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CBS Reports (1964): "D-Day Plus 20 Years - Eisenhower Returns to Normandy"

CBS News
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The Allied invasion of Nazi-controlled France on June 6, 1944 was the largest military invasion in history, involving nearly 160,000 service members arriving by ship and air at Normandy. Its success turned the tide of World War II. Two decades after D-Day, former Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was Supreme Commander in charge of the operation, returned to Normandy. Eisenhower talked with CBS News' Walter Cronkite about his experiences in June 1944, the tactical decisions behind Operation Overlord, and how British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was talked out of joining the invading forces. Eisenhower and Cronkite visited the Allies' war room on England's southern coast; the coast of France, including Pointe du Hoc and Omaha Beach; and the American military cemetery at St. Laurent-on-the-Sea. This special broadcast of "CBS Reports," featuring newsreel footage of the invasion, originally aired in 19 countries around the world on June 5, 1964. ...more
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Winston Churchill

24:09

Naval Losses

30:43

German Navy

31:38

Eisenhower Returns to Normandy

33:57

Pointe Du Hoc

34:12

Attack on Puncta Hawk

34:41

Chronology of D-Day Morning

44:01

So Everything Was Gone Wrong They Could Go Home and as I Say Finally the Thing That Pulled Us Out Was a Bravery and the Courage and the Initiative of a of the American Gi That's What during the Course of the Day this Speech Got So Plugged Up that the Beachmaster Had To Tell a New Lc Eyes and Lc Teens Coming In to Circle and They Were Sort Of like Milling Cattle Out There and Still Getting Shot at and Was Just a Really Terrible Situation You Know some of Them You Remember Had Been in these Crowded Ship for Four Days When We'D Added One Day of Home

45:19

And You Know any of Us We Get Seasick We Just Lie Down and Try for Someone To Come and Help Us Out these People When They Got out of that There those Things Had To Be Right Up There at the Top of Their Form They Had To Be Giving Out Everything They Possibly Could Do Win this Battle so They Came in those Little Ships and Then of Course Finally He Was Drowned and Now You Were You Had a Long Broad Space To Come Across Here and They Had To Come Had Weighed some of Them and because Even Lc Team Lc Eyes Are Not Fighting on Top of Water They'Re Down in the Water to a Couple People so I Had To Wait and Then Begin To Sprint Up the Air if He Got a Place Where They Could Begin Shooting

46:20

What He Did that Begin To Study Was the Possibility of Taking His Follow-Ups That We Now Couldn't Come In Here because of the Fire and the Jail and Taking some of Them into Utah Trying To Cut around the this Whole Area Tanned Therefore Leave It and some of Them Possibly Even into the British Sector onto the E String because Remember We Had an Objective You See that High Ground Right Above There behind that Is a Road and that Road There Runs All the Way Through to a Senior from the Right Through by You and It's All the Way on the Left on Our Left and They Were I Was Their Objective

48:57

We Wanted To Capture this Peninsula and Shurberg Very Soon and You Know Down Here at Utah Beach behind Us There Was the Marshes on this Side of the Beach Now We Wanted To Get the Openings from those Marshes so that Our Soldiers on the Beach Can Come Up so We Dropped the Paratroopers Here in this Region First To Capture this Town so They Block All the Roads and Let the Germans through It and Then Block all of those Opening I Mean that Take Care of those Open Things Down There and Keep Them Open for Our the Fourth Division Which Came over the Beaches so We Landed the Hundred and First Here

55:43

I Mean that Take Care of those Open Things Down There and Keep Them Open for Our the Fourth Division Which Came over the Beaches so We Landed the Hundred and First Here and Then Just to the So Just to the West We Landed the 82nd Division Now Of Course They Got Scattered Around and that Was Quite Lucky in Us for Us at the Time We Got a Disaster but but because They Were Scattered So Badly the Germans Didn't Know Anything We Were Doing Yeah We'Re Just Bewildered and Their Reaction the Next Day Was Was Very Weak because They Didn't Know Where We Were Going What Are We Doing

56:14

The Norman Resort Town of Era Mons Was a Key Sector a Vital Artificial Harbor Called Mulberry Was Established Here To Funnel the Supplies of War to the Invading Armies Now Almost 20 Years Later through a Spindrift of Rain and Haze Parts of the Old Mulberry Could Still Be Seen Sticking out of the Water as General Eisenhower Talked of Invasion Logistics You Know There's Something That Armies and Navies Have Known for Centuries When You Have a Major Invasion on a Hospital Shore You Have To Capture a Major Port Very Soon

57:28

And Was Far Back Is 1942 Admiral Mountbatten I Happen To Say to Me that Well You Won't Have a Port but You Will Have To Make One Well this Sounded to Me Rather Fantastic but Actually Somewhere in There Early 43 They British Particularly Began To Think of this Problem Very Seriously and the Prime Minister Interested Him Self in It and So They Conceived this Idea of Building Artificial Harbors-One for the American Side the West and the Other One for the British Here in Front of Aramide Now this One of Course Turned Out To Be Very Successful

58:37

So They Conceived this Idea of Building Artificial Harbors-One for the American Side the West and the Other One for the British Here in Front of Aramide Now this One of Course Turned Out To Be Very Successful and You See the Remains of It All the Way Around and that Was Roughly Seven Miles from this End Around through that Whole File of Breakwaters That They Built Out There the Prime Minister Himself Told Me that Was Almost 50 , 000 Men That We'Re Working on this One Problem Alone Oh that Workmen and Managers and Everybody Else and I Think Thousands of Tons of Seal and I Can't Tell You How Many Probably Seven or Eight Hundred of Cement these Harbours

59:03

And You See the Remains of It All the Way Around and that Was Roughly Seven Miles from this End Around through that Whole File of Breakwaters That They Built Out There the Prime Minister Himself Told Me that Was Almost 50 , 000 Men That We'Re Working on this One Problem Alone Oh that Workmen and Managers and Everybody Else and I Think Thousands of Tons of Seal and I Can't Tell You How Many Probably Seven or Eight Hundred of Cement these Harbours so It Was Just Blot Major Project in Itself the Breakwaters Were Made Up of Several Parts One Was Thinking and Ships First To Get Started

59:20

And It Made It a Very Impressive Sight As Long as You Could See Up There and Then this Big Breakwater Was Made of the Concrete Blocks and We Call Phoenix as They Were Built so You Could Float Them over Here Then Sink Them Wonder They this Rock Formation the the Beach and Finally Then They Built Piers That Went Up with It Down with the Tide Which Is Very High Here You Know 21 Feet some We Cap and They Had Their Flexible Bridges so the Whole Thing Was a Very Masterly Conception and the Actual Completion of the Thing Was Almost Miraculous Important Summer Was There Ever a Time in the First Days of the Landing When Supply

1:00:21

And They Had Their Flexible Bridges so the Whole Thing Was a Very Masterly Conception and the Actual Completion of the Thing Was Almost Miraculous Important Summer Was There Ever a Time in the First Days of the Landing When Supply Became So Critical as To Endanger the Operation Well in that's a Storm of June the 19th We Were Pretty Well down You See because We Were We Had To Ration Our Troops from the Beginning so You Could Get Reserves To Make the Big Attack but that Great Storm Which Threw some Three to Five Hundred Ships Up on these Beaches That Had Come Over Here By on Their Own Power I Mean that Kind of Thing It Was a Terrific Thing and of Course It Was Uncomfortable

1:00:47

General the Fact that that Storm Came In on June 19th Which Was the Next Available Date for You To Have Gone with the Tides and the Moon Right and So Forth Sort Of Proves the Wisdom of Going on the Sex Doesn't Well At Least It Proves We Were Lucky Walter because no One Could Have Predicted that Storm at that Time but if We Had Tried To Go On at that Time and I Say Hit on the 18th We Would Have Absolutely Been Wrecked Nothing Could Have Stayed It Was a Most Terrible Storm That They They Said the the Worst Storm the Challenge for Years

1:02:18

Some Put It this Way It Wasn't Anything like the Omaha Beach It Was a Big Deal More like the Utah Beach in Resistance but in Here There Wasn't a Great Deal of Defense although the British Were Very Careful Not To Go In against the Town of Arrow Mont because They Wanted To Use those Beaches for this Artificial Port They Didn't Want a Lot of Wreckage on There They Took It from the Van Side You Know but Nevertheless Said by and Large the British Army with the Canadians Was on Shore Did Very Well on D-Day

1:06:08

They Wanted To Use those Beaches for this Artificial Port They Didn't Want a Lot of Wreckage on There They Took It from the Van Side You Know but Nevertheless Said by and Large the British Army with the Canadians Was on Shore Did Very Well on D-Day and although They Didn't Have All Their D-Day Objectives They Were Well Established and of Course this Gave Great Confidence That Boom all Would Soon Be Solved Now the Strange Thing They Did They Had a British Division Coming on the Left and One on the Right and in the Center Was the Canadian One I Have Never Asked Them Reason Why They Did that but It Looked Odd in the Formation but all of Them Fought Well and It Were They Were a Very Fine Outfit Bobo Dempsey Was Commanding the British Army and Clear the Canadian

1:06:26

They Had a British Division Coming on the Left and One on the Right and in the Center Was the Canadian One I Have Never Asked Them Reason Why They Did that but It Looked Odd in the Formation but all of Them Fought Well and It Were They Were a Very Fine Outfit Bobo Dempsey Was Commanding the British Army and Clear the Canadian So in the Build-Up Came on They Became the Two Army Commanders in Montgomery's Army Group They Were Supposed To Push Him and Then Get the Car D plus One I Believe Well Done D-Day They'Re Supposed To Get It Do You See Right Just South of Kahn

1:06:51

Because Here Let's Say this Field Would Be 50 Yards Square You'D Try To Take Man and Sneak along the Hedges To Get behind the Defenders of the Next Edge Well on either Side They'D Be Flanked by the Riflemen so You Just Had Your Tanks To Get in There with these Light Guns Couldn't Knock Them Out and They Could Give You the Firepower and the Infantry Could Get On and that's the Way We Finally Broke through One of the Biggest Problems Correspondents Had in Normandy

1:09:45

So You Just Had Your Tanks To Get in There with these Light Guns Couldn't Knock Them Out and They Could Give You the Firepower and the Infantry Could Get On and that's the Way We Finally Broke through One of the Biggest Problems Correspondents Had in Normandy during the Battle Was Explaining How a Hedgerow Could Stop a 30 or 35 Ton Tank as People Home Thought of a Hedge Is the Kind of Hedge They Have but Not like this Just about Here a Minute Walter and I'Ll Just Show You How this Thing Worked Here's the Hedgerow and It's Not Really a Hedge It's a Bank of Earth and Frequently this Is Four Feet Thick Five Feet Thick and Often Four Feet Tall

1:09:59

And I'Ll Just Show You How this Thing Worked Here's the Hedgerow and It's Not Really a Hedge It's a Bank of Earth and Frequently this Is Four Feet Thick Five Feet Thick and Often Four Feet Tall and the Hedge Grows Right out of that Thing so that Way Your Tank Go through the Hedge but When It Does It Bullies Up You See and these Guns Are Pointing Straight into the Sky and so the Fellows Anti-Tank Guns Can Just Go Right through that Soft Underside of the Tank

1:10:28

It Was in the World Was To Took a Tank and with Welding a Bar on Early They Welded Them a Little of Plows You Might Call Snouts Actually We Found the Steel for It Down on the Beaches Where the Germans Had Made these Beach Obstacles Down Here We Took that Steel Welded a Little of Plows You Might Call They Just Cut Off this Bank as You Went into It and this Kept Your Tank Right Square Level Guns Blazing Next Hedgerow Which Is Only 50 Yards Away and on Top of that You Really Carried some of Your Own Camouflage with You as You Went through the Thing this Idea Very Quickly Got into the Very Top Echelon So General Bradley To Be Specific

1:11:13

So We Can Prepare in Advance for It Well because no One Had Really for Really Had Tried To Attack through these Hedgerows and no One Had Thought of It and Remember this We Didn't Expect To Make a Blitz Down through these Things Anyway on the Left of the Whole Line We Expected that Their British Army Would Be Down in the High Ground below Where the Open Ground behind falaise this Would Make It Easier for Us To Get Down to San Lo and It Was Only Then We Were Going To Start Our Wheels Are the Same to the Left You See Well Actually What Happened because of the Tremendous Defense the Germans Put In around Kahn We Finally Had To Start from Way Back at at Santa Low and Swinging from There but Then that Swinging around Movement with Just a Whole Effort To Capture the German Seventh Army Sprung Up from the Fact that They Didn't Want To Give Up that Line so They Began To Attack Right into Our Hinge

1:12:44

This Would Make It Easier for Us To Get Down to San Lo and It Was Only Then We Were Going To Start Our Wheels Are the Same to the Left You See Well Actually What Happened because of the Tremendous Defense the Germans Put In around Kahn We Finally Had To Start from Way Back at at Santa Low and Swinging from There but Then that Swinging around Movement with Just a Whole Effort To Capture the German Seventh Army Sprung Up from the Fact that They Didn't Want To Give Up that Line so They Began To Attack Right into Our Hinge and that Gave Us a Big Opportunity and and Bradley I Think Probably Thought of the Idea First

1:13:07

We Finally Had To Start from Way Back at at Santa Low and Swinging from There but Then that Swinging around Movement with Just a Whole Effort To Capture the German Seventh Army Sprung Up from the Fact that They Didn't Want To Give Up that Line so They Began To Attack Right into Our Hinge and that Gave Us a Big Opportunity and and Bradley I Think Probably Thought of the Idea First and Said Let's Swing in Closer and Capture these Problems Right Here and We Won't Have To Fight Them on the Scene and I Say You Go Right Ahead that's Fine and as We Close these Armies One on the Other the British on the North and the Americans Coming Around from the Right

1:13:21

And I Say You Go Right Ahead that's Fine and as We Close these Armies One on the Other the British on the North and the Americans Coming Around from the Right the Germans Tried To Get Out and of Course We Brought To Bear all of Our Air all of Our Machine-Gun Fire and Artillery and You Know the Soldiers Began To Speak of that There's a Great Killing Ground They I Think the Battle Ended as I Recall about August 16th or 17th and I Went In There but Two or Three Days Later and Doing All the Acres

1:13:54

And You Know the Soldiers Began To Speak of that There's a Great Killing Ground They I Think the Battle Ended as I Recall about August 16th or 17th and I Went In There but Two or Three Days Later and Doing All the Acres and Acres It Was Just Nothing but Dead and Then It Was the Scene Was Even More Terrible because the Fact the Germans Were Using a Great Deal of Horse-Drawn Artillery and Whole Teams Had Just Have Been Killed by the Same Shell Bursts and Just Laying Flat There with the Guns and Honestly You Could Have Walked a Quarter of a Mile without Ever Stepping on Ground It Was a Horrible Scene and It Was the End of the Normandy Campaign from Then on There Was Exploitation

1:14:12
CBS Reports (1964): "D-Day Plus 20 Years - Eisenhower Returns to Normandy"
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2019Jun 5
The Allied invasion of Nazi-controlled France on June 6, 1944 was the largest military invasion in history, involving nearly 160,000 service members arriving by ship and air at Normandy. Its success turned the tide of World War II. Two decades after D-Day, former Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was Supreme Commander in charge of the operation, returned to Normandy. Eisenhower talked with CBS News' Walter Cronkite about his experiences in June 1944, the tactical decisions behind Operation Overlord, and how British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was talked out of joining the invading forces. Eisenhower and Cronkite visited the Allies' war room on England's southern coast; the coast of France, including Pointe du Hoc and Omaha Beach; and the American military cemetery at St. Laurent-on-the-Sea. This special broadcast of "CBS Reports," featuring newsreel footage of the invasion, originally aired in 19 countries around the world on June 5, 1964.

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