World War II - Battles for Europe
From the beaches of Normandy to the heartland of the Third Reich, this programme delivers compelling and definitive stories of the battles fought to liberate Western Europe from the Nazis.
D-Day
June 1944 - American, British and Canadian troops stormed the Normandy beaches along a 50-mile stretch. We look at the amphibious tanks and the heavy kit that weighed them down…
Battle for Caen
June 1944: the British and Canadians are still short of the objective they planned to capture on D-Day: the city of Caen. This episode tells the story of the bloody…
Breakout of Normandy
July 1944: American forces plan a major offensive named Operation Cobra. They would attack near St Lo, achieve a breakthrough, then unleash General Patton and the US Third Army to…
Market Garden
September 1944: Montgomery proposes a bold plan to cross the Rhine and encircle Germany's industrial heartland. If successful, his plan could end the war by Christmas.
Battle for the Scheldt
October 1944: the Allies face a major supply crisis - vital fuel and ammunition still has to be landed at the D-Day beaches. When the port of Antwerp is liberated,…
Battle for the Siegfried Line
November 1944: as the Allies advance into Germany, they run into concrete bunkers, pillboxes, minefields and tank traps. German soldiers fight tenaciously to defend their homeland.
Battle of the Bulge
December 1944: Hitler has picked the Ardennes sector for a major offensive. The surprise attack, spearheaded by elite divisions, initially sends American units reeling.
Crossing the Rhine
March 1945: the Allies have reached the River Rhine. Montgomery plans a giant operation to cross the river in the north, but luck hands the Americans a bridge over the…
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