History

Midnight: D-Day has clearly been a success. The Germans, unprepared and confused, have failed to effectively prevent the beaches being taken. Despite this, most objectives have not been taken, and the failure to take places like Caen will haunt the Allies as German reinforcements begin to arrive. But with the opening of a second front, it is the beginning of the end for the Reich.

23:00: Hitler holds the second situation conference today. In part thanks to deceptive intelligence planted by the agent "Garbo" (Juan Pujol), who himself is currently furiously trying to continue the deception, Hitler still believes this is a diversion and that the real landings will take place further north.

20:30: The army camps, like the one pictured in Blandford, Dorset, have been eerily quiet since the troops left. However, casualties are now filtering back across southern England. In Basingstoke, Hampshire, a single soldier arrives still with wet sand on him.

20:00: Members of the Essex Yeomanry are tending to the wounded in a bunker above Gold beach. They have found a note to a German soldier - "Hans chéri" - from a French woman saying she'll meet him at 8pm. They wonder if she still will.

20:00: Rommel has finally arrived at his HQ in Chateau La Roche-Guyon. He has driven non-stop. His aide, Captain Lang, runs inside and is shocked to hear a Wagner opera playing from General Speidel's office. "General Speidel," he asks, " the invasion has begun and you're able to listen to Wagner?" "My dear Lang, do you honestly believe that my listening to Wagner will make any difference whatsoever to the course of the invasion," replied Speidel. As the three begin discussions, there is a feeling of depression.

18:00: The 192nd Panzergrenadier Regiment reach the beach at Lion-sur-Mer. Weak and without air support, they are unable to continue the pincer movement, and are forced to retreat.

17:21: Omaha beach is now able to receive wheeled and tracked traffic, meaning supply vehicles and tanks can land. The Allied position is still precarious, but the ability of the Germans to destroy the beachheads is rapidly dwindling, even as reinforcements arrive.

17:00: Sword beach has been an especial failure by the Germans, as many prisoners are now being marched off to captivity. However, the 21st Panzer Division is about to launch the only major counter-attack of D-Day.

16:30: British soldiers (alongside Dutch and Polish) are pushing from Gold beach along the road to Bayeux, capturing Reyes and approaching Arromanches.

15:15: after heavy bombing, Caen is now on fire. Civilians were warned of incoming bombers by leaflets dropped, but many did not evacuate. An anonymous man pens a note that will be found on his body the following month: "I feel that I am dying. It is terrible to know that I’m going to die because I have been expecting the liberation for so long. But I know that, because of my death, other people will be liberated. Long live France, long live the Allies."