D-Day to Berlin : episode 2

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D-DAY TO BERLIN is a powerful three-part BBC series recounting the Allies’
remarkable progress from the beaches of Normandy to their ultimate victory
in Germany ten months later.

Told through the powerful testimonies of those who took part, this is the
gripping story of the courage, grit and determination behind one of the
greatest military operations of all time.

D-Day is over and with its tenuous foothold on Nazi-occupied land, the
Allies still face the very real danger of annihilation. The future history of
Europe hangs in the balance.

Freeing Western Europe from the yoke of Nazi oppression and intimidation,
the collective operations from D-Day to Berlin mark one of the greatest-ever
military offensives. As this powerful narrative unfolds, the series reveals how
the Allies’ many successes changed the course of European life forever.

Using a testimony-driven format, we hear British, American and German
soldiers recount their incredible experiences of over 50 years ago. While
archive footage and computer generated imagery take us directly onto the
battlefields of France, Holland and Germany, we meet participants from
both sides whose bravery and determination made the final push on Europe
the defining drama of the Second World War.

Ep 2 Reversal
By autumn 1944, the Normandy campaign had been a stunning success.
But as the victorious Allies powered on, supply lines were stretched and
the formidable German defences on the Siegfried Line began to loom large.
In Operation Market-Garden, Allied military planners seemed to have struck
upon the answer. An airborne attack was designed to lay a carpet of troops
along a narrow corridor into Holland: the objective was to cross the Rhine,
outflank the Siegfried Line and continue the race into Germany.

But as the former paratroops reveal, bad planning and luck led to defeat in
an epic battle. With the operation running 36 hours behind schedule, weak
radio links, wild weather and the presence of two SS divisions in Arnhem
proved fatal. Yet worse was to come. With a decisive breakthrough prevented
at Arnhem, former Allied planners reveal how lines were increasingly pressured
as they tried to supply troops spread over the broader front. As the winter
began to set in and the Allies pushed deeper into the Belgian Ardennes,
trouble was brewing: they were about to meet their last major barrier to
success in the Battle of the Bulge. Lasting from 16 December to 28 January,
the Bulge was the United States’ largest land battle of World War II. More
than a million men fought in the snowy Ardennes, including 600 000
Germans and 500 000 Americans. The Allies eventually won, but at great
cost. By the end of the Battle of the Bulge there were 81 000 U.S. wounded
with 10 000 killed; 100 000 Germans had been killed, wounded or captured.

Nevertheless, Hitler would not give up easily and launched ‘The Great Blow’
to eliminate Allied air power. German fighter pilots recall the terrible dangers
that they faced in attacking the Allied airfields: the Luftwaffe lost 300 planes
and 253 trained pilots. The road to Germany was clearing again…

Production

Producer: BBC

Categories

Categories: Documentary / History

Tags: berlin world war

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1.

d-day_to_berlin_part_2.mkv

275.93 MB

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