This program charts the vital statistics behind D-Day. It asks what it took to launch the greatest invasion in history. The film examines the numbers behind the operation taking in everything from strategy to logistics; probability analysis to operational decisions. It conveys the enormous scale of the operation through innovative visualization, such as LiDAR scanning of the Normandy beaches which is accurate enough to be used as forensic data by the police. These include the defenses above and below ground which means that an accurate 3D model of the invasion will be able to be built. For example, over 5,000 ships delivered 30,000 military vehicles and 160, 000 soldiers onto the beaches. Although there was 80 miles of coastline to aim for, only 5 miles of beach could be landed on and once on shore the men and machines had to pass through the eye of a needle -- a series of narrow exits whose total width measured 80 yards.
