432 The Longest Day I

The History of the Twentieth Century

Mark Painter

History

4.8 • 828 Ratings

🗓️ 11 January 2026

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Normandy landings began at dawn on June 6, 1944, but the night before three Allied airborne divisions were dropped into Normandy to help prepare the way for the amphibious landings.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The first 24 hours of the invasion will be decisive.
0:24.9	The fate of Germany depends on the outcome.
0:28.6	For the Allies, as well as Germany, it will be the longest day.
0:35.9	Field Marshal Ervin Rommel, April 22nd, 1944.
0:41.8	Welcome to the history of the 20th century.
0:45.2	Music The
0:57.0	The Episode 432, The Longest Day, Part 1
1:23.8	On June 3, 1944, in England, soldiers were already beginning to board the ships that would take them to Normandy.
1:36.3	Meanwhile, 1,100 kilometers away, or 700 miles, Adolf Hitler, SS chief Heinrich Himmler, and Martin Bormann, Hitler's private
1:48.1	secretary, were in Salzburg for a wedding.
1:53.2	The 28-year-old Margueretta Brown, known to her friends as Gretel, the younger sister of Ava Brown, Hitler's Paramour,
2:02.7	was married that day to the 37-year-old Hermann Fagline,
2:07.4	a high-ranking officer who served on the Fuhrer's staff as representative of the SS.
2:13.5	The couple was wed in a civil ceremony, with Hitler, Himmler, and Bormann serving as the witnesses.
2:23.3	Fageline had a reputation for charm and wit and was popular with the ladies.
2:28.8	He was also known as a playboy.
2:31.3	He'd befriended Bormon, and it is widely believed that his relationships with both
2:36.0	Bormon and Gretel were as much about his career ambitions as anything else, but Gretel liked him.
2:42.9	Ava liked him, too. Hitler was strict about not showing affection toward Ava in front of other people,
2:49.9	and Fageline often took the role of
2:52.7	her escort and companion on public occasions. After the wedding, Hitler escorted the wedding party
3:00.1	back to the Berghoff, his alpine vacation home, which served as the venue for the reception,
	...

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