3 Hours Of WW2 Facts To Fall Asleep To

Adolf Hitler had never disguised his belief that the Soviet Union would be his regime's ultimate [Applause] en he hated communism and saw the vast open spaces and abundant natural resources of Soviet Russia as the prize which would finally enable the German people to become the [Applause] masteris throughout the early months of 1941 as he stayed at the burkhoff his country retreat in the Bavarian Alps Hitler planned his greatest Gam operation Barbarosa The Assault on the Soviet [Music] Union steadily his armies were redeployed to the East and re-equipped for what would be their greatest challenge in

theory Stalin's Soviet Union was still Hitler's Ally and Stalin was Keen to keep it that way for his Country country was woefully unprepared for war the mighty Red Army once the largest and most technologically advanced in the world had been devastated by Stalin's purges in the late 1930s some 34s of its senior officers had been shot or [Music] imprisoned despite appearances there had been a catastrophic collapse in Mor power and [Music] efficiency as German soldiers now flooded into neighboring Poland Stalin desperate to maintain the peace gave orders that nothing should be done to offend [Applause]

Hitler but Hitler had one other task to perform before he could push on to Russia [Applause] he needed to secure his Southern Flank Romania Bulgaria and Hungary were Germany's firm allies but in March 1941 a Yugoslav government sympathetic to Germany was overthrown by Pro British forces its nextdoor neighbor Greece was also Pro British so on April the 6th 1941 the German Army invaded the balcans 33 German divisions moved into Yugoslavia they swiftly tore its defenses Apart the capital Belgrade surrendered on April 12th Greece fell almost as quickly despite British help Athens was captured in less

than 3 weeks the way was now clear for operation Barbarosa over 4 million men were to be deployed they were supported by more than 3,000 aircraft The Plan called for three simultaneous thrusts Army Group North Would overrun the Baltic states and seize Leningrad Army group Center was to advance to Moscow and army group South would occupy the Ukraine Hitler's generals went silent when he showed them the plan they were worried it was too ambitious and would spread their forces too thinly but none dared for was their DBS the Red Army was much Bigger it had

nearly 2 million men within Striking Distance of the Western Front and millions more in reserve the Russians also had more than 20,000 taxs far outnumbering Germany's 6,000 they were older and less powerful but they were still a formidable fighting [Music] force the issue for Germany was could its Superior technology and speed overwhelm the Russians before the red Army's vast numbers ground them down operation Barbarosa began at 3:15 a.m. on June the 22nd 1941 the LT buffer joined in at dawn targeting Soviet [Music] airfields simultaneously the ground attack began the Germans swiftly crossed the river bug

on the border between Poland and the Soviet Union Hitler's panzas were soon Thrusting deep into Soviet territory within 2 days the panzas had penetrated more than 50 miles ill coordinated Red Army counterattacks were swiftly brushed aside tens of thousands of Soviet prisoners were rounded up meanwhile the Luft buffer had Total Domination of the air the red Army's leadership seemed Paralyzed by the German onrush On June the 29th 7 days after the start of the assault two Panza thrusts met up near Minsk surrounding huge pockets of Soviet troops as a follow-up infantry arrived more than 300,000

prisoners were taken often the Germans found themselves welcomed as liberators particularly in the Ukraine where anti-russian feeling was [Applause] [Music] Widespread in Moscow Stalin appeared to have suffered a near breakdown at the news of his betrayal by Hitler he remained silent for more than a week not until July the thir did he appeal to his people's patriotism to save the motherland in Britain the Prime Minister Winston Churchill received the news of operation Barbarosa with very different feelings it meant that the country no longer stood Alone he announced that any enemy of Nazi Germany was a

friend of Britains no matter what the political differences in the past he then sent a mission to Moscow to sign a treaty of mutual assistance with Soviet foreign minister veslav Molotov but apart from sending Aid by CA there was Little Britain could do immediately to help the Soviet [Music] Union as June turned to July the German Blitz Creek slashed deeper into Soviet territory it was beginning to look as if nothing could stop Hitler but he was about to make his first major strategic blunder [Music] in early July 1941 over 300,000 Red Army troops were surrounded

west of Minsk Hitler's Panza commanders in particular General Hein Garian begged to be allowed to race on operation Barbarosa was working like Clockwork within a week the panzas were at smallen deep inside Russia and only a couple of hundred miles from Moscow on July the 22nd a paner pinam movement met to the east of Smet trapping another 310,000 Soviet [Music] troops here there was a brief pause while the rest of the army caught up though the tanks could move at spectacular Speed Most of the army still had to walk or rely on horsedrawn Transport but

it still only took them 5 days before they arrived and began mopping up the operation was completed in just nine more days vast Columns of Soviet prisoners began trudging West to captivity over 2 and A2 million I never returned Moscow was now only 200 M away and the road lay open it seemed certain it would fall by the end of the summer as Planned but elsewhere the German Advance was finding the going more difficult the red Army was counterattacking more effectively and by mid July Army group South was still more than 50 mi from [Music]

KF Hitler decided Garian panzas should delay their Advance on Moscow and swing South to KF to provide help Garian objected strongly but Hitler was adamant there should be no further Advance on on Moscow until KF had Fallen it would turn out to be a fateful decision there were already worrying signs the Red Army was not going to be the pushover Hitler had been expecting Soviet Manpower seemed endless more than 16 million troops were now mobilized and the Red Army now had some some formidable new weapons in particular a new tack the 37 T t34 it

had a 76 mm gun and was faster and better cross country than the Panza [Music] markv yet as the blitz Creed continues it was easy to miss the warning signs the Darian paner group began its thrust South on August the 23rd 1941 the panzas of army group South struck North 3 weeks later the pincers met east of KF on September the 16th two more Soviet armies were utterly destroyed half a million men were killed or Captured on the same day more than a thousand miles to the north Army Group North surrounded the city of Leningrad

today's St Petersburg it was immediately cut off from the rest of the Soviet Union [Music] the city was besieged Hitler decided not to storm it and the German troops settle down to starve it into surrender conditions in the city became Dark the only link to the rest of the Soviet Union was across Lake ladoga to the east but only a small amount of food could come in by water [Music] starvation set in over 11,000 people died in [Music] November not until December could an Ice Road be opened across the lake and there was a slight

increase in rations but 3,700 people died of Starvation on one day in December alone meanwhile Army group center now prepared for the final assault on Moscow the Darian panzas had rejoined it to lead the blitz group the Germans had a 2 to1 superiority in tanks and men at the front and 3 to one in aircraft [Music] the assault started on September the 20th 1941 once again Garian panzas slashed Deep through the red arm by October the 7th yet more Soviet troops were surrounded but Stalin was determined to defend Moscow to the last he appointed Marshall

googi jukov to organize the defense of the [Music] city the people of Moscow were mobilized to dig a series of defensive lines but the real obstacle to German Advance would be the weather on October The 8th heavy rain setting German vehicles soon became bogged down in a sea of mud by late October appalling weather and an increasingly stubborn Soviet resistance meant Army group Center was still some 50 m short of Moscow Hitler was finally paying the price for his decision earlier in in the year to delay his Advance on Moscow at around the same time

Army group South reached the Black Sea Trapping yet more Soviet soldiers another 100,000 prisoners were [Music] taken but they too were hampered by the weather even so the city of kov was captured on October the 24th 1941 but the weather was now starting to freeze the German forces confident the campaign would be over by the summer were caught unprepared with no winter clothing they now suffered terribly [Music] on the Moscow front Army group Center was now beginning its final push to capture the Soviet [Music] Capital by December the 4th its leading units were just 19

mil from Red Square some reconnaissance patrols claimed they could see the golden domes of the Kremlin glinting in the distance but that night the temperature plunged again tank engines would not Start weapons froze many soldiers were severely frosted on December the 5th the Germans halted the attack winter had come to the rescue of the Red Army but the Germans were confident that come the spring they could finish the job for much of autumn 1941 Stalin's armies wheeled under the German [Music] Onslaught but all the while he had another worry that the Japanese would attack his

forces in Siberia but in November the Soviet dictator received a message from his top spy in Japan assuring him the Japanese had no such intention immediately more than 30 divisions began moving West along the Transsiberian Railway to Moscow they were well equipped and well trained in Winter fighting By early December more than half a million extra men were in position near the capital on December the 5th just as the Germans were abandoning their attempt to capture Moscow they were hit by a Savage Russian attack [Music] first came a massive Soviet artillery barrage then swarms of

Soviet t-34s crashed through the German defenses stunned by the savagery of the Attack by an enemy they had assumed was on the ropes the Germans fell back for the next s days days the Soviet troops tore into the German forces for Hitler who had only reluctantly agreed to Halt the attack on Moscow it was a terrible blow on December the 19th he sacked his overall commanderin-chief Field Marshal valter Von broit and assumed command himself hin scaran was also sacked along With 35 other senior officers Hitler now ordered that there would be no more Retreats the

German troops should fight and if necessary die where they stood it worked the German line gradually [Music] steady but Stalin elated by the red Army's success now demanded a massive Advance across the whole front Marshall zukov one of Stalin's most trusted commanders tried to Dissuade him but Stalin was determined [Music] for the next 4 months fighting swirled inconclusively around a German defensive positions for Hitler this was a very uncomfortable situation he was used to and expected quick results now he was dangerously bogged down in the Soviet Union and facing an enemy that never seemed to

give up nor was Russia his only headache on December the 7th 1941 Germany's Allied Japan attacked the United States without warning Hitler with almost no thought also declared war on the US with no Advanced planning he had taken on a massive new [Music] enemy as 1941 became 1942 Hitler remained determined to go on the offensive again in Russia but he needed a new strategy the original plan of fighting across the whole front was No longer [Music] table moreover as his economic advisers told him Germany's oil supplies were running low so he decided to Halt the

attacks in the north and instead head for Russia's oil fields in the South the initial plan for Operation Blue as it was called envisaged an assault south of kov off with army group a swinging down to seize the oil fields While Army Group B covered its flank along the river [Music] Dawn straight away there was a brutal encounter with Soviet forces trying to retake kov another 200,000 Soviet troops were captured 70,000 were killed as part of the same operation the Germans tightened their Siege of the port of Sebastapol in the Crimea for 8 months The

Defenders had Been under constant bombardment from German artillery including a massive 400 MM Railway gun in late June 1942 Sebastapol finally fell to the Germans it was now safe to head for the oil fields on June the 28th the offensive began Army Group B forced its way through to the river Dawn and advanced along its Western [Music] Bank Army group a faced stronger resistance but by July the 9th it was close to rosof Hitler now made a series of what would turn out to be serious strategic plunders as Army Group B made its way along

the dawn the furer ordered it to capture Stalingrad even though the city had no immediate strategic significance the Army had suddenly been given a massive new [Music] Task two weeks later Hitler compounded his misjudgment frustrated by the slow progress of the campaign in the Caucasus he diverted the bulk of his panzas down to the mountains the march on Stalingrad slowed noticeably the reinforced Army group a now raced across the Caucasus to within 70 Mi of the caspan threatening to cut off all the Soviet armies in the [Music] area but then Hitler changed his mind Again

enraged by Army group B's slow progress to Stalingrad he now ordered the pancers back up north on August the 9th Army group a seized the first of the Southern oil fields at M it found them comprehensively trashed but without reinforcements it could get no further and the huge oil fields in the central Caucasus and those near the Caspian Sea remained Beyond its grasp but by now Hitler's attention had Shifted again in late August German forces were within Striking Distance of Stalingrad The Assault on the city which bore the name of Hitler's Arch Enemy had begun

it would be one of the most crucial battles of World War II [Music] on August the 17th 1942 General friederich PA's 6th Army crossed the Dawn and began a final push on Staring Ro [Music] six days later one Panza thrust had reached the vulga River just north of the city and German forces were fighting in the outer [Music] summs Hitler seemed poised for a famous Victory Stalingrad was an important industrial center it straggled for more than 12 miles along the west Bank of the river its factories produced over a Quarter of the Soviet Union's tractors

and trucks as well as tanks and guns the Russian people had turned it into a formidable Fortress they had been helped by Hitler's decision to send Army group B's panzas to the South this had given them another two weeks to prepare the German plan was to make a direct assault on the city now began one of the most prolonged and intense battles of World War II slowly the Germans edged Forward Street By street with stooker dive bombs blitzing just ahead of [Music] them the fighting was Savage house to house room by r [Music] the Soviet

Defenders used the sewers for shelter and Communications and the ruins above for sniping Russian reinforcements had to be brought across the river [Music] Often they were under assault from the [Music] air but even so thousands got through by late September the Germans have pushed their way through most of the city almost to the Vault for Hitler the capture of Stalingrad was now an obsession on October the 4th 1942 General paulus launched what was meant to be the final assault on Staring grad tanks led the way grinding over the Rubble and firing Point Blank into Courtyards

one German officer said the advance is measured in corpses not meters [Music] German victories seemed certain but in fact the Germans were dangerously overextended by mid November the Soviet Army was bringing in reinforcements more than a million troops 132,000 guns 900 tanks and over 1,000 Aircraft were secretly moved to the Battle Zone [Music] on November the 19th they attacked the Germans Northern [Music] flank after a massive artillery barrage the t-34s and assault infantry burst through the German positions [Applause] now it was the Germans who surrendered in their Thousands the next day a Soviet assault in

the South was equally successful and on November the 23rd these pins movements met west of Stalingrad cutting off the German sixth Army general porus in charge of the German forces could have broken out but Hitler ordered him to stand and fight the fura had been assured by the lft buffer that sufficient supplies could be airlifted into Stalingrad this Was enough for him to announce that the German positions must hold out until relieved to help Paula's Field Marshal Eric Fon manstein the overall German commander in the region launched operation winter storm on December the 12th it

was an attempt by the German panzas to break the Soviet encirclement of the [Music] city for 2 days it went well but then Red Army resistance Increased by December the 23rd the German rescue attempt had ground to a halt about 30 m from the [Music] city manstein advised the B at paulus to attempt to break out of staling but paulus wanted Hitler's permission this was refused it was probably too late anyway Marshall zukov now unleashed the next stage of his master plan it was a massive assault on the Panza relief operation the panzas were pushed

back away from the city and by the end of December all hope of relieving the German forces in Stalingrad had gone worse still plans to airlift Aid into the city were a fiasco the German troops needed 700 tons of supplies a day to survive they never received more than 80 the weather was too bad and the red Air Force now commanded the skies Steadily the Soviet troops squeezed in on the encircle Germans 200,000 men were trapped on January the 8th the Soviets called on the Germans to surrender they refused [Music] on January the 31st 1943

paulus was forced to surrender [Music] over a 100,000 men stumbled off into captivity only 5,000 would ever return To Germany Stalingrad had been a bloody battle the Germans had been Savaged they had lost some 300,000 of their men and at least as many of their [Music] allies the Russians had lost about the same number including thousands of [Music] civilians it was Germany's greatest catastrophe in the war so far but it wouldn't be the Last the Red Army was now inflicting massive defeats on Hitler forces across the whole Eastern [Music] Front Stalingrad had been a great

Triumph for the Soviet Army now its operational Commander Marshall zukov set his sights on Germany's army group a still camped in the Caucasus Soviet troops thrust their way way west of Stalingrad and by early December 1942 were within 120 Mi of Rosoff there was a real possibility all the German forces in the South would be cut off with little Choice Hitler reluctantly gave Army group a permission to fall back over the next month the Germans fought a skillful rear guard [Music] action hundreds of thousands of troops withdrew then on January the 12th 1943 zukov launched

an allout Assault the Soviets attacked along a 500 mile front outnumbered 7 to one Fon manstein the overall commander of German forces in the region fought a brilliant mobile retreat but by the end of February the Red Army had recaptured both K and the nearby city of kov this Russian winter offensive had struck a crippling blow to German power over a matter of months it had lost a million men and vast numbers of Tanks and guns the Red Army still had enormous reserves of Manpower it was also benefiting from a huge increase in weapons production

and aid from the United States and Britain the Germans also no longer had the technological upper hand the t34 tank was more than a match for the PanAm Mark 4 and they also had the terrifying cuchia multiple rocket system which Shattered German troops yet Hitler refused to give up hope he still dreamed of a preemptive summer assault that would throw the Soviet Union off balance and regain the initiative the city of kque seemed the obvious place to start here the Soviet assault had pushed a bulge deep into the German lines it looked tempting exposed Hitler

decided it should be cut off and annihilated he also had an ace up his Sleep the German Counterattack would be led by a new generation of German taank specially designed to combat the formidable Russian t34 the massive but slow 55ton tiger had a lethal 8 8 mm gun and its frontal armor made it almost impervious to Soviet tank duns and then there was the faster 43 ton Panther with a new 75 mm gut also capable of knocking out the [Music] T34 these tanks were so new Hitler was forced to delay the attack whilst sufficient numbers

were manufactured and delivered to the [Music] front but even as the German forces began to assemble the Soviet Commander Marshall zukov guessed what was about to happen soon afterwards he received information from a Soviet spiring inside the German High command confirming the sight of the attack Zukov ordered the construction of a series of defensive lines with anti-tank ditches minefields and deep belts of barbed wire he also massively built up Soviet forces in the area pulling in troops and tanks from less vulnerable parts of the front by the eve of the assault on kusk the Germans

were hugely outnumbered by Soviet Defenders who also knew exactly when the Germans would attack on July the 5th 1943 just as the German troops prepared to assault they were hit by a huge Soviet artillery bombardment [Music] even so the next morning the panzas still rolled forward but this time they were up against a well- entrenched enemy there was no realistic chance of a lightning Blitz Creek break [Music] through the results were Disastrous in the in the north the German Army gained a mere 6 miles for the loss of 25,000 men and more than 200 tanks

in the South the Germans fared a little better the wedge 25 Mi deep was driven into the Soviet defenses but it also came at a high price [Music] 10,000 men were killed and 350 tanks [Music] destroyed but for a brief moment it looked as if a German breakthrough might Be possible then zukov threw in his Reserves on July the 12th 1943 900 tanks charged into the German [Music] [Music] [Music] flag almost 2,000 tanks now engaged in what was the largest armored battle of World War [Music] II the Soviet t-34s drove into the German lines and

opened fire at Point Blank Range [Music] after a single day of brutal combat the Germans had lost a further 350 tanks and were [Music] retreating meanwhile overhead there was an epic Air [Music] Battle eventually the Soviet Air Force established Supremacy over the LT buffer Now the Russians could unleash their formidable uin il2 storm of tank kills by July the 23rd the Germans had lost any ground they had gained and with it the cream of their army Hitler's Adventure at KK had cost him at least 50,000 troops and more than 700 attacks never again would the

Germans launch a major offensive on the Eastern Front the Russians had turned the tide of the war [Applause] Summer 1943 and on the Eastern Front Hitler's armies were in Retreat huge sovet artillery barges and tank assaults were shredding the German lies Hitler by now was fighting a war on two fronts in Western Europe an anglo-american force was moving up through Italy menacing his Southern flag the Germans have been forced to pull some of their Elite troops back from the Eastern Front to help they left their forces in the East dangerously overstretched the exhausted German soldiers

were up against the enormous reserves of the huge Soviet military machine [Music] the Soviet leader ysf Stalin now seized this opportunity to weak his revenge and move onto the offensive by early August 1943 the Red Army had driven the Germans from the cities of Oro and Belgard [Applause] [Music] to celebrate the victory Stalin ordered 12 124 gun Salos and a barrage of fireworks in moscow's Red [Music] Square he proclaimed eternal glory to the heroes who fell in the struggle for Freedom death to the German Invaders in Germany Hitler's response was to take Greater personal control

of all important military decisions the effects were felt almost immediately by axis troops occupying the strategically important city of [Music] HOV the Soviet forces approached the city from three sides the German Commander Eric Von manstein ordered a tactical withdrawal Hitler immediately countermanded It kov should be held at all costs Hitler would not accept anything that would reduce what he called Leen the land he believed Germany needed to ensure its greatness just as importantly he also believed Germany would win the war if not by numbers then by the sheer will to win the Germans dug it

[Music] at first it seemed to [Music] Work for several days repeated Soviet assaults were [Music] repulsed more than 300 Russian t34 tanks were destroyed but by the end of august 19 1943 the German positions had been overrun eventually manstein went against his Fury he ordered his men to get out the Red Army drove into the ruins of Hof the next day it marked the beginning of a massive Soviet offensive along a 1500 mile front it stretched from rostoff in the South to smolin in the north at the southern end of the front near rostoff a

Russian breakthrough threatened to trap pockets of German soldiers in the Crimea once again manstein asked permission to withdraw all he got was a message from Hitler don't do anything I am coming myself But he never did the German military was forced into another last minute chaotic Retreat the withdrawal was made worse by bands of battle hardened partisans many were former Red Army soldiers who had been cut off Behind Enemy Lines [Music] they now ambushed the retreating Germans cutting their communication and supply [Applause] Lines the Germans responded with predictable ferocity there were Savage reprisals against the

civilian population [Music] the Germans also launched a scorched Earth policy factories power plants Railways and bridges were all blown up a massive Hydro electric Dam which provided electricity for the whole of the Ukraine was Wrecked meanwhile in the center of the front the Germans fell back across the river deipa as they fled they blew up yet more bridges turning the river into a formidable defensive line they then dug in along the West Bank Stalin's response was to offer the Soviet Union's highest award to the first Red Army soldier to cross the river by the Early

Autumn 1943 a number of small Soviet Bridge heads had been Established on the German controlled West Bank that they might determine German resistance fighting engaged along the Dena throughout October [Music] 1943 finally at the beginning of November Soviet troops captured GI All Along The River the Germans were pushed out of their defensive positions and forced to retreat still further [Music] West by the end of 1943 the Red Army had virtually cleared the Germans out of Russia's historic Homeland they were now moving west across the Ukraine the countries of Europe were in their sights by Spring

1944 Hitler's armies were in full retreat the Soviet leadership now poured in ever greater quantities of men and Equipment the Germans had two excellent Tacks the Tiger 1 and the Panza Mark 5 pan both were well suited to the sort of mobile defensive Warfare which was the only remaining hope for the German armies on the Eastern front but the Red Army had a at least twice as many tanks mostly the battle tribe t34 and Armament factories in Siberia were turning out more at a rate of 2,000 a month while Hitler was forced to divide his

forces between a war on two fronts Stalin's war machine was working flat out 6 million Soviet troops faced Less Than 3 million Germans in early January 1944 the forces of the first Ukrainian front moved in from the north on the German held town of Kon it was the last German tow hold on what they'd hoped would be their defensive line along the river [Music] Den 12 Days Later the forces of the second Ukrainian front drove forward on the southern side the attack followed a by now wellestablished Soviet pan first there was a buildup of an

overwhelming number of troops the Germans were never quite sure where the first assault would come from then there was a devastating artillary [Music] Bombard next the mass tanks of the Red Army would punch a hole through the German defenses [Music] finally the Infantry poured in in Corson it quickly became obvious to the Germans they were about to be overwhelmed the German Commander field Marshall Eric Von manstein flew to Hitler's headquarters in East Prussia to beg yet again for permission to pull out but Hitler once more [Music] refused after a week of fierce fighting about 60,000

men were trapped in what became known as a coron pocket the Soviets called it little Stalingrad the German forces now attempted to break out but the Russians were ready for them t34 tanks and CAC Horsemen hated the Germans as they tried to escape the fighting lasted 2 [Music] Days by the time Corson fell the Germans had lost some 30,000 men the red army forces were now moving forward at speed their Advance was made possible by fleets of trucks mostly provided by the United States that kept their forces supplied it was a much faster process than

for the Germans who still relied heavily on horses [Music] the Russians were also dominating the [Music] skies the lftv had always been a key part of the German war machine but Hitler had been forced to divert many of his aircraft to defend the Homeland from a US and British bomber offenses as a result Russian planes outnumbered the Luft vafa 5 to One the red Air Force's storm viic fighter bombers took a heavy toll on German armor and Supply [Music] cols yet Hitler refused to contemplate defeat and now announced a new version of his no retreat

[Music] policy he ordered the German troops to create what he called fortified areas or local strongholds these were to be defended to The Bitter End only with his personal approval could any of these fortresses be Abandoned it was a desperate Floy and would come to cost the Germans dearly one of the first tests of the new strategy was near the Ukrainian town of candet Podolski here 20 divisions of panzas were threatened with being cut off but Hitler declared it a Fortified Area and refused to allow a retreat in the face of bitter fighting there was

a vitriolic argument between Hitler and manstein who could see the writing on the wall [Music] finally manstein got his way and the panzas were given permission to break [Music] out 10 days later some 200,000 men of the first Panza Army safely reached the German lines over a 100 miles to the west but they had lost most of their heavy equipment and weapons by now manchin's requests to retreat had Become too much for Hitler the field Marshal was sacked further south the Germans attempted to hold back the Soviet torrent on the yni B River [Music] they

failed and a large force of Germans was caught behind Russian lines in the Black Sea port of Odessa they Too Faced being cut off in early April 1944 Hitler declared it a for But the German troops ignored him and slipped out of the city several days later on April the 10th adessa was liberated Stalin was winning on all fronts he could now turn his attention to the northern Russian city that had suffered under Nazi assault for [Music] years by the beginning of 1944 the Russian city of Leningrad had been under siege from German forces for

Nearly 2 and a half years during the first winter almost half a million people had starved to [Music] death volunteers struggled to put out fires and construct defenses but by 1944 life in the city had become almost most [Music] unbearable several attempts to relieve it had Failed one effort in 1942 led to the capture of more than 50,000 troops of the Soviet second shock arm another in 1943 had enabled a trickle of supplies to get into the city but even so throughout 1943 after to 20,000 people continued to die of cold disease and starvation every

month [Music] by January 1944 however with the Germans in headlong Retreat Stalin now turned his attention to the plight of the City that month Soviet forces secretly infiltrated the neighboring Peninsula around Oran Brook the attack on the German position started with a Savage 65-minute bombardment then Russian troops ripped into the startled German lines at the same time another Soviet Force attacked from the Northeast around the city they too burst onto the German lines for 3 Days the German Commander Field Marshal gorg Von kler held Out finally he asked Hitler for permission to to fall back

Hitler as always refused KLA argued back telling the fura only a swift withdrawal would save his army from a massacre Hitler sack he was replaced by General wter murder he was known as Hitler's fireman for his Fierce loyalty and Avid Nazi Outlook but even to mytle the danger was obvious he now disobeyed Hitler and Pulled out [Music] after 2 and a half years the siege of Leningrad was finally lifted nearly a million Russian civilians had died relief in the city was overwhelming [Music] the first Fallout was in neighboring pro-german Finland which now feared a Soviet

invasion so in March 1944 a secret Finnish delegation arrived in Moscow to discuss peace Stalin's terms were harsh he demanded the petamo region in the far north of Finland an area rich in nickel an important ingredient in the manufacturer of metal alloys he also demanded reparations of $600 million the fins refused and prepared for a Soviet invasion but Finland could Wait the Soviet High command or stavka as it was known had more pressing business further south the Red Army offensives in the Ukraine In late 1943 had trapped 120,000 German troops in the Crimea Hitler as

ever had refused to allow them to withdraw they now waited helplessly for the Soviet Onslaught in early April 2 months after the lifting of The Siege on Leningrad it came The troops of the fourth Ukrainian front crashed into the Crimea from the north at the same time a diversionary attack landed on the Eastern end of the peninsula in less than a day the axis troops in the West had given way they fell back on the port of Sebastapol and Hitler ordered Fortress Sebastapol to hold out to the last man they didn't stand a chance within

2 weeks of The Siege German troops were being evacuated by Sea 40,000 men escaped but some 30,000 Defenders were still trapped in the port they retreated to the beach south of the city hoping to be rescued by more German ships it didn't happen the evacuation was interrupted by a Soviet artillery bombard 3 days later the Germans surrendered meanwhile back in the northwest of the country the Germans Still occupied much of what is bellarus today but the Red Army had grabbed a vast bulge of land stretching into Poland and [Music] Romania it meant the Germans had

to defend a400 mile front they were hugely overextended military logic suggested it was time for the Germans to withdraw to more manageable defensive positions but Hitler still obsessed with Territorial gain refused to allow any further Retreat the German military would continue to pay a high price for Hitler's constant meddling and unrealistic Ambitions by the spring of 1944 Hitler's forces were stretched to their limit all along the Eastern Front there was a desperate need for reinforcements the problem for the German High command was where to place the few resources it had to maximum Advantage German intelligence

reports suggested the next Big Red Army offensive would be into [Music] bellarus but Hitler disagreed he was convinced Stalin would strike South and seize the Romanian oil fields both were wrong at least to begin with in the early summer the Red Army command finally turned its attention to [Music] Finland Russian troops attacked across the kelian ismus after two days fighting the fins were forced to [Music] retreat slowly over the next month the Red Army Advanced North into Finland by August 1944 it was all over and the fins sued for peace it was now that Stalin

showed the first signs of a pattern that would be Repeated across Europe he seized land in this case areas of Finnish corelia and the nickel Rich petsamo region next Stalin's attention turned to Central Europe in the summer of 1944 he launched what he called operation bagration named after a Russian hero of the Napoleonic Wars at 5:00 a.m. on June the 22nd 3 years to the day after Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union The Guns of the Red Army began a ferocious bombardment of German forces in what today is bellarus it was exactly where months earlier

German intelligence reports that suggested a Soviet attack would come but because Hitler had ignored them the area was poorly defended it was another of his mistakes the Germans were now being pounded along a 350 mile front in some places the Russians used over 400 guns for every Mile The Barrage was followed as always by a torrent of Soviet tanks and infantry crashing into the German [Music] defenses to make matters worse for the Germans they had almost no air support much of the Luft buffer was still tied up defending the German Homeland it was now that

Hitler's Folly of fighting a war on two fronts became all too Apparent the red Air Force could operate almost [Music] unopposed Russian planes struck deep behind German lines cutting Communications and harassing [Music] reinforcements within 36 hours the German panzas had been swept [Music] aside about 50,000 men faced encirclement in the German held town of Vpsk Hitler as had become routine initially refused to let it Retreat then when on the following day he relented it was too late for many of his troops 4 days later VPK fell 20,000 a his troops were killed and 10,000 taken

prisoner further south along the bellarus front the pattern was repeated Hitler now Furious sacked his General Field Marshal erst Bush once again he brought in his favorite the now promoted Field Marshal valter murle but it made no difference town after town fell the regional capital of Minsk was now Within Reach 2 Days Later the Red Army encircled it over a 100,000 German troops were trapped Soviet forces [Music] bombarded within a week the German survivors surrendered [Music] the Unstoppable Russian Advance now pushed on to the Baltic states first of all was the Lithuanian capital of vus

across the entire Eastern Front the Germans were in retreat but they left behind them towns and Countryside laid Waste they committed widespread atrocities against local inhabitants nothing however could have prepared the Red Army for what it was about to discover on July the 23rd 1944 Soviet forces reached the small Polish Village of midanik near Lublin here they came across their first evidence of Hitler's Final Solution the midic extermination camp it was a camp designed for the Murder of Jews on an industrial scale but as the first Soviet reports of what they'd found leaked out the

Western allies simply dismissed [Music] them 3 days after seizing midena the Russians were approaching warso but here the Red Army paused St Darin now stood ready to do what Hitler had done before grab land not in the name of laan's real but of Communism by the summer of 1944 operation Barron had ripped the heart out of the German Army in the east more than 300,000 axis soldiers had died 150,000 had been taken prisoner the Red Army now paused and dug in along the river Vistula south of Warsaw Stalin was in no hurry to bring the

war to an end with Europe in turmoil conditions were ideal for the spread of Communism the first victims of Stalin's political calculations were the poles On August the 1st 1944 the Polish home Army rose up in Warsaw against its Nazi occupiers but it desperately needed help the Red Army camped just to the South was perfectly placed to provide it but Stalin regarded the Polish home Army as close to the Polish government in Exile in London and hostile to [Music] Communism so he turned a blind eye to the plight of the Polish Fighters they were crushed

with terrible Brutality the Germans wouldn't finally be pushed out of Poland until the Russian army drove them out in January [Music] 1945 it was the start of a Soviet master plan that would eventually see Communist governments across most of Eastern Europe [Music] to the north contingents of the Red Army continued to clear the Germans out of the Baltic states these would later be Incorporated into the Soviet Union near the lvan capital of Ria over 200,000 Germans were trapped behind Russian [Music] [Applause] [Music] lines but Hitler still determined to hold on to his laban's realm refused

to countenance a retreat even so gradually the German forces were pushed back to the Baltic [Music] Coast by mid October 1944 the Germans had been squeezed onto the corand peninsula west of [Music] Ria they would remain marooned there for the rest of the war when they eventually surrendered to Soviet forces Stalin meanwhile was already sizing up other territory in Eastern Europe he could have moved directly west Towards Germany instead units of the Red Army moved South in a vast thrust down through the [Music] Balkans nearly 1500 tanks and a million men pushed into Romania in

late August [Music] 1944 the defending a forces had less than 400 tanks than just 800,000 troops Pro German Romanian troops gave way almost immediately all along the front 3 Days Later large pockets of German troops were surrounded near kishinev Hitler issued his standard command no retreat for 9 days there was bitter fighting [Applause] over 180,000 German troops were killed or taken [Music] prisoner the remainder beat a belated Retreat in late August Romania's pro-german dictator Marshall ion antonescu was arrested Romania [Music] surrendered by the end of the month the Red Army was in Bucharest and had

occupied the strategically important Romanian oil fields it meant Germany had lost its main supply of [Music] Oil three Soviet armies now moved South into Bulgaria Bulgaria had tried to stay neutral but it too would soon be swallowed up by the Soviet Empire meanwhile the rest of the Russian forces now move moved West towards [Music] Yugoslavia German troops to the south in Greece faced being trapped they began a hasty Retreat up through Albania and Southern Yugoslavia [Music] they were harried all the way by Albanian and Yugoslav partisans by mid October 1944 the Red Army had reached

the Yugoslav capital of Belgrade [Music] only now did it begin to swing north and west towards Hungary and then Germany German reinforcements poured into Hungary to support the prazi puppet government but the Red Army ground [Music] on 8 weeks later it laid Siege to Budapest [Music] The Siege lasted over 6 weeks before the German puppet government collapsed by the end of 1944 most of Eastern Europe lay in Stalin's grasp his troops controlled the Baltic states and Poland Romania and Bulgaria pro- Soviet forces ruled in Yugoslavia and Albania Hungary and Czechoslovakia were in his sights Stalin

had successfully laid the foundations for the future Soviet block he could now at last move on to Germany but in the West Allied Forces were also approaching the German border the race was on to be the first to take [Music] Berlin 1944 and on the Eastern Front Hitler's forces were being pushed back towards the German border but Germany was about to face a new threat in the west Allied Forces had been preparing for months to open a new front in Northwest [Music] France training for it was well underway but it was an attack Hitler had

long been expecting his problem was knowing when and above all where it would Come the stage was set for one of the greatest battles of World War II dday the Allied Landings along the Normandy coast of France since the early years of the war Britain's prime minister Winston Churchill had always been certain that at some point an Allied invasion of Northern Europe would be necessary the only questions were when where and how to test the waters British forces Had already mounted a number of practice operations [Music] in December 1941 British Commandos raided the Vago islands

off the coast of Nazi occupied [Music] Norway it was an attempt to probe German defenses and tie down Hitler's troops in the North the fish oil factory and Coastal defenses were blown up before the Commandos withdrew 8 months later Canadian and British troops were sent in to mount a more ambitious raid on the French Port of [Music] deep it too was designed to test the defenses and also to provide combat experience for the Canadians but this time it was a [Music] catastrophe as landing craft approached The main Beach they were met by withering fire those

troops that made it ashore were immediately p down behind them the supporting tanks became bogged down in the shingle few managed to scale the sea [Music] wall over 3,000 Allied soldiers were killed or taken prisoner had learned an important lesson never attempt to direct assault on a German Occupied [Music] Port equally importantly the Deep disaster reinforced the British view that an invasion of Europe could not be rushed Churchill understood it would require careful planning eventually in April 1943 at an Allied conference in Washington Churchill and the US President Franklin roselt agreed upon a [Music] Date

D-Day or Operation Overlord as a Seaborn invasion of France was formerly called would take place in the summer of 1944 but by now the Germans were preparing for it in Earnest since the winter of 1941 they had been building an Atlantic War it was a massive series of fortifications running along the European Coast from Denmark to the Spanish Border gun imp placements had been constructed at likely Landing sites beaches had been mined and covered in barbed wire obstacles have been placed in strategic places to block landing craft Hitler had boasted I am the greatest builder

of fortifications of all time in in the summer of 1942 in the wake of the deep attack work on the Atlantic Wall had been stepped Up Hitler had also ordered an increase in troop numbers in the region the German overall commander in the West Field Marshal G Von runet had been given 15 further divisions but the Western European Coast stretched for some 2,000 miles he didn't have the numbers to man the entire [Music] length Fon runet faced a difficult decision where should he position his overstretched forces to maximize their Effect the question led to Bitter

arguments inside the German leadership Fon runet proposed holding a large force of panzas in reserve Northwest of Paris he could then send it in against an invasion once he knew where it was happening but the hugely respected Field Marshal Irvin RL commander of the troops covering the sector from Holland along the French Coast to the lir had a different View [Music] Rl's concern was Allied air power he'd seen it firsthand when he fought the British in North Africa and it had left a profound impression he feared that any Counterattack would be broken up by Allied

aircraft long before it could go into action RL had also inspected Hitler's Atlantic Wall and found much of it wanting it had forced him to the conclusion that the best place to Position the panzas was as close as possible to the most likely Landing sites that way an invasion could be immediately pushed back before it got a foothold Hitler compromised runet was given a small Force he could hold in reserve though Hitler himself would have the final say as to when it could be used the rest of the additional troops were scattered along the entire

Atlantic Seaboard in accordance with rl's Wishes it would turn out to be the worst of all the solutions there were neither enough reserves nor enough tanks near the coast but in the Autumn of 1943 none of this was clear in Britain the Allied planners were also grappling with the problem of location where was the best place to land their Chief planner General Frederick Morgan quickly realized there were two principal options the padal and Normandy the padal was clearly the favorite it offered the shortest sea Crossing and it offered the shortest and most direct way to

Germany but it was also the most obvious route and Morgan was sure the Germans were expecting it so he decided to wrong foot them Morgan would land in Normandy it was the beginning of a huge gamp on which the fate of hundreds of thousands of soldiers would [Music] depend in the Autumn of 1943 Allied photo reconnaissance aircraft swept over the beaches of northern France it was part of a huge planning operation for the Seaborn invasion of Europe the fortifications of the Atlantic Wall were monitored by the French Resistance men crept ashore to collect sand samples

to test whether armored Vehicles could be landed [Music] northern France became the most reconed Coastline in the history of warfare it soon became clear any Landing would need some kind of Port [Music] facilities but the disaster at Deep had shown that it was too dangerous to attempt to direct assault on a German occupied port [Music] Britain's planners were forced to come up with an ingenious alternative giant Hollow concrete boxes were constructed in Britain that could later be towed to the French Coast there they would be sunk to form an artificial Harbor they were known by

their code name mulberries the mes would be supplied with fuel by a pipeline Unwound from giant reels and dropped on the Seab it would run for 100 miles [Music] the pumping station on the aisle of white was disguised as an ice cream parlor but the raid on De had also revealed a second problem how to get the first wave of troops off the beaches and through the German fortifications the man told to solve that question was General Percy Hobart one of the pioneers of armored Warfare Hobart came up with a series of ingenious devices the

troops called them the funnies they included such extraordinary machines as flamethrowers and floating tanks flail tanks for clearing mines the bobbin for laying firm paths across sand or [Music] shingle an armored ramp for climbing seaw [Music] Walls the fine carrier for tackling [Music] ditches and the bridging attack for wider [Music] obstacles that left just one problem how to stop the Germans rushing in overwhelming reinforcements before the Allies had established a [Music] foothold the answer was to keep them guessing until the very last moment as To where the invasion would take place operation bodyguard was a

massive and complex deception campaign German double agents in Britain now began sending back to Germany huge amounts of carefully coordinated false information this emphasized that the main Landings would be in theal although a faint attack might be launched in Normandy to muddy the waters still further the allied military created a Fictitious army unit the so-called first US Army group or fusac it was stationed very obviously in K bang opposite the Pak the man in charge of it was the pistol toting us General George Patton who' been removed from action in Sicily after slapping Shell Shocked

soldiers Patton was rated by the Germans as the Allies best attacking general just the man they expected to command the invasion of Western Europe Basher 52 This is Basher 11 on Alpha Radio Transmissions mimic the wireless traffic of an army for the benefit of any LT buffer reconnaissance aircraft flying over Britain the fields of Kent were filled with inflatable tanks and carefully faked track [Music] marks there were dummy aircraft made of wood and canvas Harbors along the Kent Coast were Filled with dummy landing craft [Music] there were even troops though these were in reality backup

units in late 1943 the Allies appointed US general Dwight Eisenhower a Supreme Allied Commander for the invasion of Europe British General Bernard Montgomery would be in overall command of the initial assault troops D-Day was fixed for June the 5th [Music] 1944 two months before the landing Eisenhower launched an elaborate air offensive to disrupt German links to the coast [Music] once again it was carefully planned to give the impression the Allies Target was the padal region as the date of the invasion approached Allied troop numbers in England reached over 2 million they were supported by more

than 3,000 tax and 12,000 aircraft [Music] the Germans were well aware an invasion was imminent but they had been completely taken in by the Allies bony preparations in Kent and were convinced the most likely landing spot was the padal everything seemed to be going the Allies way the troops were briefed Then the weather turned against rain lashed down visibility was poor and the channel was [Music] stormy nevertheless on June the 4th 1944 the assault troops boarded their Landing ships and the Armada of more than 5,000 vessels set sail but the rain continued to lash down

later that day The Invasion had to be postponed the ships returned to port and the assault troops faced a nerve Shredding [Music] weight early the next morning the military leadership met again the naval commanders were Keen to go ahead but the air chiefs were doubtful they worried the visibility would still be too poor to provide effective air support after a long silence Eisenhower looked up let's go he said Operation overlooked the greatest Seaborn Invasion ever was underway D-Day had begun at 1:15 in the morning ofun June the 6th 1944 British aircraft Towing gliders arrived over

the coast of northern [Music] France then the gliders were released and plunged down to capture vital bridges over the Kong canal in eastern Normandy the Allies had launched their Great gamble to invade Hitler's Empire in Western Europe [Music] 50 Mi to the West us paratroops came down around the village of s there was a fierce fir but 3 hours later the village was in US hands one of the most crucial battles of World War II was [Music] underway an hour later horrified German Sentries along the Normandy Coast saw a vast Armada appear out of the

Mist they had had no warning the Allied Fleet had sailed under cover of Darkness moreover Allied countermeasures had confused the German radar into believing the main weight of the attack was approaching the French Coast further east at the pada Cal Allied warships off the Normandy Coast now began pounding the German Defensive positions [Music] wave after wave of aircraft swept [Music] overhead under cover of the bombardment assault troops headed for the shore but as they closed in German artillery and machine guns open fire a number of the landing craft were hit others fell foul of underwater

obstructions but at 6:30 in in the morning the first waves of troops hit The [Music] beaches at the Far Western end the US fourth infantry division came ashore near at what they called Utah Beach [Music] within 2 hours it was linking up with the US paratroopers who'd landed at s mer next door at Omaha Beach it was more difficult the beach was a defender's dream with high Cliffs and few ways in land As the US first Infantry Division waited ashore they were moan down by German machine guns to make matters worse the Americans amphibious tanks

was [Music] swamped the troops were trapped on the beach disaster was looming but finally a few of the soldiers managed to scale The [Music] Cliffs against all the odds the Americans hung on to the beach head further east in the center of the landing area Britain's 50th Infantry Division came ashore at Gold [Music] Beach they too met Savage F but now the British deployed their funny [Music] the troops were soon moving in land at the adjoining landing spot Juno Beach the Canadian third infantry Division faced a similar [Music] situation here too Britain's funnies were vital

in helping the troops off the [Music] be finally on the far left flank at sword Beach the British third infantry division met only patchy [Music] resistance within hours its Commandos had linked up with the glider born troops at the corn canal By early afternoon the Allies had successfully established all of the beach heads the timing of the invasion had caught the Germans completely by surprise they' expected the Allies to wait until the weather had cleared roml the operational German Commander for the whole of the Northwest French Coast had taken the opportunity of bad weather to

visit his family in Germany his immediate subordinate in Normandy and Britany General friederich dolman was over a 100 miles away taking part in a war game [Music] exercise only the overall German Commander for the whole of Western Europe field Marshall G Fon runet was at his HQ [Music] but he needed Hitler's permission to move his paner reserves to the battlefield however Hitler was asleep And his AIDS wouldn't wake him it wasn't until midday that the furer finally leared about the invasion but he didn't take it seriously he was still convinced the main attack would come

in the pakal Normandy believed was just a [Music] fit finally in the late afternoon when the scale of the invasion was becoming all too clear Hitler Unleashed his reserves but they were too far away to Provide immediate support [Music] despite stubborn German resistance the beach heads around Utah gold and Juno and sword were secure only at Omaha was a situation more [Music] precarious here German resistance had prevented the US troops moving more than a mile in land [Music] By Nightfall on June the 6th over a 100,000 Allied troops had been landed in [Music] Normandy it

had been an extraordinary feat of planning ingenuity and courage the first day of the Allies great gamble had paid off but it was just the beginning now they had to build up break out and push on into Europe as a the second day dawned on the Greatest Seaborn Invasion ever attempted thousands of Allied troops had broken out of their Beach heads and were moving Inland but they found the Normandy Countryside hard goinging the patchwork of Woodland and small Fields provided ideal terrain for German tanks and machine guns the Allies suffered heavy [Music] casualties Allied air

power provided crucial support when Von Run's Panza Reinforcements arrived they'd been so depleted by the a attacks that they were unable to mount a major Counterattack the German reinforcements were also hampered by French Resistance Fighters operating behind German lines they ambushed troop convoys and blew up Bridges as a result the as SS Panza division took over 2 weeks to make a journey which should have lasted a mere 3 Days its troops took out their fury on the French civilian population the village of oror sulan and its 642 inhabitants were wiped out after 4 days of

fighting all the Allied Beach heads were finally able to link up but they'd still only managed to penetrate 10 miles in land [Music] eventually 6 days after the landing the British commander General Montgomery launched a major assault on the Strategically important town of Kong the British seventh armor division The Desert Rats Advanced but its spearhead ran into four German Tiger tanks the Allies Sherman tanks were completely Outcast their guns were out ranged and their shells unable to penetrate the German armor they were particularly vulnerable because many ran on petrol Fuel and were liable to burst

into flames when Hit the Germans nicknamed the Sherman the Ronson after the cigarette lighter or more mabely the Tommy cooker in less than 5 minutes more than 10 British tanks were destroyed the attack on Kong stormed out matched by the German tanks the Allies relied on air power and artillery [Music] but it wasn't enough The Desert Rats retreated Kong remained in German Hands meanwhile further west US forces Advanced on the equally important port of sherbo it would take them nearly 10 days to get close to [Music] it they weren't helped by the weather during the

first week of the invasion it had been relatively calm and supply and reinforcements had poured in through the mury artificial [Music] Harbors but now the weather turned Gail swept the English Channel the US mury Harbor at Omaha was destroyed the other mury in the British sector was badly damaged and put out of action for several days [Applause] the flow of reinforcements slowed it meant the port of cherborg was an even more vital [Music] objective as the US forces now Approached it the German Garrison resisted there was fierce house to- housee fighting it would take the

Allies a week to secure the city but the port had been Trashed by the fleeing Germans it would take a further month before it could be brought back into service meanwhile Montgomery launched another assault on K but the storms had turned the fields into a sea of mud low Cloud meant air support was impossible to make matters worse the newly arrived Elite German second SS panacor was thrown into the defense of the city after 4 days the British were again forced to [Music] Halt then as the clouds cleared nearly 500 Allied bombers devastated did call

British troops fought their way Into the north suburbs but the ruins made ideal defensive positions for the Germans [Music] Allied casualties [Music] mounted after 48 Hours the attack was yet again called [Music] off 3 weeks later montomery tried for a fourth time the plan was to capture the Remaining strongholds and then push on South deeper into [Music] France after two more days of fighting the city was finally won the way now seemed open for the British tanks to move South deeper into France [Music] but the Germans were waiting with a large force of [Music] Panzas

the British Advance stopped [Music] again the Americans in the west however were having an easier time the fight in around Kong had sucked in the majority of the German Defenders as the American forces prepared to thrust further into France they faced only scattered opposition the scene was set for the Allied Forces to break out at last [Music] At 9:30 in the morning of July the 25th 1944 over 1,800 Allied aircraft carpet bombed a 4 M stretch of the German Front Line south of sherbo it was the beginning of operation Cobra the US breakout into France

the German Defenders were stunned by the size of the assault and so too were some of the US soldiers the plan had been for the bombers to fly in from the East parallel to the US front line to minimize the Risk of bombing American [Music] troops but most of the aircraft came in over the top of the US lines bombs fell short over a 100 US troops were hit and [Music] killed yet despite the ferocity of the bombardment when the US forces later picked themselves up and moved forward they found to their astonishment substantial numbers

of German troops had [Music] survived the survivors mounted a stubborn resistance as fighting raged it looked as though the Americans would fail to break through the German [Music] lines but then the German defenses crumbled the next morning US tanks broke through and moved forward into Open Country there was now almost no German Resistance left and the Americans quickly pushed deeper into France the Hilltown of couton fell then the crossroads town of Avon as the Allies pressed forward they were helped by change and confusion in the German High command at the beginning of July 3 weeks

after the D-Day Landings Hitler dismissed the German commanderin-chief field Marshal G Fon runet for defeatism Fon runed had made little Attempt to hide his belief that Germany faced an unwinable struggle he was replaced by field Marshall gon kugan fresh from the Eastern front but with little knowledge of Northwestern France two weeks later roml the second most senior German officer on the front was severely injured when his staff car was strafed by a British fighter [Music] then with a Nazi command already in Confusion there was an assassination attempt on Hitler's life on July the 20th 1944

a disillusioned aristocratic war hero Colonel Claus shank graph Von Stenberg planted a bomb in the planning Hut at Hitler's headquarters in East Russia four officers were killed but Hitler was sheltered by a heavy solid oak conference table and escaped with only minor [Music] injuries the plot was swiftly and brutally put down F staenberg was shot and his principal collaborators put on trial they would later behind Hitler put a brave face on it and visited some of the Wounded in hospital but it hardened still further his distrust of his senior officers he would despite his many

earlier misjudgments demand even greater Control over events on the battlefield back in France General George Patton back in charge of a real fighting force ordered his troops to Fan out they took Ren mayen and headed for Lamar they were now moving round behind the German forces still battling it out with the British and Canadians near [Music] K with the Americans to their South and The British to their North it seemed the German forces in Normandy would be surrounded Hitler issued his usual order that there should be no retreat but as the Allies squeezed in on

them the Germans began to flee they were remorselessly harried by Allied aircraft and [Music] artillery the casualties were [Music] appalling finally on August the 20th 1944 the Allied Forces moving in from both the North and South met up the so-called phes Gap named after the nearby French Village had been [Music] closed large numbers of Germans were trapped over 10,000 more Germans caught in the Allied pincer died a further 50,000 were taken [Music] prisoner the German Army in Western Europe was in chaos meanwhile far to the south on the French Mediterranean Coast near can there was

a second Allied Seaborn [Music] Invasion US troops came ashore virtually unopposed they were helped by paratroopers from the free French army men who had escaped from German occupied French territory in Europe and North Africa The Landing had always been opposed by The British who regarded it as a [Music] diversion but the United States had long regarded it as an essential part of clearing the Germans out of [Applause] France the troops were greeted by an ecstatic civilian population [Music] it was soon advancing rapidly up the Ron [Music] Valley Leon was liberated on September The 3rd 1944

[Applause] 10 days later they reached djon and made contact with Patton's forces advancing from Western [Applause] France German units stationed across the region [Music] fled in barely 3 weeks of headlong Advance the Allied invasion of Europe had liberated most of France that left Paris where French Resistance Fighters now rose up against the German [Music] occupation there seemed little to prevent the Allied onrush from continuing to the German border [Music] in the first months of 1945 Japan was on the run the Americans had fought their way across the Pacific us submarines and Aircraft had destroyed Japan's

Merchant Fleet and Naval [Music] airpower the main Japanese home Islands had been cut off from vital supplies of fuel and raw materials the Japanese were facing defeat yet they refused to surrender convinced that if they fought back with sufficient brutality the Americans wouldn't have the stomach for the fight and would give In Japan made clear that every move to towards the home Islands would be paid for in Allied blood it presented the United States with a huge problem how could Japan be defeated without a terrible loss of American Life the country would eventually turn to

the most powerful and Dreadful weapon ever seen [Music] a weapon that would change the course of War [Music] forever in early 1945 as US military planners considered the next move against Japan their gaze fell on the Japanese occupied island of iima lay a mere 800 M from the Japanese Mainland and would be a valuable base for attacking the [Music] country the US commander in the Central Pacific Admiral Chester Nimitz assembled The largest Landing Fleet ever brought together in the Pacific Campaign and prepared to invade the island Nimitz was taking no [Music] risks wave after wave

of American aircraft paved the way with a massive aerial [Music] bombardment then on the morning of February the 19th 1945 The Guns of the naval task force began one of the most Prolonged bombardments of the war at the same time landing craft set off for the shore the Marines hit the beaches of eil oima along the southwestern Shore just after 9:00 in the morning for a few moments there was an eerie calm a massive Naval and aerial bombardment appeared to have overwhelmed the Japanese Garrison then a hurricane of Japanese fire swept over General tadamichi kurashi

the Japanese commander on the island had told his men to hold their fire until the Americans were right under their [Music] guns now the Japanese opened up from a network of tunnels caves and bunkers there was Carnage but gradually small groups of US troops inched their way [Music] forward finally by the evening the beach Head had been secured the task now is to capture the 550 ft high mount sudachi the heavily defended volcano that dominates iojima for 3 Days Marines clawed their way up the Steep pitted slopes they were supported by a constant air and

Naval bombardment from The Invasion F finally on February the 23d 1945 the US platoon led by first lieutenant Harold shrier began the final assault carrying with them a small US Flag they reached the summit and raised their flag using a piece of piping as a [Music] pole Marine Corps photographer staff sergeant Louie Lowry captured the scene with a few precious photographs [Music] the hardpressed Marines on the beaches below cheered and wept ships sounded their [Music] whistles 3 hours later the event was Restaged with a larger US flag the moment was immortalized by photographer Joe rosenal

with one of the most iconic photographs of the [Music] war but the battle for iojima was far from Over the rest of the island was still in Japanese hands the next day the Marines captured the first of the Island's strategically vital Airfields but kurba yashi had told his men to take as many of the enemy with them as possible their duty to the emperor to die on the island [Music] it meant each assault became a bloody frontal Affair it took two weeks before the remaining two airfields on the island were in US hands even as

the fighting continued the the US Air Force began to make use of EA Gima's [Music] airfields during the late spring and summer of 1945 over 2,500 damaged us bombers made emergency Landings on the island often saving the lives of their Crews finally at the end of March after some 6 weeks of ferocious fighting the whil Japanese resistance was snuffed out but the capture of iojima had come at a terrible [Music] price only 200 of the 22,000 strong Japanese Garrison survived [Music] the Americans had also suffered badly nearly 7,000 Marines had been killed and some 18,000

wounded the Americans finally had the base they needed but it was now clear that unless the us could come up with an alternative any invasion of Japan would be paid for in tens of thousands of American lives [Music] in the United States one group of military planners had long believed there was an alternative to invading Japan it was called strategic bombing this involved carefully targeted bombing raids designed to destroy Japan's infrastructure industry and ability to wage war but in the first years of the Pacific War there was a problem Japan lay Beyond A range of

America's bombs in April 1942 the US had managed to launch a one-off bombing raid on Tokyo but it had pushed the bombers to their limits and was never a practical long-term option then in early 1944 the Boeing aircraft Corporation produced a revolutionary new heavy bom the b29 super Fortress it could carry 20,000 lb of Bombs over a range of 3,250 Mi suddenly Japan was just about in reach of America's forward bases in the Pacific in summer 1944 9 months before the assault on iojima us b29 stationed at changdu in Southwest China began a series of

strategic bombing raids on Japan but range was still an issue it was too far for a fighter escort so the super fortresses had to fly alone staying at high altitude for their own Safety even then the range was only just within limits and there was no room for navigational [Music] error many of the bombs missed their [Music] targets then in in July 1944 there was a development that gave strategic bombing a new lease of Life the US Navy captured the Marana islands in the Central Pacific they were only 1,500 mil from The Japanese Homeland this

was well within the b29 operating range the odds for a successful bombing campaign on Japan had dramatically improved [Music] approved on November the 24th over a 100 super fortresses took off from the Marianas their target the Nakajima aircraft Factory in Tokyo [Music] but only 48 bombs struck anywhere near The [Music] target for 3 months more raids targeted other industrial [Music] sites but the b-29s were still flying without a fighter escort and still dropping their bombs from high altitude the targets were often obscured by cloud and jet stream winds made accurate bomb aiming [Music] Impossible to

make matters worse the b29 suffered from engine problems there were also attacks from kamikazi [Music] Pilots by the winter of of 1944 it was clear that strategic bombing was just not working if Japan was to be bombed into submission the us would have to come up with something else so it was that on December the 18th 1944 America tried a new tactic 84 b29 set off from changdu for Japanese occupied hanao on the yangi river they flew much lower than usual and carried mostly incendiary rather than high explosive [Music] bombs Hana was devastating The Raid

was more effective than almost any of the previous strategic bombing raids the US appeared to have found a way forward firebombing at low Altitude the US bomber commander in the Marianas General Curtis L now ordered the systematic firebombing of Japan it was the same tactic that Britain had employed in Germany on the evening of March the 9th 1945 Pathfinder aircraft roared over Tokyo dropping incendiary Target [Music] indicators the fires they started marked the aiming points for almost 300 b29 coming in at just 5,000 ft they dropped Over 2,000 tons of incendiary bombs the flimsy wooden

houses stood no chance air was sucked in creating towering firestorms which raced faster than people could run the glow from the burning City could be seen over 150 Mi away when the all clear finally sounded the following morning 16 square miles of Tokyo had been obliterated over a 100,000 of its citizens were killed and and a million Made homeless Tokyo was not the only city to face this devastating new [Music] tactic Nagoya was set Ablaze two nights [Music] later then Osaka and Kobe join the following week firestorms engulfed whole areas destroying houses and Industrial facilities

but American success was coming at a Price without escorts the low-flying US bombers were dangerously vulnerable to Japanese Fighters American losses now mounted if the bombing count campaign was ever to succeed the US needed bases even closer to [Music] Japan within weeks eima fell now at last the US Air Force not only had a base for its bombers within easy Striking Distance of Japan it could finally use Its Mustang fighters to escort them [Applause] during the late spring and early summer of 1945 strikes of up to 500 bombers attack Japan every other day once the

largest industrial areas had been crippled L moved on to lesser targets yet in the face of catastrophic damage and an appalling death toll the Japanese showed no sign of cracking it finally dawned on the Americans that strategic bombing alone was never going to defeat Japan it looked like a fullscale invasion of the country was becoming inevitable for the US battle planners the next logical step in the land campaign was the Japanese island of Okinawa it lay a mere 350 mi from the Japanese Homeland Islands the island was defended by more than 120,000 Men the Japanese

Commander General mitsuru ishijima was determined to turn it into an American graveyard once again Admiral Nimitz the US commander in the region assembled a huge Fleet it included 40 aircraft carriers and 18 battleships the opening bombardment of Okinawa began on March the 23rd 1945 it lasted for a whole week finally on the morning of April the 1st The assault boats headed for the shore to their surprise they met almost no opposition by Nightfall 60,000 men had landed and the beach head was up to 2 mi deep for the next two days the US forces built

up their strength and pushed across the island again opposition was unexpectedly [Music] light by April the 4th the Japanese Defenders had been split in two [Music] Marine divisions now headed north Army units pushed [Music] South the Marines continued to meet only sporadic resistance and within 3 weeks had cleared the northern part of the [Music] island but it was a different story in the South there the Army units ran into Savage fire [Music] for 10 days the Japanese held their defensive [Music] line then when they could hold out no longer they simply withdrew to the next

defensive position and continu to resist all over again meanwhile the Japanese also prepared to launch an air assault on The Invasion Fleet early on the morning of April the 7th kamikazi Pilots gathered to drink their ritual cups of sakei and climb into their aircraft for the last time over 700 aircraft half of them kamikazi took off and approached the US Landing Fleet a line of radar equipped destroyers operating about 50 Mi out at Sea was hit first by the end of the first day of the attack two US destroyers had been suck 24 other vessels

were also damaged but the Japanese had lost over 300 planes over the following days the Japanese introduced a new weapon the AA or cherry blossom was a rocket powered suicide missile driven by a kamikazi pilot it was launched from a bomber and carried a massive 2,650 lb Warrior on April the 12th another US Destroyer was hit and sunk the Ora looked deadly but us Fighters quickly learned to intercept and shoot down the bombers that carried them in desperation the Japanese Navy now sent a suicide mission of its own the Yamato Japan's largest Battleship was loaded

with just enough fuel to reach Okinawa and ordered to fight to the death sinking as many US ships as possible in the process but as the giant ship approached Okinawa it was spotted Some 400 US aircraft descended within 2 hours it blew [Music] up the fireball could be seen for over 100 miles back on Okinawa torrential rain now turned the battlefield into a quagar for over a month US troops struggled to push their way South every cave or Dugout entrance had to be blasted by flamethrowers grenades and Explosives as before as one defensive line was

overrun the Japanese slipped back to another and the whole Grim business would start a game us casualties rapidly [Music] mounted finally on June the 1st the town of shuri was captured then on June the 4th a new contingent of Marines landed to the south of naha the Island's capital and Linked up with troops pushing down from the [Music] north Savage figh continued but by June the 17th the Japanese resistance was collapsing 5 days later the Americans finally secured [Music] Okinawa the Japanese Commander General ishi Jima committed ritual suicide harakiri [Music] Over 7,000 prisoners were taken

the first time ever that such large numbers of Japanese troops had surrendered it had been a bloody and exhausting campaign 100,000 Japanese soldiers and some 40,000 civilians had been killed the Americans for their part had lost over 15,000 men it was a sobering reminder of what would await the American forces if they invaded the main Japanese home Islands more than ever they needed a solution a way to obliterate Japan's will to fight once and for all [Music] [Applause] the victory at Okinawa meant America's military planners now had to decide what to do next despite shattering

defeats the Japanese still showed no sign of surrendering some us commanders argued for a continuation of the fire bombing Campaign but by the summer of 1945 it was clear that bombing alone would never defeat Japan an invasion seemed unavoidable but the question was at what price [Music] the Japanese had some 1 million men defending the home Islands they were supported by about 5,000 aircraft and new kamikazi pilots were being trained all the Time mass suicide attacks by Civ civilian volunteers could also be expected a bloodb seemed inevitable it was estimated that over a quarter of

a million American lives might be lost then in July 1945 the new US president Harry S Truman heard about the results of a top secret Allied scientific research program it was called the Manhattan Project for 3 years Allied scientists Had been working on an atom bomb a weapon that draws on the vast quantities of energy released when an atom is split it would have an unimaginable destructive [Music] force the project was led by US general Leslie Groves an army engineer the scientific director was Robert Oppenheimer a 39-year-old physicist from the University of California over a

3-year period the Program had recruited many of the Allies best scientific brains two radioactive materials seemed to offer most promise as fuels for the new bombs one was a naturally occurring form of uranium called uranium 235 it was processed at a vast Factory at Oak Ridge Tennessee the other was plutonium a man-made material manufactured in primitive nuclear reactors at Hanford in Washington state the research was coordinated and conducted by a team of scientists at Los Alamos a specially built laboratory complex in the New Mexico [Music] desert by early 1945 the Los Alamos scientists were pretty

confident that they had a uranium bomb that worked but it required huge quantities of uranium 235 and the scientists worried that they didn't have enough Enough of it so they also designed a second bomb that used plutonium but this unlike the uranium bomb was much less well understood and they weren't sure it would work before it could be used they would need to test it by early July 1945 after an expenditure of more than $2 billion the plutonium bomb was ready for trials the gadget as it was called was mounted On a steel Tower in

the New Mexico desert at 5:30 in the morning of July the 16th the atomic age began [Music] [Music] news that operation Trinity had been successful was swiftly passed to President Truman He had recently arrived at a conference in the Berlin suburb of Potsdam meeting with Stalin and Churchill discussing the future of Europe Truman didn't hesitate he ordered his commanders to prepare to drop the new bombs on Japan as soon as possible two bombs a uranium device codenamed little boy and a plutonium bomb called Fatman were now transported to the Mariana Islands there the immensely experienced

Colonel Paul Tibbits leader of the specially trained 9th composite group prepared his b29 At 2:45 in the morning of August the 6th Tibbets lifted his plane named Inola gay after his mother Off The Runway on board he was carrying little boy the flight to the Target Japan's fourth largest city Hiroshima went without a hitch at 8: a.m. on a bright sunny morning Inola gay approached the city at 33,000 [Music] ft then just after 8:15 little boy was released [Music] the uranium bomb had the power of nearly 13,000 tons of TNT the temperature beneath the mushroom

cloud reached 5,000 de Centigrade thousands of people were instantly vaporized [Music] shock waves leveled buildings up to a 5 mile radius estimates of the death toll vary Hugely some put it at 40,000 people others at 100,000 many suffered from terrible Burns and [Music] blistering over the course of the following weeks thousands more people died from radiation poisoning on August the 7th 1945 President Truman told the world about the bomb and issued Japan with a warning let there be no mistake we shall completely destroy Japan's power to make War they may expect a rain of Ruin

from the air the like of which has never been seen on this Earth but no Japanese surrender was received 2 days later on August the 9th fat man was dropped on the major military Port of [Music] Nagasaki the plutonium bomb was even more [Music] powerful in fact the bomb fell way off Target but it still caused massive destruction between 35,000 and 50,000 people are estimated to have died in the explosion the Japanese government could now have no doubt that they faced a new and horrific weapon but the question remained would even this force them to

surrender the Nagasaki bomb was followed by a stark warning from US Secretary of State James Burns there is still time but Little time for the Japanese to save themselves from the destruction which threatens them the intention was clear the atom B would be used again and again until Japan gave in that same day Japan's position became even more precarious early in the morning of August the 9th a million and a half Soviet troops stormed into Manchuria and Northern China The Soviet leader ysf Stalin was not only after territory he wanted a say in any final

peace settlement in the Far [Music] East there were still over a million Japanese troops in the area but the Red Army Blitz cre was Unstoppable the Japanese position in the war had become untellable that evening Emperor Hirohito met with his six top military and political leaders the war cabinet was divided Three led by the Prime Minister Baron canaro Suzuki argued for peace the other three wanted to continue fighting it was deadlock then the Japanese prime minister broke with all precedent and asked the emperor for his opinion Emperor Hirohito voted for peace on condition that his

position as head of state was maintained the next morning a proposal was sent to the US Secretary of State James Burns Burns rejected it only unconditional surrender would do as a Japanese war cabinet argued amongst itself Soviet troops continued to tear into Mongolia at the same time American fighters now roamed freely over Japan shooting up military targets and transport Links at [Music] will massive Air Raids continued to devastate [Music] Japan then on August the 14th the Truman Administration sent word that the emperor's position would be safeguarded provided he agreed to accept the orders of the

supreme commander of Allied Forces hito used his huge Prestige to instruct the war cabinet to endure the unendurable and accept the terms that day in Washington President Truman announced that Japan had Surrendered unconditionally I deem this reply a full acceptance of the pdam Declaration which specifies the unconditional surrender of Japan cheering singing crowds erupted onto the streets of every American [Applause] [Music] city in Britain it was midnight when the new prime minister Clement Atley broadcast the News Japan has today surrendered the last of our enemies is laid low peace has once again come to the

world let us thank God for this great deliverance and his mercies long live the [Applause] king within minutes crowds appeared on the Streets of London many gather outside Buckingham [Applause] [Music] Palace a giant Street party lasted well into the following [Music] [Applause] [Music] day the next morning August the 15th an astounded Japanese people listened to the voice of their God EMP Emperor for the very first time he told them that Japan's position had become impossible and the country Was obliged to surrender all military forces must lay down their arms such was the emperor's Prestige that

almost every unit obeyed [Music] but in Manchuria despite the Japanese ceasefire the Soviet forces fought [Music] on for the first time large numbers of Japanese troops now surrendered nevertheless the Soviets determined to Seize as much territory as possible continued to advance Stalin wouldn't stop the fighting for another week by then a whole of Manchuria half of Korea and part of northern China were under his control elsewhere in Southeast Asia in the Philippines and on many of the Pacific Islands bypassed by the Americans it took weeks for news of the surrender to reach isolated Japanese [Music]

garrisons some Japanese soldiers would remain hidden in the jungle for more than 30 years [Music] finally on August the 28th 2 weeks after the surrender the first US troops arrived in Japan a huge us Fleet gathered in Tokyo bay sailing past the shattered hulks of the once proud Japanese Navy that they had so comprehensively defeated [Music] several days later on September the 2nd 1945 a Japanese delegation came aboard the USS Battleship [Music] Missouri on its Quarter Deck the new Japanese foreign minister mamoru shitsu signed the document of unconditional surrender it was countersigned by US general

Douglas MacArthur The Man Who Would effectively run Japan for the next 6 Years as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers I announce it my firm purpose in the tradition of the countries I represent to proceed in the discharge of my responsibilities with Justice and tolerance then a force of more than 2,000 Allied aircraft roared overhead it was a fitting tribute to the overwhelming power which had finally brought Germany and Japan to utter Defeat World War II was at an end Japan's ruthless desire to wage war had been crushed by a weapon of awesome destructive power

now in the east as in the west the world would be divided and shared along new lines new allegiances would be formed and new enemies would VI for Global influence under the Spectre of nuclear war a new era in world history had begun [Music] [Applause] [Music]