In June 1944 the BBC informed the French Résistance by the use of the lines “Les Sanglots long de violons…” of the poem “Chanson d’automne” by Paul Verlaines that the invasion of Normandy by allied troops was soon to be expected.

This documentary by Jacques and Rodolphe Rutman deals with the origin of the French resistance and analyses the role of the different factions and networks inside the Résistance in Normandy.
It also shows clearly the close collaboration between the Allies and French resistance fighters.

The coordinated resistance from 1944 required long lasting preparation beforehand.
About seventy- four underground organisations with in many cases different political goals were active within the Résistance and were dependend on constant information about Allied plans.
In order to reconstruct the preparation for D-Day on June 6, 1944 on the Allied side as well as among the French Résistance, this documentary was able to access until then unpublished material from American archives and reports by contemporary witnesses.
Former resistances fighters describe their lives and their survival in the underground in a captivating way. At the same time they also honour their fallen comrades.