May 1940: Churchill's Finest Hour
World Wars
•
18m
It was a moment of mortal peril. Britain reeled from a series of devastating military defeats. Its politicians faced one of the most monumental decisions in 20th century history. Faced with a rampant Germany on the continent led by the fascist dictator Adolf Hitler, should Britain fight? Or make peace? In Parliament the debate raged, ultimately ending in the emergence of one man who would guide Britain to victory from the jaws of defeat: Winston Churchill. For the 80th anniversary of Britain's darkest hour Dan Snow visits the House of Commons to learn about the speeches that turned the tide of the Second World War.
Up Next in World Wars
-
Operation Dynamo: Escape from Dunkirk
At the end of May and the beginning of June 1940, over 370,000 Allied soldiers found themselves at great risk, surrounded by German forces on all sides & with their backs to the Channel. The eyes of the World fixed their gaze on the small Allied perimeter that remained, around the beaches of ...
-
Blitzkrieg! The Fall of France
Just before dawn on 10 May 1940 the largest concentration of motorised vehicles in history roared into action. After months of quiet it was the start of Hitler’s invasion of the West. What followed was a stunning combination of new tactics and new technologies that left Britain and France – two w...
-
Wellington Bomber
Archival footage and interviews with Flt. Lt. Rupert "Tiny" Cooling distinguish this fascinating documentary special on the preeminent British bomber of the Second World War: the Wellington.