D-Day to the Fall of the Third Reich | Epic WW2 Documentary on the Allied Campaign in Western Europe

● Please SUPPORT my work on Patreon: https://bit.ly/2LT6opZ ● Visit my 2ND CHANNEL: https://bit.ly/2ILbyX8 ►Facebook: https://bit.ly/2INA7yt ►Twitter: https://bit.ly/2Lz57nY ►Google+: https://bit.ly/2IPz7dl ✚ Watch my "WW2 in Europe" PLAYLIST: https://bit.ly/2HEkWHl This 1945 feature documentary film (originally titled as The True Glory) is a co-production of the U.S. Office of War Information and the British Ministry of Information, documenting the victory of the Allied forces over the Axis on the Western Front, from just before D-Day to the VE-Day / the fall of the Third Reich (aka. the Nazi Germany) in May 1945. It is an epic documentary film that surveys the entire Allied campaign in Western Europe. The film was shot by combat cameramen. The documentary was promoted with the tagline, "The story of your victory...told by the guys who won it!" It is notable for using multiple first-person perspectives as narrative voices. The voices include an American G.I., a British Tommy, a Canadian soldier, a French resister, a Parisian civilian family, an African-American tank gunner, and several female perspectives including a nurse, and clerical staff. The film is introduced by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe, and many other prominent individuals appear in it including General George S. Patton. It is an Oscar-winning documentary. In 1946, the film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The original title, The True Glory, is taken from a letter of Sir Francis Drake, which is quoted in a final caption: "There must be a beginning of any great matter, but the continuing unto the end until it be thoroughly finished yields the True Glory." HISTORICAL BACKGROUND / CONTEXT On 6 June 1944, D-Day, Allied troops landed on the coast of Normandy. It was the start of the Allied campaign to liberate Europe and defeat Germany during World War 2. The Battle of Normandy – began with the D-Day landings – was a hard-fought campaign. British divisions bore the brunt of German resistance on the eastern flank of the front, enabling US forces to stage a breakout in the west. The typical bocage landscape of small fields surrounded by thick hedges and narrow sunken lanes favored the defenders. Casualties - especially among the infantry - were heavy. But the Germans were constrained by Hitler’s refusal to let his commanders make tactical withdrawals when required, which meant that the bulk of their forces were eventually trapped and destroyed by the Allied breakout. The Battle of Normandy did not end until August 20, 1944 when the Falais gap was finally closed, ending German resistance in the region. On 15 Aug 1944, the US Seventh Army and the First French Army landed in the south of France (Operation Dragoon). The Germans, particularly those near Spain and Bordeaux were threatened with being trapped apart from Germany. On 25 August 1944 Allied troops, with the help of the French resistance led by General Charles de Gaulle, liberated Paris after four years of German occupation. By the end of August, the Germans were in full retreat out of France. The rapid Allied advance to the German frontier could not be sustained, which allowed the Germans to regroup. In September, Field Marshal Montgomery launched a daring but unsuccessful airborne operation to capture a bridge over the Lower Rhine at Arnhem, and outflank the defenses of the Siegfried Line. As winter approached, the Allied campaign ground to a halt. Hitler’s desperate last-ditch counter-offensive in the Ardennes in December (the "Battle of the Bulge") failed to stave off defeat. The surprise counter-offensive achieved some initial success, but was soon contained by US forces. When the weather cleared, Allied air attacks completed the destruction of the German spearheads. Hitler’s gamble had drained what was left of his army’s manpower in the west – reserves of men and equipment were now gone. Eastern France was cleared of all German troops. The Allies resumed their advance and in March 1945 crossed the Rhine river – the last remaining obstacle into the heart of Germany. The first bridgehead was captured at Remagen by the US First Army on March 7, 1945. On the 25th of April, US and Soviet forces met at Torgau, Germany, essentially ending the war in the west, though some sporadic fighting did continue until the Germans unconditionally surrendered on May 7, 1945. D-Day to the Fall of the Third Reich | Epic WW2 Documentary on the Allied Campaign in Western Europe TBFA_0092 (DM_0049)