This documentary sees military historian Alex Churchill travelling through Germany and the Belgian battlefields, retracing the opening weeks of the First World War - a blood battle that took place before the trenches, barbed wire and gas we typically think of when we think "First World War" - instead, this was a battle that saw modern weapons being used on the battlefield up against old fashioned, Napoleonic military tactics that had tragic consequences for both sides.
It's also a battle that took place before the British had even arrived on the continent. It's the story of little Belgium who stood up against German aggression, and who were able to slow up the German war machine for several weeks, allowing French and British forces to arrive to finally stop the Germans from capturing Paris.
Up Next in Remembrance Day
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The Western Front Tunnels
The creation of man-made underground tunnels played a huge role in the outcome of the First World War. They were first dug to mine under enemy positions and detonate bombs or attack in desperate and fierce fights. As the war dragged on, nevertheless, they developed another purpose: providing sold...
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The Lost Wrecks of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland was the decisive naval clash of the First World War, pitting the German High Seas Fleet against the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet in an all or nothing battle for supremacy and survival. At the end of the war, the defeated German fleet was scuttled at Scapa Flow. Or so we thought....
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The Western Front
The Western Front, a 400-plus-mile stretch of land weaving through France and Belgium from the Swiss border to the North Sea, was the decisive front during World War One. Despite the global nature of the conflict, much of the world remembers the scars of the Great War through the lens of these ba...
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