D-Day Landings explained

To mark the 80th anniversary of the Normandy Landings we look at what happened and the role of the Portsmouth area

Transcript

00:00The Normandy landings were unparalleled, one of the most significant war operations in

00:10history. Ultimately the invasion put the Allies on course to defeat the Nazis in Western Europe

00:17for good. I'm Richard Callaghan and I'm the curator of the Royal Military Police Museum

00:23which is located here at Southwark Park which is just north of Portsmouth.

00:30Southwark Park is also home to the D-Day war map. This was a pivotal part of the preparations

00:38for the landings in Normandy on June 6th 1944 and the house plays a pivotal role

00:46in the decisions taken as to when we actually went. The eyes of the world are upon you,

00:54the hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere march with you.

01:01On that day 152,000 soldiers including 64,000 British soldiers and 72,000

01:09Americans landing on the five beaches of Normandy. Here you've got your cap on,

01:15I should have brought my snow glove. I went on a Russian convoy so I wore a white one.

01:24My wife would have kept me worried. She said it was dirty.

01:32So the D-Day story tells the story of the Normandy landings that began on D-Day the 6th of June 1944

01:39and then there was fighting in Normandy that carried on over the following months

01:44and this was a turning point in the Second World War particularly the Second World War in Europe.

01:52Effectively the first stage and the ending of the Second World War enabled the allied

01:56armies to then advance into Germany, defeat the Nazi regime there and bring the war in Europe

02:01to an end. So that's what this museum tells and this year to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day

02:07we're doing a project called D-Day in 80 objects and as the name suggests it's about 80 historic

02:12artefacts telling the story of D-Day, the preparations for D-Day and the fighting in Normandy that came afterwards.