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The Hidden Truth of WWII episode 1

The Hidden Truth of WWII episode 1

History / 6 minutes of reading / / By

The Hidden Truth of WWII episode 1: October 23rd 1942, in the remote North African desert, British and Allied troops face off against the feared German Afrika Korps and their Italian Allies. This battle will become a personal duel between General Bernard Montgomery and General Erwin Rommel. In one of the greatest deceptions of the war, photo recons help to fool the Germans into making a catastrophic mistake.       The Lost Evidence recounts the moments of key battles in the European and Pacific theaters through the use of recently unearthed reconnaissance photos that were taken during the actual […]

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Narrow Escapes of World War II episode 13

Narrow Escapes of World War II episode 13

History / 5 minutes of reading / / By

Narrow Escapes of World War II episode 13: With their backs to the Dnieper River in January 1944, 60,000 German troops face encirclement by a larger Soviet force. After an airfield supplying the defenders falls to the Russians, their survival depends on rejoining the rest of the German army. They head for a narrow corridor flanked by Russian soldiers, tanks, artillery, and cavalry known thereafter as Hells Gate. This is the story of how Leon Degrelle together with a motley mixture of Finns, Estonians and fellow Belgians held off the might of the brilliant Russian General Marshal Georgiy Zhukov’s army.

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Narrow Escapes of World War II episode 12

Narrow Escapes of World War II episode 12

History / 6 minutes of reading / / By

Narrow Escapes of World War II episode 12: A profile of Dudley Mason, who was awarded the George Cross after the tanker he was commanding came under attack during Operation Pedestal in August 1942 to relieve Malta. By 1942, the fight between the Allies and the Axis for control of the Mediterranean is focused on tiny Malta. From there, British aircraft and submarines have been preying on enemy supply ships. When Hitler and Mussolini decide to crush Malta, Churchill dispatches a huge convoy to run the gauntlet of Axis air and naval power to reach the beleaguered island stronghold. For

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Narrow Escapes of World War II episode 11

Narrow Escapes of World War II episode 11

History / 6 minutes of reading / / By

Narrow Escapes of World War II episode 11: A Scottish soldier who hiked 200 miles through the Libyan desert without water or supplies recalls Ronald Moore, the leader of his party. With the Italians preparing to invade Egypt in the summer of 1940, the British armys Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) causes havoc far behind the front. But after an LRDG patrol is attacked, a tough New Zealander named Ron Moore leads the survivors barefoot through the desert, 300 miles from Allied lines. Pat Clayton, the model for the character played by Ralph Fiennes in The English Patient. Clayton’s unit

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Narrow Escapes of World War II episode 10

Narrow Escapes of World War II episode 10

History / 4 minutes of reading / / By

Narrow Escapes of World War II episode 10: The largest evacuation of the Second World War saw two million civilians and soldiers taken away in an extraordinary German operation that lasted for four months. As the war enters its final months, the nearly 2 million Germans living in East Prussia flee an advancing Red Army no longer distinguishing between German soldiers and German civilians. Hundreds of thousands make for the Baltic ports the start of the single biggest evacuation of WWII. In early 1945 nearly two million people were trapped in the German enclave of East Prussia by the advancing

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Bettany Hughes Treasures of the World episode 8

Bettany Hughes Treasures of the World episode 8

History / 4 minutes of reading / / By

Bettany Hughes Treasures of the World episode 8: Bettany explores Cyprus, where according to mythology the goddess Aphrodite was born. She explores her cult and visits her sanctuary at Palaepaphos. In the Troodos Mountains, she discovers stunning Byzantine churches linked to the Crusaders.         In this episode, Bettany travels to Cyprus, the legendary birthplace of Aphrodite, the ancient Greek goddess of love and beauty. She examines how Aphrodite’s cult influenced the island’s identity and politics, and how her legacy still resonates today. She also visits some of the most stunning sites in Cyprus, such as the sanctuary

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Narrow Escapes of World War II episode 9

Narrow Escapes of World War II episode 9

History / 4 minutes of reading / / By

Narrow Escapes of World War II episode 9: Australian Leslie Morshead and his troops held off Rommel’s Afrika Korps at the crucial port of Tobruk for an astonishing eight weeks. By Easter 1941, all that stands between Afrika Korps commander Erwin Rommel and Egypts Suez Canal is Tobruk. Australias Gen. Leslie Morshead and his defenders are ordered to hold the Libyan port for eight weeks while the defenses of Egypt can be strengthened. The Rats of Tobruk are convinced that if they fail, the war against Germany will be lost. The heroic story of Australian General Leslie Morshead and his

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Narrow Escapes of World War II episode 8

Narrow Escapes of World War II episode 8

History / 4 minutes of reading / / By

Narrow Escapes of World War II episode 8: Major-General ‘Roy’ Urquhart led the doomed British attack on Arnhem, but somehow made it back across the Rhine, dodging enemy gunfire and patrols. In September 1944, 40,000 Allied troops descend on occupied Holland to secure the bridges over the countrys many waterways, pave the way for an invasion of Germany, and bring about an end to the war. But for British soldiers under the command of Maj. Gen. Roy Urquhart, the new mission becomes survival. September 1944 everyone thought Hitler was finished. It was the biggest airborne assault in history – 40,000

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Narrow Escapes of World War II episode 7

Narrow Escapes of World War II episode 7

History / 4 minutes of reading / / By

Narrow Escapes of World War II episode 7: Feats of wartime derring-do. In 1944, 1,500 outnumbered British troops amazingly held Japanese forces at the key Burmese town of Kohima. Hear their amazing story. In a bid to topple the British Raj, 15000 Japanese troops invade India from neighboring Burma in March 1944. Their route takes them through Kohima, a sleepy village in the Himalayan foothills. If Kohima fell, the route to India would be open. In their way were just 1500 British troops, many from the West Kents, whose nickname was “the Dirty 500”. Through gripping first-hand testimony, this film

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Narrow Escapes of World War II episode 6

Narrow Escapes of World War II episode 6

History / 4 minutes of reading / / By

Narrow Escapes of World War II episode 6: How Erich Von Manstein’s miraculous escape from the Red Army later became the basis for NATO’s defence plans. By the spring of 1943, the German army is on the run across southern Russia. Gen. Erich von Manstein has plans for a new, highly mobile form of defensive warfare that might reverse the course of the war in the East. But first he has to convince Hitler, who is adamantly opposed to any kind of retreat, strategic or otherwise. Spring 1943, the German army on the Eastern front was in deep trouble.  

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Narrow Escapes of World War II episode 5

Narrow Escapes of World War II episode 5

History / 4 minutes of reading / / By

Narrow Escapes of World War II episode 5: Death-defying tales from WWII. How legendary Major-General Robert ‘Lucky’ Laycock rallied his ill-equipped unit to see off a German attack on Crete. After the German invasion of Crete in May 1941, Winston Churchill orders the 25,000 British and Commonwealth troops stationed there to defend the island at all costs. A force of specially trained commandos under Col. Robert Laycock arrives to sabotage the Germans, but their mission soon changes. 20th May, 1941, German forces attacked the island of Crete in the largest airborne assault ever. This dramatic story of how the island

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Narrow Escapes of World War II episode 4

Narrow Escapes of World War II episode 4

History / 4 minutes of reading / / By

Narrow Escapes of World War II episode 4: The 333rd Field Artillery Battalion, a depleted unit of black soldiers, risked everything to tenaciously fight off the Nazis at Bastogne. When Hitler launches his final major offensive on the Western front, everything turns on the ability of the U.S. Army to hold the town of Bastogne. Outnumbered 10 to one, an artillery unit of African American soldierswith little combat experience and even less respect from their white colleaguesmust stand fast against the battle-hardened troops of the Waffen-SS. Unsung heroes: the battalion of black soldiers who were surrounded, down to their last

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