AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

We thought we'd share this bit of archival tape from 70 years ago. It's from BBC reporter, Colin Wills, who was embedded with British troops on D-Day. This is an excerpt of a report he recorded as he traveled a short.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

COLIN WILLS: The sun is blazing down brightly now. It's almost like an omen, the way it's suddenly come out just as we were going in. The whole sky is bright. The sea is a glittering mass of silver with all these crafts of every kind moving across it and the great battleships in the background blazing away at the shore. The bigger the craft passer, the other landing craft. Some are left behind, the slower ones, each taking their spot and going in at the right time for their right job. You can't imagine anything like this march of ships like soldiers marching in line. It's a purpose shared among many ships and the men, who are going in now to the coast of Europe to do the biggest job they've ever had to do. I can't record anymore now because the time has come for me to get my kit on my back and get ready to step off on that shore. And it's a great day.

CORNISH: That was BBC reporter, Colin Wills, reporting 70 years ago today.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR news. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.