POINTE DU HOC: Debunking D-Day's Biggest Myth

POINTE DU HOC: Debunking D-Day's Biggest Myth | World War II Live

The guns were gone by the time the Rangers scaled the cliffs — but that fact has fueled one of the most persistent myths of D-Day. Dr. John C. McManus and Kevin Hymel take aim at the idea, popularized by Cornelius Ryan's The Longest Day and cemented in the 1962 film of the same name, that the mission was a pointless waste because the guns "weren't there."

In this episode, John and Kevin dig into what actually happened to the German battery at Pointe du Hoc: how French Resistance intelligence tracked the guns before the invasion, why the Germans moved them inland after relentless Allied bombing, and how Rangers Leonard Lomell and Jack Kuhn tracked down and destroyed the relocated guns anyway. They also unpack why taking the point still mattered even without the guns in place, how "perishable" intelligence shaped the mission, and how a gripping first draft of history can calcify into myth once it hits the big screen.

Plus: a favorite World War II movies update, a reading-race check-in, and a book recommendation on the role of freed people during Sherman's March.

🎖️ Hosted by Dr. John C. McManus and Kevin Hymel, with producer Mark Filoso

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