Last Call to Normandy

Ted and team check out warbirds in Florida before flying to England, France and Germany to discover why the invasion of Normandy was such a necessity for the Allies. Interviews with sailors, tankers, historians and a visit to a chilling Nazi U-Boat Bunker in Germany set the scene for the D-Day preparations.

Britain undergoes her own “friendly invasion” as American and Commonwealth troops and machines pour into the island. Ted and team look at the personal influence these “friendly invaders” had on the local British population, as soldiers and civilians from democracies of the free world come together to prepare for the greatest challenge of their lives.

As the build up continues, and Britain is almost at bursting point with troops and machines of war, Ted re-discovers their old camps and embarkation ports along the south coast of the island. We marvel at the sheer scale of the operation as Ted re-traces the exact routes, taking us in the footsteps of heroes and meets some guys who are intent on preserving the artefacts of those tumultuous times.

In Early spring 1944, everything looks good for the Allied invasion until a simple radio mistake results in a grizzly shambles and hundreds of Allied troops are killed before they even set foot on the enemy shore. In England last year, the D-Day 75 Commemoration events were in full swing and Ted’s comrades put him in a Sherman tank during a battle re enactment and an iconic landing craft to capture some of the experience from those precarious days.

Ted’s team joins up with Normandy Veterans of all services as they sail across the channel to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of D-Day. First into Normandy in ’44 were the British, Canadian and American Paratroopers. Our team are with them in their C-47s, some of which we filmed earlier in Florida, as they parachute down from the skies and land in the same drop zones as their predecessors did 75 years before.

The commemoration events in Normandy are a mix of celebration and solemn remembrance as we catch up with veteran paratroopers, and tour the bunkers and beaches of Normandy. Along the way we uncover some awkward truths about the invasion and become aware of the scale of the losses of young servicemen on both sides and very conscious of how few veterans remain today.