59: The secret missions that made D-Day possible

We investigate the special operations that occurred ahead of the D-Day landings of over 130,000 Allied troops on the Nazi-controlled beaches of northern France  We look at the role of special troops who parachuted into Nazi-occupied France ahead of the D-Day beach landings. With help from a very special expert guest, we focus on a mission for US Army Rangers at a headland near the beaches, called Pointe du Hoc.  After the end theme music you’ll find these questions, followed by the outtakes: Which Allied countries took part in the D-Day landings? What was this operation called?  Why did Allied special forces parachute into France before the D-Day beach landings? Why was it important to disrupt railway lines and German communication centres? Why was Pointe du Hoc an important piece of land? What challenges did the US Rangers face? Our website, where you'll find photos, info about each episode and links to our social media, is https://www.dadandmelovehistory.com/ - where you can also listen to episodes. For mature history lovers: read industry reviews of Dad’s World War II novels, A Chance Kill and The Slightest Chance, at paulletters.com. Available as e-books, as well as in paperback. Dad’s first wartime novel, A Chance Kill, is a love-story/thriller based on real events in Poland, Paris, London and Prague. The Slightest Chance follows the remarkable true story of the only escape from Japanese imprisonment by a Western woman during World War II. Please rate and review us wherever you get podcasts. And share our podcast on social media and recommend it to friends – that's how we'll keep going. We will bring you episodes throughout the year, so stay subscribed on your podcast app! Podcast cover art by Molly Austin All instrumental music is from https://filmmusic.io and composed by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Sound effects are used under RemArc Licence. Copyright 2023 © BBC