Dr Ludivine Broch, Senior Lecturer in History and specialist of France in the Second World War, recently consulted on the widely acclaimed BBC documentary series D-Day: The Unheard Tapes to mark the 80th anniversary of the Allied Landings on the beaches of Northern France.
This three-part documentary by production company Wall to Wall Media tells the story of the Allied landings in Normandy, their arrival on the beaches and of the first days of what would ultimately be a very long battle across the region as they fought – and died – to capture Cherbourg and Caen.
Wall to Wall Media based its story around the oral recordings of American, British, Canadian, and German soldiers, but also of French resisters and civilians, who had survived the war. Real actors who physically resembled the soldiers and civilians at the time then lip-synched these testimonies, creating a real sense of intimacy with the viewer, and giving unique insight into the complexity of this period.
In the episodes, Broch helps contextualise the stories of French resister civilians who had very mixed feelings about the landings, stretching from unimaginable excitement at the thought of liberation from German occupation to absolute terror at the death and devastation that the landings caused, not least the bombings.
In the documentary, Dr Broch explained the circumstances for a French resister like André Heintz, who lived near Caen on 6 June 1944: “[Heintz] had been seeing the grip of the Germans on of the occupation on France for years now. He had been waiting for this day for a long time. But he couldn’t have known what this would really be like - and how damaging it would be for the French people.”
The documentary has been recognised for its innovative approach. For example, Barbara Ellen in The Observer wrote: “With historians giving extra context, this relatively new form of oral history is more immersive than regular documentary and it works brilliantly.”
Watch the documentary series on BBC iPlayer.
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