About this episode

The episode discusses the critical role of weather forecasting in the success of the D-Day landings during World War II.

"If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone." This is the end of the announcement Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight David Eisenhower had prepared in June 1944 in case the D-Day landings failed. He never had to deliver it, but the fact that he wrote it tells you all you need to know about how precarious the success of the invasion really was. And at the center of that uncertainty was something no army could control: the weather. This is the premise of the new major motion picture Pressure, the story of the small team of meteorologists trying to predict the unpredictable. Guest host Dr. Mark Jacobson sits down with the screenwriter of Pressure, David Haig, and the film's co-writer and director, Anthony Maras, to discuss how a simple weather forecast proved to be a critical piece of intelligence. *Note: It is Joan Clarke, not Joy. Subscribe to Sasha's Substack, HUMINT, to get more intelligence stories: https://sashaingber.substack.com/ For more information about the International Spy Museum, visit: https://www.spymuseum.org/ And if you have feedback or want to hear about a particular topic, you can reach us by email at spycast@spymuseum.org. This show is…

People in this episode

Host: Dr. Mark Jacobson

Guests: David Haig, Anthony Maras

Topics covered

• D-Day
• weather forecasting
• military history
• meteorology
• intelligence

Keywords

• D-Day
• Eisenhower
• weather report
• Pressure
• meteorologists
• military intelligence
• June 1944

Sponsors

N2K Networks, Goat Rodeo

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: International Spy Museum, HUMINT

Books & works: Pressure

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