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In Defence of the Reich: Hitler's Atlantic Wall
In 1942, Hitler ordered the construction of an extensive system of coastal defences and fortifications along the coast of continental Europe and Scandinavia as a defence against an anticipated Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe from the United Kingdom during the Second World War. The Atlanti...
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Bombing Campaigns of the Second World War
75 years ago, in the spring of 1945, the aerial assault on Germany was reaching a crescendo as city after city was devastated by British and American bomber fleets. James Holland, leading World War Two historian and bestselling author, joins Dan Snow on the podcast to talk about why and how the b...
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Salisbury Plain: Training for War
Salisbury Plain is the Ministry of Defence's largest training ground, covering an area the size of the Isle of Wight. Dan Snow is shown around the Plain by MOD archaeologist Richard Osgood, to explore how British, Commonwealth and Allied troops prepared for the two great wars.
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US Army Helicopter Operations in South Vietnam
This film is one of a series of Special Bulletins produced during the Vietnam War to report on US activities. This film focusses on the design, crew and operations of H-21, UH-1A and UH-1B helicopters, which were used against the Viet Cong in South Vietnam. Alongside the impressive airborne foota...
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Operation Margin: The Augsburg Raid
In April 1942 the Second World War hung in the balance. Nazi Germany had occupied most of Europe and its seemingly unstoppable armed forces were driving deeper and deeper into Russia and North Africa. To add to Allied worries, German U-Boats were threatening to cut off Britain’s supply lines in t...
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VE Day in America
On 8 May 1945 Karl Donitz authorised the formal, final surrender of Nazi Germany, marking the end of World War Two in Europe. This archive footage from 1945, retells the major events of the Second World War and how complete victory in Europe was finally achieved. A British Movietone film first re...
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The Battle of Britain
In June 1940 Nazi Germany overran France and forced the British army to evacuate at Dunkirk. Severely lacking in military equipment, Britain and her empire now stood alone against Adolf Hitler's forces. Nevertheless Winston Churchill, Britain's new prime minister, refused to come to peace terms, ...
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Mariana Islands: Saipan
Documentary charting the US campaign on the island of Saipan in the Marianas in June and July 1944. The film draws attention to the high number of civilian casualties - sadly a feature of the Pacific island campaigns. Saipan was also among the first occasions where American forces witnessed mass ...
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Etoa: A Kokoda Track Story
Seventy-five years after the horrors of the Pacific War, the forgotten perspectives of the local people emerge as a crew of archaeologists arrive in remote Papua New Guinea in search of the remains of lost soldiers.
The legacy of the Kokoda campaign contributes an enormous amount to the DNA of c...
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Peleliu and Iwo Jima
The fourth of five episodes documenting the history of the US Marines in WW2. This episode tells the tale of the Marines during the Peleliu and Iwo Jima campaign of World War Two, in the Pacific.
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The Boy Who Followed His Father Into Auschwitz
This is the most remarkable father and son story I have ever come across. I am talking to historian Jeremy Dronfield about an astonishing true story of horror, love and impossible survival. In 1939, Gustav Kleinmann, a Jewish upholsterer in Vienna, was arrested by the Nazis. Along with his sixtee...
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Bismarck: The Definitive Account
1 season
A definitive account of the hunt for and sinking of the flagship of the German Kriegsmarine, Bismarck. Featuring Andrew Choong, curator at the National Maritime Museum, naval historian Nick Hewitt and Angus Konstam, author of 'Hunt the Bismarck'. Presented by Dan Snow.
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Okinawa and Victory
The final of five episodes documenting the history of the US Marines in the Pacific theatre of WW2. This episode tells the tale of the Marines during, and after, the Okinawa campaign at the end of World War Two.
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Untold Stories of World War One
Dan Snow introduces four projects funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council over the last four years, highlighing underexplored aspects of First World War history, from German wartime photography to miltary training in Northern Ireland.
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Thunderbolt
Colour World War Two documentary all about the US P-47 Thunderbolt and its service in the Second World War.
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Recognition of the Japanese Zero
Recognition of the Japanese Zero Fighter was produced by the US Air Force in 1943. The first part of the film describes the recognisable features of the Zero, and compares them with other aircraft. The second part takes the form of a short film, in which Ronald Reagan plays a pilot who finds hims...
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To the Shores of Iwo Jima
Impressive colour film from 1945 covering the American Iwo Jima campaign. Includes remarkably intimate footage of the landings. Look out for the impressive views of Mount Suribachi, the great hulking mountain that dominates the island, and concealed the intricate Japanese defensive system. The fi...
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Kokoda Front Line!
In July 1942, Japanese forces made landings at Gona on the north coast of modern Papua New Guinea, as part of a wider plan to defend the naval base of Rabaul. Having been unable to land at Port Moresby in May - a move that resulted in the Battle of the Coral Sea - they now planned to reach the ca...
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Okinawa Bulletin: Final Phases
The campaign for Okinawa, located just 350 miles south of Japan, was one of the bloodiest of the war. US land forces faced a Japanese defence occupying a system of tunnels, caves and fortifications exploiting the natural defensive advantages of the hilly southern region of the island. At sea, ves...
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Living History: The Somme Battlefields
The Battle of the Somme, which began on 1 July 1916, is remembered as one of the bloodiest events of the First World War. On the first day of the offensive, one man was killed every 4.4 seconds, making it the bloodiest single day in the history of the British Army. There were over a million casua...
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The Falklands: The Last British War
1 season
On the night of the 2nd April 1982, without warning, Argentina launched the invasion of the Falklands Islands. What followed was Britain’s last solo war: the last major conflict fought over British imperial territories, the last major conflict Britain fought by itself rather than as part of a coa...
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Protect and Survive: What To Do When the Warnings Sound
Protect and Survive was a series of films made by the British government in the late 1970s and early 80s. The films accompanied a booklet of the same name, which was issued to households across the country detailing suggested precautions and responses to a nuclear attack. Today, these films with ...
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Appeasement in Asia: Britain, Japan and the Path to War
Throughout the 1930s, British foreign policy in Asia was directed towards reducing tensions with Japan. Seeking to avoid war in Asia, Britain attempted to appease the Japanese through various political, military, and economic acts. Liam Redfern will discuss the little-known attempt by the British...