history Archives - Page 13 of 61

World War II In HD Colour episode 3

History / 5 minutes of reading / January 25, 2023 / By HDclump

World War II In HD Colour episode 3: In June 1940, Britain stood alone against the Nazis. Hitler was convinced that it was only a matter of days before it sued for peace. He had more troops, a better air force and the better weapons. This film shows how close Britain came to defeat, as its exhausted air force struggled to fight all the German Luftwaffe. However, because of critical errors by the Luftwaffe commander Hermann Goering, Britain was able to regroup. Then using its brilliant team of code crackers and specially trained spies, it began the fightback, working alongside […]

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World War II In HD Colour episode 2

History / 3 minutes of reading / January 24, 2023 / By HDclump

World War II In HD Colour episode 2: This film shows how the Nazis developed a terrifying new military tactic – Blitzkrieg – and how it caught first Poland and then Britain and France utterly unprepared. It charts the fall of Poland and how Hitler then conquered France in just a few weeks, an achievement that had eluded Germany throughout all the four years of World War One. It also reveals how heroic French resistance allowed the British to escape from Dunkirk and live to fight another day. The Germans develop a new military tactic known as

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World War II In HD Colour episode 1

History / 4 minutes of reading / January 23, 2023 / By HDclump

World War II In HD Colour episode 1: The series starts with that great paradox. How could the settlement at the end of World War One – the ‘war to end all wars’ – lead to an even greater conflict just a few years later ? The answer is a tale with terrible resonance today. This film shows how the Great Depression sapped the will of the democracies of the West to face up to a new and disturbing political phenomenon – the rise of militaristic dictators, in Germany, Italy, Japan and Spain. As the Depression worsened,

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Secrets of World War II episode 14

History / 4 minutes of reading / January 22, 2023 / By HDclump

Secrets of World War II episode 14: Between 1941 and 1943 some of America’s most talented fighter pilots flew for Nationalist China against the Japanese. They became known as the ‘Flying Tigers’ and with the name a legend was born. In July 1941, five months before the United States officially entered the war, a band of American pilots arrived in the Far East to fly against the Japanese in China. Known as the Flying Tigers, their superior flighting skills – and the distinctive shark-teeth markings on the noses of their aircraft – terrified enemy pilots. Discover how a tiny, hell-raising

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Secrets of World War II episode 13

History / 4 minutes of reading / January 21, 2023 / By HDclump

Secrets of World War II episode 13: In 1943 as the Germans were producing ‘heavy water’ to build their atomic bomb, the Norwegian resistance launched a daring raid against the Norsk Hydro plant. In 1941, British intelligence received an ominous message from operatives in Nazi-occupied Norway: The Norsk Hydro electric plant in Telemark had stepped up production of “heavy water,” a vital componet in the manufacture of an atomic bomb. The threat of German nuclear capability triggered a daring secret operation to destroy the plant and the enemy’s supply of heavy water. Discover how a courageous band of commandos prevented

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Secrets of World War II episode 12

History / 5 minutes of reading / January 20, 2023 / By HDclump

Secrets of World War II episode 12: Hundreds of sailors, eight ships and two American Admirals were to be lost in actions where valour overcame many mistakes on both sides – leading to the defeat of the Japanese Admiral Yamamoto. On August 7, 1942, American Marines waded ashore a tiny island to capture a Japanese airfield. It was the beginning of an epic six-month battle that changed the course of the war in the Pacific. What was the importance of one small enemy airfield? How were the Allies able to anticipate almost every attack planned by the Japanese high command?

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Secrets of World War II episode 11

History / 5 minutes of reading / January 19, 2023 / By HDclump

Secrets of World War II episode 11: The underwater war saw many innovations and a rapid increase in electronic technology, which eventually enabled the Allies to achieve ultimate victory. It was the only thing that truly frightened Winston Churchill. Silently patrolling the cold, gray waters of the Atlantic, the German U-boat almost sank Great Britain’s chances for victory. How could the U-boat nearly sever England’s lifeline? What were U-boats doing off the American coastline and in the Gulf of Mexico? And how did Allied submarines bring Japanese industry to a grinding halt? Learn the crucial role of the submarine in

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Secrets of World War II episode 10

History / 5 minutes of reading / January 18, 2023 / By HDclump

Secrets of World War II episode 10: There have been larger land battles and more protracted air campaigns than Okinawa but this was a combined operation, unparalleled in size, scope and ferocity. In April 1945, a U.S. bombardment of the Japanese-held island Okinawa rapidly escalated into the most intense battle of the Pacific. Thousands of Americans perished, and the Japanese lost ten times as many, along with their mightiest carrier, in what is described as “history’s greatest madhouse.” Discover the secret weapon that made such a decisive American victory possible — and significantly shortened the entire war — in “Target

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Secrets of World War II episode 8

History / 5 minutes of reading / January 16, 2023 / By HDclump

Secrets of World War II episode 8: In 1941 four Italian frogmen used their two-man underwater ‘chariots’ to place explosive charges on two British battleships in Alexandria Harbour. They were the first of many brave men to use these unconventional weapons. On the night of December 18, 1941, three frogmen from a top secret division of the Italian navy penetrated the harbor at Alexandria, Egypt. Riding just below the water’s surface on specially modified torpedoes, the men silently approached their target–the battleship Queen Elizabeth, flagship of the British Mediterranean fleet. Now experience the daring raid of Italy’s elite Decima Flottiglia

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Secrets of World War II episode 7

History / 7 minutes of reading / January 15, 2023 / By HDclump

Secrets of World War II episode 7: By early 1940, British codebreakers at Bletchley Park, working with information from the Poles, had begun to crack the German military codes produced on the Enigma cipher machine. Once this had been achieved, the challenge was how to prevent the Germans from finding out their codes had been broken. It was transmitted on a top-secret device capable of scrambling a message millions of different ways. The German high command was absolutely certain it was impossible to break. But the Allies did crack the enigma code, helping to shorten the war by years and

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Secrets of World War II episode 6

History / 5 minutes of reading / January 11, 2023 / By HDclump

Secrets of World War II episode 6: He was nicknamed the ‘Desert Fox’ and highly decorated by Hitler. However, Rommel was not in sympathy with the Nazi party and may have been involved in the plot to kill Hitler. Did the legendary German General commit suicide or was he murdered? On October 14, 1944, Germany’s greatest military leader said goodbye to his beloved wife and son, then drove away with two officers sent by Adolf Hitler. Just moments later, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel was dead. Was it suicide…or retribution? Why would the Fuhrer order the death of his one-time supporter

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Secrets of World War II episode 5

History / 5 minutes of reading / January 10, 2023 / By HDclump

Secrets of World War II episode 5: In 1942 a reconnaissance Spitfire photographed a strange shaped piece of German apparatus in a Normandy field. It turned out to be a sophisticated German radar system whose secrets had to be discovered. On the night of February 27, 1942, British paratroopers dropped into snowcovered fields along the coast of France. Their mission: to capture a top secret German radar installation near the town of Bruneval. Relive the astonishing nighttime attack–and discover how it played a vital role in the Allied bombing offensive against Hitler’s Reich in “The Bruneval Raid.”

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