HistoryExtra
type: channel
link: https://www.historyextra.com
description: Home of Britain’s bestselling history magazine and award-winning podcast
date: 2025-06-05T08:25:04.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: The seaborne invasion: why we must remember the forgotten heroes of D-Day and the battle for Normandy
items: Winston Churchill: is he still the greatest Briton in history?
items: Who was the greatest President of the United States in history?
items: Churchill's evolving perspective on D-Day
items: D-Day: was Churchill really against the operation?
items: D-Day beaches map: where were the D-Day landings?
items: The women’s work that made D-Day a success
items: From the USA's 'good war' to Britain's 'great hurrah': how is D-Day remembered around the world?
items: HistoryExtra Academy D-Day and the Normandy Campaign quiz: week four
items: HistoryExtra Academy video lecture: launching Operation Overlord

The seaborne invasion: why we must remember the forgotten heroes of D-Day and the battle for Normandy
type: item
date: 2025-06-05T08:24:32.000Z
creator: Nick Hewitt
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
subject: Second World War battles
description: Ferrying troops to the beaches wasn’t the only contribution sailors made during the Allied invasion of Normandy. As we mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day, Nick Hewitt reveals how the Allied navies ended up fighting one of the most overlooked campaigns of the Second World War
encoded: On 30 July 1944, nearly two months into the Allied invasion of northern France, Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay reflected on his command of the naval operations so far. “It may seem to some people that it was all easy and plain sailing,” he wrote in his diary. “[But] nothing could be more wrong. It was excellent planning and execution.” Ramsay died in 1945 without leaving a full memoir, but thousands of sailors could testify that nothing about their lives was “easy and plain sailing”. As late as 8 August 1944, with Allied troops poised to smash the German army in Normandy, sailors were still fighting to protect the beachhead. On that same day, the German submarine U-667 torpedoed both the US freighter Ezra Weston and the Canadian corvette HMCS Regina, the latter attack claiming the lives of 30 men. Ramsay’s words were prophetic. Today, discussions regarding sailors during the Normandy campaign mainly focus on their actions during the first day of the invasion: 6 June 1944, or ‘D-Day’. They are often absent from the wider story, despite the exhausting and dangerous campaign they fought to seize, exploit and defend the waters around Normandy throughout the summer of 1944. Read more | The road to D-Day: the masterplan The focus of the campaign was the Baie de la Seine, or Seine Bay, the huge inlet of the English Channel stretching nearly a hundred kilometres along the coast of Normandy from Le Havre in the east to the tip of the Cotentin Peninsula at Cape Barfleur in the west. Within the bay lay the five assault areas or so-called ‘beaches’: Utah and Omaha for the Americans, and Gold, Juno and Sword for the British and Canadians. Through this highly congested and vulnerable body of water passed a constant stream of transport ships carrying supplies and reinforcements, without which the military could not hope to win the more widely recognised battle of Normandy on land. Defeat was unlikely, but any setback could have prolonged the war for months. As the Allied commander-in-…

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Winston Churchill: is he still the greatest Briton in history?
type: item
date: 2025-03-14T09:17:44.000Z
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
subject: British prime ministers
description: Over two decades ago, a BBC poll named the wartime British prime minister as the Greatest Briton. Now, on the 150th anniversary of Winston Churchill’s birth, David Reynolds ponders whether he deserves to remain as top dog in the pantheon of British history
encoded: In a much-publicised poll in 2002, the BBC asked viewers to rank figures from British history, as part of the television series 100 Greatest Britons. The poll was in no way scientific, but simply reflected votes – more than 1.6 million of them – from people who chose to contact the BBC, following presentations championing famous individuals ranging back in time from the 20th century to William Shakespeare and Elizabeth I. As is well known, Winston Churchill came out a clear first, garnering close to 457,000 votes. Two decades later, as we mark 150 years since he was born, it’s interesting to revisit that moment, and to reflect on how perceptions of Churchill have changed over time – and also on what is meant by historical ‘greatness’. Because Churchill’s craving to make himself ‘great’ lies at the heart of his extraordinary story. In the run-up to the BBC poll, politician Mo Mowlam – Churchill’s advocate – insisted that “he was the greatest Briton because he showed the determination and courage to protect Britain from invasion, and without his inspiring leadership the outcome of World War II may have been very different”. Let’s unpack that claim a bit. Did Churchill really make such a difference in 1940 – and, if so, how? The answer to the first part is surely: yes – most of all through his energy and drive. Although the tempo in Whitehall would have intensified anyway with the end of the ‘Phoney War’ and the German invasion of France, Churchill’s appointment as prime minister had a galvanising effect, dramatically symbolised by his famous red labels stuck on urgent documents: ACTION THIS DAY. Equally important, Churchill took a firm grip on military strategy. Mindful of the confusion and infighting of 1914–18, he appointed himself minister of defence. There was no ministry – that did not come until the 1960s. Churchill simply wanted the authority to deal with the chiefs of staff directly rather than via their politician ministers. He yearned to be a war leader, unl…

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Who was the greatest President of the United States in history?
type: item
date: 2025-01-23T10:59:20.000Z
subject: General History
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: US presidents
description: Seven historians put forward their nominations for the most accomplished leader to have sat in the White House
encoded: George Washington In office: 1789–97 Party affiliation: none Nominated by: Thomas Kidd, historian and author of Thomas Jefferson: A Biography of Spirit and Flesh (Yale, 2022) George Washington was the first president in US history – and I’m nominating him as the best, too. I am basing this on his success as a leader, his ability to negotiate conflict in his administration, and most importantly the example he set for future presidents. Americans at the time of the Revolutionary War were enamoured with the ideal of the virtuous republican leader, in the model of the ancient Roman general Cincinnatus. Washington was no perfect man, of course, and like many elite southern Americans he was a slaveholder. But in politics he came the closest to manifesting the republican ideal of any American president. Washington became president after serving as the commander of the Continental Army during the fight for independence from the British. His leadership of the army was not uniformly positive, but his tenacity ultimately led to a successful outcome. Many suspected he might simply remain in the position as a kind of benevolent autocrat, but he resigned from the army in late 1783, returning to his Mount Vernon home in Virginia. Befitting the respect that he commanded, Washington was chosen to preside over the Constitutional Convention of 1787, where the US Constitution was drafted. Then he became the first president to be elected under that Constitution in 1789, in a unanimous vote of the electoral college. Washington dealt with major political conflicts in his administration, especially between the treasury secretary, Alexander Hamilton, and secretary of state, Thomas Jefferson, who bitterly disagreed over economic policy and the direction of the new republic. Washington was largely (if not completely) able to rise above the partisan bickering, and always believed that the republic and its leaders needed to manifest consensus for the public good. He assiduously reached out to m…

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Churchill's evolving perspective on D-Day
type: item
date: 2024-06-11T09:12:54.000Z
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
description: Richard Dannatt and Allen Packwood discuss the prime minister's role in one of the major moments of the Second World War
encoded: D-Day was one of the key episodes in the Second World War. But what did Winston Churchill make of the plans for the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France? Was, as some have suggested, the British prime minister really reluctant to get involved? And how fraught were relationships between the Allied leaders? Speaking to Matt Elton, Richard Dannatt and Allen Packwood, authors of new book Churchill's D-Day: The Inside Story, discuss the decisions and tensions behind the operation. Listen on the HistoryExtra podcast D-Day: was Churchill really against the operation? What context do we need to understand about Churchill – and Britain – in the early years of the Second World War to make sense of what was to happen in the run up to D-Day? Richard Dannatt: The first thing to consider is the circumstances of how Churchill became prime minister in May 1940. He had recently been present at a parliamentary debate to defend a disastrous campaign in Norway that had taken place in the months beforehand. It had been Churchill’s idea to try and hobble German industry by cutting off the supply of iron ore from Sweden through Norway into Germany – and it had been a disaster. Everything you can think of that could go wrong, had gone wrong – and it's one of the illustrated examples that we use in the British Army staff college about how not to conduct an operation. This – among other things – would continue to play on Churchill’s mind. Allen Packwood: We must remember that Churchill is not elected prime minister in May 1940. He is there, really, because of a Westminster coup to remove Neville Chamberlain. Churchill then had to construct a national coalition government, which meant he had to put together a war cabinet containing people who – until recently – had been his rivals or political opponents. This meant he did not enter the war as prime minister in a strong position – and he had to consider carefully how he was going to respond to that. We then had the Dunkirk evacuation, and C…

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D-Day: was Churchill really against the operation?
type: item
date: 2024-06-06T06:54:38.000Z
creator: Matt Elton
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
description: Richard Dannatt and Allen Packwood discuss the prime minister's role in one of the major moments of the Second World War
encoded: Today, 6 June, marks the 80th anniversary of D-Day, one of the key episodes in the Second World War. But what did Winston Churchill make of the plans for the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France? Was, as some have suggested, the British prime minister really reluctant to get involved? And how fraught were relationships between the Allied leaders? Speaking to Matt Elton, Richard Dannatt and Allen Packwood, authors of new book Churchill's D-Day: The Inside Story, discuss the decisions and tensions behind the operation.

D-Day beaches map: where were the D-Day landings?
type: item
date: 2024-06-05T10:33:22.000Z
subject: 20th Century
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
subject: Second World War battles
description: How many troops were involved in D-Day? Which country suffered more casualties, Britain or America? And why was Normandy chosen as the location? Our D-Day infographics explain the numbers…
encoded: The invasion of Nazi-occupied France was codenamed Operation Overlord and took place on Tuesday 6 June 1944, having been delayed by 24 hours because of poor weather. Allied forces launched a combined naval, air and land assault in what was the largest seaborne invasion in history. D-Day marked the beginning of the campaign to liberate north-west Europe from German occupation. What were the five D-Day beaches? American, British, and Canadian troops landed on five different beaches across the Normandy coastline. The five D-Day beaches were Utah, Omaha, Gold Beach, Juno, and Sword. The Americans landed at Utah at the base of the Cotentin Peninsular and at Omaha at the western end of the northern Normandy coast; the British were to land at Gold Beach, east of Omaha; then the Canadians at Juno; and the British again at Sword, the easternmost invasion beach. D-Day: Land, Air and Sea | A HistoryExtra podcast series Member exclusive | Discover the story of 6 June 1944 from the perspectives of the soldiers, sailors and airborne troops who served. Featuring interviews with WW2 experts Saul David, Nick Hewitt and Giles Milton, as well as gripping eyewitness testimonies. Listen to all episodes now Why were the Normandy beaches chosen for the D-Day landings? The initial decision to land in Normandy was made by the chief of staff to the supreme allied commander (COSSAC) in 1943, Lieutenant-General Frederick Morgan. His team ruled out the Pas-de-Calais region and saw a landing between the Cotentin peninsula and near to Caen as being the most suitable, says military historian Paul Reed. Brittany, Dieppe and Pas de Calais were all considered as alternative landing locations, but none were as attractive as Normandy. At this stage in the war, due to lack of men and equipment, Morgan recommended landing on three beaches along the Normandy coastline, but this was later expanded to five. The work of the French Resistance had indicated that there were fewer defences in Normandy than in th…

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The women’s work that made D-Day a success
type: item
date: 2024-06-05T09:54:00.000Z
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
description: From identifying weather windows for invasion or creating plans to – quite literally – foil the enemy, the roles of women surrounding D-Day were varied and vital. Elisabeth Shipton explores the jobs women held during the planning and execution of the invasion, and how they can be remembered, 80 years on…
encoded: “I was sent with a team of other Wren officers, to a strange secret hideout in the cellars of the old Barclays hotel, where we sat down in front of huge sheets of statistics, with columns and columns of figures,” former WRNS meteorologist Paulina Nichol recalled. “And all we had to do was add the figures up.” Nichol was talking about a particular assignment covered by the Official Secrets Act; the plan for when the invasion of Normandy known as D-Day would take place. Women, she says, were used “as calculators”, just one of the vital ways that women’s labour shaped the events of 1944 and beyond. The enormous degree of planning and detailed work that made Operation Overlord and the subsequent battle for Normandy a success is rightly well-remembered, and D-Day is widely commemorated each year. Perhaps less often foregrounded is the role of women, who were involved at almost every level of the operation well before 6 June 1944 – whether as members of the Allied military services or as civilians. Read more | How is D-Day remembered in Germany? This year, the 80th anniversary of the operation, offers a chance to delve a little deeper into the varied ways that women took part. The women who planned D-Day RAF Medmenham in Buckinghamshire was home to the RAF’s Central Interpretation Unit. Using photographs from reconnaissance missions, the unit constructed three-dimensional images of key targets. Between 1941 and 1944 the staff grew from 231 to over 1,700, going on to provide key intelligence reports and monitoring the railways around the Normandy area to assess the impact of bombing raids, in a bid to delay German reinforcements. The Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) undertook many roles at Medmenham, one being photographic interpreters, who included in their ranks Sarah Oliver – the daughter of Prime Minister Winston Churchill – and Mary Harrison, who crafted physical models of major targets, including the Normandy beaches. Precision was essential, using photographs and …

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From the USA's 'good war' to Britain's 'great hurrah': how is D-Day remembered around the world?
type: item
date: 2024-06-05T09:03:11.000Z
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
subject: Second World War battles
description: On 6 June 1944 a massive Allied invasion force descended on Normandy in France. In recent decades, ‘D-Day’, as this event is commonly known, has been the subject of persistent commemoration, with major anniversaries – like the 50th in 1994 and the 75th in 2019 – marked with televised international ceremonies. But does everyone commemorate D-Day the same way? Or does the memory of the Allied invasion look different depending on exactly who is doing the remembering?
encoded: This June, on the 80th anniversary of D-Day, there will be ceremonies in Normandy and heads of state will deliver speeches. And while these speeches will undoubtedly emphasise Western unity, they will also reveal that over the years D-Day has come to mean different things to different nations over the years... D-Day in the United States: a good war D-Day looms especially large in American memory of the Second World War. American forces played a key role on 6 June and when news of the landings broke back home President Roosevelt took to the radio to lead the nation in solemn prayer. In later years, Cold War tensions only further consolidated American commitment to D-Day. Here was an eminently ‘useable’ story of freedom versus tyranny. This was certainly the subtext to the popular Hollywood film The Longest Day (1962), which depicts an American-led armada descending on the French coastline in a heroic quest to bring liberation to the oppressed. American interest in the legacy of D-Day further intensified in the late 20th century. President Ronald Reagan gave a celebrated speech during the 40th D-Day anniversary in 1984. Speaking from Pointe du Hoc in Normandy, scene of a fierce D-Day battle involving American Army Rangers, Reagan recalled the landings as a heroic endeavour in which “the Allies stood and fought against tyranny in a giant undertaking unparalleled in human history”. In the 1990s, the D-Day histories of Stephen Ambrose – which often focused on the valour of ordinary American soldiers – sold in enormous numbers and Stephen Spielberg’s blockbuster Saving Private Ryan (1998) met with critical and commercial acclaim. In 2000 a National D-Day Museum was opened in New Orleans (since re-named the National World War II Museum), followed a year later by the dedication in Bedford, Virginia, of a National D-Day Memorial. Today, 6 June’s position in the American memory of the Second World War remains unrivalled. It is remembered as the battle which perfectly encapsul…

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HistoryExtra Academy D-Day and the Normandy Campaign quiz: week four
type: item
date: 2024-06-03T22:37:18.000Z
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Quiz
subject: Second World War
subject: HistoryExtra Academy
subject: HistoryExtra Academy D-Day and the Normandy Campaign course
description: How much did you learn about the events of D-Day this week? Test your knowledge in our quiz
encoded: View Riddle on the source website Discover more learning from the fourth and final week of the HistoryExtra Academy course on D-Day and the Normandy Campaign HistoryExtra Academy video lecture: launching Operation Overlord – watching time 19 mins D-Day: 24 hours that changed the world – reading time 10 mins History explorer: D-Day beaches – reading time 6 mins D-Day: the WW2 battle through the eyes of the men who were there – reading time 14 mins “Free people everywhere should remember them": the Canadians' role in D-Day – reading time 10 mins Your guide to D-Day: what happened, how many casualties were there, and what did it accomplish? – reading time 7 mins Podcast series: D-Day The battle for Normandy: what happened after D-Day? – reading time 11 mins

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HistoryExtra Academy video lecture: launching Operation Overlord
type: item
date: 2024-06-03T22:12:44.000Z
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
subject: HistoryExtra Academy
subject: HistoryExtra Academy D-Day and the Normandy Campaign course
description: Historian and broadcaster Taylor Downing explores the highs and lows of D-Day, and examines how more than a year of top-secret planning and preparation finally came to fruition
encoded: View Green Video on the source website Discover more learning from the fourth and final week of the HistoryExtra Academy course on D-Day and the Normandy Campaign History explorer: D-Day beaches – reading time 6 mins D-Day: the WW2 battle through the eyes of the men who were there – reading time 14 mins “Free people everywhere should remember them": the Canadians' role in D-Day – reading time 10 mins Your guide to D-Day: what happened, how many casualties were there, and what did it accomplish? – reading time 7 mins Podcast series: D-Day: Land, Air, and Sea The battle for Normandy: what happened after D-Day? – reading time 11 mins

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