From the Archive
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Protect and Survive: Life Under Fallout Conditions
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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Condemned to Remember
An Irish Holocaust survivor recalls the terror of the past and confronts the resurgence of the hatreds that turned Europe into a wasteland.
70 years after the crushing of the Third Reich, is civil society in the countries that were decimated by the Final Solution being degraded and disfigured on...
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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...
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The Air Force Story: Chapters XXI - XXV
The Air Force Story: Chapters XXI - XXV
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China's Forgotten War: Behind the Documentary
If the standout documentary from our East Meets West season, 'WW2: China's Forgotten War' has left you wanting more then don't miss this companion interview with Rana Mitter, Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China at the University of Oxford. Mitter, who presents the documentary an...
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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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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 Cutting Edge: Tanks in World War One
On 15 September 1916 the battlefield changed forever. At Flers-Courcelette, during the brutal, bloody fighting on the Somme, the British army released a new weapon designed to combat the devastating power of the machine gun: the tank. Moving on caterpillar tracks and protected by plated armour, t...
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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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Know Your Ally: Britain
Made in 1944, this documentary was produced by the United States War Department to boost Anglo-American relations. It relates the similarities and differences between American and British culture and seeks to demystify certain aspects of British life for an American audience. It's a rather rose t...
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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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The Memphis Belle
Colour WW2 documentary telling the story of the Memphis Belle Flying Fortress and its crew.
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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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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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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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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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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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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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Hitler against the Raj: Spies, Revolutionaries and a Global Conspiracy
There is a file sleeping on the shelves of the British Library on the Euston Road. It is a document from the India Office, the administrative heart of British rule in India, one of the files of Indian Political Intelligence. Close attention was paid to enemies of the Raj and a network of informer...
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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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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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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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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 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.