In August 1941, the Allies launched Operation Dervish. This was the first of the Arctic Convoys, ships which sailed from the United Kingdom, Iceland and North America, and brought essential supplies to the Soviet Union.

After the successful launch of Operation Barbarossa, the USSR was in despe...

During the Second World War, the City of London was a major target for both naval and aerial bombardment. In 1943, numerous towers were built in the Thames Estuary as anti-aircraft defences to protect the capital. Known as the Red Sands Forts, these Star Wars Walker-like constructions were initia...

After the country's occupation in 1939, the people of Poland were brutally oppressed by the Nazi SS and Geheime Staatspolizei. Yet, they never gave up the fight. Throughout the Second World War, a Polish Underground State was established - the largest underground resistance movement in all of occ...

Launched on 14 February 1939, the German flagship and pride of the Kriegsmarine, Bismarck was launched. In the darkness of the early morning of the 19 May 1941, Bismarck slipped out of harbour on the Baltic coast and started making its way through the Baltic Sea on its maiden voyage, Operation Rh...

In this poignant interview, Lord Saye and Sele shares his unique story from the Second World War, which began on D-Day, 6 June 1944.

After their country was invaded in 1939 on two fronts, by both German and Soviet forces, those who lived in occupied Poland throughout the Second World War endured some of the most appalling living conditions and became the victims of the most horrific war crimes of the Holocaust. From the ghetto...

Colour World War Two documentary all about the US P-47 Thunderbolt and its service in the Second World War.

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.

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.

20 miles north-east of Warsaw lies the small Polish town of Radzymin. Forgotten by history, this region is home to Jaktory House, a small manor house or dwór which has been at the centre of some of the most remarkable and violent history of the twentieth century. Napoleon was here, Lenin was here...

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...

In February 1942, the Second World War came to Australia. The same Japanese fleet that had attacked Pearl Harbor only ten weeks before had set its sights on a new target. The harbour town of Darwin. In two separate attacks on February 19 1942, nearly 250 Japanese aircraft wreaked havoc on the lig...

Alongside the use of RADAR in World War Two, a special wing of the RAF was set up to intercept, disrupt and 'bend' radio signals from Germany. Luftwaffe planes from Germany followed these signals in order to drop bombs effectively on their targets. Because of the untold story of the RAF 80 Wing U...

The Allied plans for Normandy stretched far beyond the D-Day landings themselves. Alongside the plans for DDay, the Allies created a series of deception plans to trick the Germans as to where the Allies would launch their invasion. This plan included inflatable tanks, jamming their radar systems ...

Dan's on the road again. This time he's in Guernsey, an island rich in history and within sight of the French coast. From the house of the exiled, 19th century French writer Victor Hugo to the extensive, underground, concrete tunnels constructed by the Germans during World War Two, join Dan as he...

Aviation historian Paul Beaver answers key questions about the strategic bombing campaigns of World War Two. How successful was the Blitz from a German perspective? What was the significance of Big Week? Was Dresden a war crime? And many more...

Aviation historian Victoria Taylor answers key questions about the air war of World War Two: from the significance of the Dambusters raid to how we should remember "Bomber" Harris.

A series of four D-Day veteran interviews from WarGen - an online repository of oral history from the people who lived through World War Two. Short versions of these interviews with Arthur Davis, Ken Stone, Harry Appleton and Jack Bracewell also feature in our documentary D-Day: As It Happened.

History Hit subscriber Nathan Portlock Allan interviews Fred Bates who was a Private landing on Gold Beach on D-Day. In this poignant interview, Bates recalls what it was like for the young men who stormed the beaches and remembers those who were left behind.

Recently Dan met D-Day Veteran and Chelsea Pensioner George Skipper at the Royal Hospital Chelsea. After being called in to the British Army in 1940 as an eighteen year old, by June 1944 he was already a veteran of the North African campaign. During the D-Day landings, George and his regiment lan...

Recently Dan met D-Day Veteran and Chelsea Pensioner Bill Fitzgerald at the Royal Hospital Chelsea. After enlisting with the British Army as an eighteen year old in 1944 Bill reveals the extraordinary preparations he and his fellow recruits went through for D-Day with the famous 7th Armoured Divi...

The third of six episodes documenting the history of the US Marines. This episode tells the tale of the Marines during the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign of World War Two, in the Pacific.

The story of the United States Navy, and of its men, whose heroism and sacrifice made possible victory in the Pacific during World War Two.

The second of six episodes documenting the history of the US Marines. This episode tells the tale of the Marines during the Bougainville and Tarawa campaigns of World War Two, in the Pacific.