D-DAY: THE LOST EVIDENCE

1 x 90 min special for AETN

During 6 th June 1944, British and American photo-reconnaissance aircraft made 25 sorties along the Normandy beaches to record progress, hour by hour, almost minute by minute during D-Day. Throughout the day these images were used by the Allied High Command as evidence of the success or failure of the landings and the decisions they made on the strength of this evidence could shape the course of the war. But, like yesterday's news, these images quickly lost their usefulness and as the Allies moved off the beaches and onto new battles ahead the D-Day images were lost amongst the many cast-offs generated by war. Lost that is until now.

Their record gives us a unique view of D-Day taken from above the clouds. Each image captures a single point in time. In each captured moment we can see in great detail the progress of the invasion forces. captured.

The clarity and detail in the images allows us to be very specific about the stories we follow. In some instances we can follow the progress of a single landing vessel as it zig-zags its way from ship to shore, reinforcing the line and returning with the wounded. We know the exact time that each image was taken and we know who was on the ground at that precise moment. With detailed and painstaking research it will be possible to put names and faces to the heroic acts being played out below.

By the end of the day our photo record reveals that at all points the Allied landings have been successful but whilst at Omaha they are still establishing a beachhead, further east advanced troops are within sight of the city of Caen - 9 miles inland.

This is an extraordinary new view of what has been called The Longest Day.