The D-Day landings of the 6th of June 1944 are much too big a story to be covered in the middle of a mix. New recording technology, a wider variety of coverage, and the hoarding and preservation instincts of generations of historians, amateur and professional, have resulted in an unprecedented amount of material being available, around sixty hours all together. From this I’ve edited for you a tight 82 minute sound collage, taking you from pre-D-Day messages, through the landings, the first reports and dispatches from the field, to the reactions and repercussions the following few days.
Here’s what you can hear.
0:00:00 1944-06-06 0330 CBS D-Day Broadcast
0:00:15 1944-06-06 0332 NBC D-Day Broadcast
The Buildup
0:00:33 1944-06-05 BBC European Service With Resistance Messages
0:01:37 1944-06-04 Frank Gillard – Build for D-Day
0:02:20 1944-06-05 FDR Fireside Chat
0:02:33 1944-06-05 Eisenhower’s Pre D-Day Announcement to Troops
0:04:13 1944-06-05 BBC Field Marshall Montgomery Address On Eve Of D-Day
The Journey
0:05:08 1944-06-03 BBC Robin Duff On Sealed Ship
0:05:50 1944-06-06 BBC Robin Duff Mid Channel To Normandy
0:06:16 1944-06-08 BBC Allied Troops Prayer Before Invasion
0:06:45 1944-06-08 CAN Travelling With D-Day Convoy
0:07:10 1944-06-06 D-Day Ship Attack
The Assault Begins
0:09:21 1944-06-06 BBC Colin Wills Lands With Infantry
0:09:57 1944-06-08 BBC Robin Duff Five Minutes Before H-Hour
0:10:20 1944-06-08 BBC Robin Duff At Signal For Landing
0:10:45 1944-12-31 MBS News 1944 In Review
0:11:22 1944-06-08 BBC British Tank Crew Describes Beach Landing
0:11:48 1944-06-08 BBC UK Soldier Landing Near Coastal Mines
0:12:10 1944-06-08 CAN Recounting The Landing
0:12:41 1944-06-08 CAN The Scene On The Beach (3 Clips)
0:13:32 1944-06-08 CAN US Soldier On The Beach (2 Clips)
0:13:58 1944-06-08 CAN A Handful Of French Sand
The First Reports
0:14:45 1944-06-06 0330 CBS D-Day Broadcast
0:14:49 1944-06-06 0300 CBS News Unconfirmed Reports Of Invasion (3 Clips)
0:16:27 1944-06-06 0332 NBC D-Day Broadcast
0:16:45 1944-06-06 0330 CBS D-Day Broadcast (2 Clips)
The Paratroopers Land
0:17:26 1944-06-06 BBC Chester Wilmot In Glider
0:18:11 1944-06-06 BBC Chester Wilmot Sees Gliders
0:18:36 1944-06-06 CAN Glider Formations Flying Over The Beaches
0:19:45 1944-06-06 BBC Chester Wilmot Reports From Inside British Glider
0:20:09 1944-06-06 BBC Guy Byam Parachutes Into France
0:20:43 1944-06-06 BBC Alan Melville Sees Paratroops
0:21:03 1944-06-08 BBC The 13th Man To Land In France
0:21:15 1944-12-31 MBS News 1944 In Review
The Announcement
0:22:29 1944-06-06 D-Day Announcement – BBC Newsflash
0:23:28 1944-06-06 0332 NBC D-Day Broadcast (3 Clips)
0:25:31 1944-12-31 MBS News 1944 In Review
0:26:59 1944-06-06 0332 NBC D-Day Broadcast
4am to 5am EST
0:27:23 1944-06-06 0415 CBS D-Day Broadcast (4 Clips)
0:28:51 1944-06-06 0400 NBC D-Day Broadcast
0:28:58 1944-06-06 0415 CBS D-Day Broadcast
0:29:45 1944-06-06 0415 NBC D-Day Broadcast
0:30:00 1944-06-06 D-Day Message To Free French Troops
5am to 9am EST
0:30:19 1944-06-06 BBC John Snagge D-Day Has Come
0:30:56 1944-06-06 0500 CBS D-Day Broadcast (11 Clips)
0:34:12 1944-06-06 0540 CBS D-Day Broadcast (4 Clips)
0:36:45 1944-06-06 BBC Eisenhower to Western Europe
0:37:14 1944-06-06 0540 CBS D-Day Broadcast
9am to 12pm EST
0:38:00 1944-06-06 0900 NBC D-Day Broadcast
0:39:10 1944-06-06 0930 NBC D-Day Broadcast
0:39:42 1944-06-06 0900 NBC D-Day Broadcast
0:40:20 1944-06-06 0927 CBS D-Day Broadcast
0:40:34 1944-06-06 0930 NBC D-Day Broadcast
0:41:00 1944-06-06 0900 NBC D-Day Broadcast
0:41:33 1944-06-06 0930 NBC D-Day Broadcast
0:42:16 1944-06-06 0927 CBS D-Day Broadcast
0:43:13 1944-06-08 CAN Reports From The Beachhead
0:43:31 1944-06-06 0927 CBS D-Day Broadcast (2 Clips)
0:44:10 1944-06-06 US D-Day Bulletin On Landing Success
0:44:23 1944-06-06 1015 CBS Light Of The World
12pm to 4:30pm EST
0:45:33 1944-06-06 Eisenhower’s D-Day Broadcast to Western Europe
0:46:16 1944-06-06 1200 CBS Kate Smith Speaks – Prayer For Our Troops
0:46:33 1944-06-06 Crisco News D-Day
0:47:42 1944-06-06 1300 NBC News Reports From London
0:48:01 1944-06-06 1245 CBS D-Day Broadcast (2 Clips)
0:48:36 1944-06-06 1300 NBC News Reports From London
4:30pm to 8pm EST
0:50:04 1944-06-06 1630
0:51:05 1944-06-06 1915 CBS Passing Parade
0:51:35 1944-06-06 1630
0:52:44 1944-06-06 1830 NBCR Fibber McGee and Molly D-Day Broadcast
0:52:57 1944-06-06 1630 NBC D-Day Broadcast
0:53:49 1944-06-06 1830 NBC News Lowell Thomas Reporting
0:54:40 1944-06-06 1800 CBS D-Day Broadcast
0:55:04 1944-06-06 1915 CBS Passing Parade
0:55:34 1944-06-06 1800 CBS D-Day Broadcast
0:56:42 1944-06-06 Cross Country Reaction to D-Day
0:56:58 1944-06-06 1830 NBCR Fibber McGee and Molly D-Day Broadcast
0:57:49 1944-06-06 1915 CBS Passing Parade
0:57:57 1944-06-06 1630
8pm to Midnight EST
0:58:15 1944-06-06 2000 NBC Dr Goldstein And Ginny Simms
0:58:38 1944-06-06 2130 CBS D-Day Broadcast
0:59:00 1944-06-08 CAN Nighttime Convoy Anti-Aircraft Attack
0:59:40 1944-06-06 2000 NBC Dr Goldstein And Ginny Simms
1:00:08 1944-06-06 2210 NBC Fred Waring And His Pennsylvanians
1:01:10 1944-06-06 2130 CBS D-Day Broadcast
1:03:20 1944-06-06 2210 NBC Fred Waring And His Pennsylvanians
1:04:00 1944-06-06 2000 NBC Dr Goldstein And Ginny Simms
1:04:27 1944-06-06 2210 NBC Fred Waring And His Pennsylvanians
1:05:40 1944-06-06 2130 CBS D-Day Broadcast
1:06:28 1944-06-06 2000 NBC Dr Goldstein And Ginny Simms
1:06:53 1944-06-06 2130 CBS D-Day Broadcast (2 Clips)
1:08:15 1944-06-06 NBC Poem and Prayer for Invading Army
1:10:59 1944-06-06 2210 NBC Fred Waring And His Pennsylvanians
1:11:39 1944-06-06 2130 CBS D-Day Broadcast (2 Clips)
1:12:48 1944-06-06 2000 NBC Dr Goldstein And Ginny Simms
1:13:06 1944-06-06 2130 CBS D-Day Broadcast
1:13:42 1944-06-06 2200 NBCR Bob Hope Show
1:14:10 1944-06-06 2210 NBC Fred Waring And His Pennsylvanians
The Next Day And Later
1:14:34 1944-06-08 CBS News D-Day Invasion
1:14:53 1944-06-07 NBCB George Hicks From The Deck Of USS Ancon
1:16:04 1944-06-08 CBS News D-Day Invasion
1:16:19 1944-06-07 CBS Kate Smith Speaks
1:16:59 1944-06-08 CBS News D-Day Invasion
1:17:17 1944-06-17 BBC Frank Gillard Takes Cover
1:17:45 1944-06-12 BBC Richard Dimbleby Reports Flying Over Normandy
1:19:33 1944-06-08 CBC Matthew Halton Welcomed By French Civilians
1:20:12 1944-06-08 BBC Michael Standing On French Civilians
1:20:42 1944-06-14 BBC Alan Melville Hermanville – Church Bells
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