Meet the men and women who fought for freedom in 1944.
The four covers we have created for this week’s issue of Radio Times magazine commemorate the D-Day landings of 6 June 1944 and the start of the campaign to liberate mainland Europe. It so happens that the invasion was planned just yards from where I’m writing this.
Opposite Radio Times Towers in London once stood St Paul’s School (General Montgomery’s alma mater) and it was there on 15 May 1944 that the daring plan was shown to General Eisenhower, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, King George VI and senior Allied commanders, as the plaque explains.
But, more importantly, the four people on our covers bore witness and were instrumental in the success of D-Day. In this issue, they tell their remarkable stories, which are all the more important now that they’re among the last people
alive who witnessed those incredible events.
They were not generals or admirals but ordinary young people, in awe and frightened in equal parts at the task ahead. What comes across is their modesty and conviction that they were doing the right thing, but also the wish that no one should have to go through what they did ever again.
Read more in our feature in this issue, which includes a guide to this week’s commemorative events on TV.
Also in this week’s Radio Times:
- Clive Myrie on presenting the news, colleague Huw Edwards, his Afro-Caribbean roots, the Windrush scandal and racism online
- Carol Vorderman discusses the BBC’s social media guidelines, freedom of speech, life at LBC Radio and her political views
- Fiona Bruce chats about balanced news reporting, hosting Question Time and women in TV journalism
Check out more of our Factual coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what else is on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.