Sixty-five years ago today ...

On the morning of 6th june 1944, the allies began the process of liberating Europe by landing troops on the Normandy coast of France by sea and from the air. Later that day the French government in exile in London (the 'Free French') announced to compatriots in France through its regular broadcasts courtesy of the BBC that bridge-heads had been established on French soil earlier in the day and that the liberation of France was underway. In the recording embedded below, General de Gaulle addresses the French people: