D-Day Is Coming Podcast – Episode 3 – D-Day
D-Day is coming
In June 1944 the largest armada in history left the coast of England for the shores of France with the hope of this being the beginning of the end of the Second World War. Those that already lived here saw massive changes to their once quiet forest as the New Forest played a vital role in this epic endeavour by giving a home to the thousands of troops about to leave our shores, many of them never to return.
The New Forest Remembers WWII project has recorded over 80 hours of oral history interviews, the majority of them conducted by volunteer members of the project’s Oral History Team. Edited highlights of these interviews and their full transcriptions are being uploaded to the project’s Interactive Portal, an online digital archive holding a raft of documents, photos, film footage and archaeological survey data all relating to the New Forest During the Second World War.
Two of the team’s volunteers have produced three podcasts visiting the memories of those that lived, worked and played in the Forest in the build up to D-Day.
Episode 3 – D-Day
“Something’s going on”. Tanks, trucks, artillery, troops, noise. Roads filling up, convoys of vehicle for hours, queues for petrol everywhere. Then it all went quiet… D-Day had happened!
Picture credit: Imperial War Museum (IWM H22421)
This is the last of a series of three Podcasts for the New Forest Remembers World War II Project. All Material Copyright New Forest National Parks Authority.
You can listen to the other two here:
Episode 1 – The Forest In the War
Episode 2 – The Build Up of Troops
You can find out more about the New Forest’s vital role in D-Day from Mulberry Harbour, to holding camps, road widening, advanced landing grounds, PLUTO and Embarkation by visiting our main page on D-Day in the New Forest.