Ike: Countdown to D-Day

Plot

In December 1943, Dwight D. Eisenhower discusses the invasion of German-occupied Europe with Prime Minister Winston Churchill and threatens to resign unless given total control of all operations. Churchill agrees, and Eisenhower plans the invasion with Bernard Montgomery and Omar Bradley. Eisenhower reprimands George S. Patton for comments minimizing the importance of US allies, and confides to his chief of staff Walter Bedell Smith that Patton does not understand why they are fighting but his armored warfare skill will be needed.

Trafford Leigh-Mallory criticizes the plan with high casualty estimates for airborne troops. Eisenhower sets the invasion date for 5 June. He relieves his friend Henry Miller for disclosing sensitive information. The Allied leaders brief King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, and the King confides fears about heavy losses. Eisenhower tells Churchill he will shoulder responsibility if the operation fails.

Noteworthy

Churchill incorrectly uses the term "saturation bombing," an anachronism for the Combined Bomber Offensive; the period term was "area bombing." The opening scene implies that the United States and Great Britain had not considered a supreme allied commander before D-Day, but appointing such commanders had been seen as beneficial since Ferdinand Foch's appointment in 1918. The film's final scene, showing a visit to the 101st Airborne troops, is presented as occurring on June 6, 1944, but actually took place on June 5, 1944, the eve of D-Day.

The film incorrectly refers to "DD" landing craft; no landing craft had duplex drive, but Sherman tanks were modified with a waterproof skirt and propeller. The German torpedo boat raid on a practice landing did happen but did not involve DD craft and was hushed up. LSTs were not used in the initial hours of D-Day, only after beaches were secured. Montgomery's "dagger like thrust" into Berlin was not presented before D-Day but in early September.

The landings were enlarged from three beaches to five by Montgomery. Churchill's statement that no one in Britain lives more than 150 miles from the sea is incorrect; the actual distance is 65 miles. The film shows characters watching Olivier's Henry V, which was released in London on 22 November 1944. In the opening scene, Eisenhower incorrectly refers to General Carl Spaatz as "Jimmy Spaatz."