Watch D-Day: The King Who Fooled Hitler

D-Day: The King Who Fooled Hitler is a 2019 documentary about one of the most important events in modern history: the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, commonly known as D-Day. The film explores the role of the British intelligence services in preparing for the invasion and deceiving the Nazis about the location and timing of the landing.

The documentary is narrated by British actress Helen McCrory, who also provides some of the voices for the reenactments of key events. The main experts interviewed in the film are Richard J. Aldrich and Rory Cormac, both professors of international security and intelligence studies at the University of Warwick in England. They provide valuable insights into the main characters and strategies behind the intelligence war that preceded D-Day.

The film starts by setting the scene in 1943, when the Allies started to prepare for the invasion of Europe. The main challenge was to convince the Germans that the attack would come in a location different from Normandy, where the actual landing was planned. This required a combination of clever deception, disinformation, and double agents. The documentary shows how British intelligence was well-equipped to tackle this task, thanks to its experience in running the Ultra program, which allowed the Allies to intercept and decrypt German radio messages.

The film then introduces the main character of the story: King George VI of England. The king played a crucial role in the deception plan, as he was supposed to visit North Africa at the same time as the Normandy landing, in order to divert German attention away from the real target. The documentary shows how the king was groomed by intelligence officers to become a convincing actor, with a well-crafted cover story and a plausible itinerary.

The film uses a mix of archival footage, reenactments, and interviews with historians to illustrate how the deception plan worked in practice. One of the key elements was the use of double agents, such as Juan Pujol Garcia, who was codenamed Garbo. Garcia was a Spaniard who convinced the Germans that he was a loyal Nazi spy, even though he was working for the British from London. Garcia's role was to feed false information to the Germans about the location and timing of the Normandy landing, and to convince them that the real attack would come in Calais, further northeast. The documentary shows how Garcia's messages were so convincing that Hitler himself fell for the trick and kept his best troops in Calais, rather than sending them to Normandy.

Another important element of the deception plan was the use of fake radio traffic, designed to fool the Germans about the location and strength of the Allied forces. The film shows how British technicians created a network of dummy radio stations that broadcasted false messages, and how the Germans fell for this ruse. The documentary also highlights the role of the French Resistance in providing valuable intelligence to the Allies, and the risks they took to do so.

The film then builds up to the climax of the story: the day of the invasion itself. The documentary shows how the British intelligence officers anxiously waited for the news from the front, and how they were relieved when they heard that the landing had succeeded. The documentary provides a sobering reminder of the human cost of the Normandy campaign, with interviews with surviving soldiers and civilians, as well as images of the devastated landscape.

Overall, D-Day: The King Who Fooled Hitler is a well-crafted and informative documentary that sheds light on one of the most fascinating and consequential episodes of the Second World War. It provides a good balance between historical context, personal stories, and technical details. The film is engaging and visually appealing, and would appeal to anyone interested in military history, intelligence operations, or human drama.