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The Imperial War Museum Collection features rare and fascinating original films preserved in the Museum's archives. These films are of great historical importance and are essential viewing for anyone interested in British military history. The campaign in Burma is remembered bitterly by veterans as 'the forgotten war' - and yet it saw some of the bloodiest combat of the Second World War. Made by the British Army Film Unit in 1945 using film supplied by British, Indian and American combat cameramen, 'Burma Victory' captures all the drama and brutality of the Burma Campaign, making extensive use of combat footage and reviewing the strategy and tactics employed. Directed by Roy Boulting, this film is also the most celebrated documentary to be made about Burma during the war. - Director:
- Roy Boulting
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- Not Available
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On the war-torn battlefields of Normandy in August 1944, two men participated in one of the most fearsome and controversial tank actions of the Second World War. Decades later, the true identity of the man who knocked out Panzer Ace Michael Wittmann is still fiercely debated. This video pulls together the facts, figures and personal accounts of the man who stood against this deadly opponent. Michael Wittmann was a knight of the Nazi regime. He was a highly decorated and accomplished soldier who wore the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. Trooper Joe Ekins, a shoemaker from Northamptonshire, was a volunteer for military service. He was a reluctant soldier in a county yeomanry armoured regiment, while Wittmann served in the Waffen SS's elite Tiger Battalion. Panzer Ace Wittmann had 138 tank kills to his name, including an impressive score against 7th Armoured Division at Villers-Bocage early in the Normandy Campaign, where he destroyed 11 tanks and 20 armoured vehicles in just one day. However, by August 1944, the Allied breakout was gaining momentum and 1 SS Panzer Corps were struggling to contain the British and Canadian troops as they battled towards Falaise. In the fields south of Caen, Wittmann's Tiger and Ekins's Sherman Firefly were pitted against each other, but how was the Panzer Ace finally knocked out? This video documents the remarkable career of Michael Wittmann from his involvement in Greece and on the Eastern Front to his distinguished action at Villers-Bocage. Presented by Tim Saunders and Tom Dormer, accompanied by military vehicle expert Richard Hone, the trio travel to the battlefields of Normandy to follow the paths of these two soldiers to their meeting in battle. Accompanied by analysis of the British and German vehicles used during the campaign, as well as detailed and exclusive interviews with Joe Ekins, the team shed new light on the mysteries surrounding Wittmann's death. - Director:
- Tim Saunders
- Cast:
- Michael Wittmann, Joe Ekins
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"Special Operations: Bruneval Raid" is the first installment in the brand new Special Operations series of DVDs that focus on a select number of the most courageous and strategically vital missions conducted during the Second World War. Their outcome, if successful, had the potential to tip the scales in the Allies favour and pave the way for an Allied victory. In 1941 Dr. RV Jones became convinced that the Germans had developed their own radar system that would account for increasing RAF bomber casualties. After exhaustive research and several failed attempts to make the British High Command take note of his findings, Jones eventually found conclusive evidence that his superiors could no longer ignore. An enemy Wurzburg radar system was located on the cliffs of Northern France at Bruneval and seizing it would be the solution to overcoming the enemy radar problem. A joint operation was planned by HQ Combined Ops that would involve all three Services, including the newly raised and barely parachute qualified C Company, 2nd Parachute Battalion, commanded by Major John Frost. The planning went well but the rehearsals involving the Royal Navy were all disastrous. As the narrow window of moon and tide approached it was decided 'to bash on'. Nine of the twelve sticks of Paratroopers were dropped by 51 Squadron and the Germans were caught napping. However, they quickly responded and the Paras had a serious fight on their hands to keep the enemy at bay. With the enemy closing in the mission was accomplished and the force started a hasty withdrawal, but elements of Frost's plan were beginning to unravel. It seemed that all avenues of escape might be blocked but with the Paras converging on the beach they secured their escape on the badly delayed Royal Navy landing craft. In Britain's darkest hour the success of the Bruneval Raid was just what Churchill needed and the information gained saved the lives of many airmen. In the now established BHTV style, the team revisit the exact locations where the raid took place seventy years ago to explain this momentous operation's successes and failures, making this compulsive viewing for all students of the period. - Director:
- Not Available
- Cast:
- Andrew Duff, Paul Oldfield, Bob Hilton
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This documentary is a visual encyclopedia of the bombers deployed and their strategic use, by both the Allied and Axis Forces during the Second World War. The programme includes detailed accounts of the Lancaster, Wellington, Blenheim, Liberator, Flying Fortress, Heinkel HE 111, Stuka, Mitchell, Superfortress, Heinkel HE 177 Greif, Marauder, Whitley, Halifax, Hampden, Stirling, Arado Blitz and more. - Director:
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During 1942, according to information from England, about 1,000 attacks were flown on German territory: including 17 heavy attacks with a quantity of more than 500 tons of bombs and incendiaries. In 1944, this figure increased tremendously to about 1.6 million tons. The German arms industry was not critically affected by these attacks, despite the heavy bombing. In December of 1944, the monthly production of German weaponry reached its absolute peak. Gradually, the main battle lines moved ever closer to the Reich. No German city was secure from attacks from the air as everything was within reach of the bombers. - Director:
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Green Devils: German Paratrooper Elite 1933-1941 (2004)The German War Files: Green Devils: German Paratrooper Elite
First seeing action during Operation Weseruburg - the invasion of Denmark and Norway in April 1940 - the Green Devils were the 'fallschirmjaeger' (paratrooper) arm of the Luftwaffe and were to see extensive service in both air drop and ground roles, through to the war's end in 1945. The first paratrooper unit was raised in 1935 following the profound impression made upon the Germans by the early experiments with this new form of warfare conducted by the Soviets. This programme deals with the evolution of the paratrooper arm, and goes into depth about their important role in the invasion of the West in 1940. it also offers extensive coverage of the victorious operation that will remain forever linked with the fallschirmjaeger Operation Merkur - the invasion of Crete in 1941. - Director:
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The history of the German Tank Forces...In 1935, the 15th of October saw the first tank regiment of the German Wehrmacht. In each tank division, the medium - sized tanks presented the main battle force. With 3,300 tanks and 250 assault guns; the Eastern Campaign began in June of 1941. In August of 1942 (Tiger) and starting January of 1943 (Panther), these new heavy tanks reinforced the German troops. In the summer of 1943, during the greatest tank battle of all times at Kursk, these tanks were first deployed in large quantities during combat operations. The superior penetrating power and destruction of their weapons allowed victory over enemy tanks for the first time, even at long distances. - Director:
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From the ashes of the fires lit in the dog-fights of the skies above the carnage of World War One, a phoenix would rise - the Luftwaffe of the Third Reich. No ordinary air force, the Luftwaffe was to become the handmaiden of Hitler's dream of conquest and a vital component of 'Blitzkrieg' or 'Lightning War'. However the glories won in Poland, Scandinavia, Holland, Belgium and finally France, as the Nazis marched, victorious, through Europe, were to turn sour. The Fuehrer's continual demands upon his air force, as he fanatically pursued his 'Grand Design' forced the Luftwaffe into the of workhorse, though incompetence, intrigue and greed amongst its commanders made the task near impossible. Starved of new planes and pilots to fly them, stretched across two fronts in Europe and playing a vital role in North Africa, Goering's elite corps was fatally flawed. This tragic story chronicles the initial brilliant success of the Luftwaffe in Europe, it's structure and tactics and the inherit weakness that were to drag the phoenix once again to its inescapable consummation within the fires of Berlin. The story told using very rare footage only recently obtained from the eastern block and not seen in the west since the war. - Director:
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Guns of the Wehrmacht: 1933-1945 (2005)The German War Files: Guns of the Wehrmacht: 1933-1945
The effectiveness of its artillery arm was one of the dominating features of the German Army on the battlefields of the Western Front in the First World War. Indeed, a specific requirement of the Treaty of Versailles was that the new Reichswehr be denied heavy artillery. The expertise and technology that had made the artillery arm so effective in that conflict were never lost. So that when re-armament began in Germany 1933, following the Nazi accession to power, the ground was already laid for the rapid expansion of artillery of all types for the new Wehrmacht. While never acquiring the glamour of Panzer arm, the guns of the Wehrmacht were nevertheless instrumental in serving the German Armed Forces in victory and defeat through to 1945. - Director:
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In 1940 3rd Division, then commanded by a little known major, General Bernard Montgomery, were unceremoniously evacuated from Dunkirk but four long years later they were to return to France in the van of the D-Day assault force; the greatest invasion of all time. Their task was to break through Hitler s Atlantic Wall on a stretch of Normandy beach codenamed SWORD. With the assistance of the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force they would blast their way through the concrete and steel defences that lined the beach. Once ashore their problems were only just beginning! Montgomery had set the Iron Division a demanding D Day task, the capture of the city of Caen but the Germans were deployed in greater depth and strength than the Allies assumed and Rommel had sneaked forward 21st Panzer Division into positions immediately behind the invasion area. With bitter fighting in the villages and open ridges around Caen the two sides fought a desperate battle; the Germans knew that once firmly ashore it would be nigh on impossible to throw them back into the sea as Hitler demanded. This film charts the operations on D-Day from the build-up and embarkation of the force through the crossing and subsequent assault landing. Once ashore, the programme follows the advance of 3rd Division inland to the Perriers Ridge. Here the exhausted soldiers repulsed the attack of 21st Panzer Division. Meanwhile, the Suffolk Regiment were struggling to subdue the major German HQ bunker complex codenamed Hillman, while Lord Lovat's Commandos struck off to the flanks to Pegasus Bridge and the airborne troops. - Director:
- Tim Saunders
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- Tim Saunders, Andrew Duff, Tom Dormer
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Arnhem: Battle of the Woods (2012)Operation Market Garden: Arnhem: Battle of the Woods
Jumping into a Drop Zone 10 miles from Arnhem on the second day of Operation Market Garden was always going to be difficult for Brigadier Shan Hackett's 4th British Parachute Brigade. With little information on how 1 Para Brigade's battle went the day before or what faced them on the ground the stage was set for an epic battle. Author John Waddy, veteran company commander in 156 Para Battalion and a team of some of the best Arnhem experts take the viewer to the ground where 4 Para Brigade tangled with the SS troopers of the Hohenstaufen Panzer Division in the woods to the west of Arnhem in what was to be an unequal but heroic battle; the result of a flawed concept and plan. Driven back from the German blocking position the Brigade was withdrawing across Landing Zone P when the Polish heavy lift aboard gliders swept in to further chaos to a rapidly deteriorating situation. Captain Quirepel was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for his action in helping stem the enemy advance long enough for the Paratroopers to escape across the railway embankment by nightfall. On the third day of the battle veterans recall a lethal day of cat and mouse in the woods as the Paratroopers and surviving glider soldiers struggled to rejoin the rest of the Division around Oosterbeek. - Director:
- Tim Saunders
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- Brigadier Shan Hackett, John Waddy, Captain Quirepel
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The T34 was probably the most important tank to see action during the Second World War - its existence remained a well kept secret from the Germans who were shocked by its appearance on the battlefield. Easy to produce and maintain with innovative and formidable heavy armament, more than 40,000 of this superb medium tank were manufactured. - Director:
- Not Available
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Killer Tanks: The Cromwell Tank (2004)The War File: Killer Tanks - The Cromwell Tank
It was not until 1941 that the British Army General Staff ordered a heavy cruiser tank to replace the vulnerable Crusader. With a design based around the powerful Rolls Royce Meteor, a detuned aircraft engine, the Cromwell went through many design modifications before it finally saw action at Normandy in 1944 - 15 months after it was deemed ready for battle. It was however a fast and agile tank; several thousand had been built by the end of the war in 1945. - Director:
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Heroes appear in different guises but all possess the same qualities; bravery, courage, passion and pride. As the German armies swept all before them, Britain stood alone to face this seemingly unstoppable force and an entire nation put their best foot forward. Some individuals would be celebrated with medals but countless hundreds of thousands of others would pass unrecorded or even unknown. Outside of Britain the men and women of the French resistance, the people of Malta and countless soldiers, sailors and airmen fought bravely to rid the world of such a poisonous evil. - Director:
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This informative programme gives a fascinating account and vivid insight into the colourful history and traditions of a colossal national army, which has always been well respected for its tremendous fighting spirit, regimental pride, courage, organisation and sheer professionalism. It explores the historical background to the key phases of the army's evolution throughout generations, and highlights the struggles and triumphs of Britain's long-term heroes, through exciting, educational and rare archive footage. - Director:
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