On 6th June 1944, Allied forces launched the largest amphibious assault to date on the Beaches of Normandy. By 7th June, they had established beachheads; by 11th June, their positions were established. Following this initial wave of success, their progress ground slowly to a halt. Marshy ground, a thick hedgerow system known as ‘the Bocage’ and determined German defence prevented a breakout, threatening to recreate the bloody trench stalemate of the First World War.

However, the success of July 1944’s ‘Operation Cobra’ enabled the Allied to force a breakout; General Patton’s Third Army made remarkable strides. Forward. By August 2nd , the Allies had completely broken out of the deadly Bocage and were preparing to sweep into central France. Behind them, they left more than 50,000 casualties – victims of the fanatical SS Panzer Divisions.

By this stage, the French terrain could best be tackled by using a lightning tank and infantry movement. The US Army and their British Allies decided to set a pincer trap for two complete German armies. They were wholly cognisant that if they succeeded, 150,000 men would be caught in their carefully constructed noose, and the German Army in Normandy would be routed.

Seventy miles away in Paris, the French resistance eagerly observed the Allied advance. On August 19th, Parisians rose up against their Nazi dominators, vowing to exact revenge for four years of brutal and bloody occupation.

As the battle intensified on the streets of the French capital, the Allies endeavoured to reach Paris in time to save its citizens from possible slaughter. They also needed to prevent the German commandant from following Hitler’s orders and reducing the beautiful city to ash and rubble.

This film offers an unprecedented viewpoint of the famous battle to liberate Paris. British and German aerial reconnaissance photographs taken at the time have been layered over a three dimensional contour map to create a CGI ‘model’ of the battle.

For over sixty years, these photographs remained lost. For the first time these original high-resolution images allow the viewer to track the battle, step by step, from the air. Individual stories of courage and heroism can be placed in the exact location where they took place. Using cutting edge technology, unique archive film, re-enactments and extraordinary interviews, we shed new light on the well-known story of this historic battle.