terrible price, particularly Virginia's “Bedford boys,” who suffered a 92 percent casualty rate, leading one survivor to say they were "sacrificed." In the end, American soldiers' abilities to improvise amidst chaos helped save the day. Combining superior graphics with a compelling narrative, this WWII documentary is highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (S. Rees)