Rick W Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 Just noticed a TV programme on tomorrow night Monday 19th on Channel 5. D-Days Sunken secrets, hour and a half long, looks like it could be worth a watch. http://www.channel5.com/shows/d-days-sunken-secrets/episodes/d-days-sunken-secrets June 6 1944 saw the world’s biggest amphibious assault, one of the most important military campaigns in history and a pivotal moment in the Second World War. For generations, historians, archaeologists and other experts, in their attempts to reconstruct the events of the day, have scoured every battlefield – except one. Just off the coast of Normandy is a lost graveyard, where hundreds of objects lie on the sea bed. Using two mini-submarines, a team of historians, wreck detectives, scientists and veterans are on a quest to discover what lies below the waves. In summer of 2013, the multi-disciplinary team scoured a 500 square kilometre stretch of seabed. Among the astonishing objects they found were a curious collection of American Sherman tanks, specially adapted to float, and the wreck of the SS Leopoldville, a troopship hit by a German U-boat on December 24 1944 with the loss of 800 lives. In an emotional testimony, American D-Day veteran Bill Allen recalls his experiences as a teenage medic on a ship which ferried supplies into Normandy. On his fourth trip to the beaches, his ship hit amine and 94 of his shipmates died. Returning to Normandy for the first time, Bill takes a submarine to the seabed to pay his respects to those comrades who never returned. Submariner Jim Booth, now in his 90s, was part of a key five-man crew manning a midget submarine that lurked off the coast for days before the invasion. At first light on D-Day, they erected a light to guide landing craft safely on to the beach. The expedition team takes him on his first submarine trip since the Normandy landings. D-Day was not only a triumph of individual courage, but also a miracle of detailed planning and engineering brilliance. Tim Beckett’s father Alan was an engineer who had the crucial job of designing a deep sea harbour which would be used to supply the invasion. Tim now teams up with a computer graphics specialist and engineer to build a virtual model of Mulberry Harbour – Alan Beckett’s masterpiece without which the Normandy campaign could not have succeeded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timbo Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 I watched this and thought it was interesting and well put together but no more than that. They seemed to be saying there was lots of new stuff but I dont think I learnt anything I didnt already know... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowfat Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Likewise hardly earth shattering. Also could have been an hour long if they stopped recapping everything at every break. Didn't really achieve anything , found one ship wrongly identified but didn't find the real wreck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Wouldn't mind having a play with the 3D model though. Continuity needed ..some work.. talking about US beaches showing Britsh /Commomwealth footage and vice versa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 talking about US beaches showing Britsh /Commomwealth footage and vice versa. This is one thing that does do my nut in, why people can't get it correct I don't know. However I suppose they are thinking to Joe Public it wouldn't particularly matter. I agree with others, interesting but didn't really show anything that we already didn't know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locolines Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 I didn't personally think it was good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick W Posted May 20, 2014 Author Share Posted May 20, 2014 Agreed, it wasn't particularly groundbreaking, but I suppose we are going to see a plethora of similar programmes in the run up to the anniversary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Grundy Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Thought the music was out of character to the events. Also why show the blowing up of HMS Barham in the Mediterranean on 25 November 1941? Generally a poor effort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtistsRifles Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 I recorded this to watch as it was supposed to be good - think I'll just delete it based on these reviews!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick W Posted May 20, 2014 Author Share Posted May 20, 2014 I recorded this to watch as it was supposed to be good - think I'll just delete it based on these reviews!! Yes, but given the lack of any quality tv Neil, you may want to form your own opinions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 (edited) Just found there is a link to the 3D model http://www.3ds.com/dday/ Edited May 21, 2014 by Tony B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajmac Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 The 3D mulberry model was the best thing about the program, that must have taken a team of draftsmen months of work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Have you watched the Youtube panarama? Bloody fantastic, even got Dodges in! :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiho9 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 I had it on, but spent most of my time reading thorough restoration threads on here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtistsRifles Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 Yes, but given the lack of any quality tv Neil, you may want to form your own opinions! Well - I watched it but i have to say it did not hold my total attention. Like the proverbial curates egg - it was good in parts but could have been so much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utt61 Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 I had recorded it and watched it yesterday. I felt that the makers had perhaps 1/2 hour of worthwhile material which they had stretched to 1.5 hours. Overall rating - disappointing. I would defininately liked to have seen more about Dassault's "virtual" Mulberry B, which seems to me to be worthy of a programme all of its own and was far more interesting that the short underwater clips of assorted barnacled wrecks. I imagine though that the average participant in this forum has far more specialist knowledge that the average member of the target audience for a programme of this kind on mainstream TV and therefore is much more likely to be disappointed that your average viewer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.