clive's - Rented List
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"Spitfire" is an epic, sweeping tale of determination, vision, and courage. It is the story of an aircraft that was forged in competition, shaped as the war clouds gathered, and refined in the white heat of combat. Credited with changing the course of world history, this is the story of the Spitfire told in the words of the last-surviving combat veterans, with stunning aerial footage from the world's top aviation photographer. Her place in history assured, Spitfire also explores how this extraordinary plane thrives today and how it has become an international icon. - Director:
- David Fairhead
- Cast:
- Mary Ellis, Geoffrey Wellum
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In this series, world-renowned experts investigate the man behind the monster - taking us into the of depths Hitler's mind and revealing what made him tick. Using the latest research across the course of Hitler's life, they pinpoint the key moments in his meteoric rise and ultimate downfall. The series features some rarely seen archive material and state of the art colourisation which helps bring Hitler powerfully to life. Expert analysts also scour the archive for clues, revealing fresh insights into Hitler's body language and the power of his speech. Ultimately, this series provides a fresh perspective on Hitler and explains how he was able to go from jobless loner to a ruthless dictator loved and feared by millions. - Director:
- Stan Griffin
- Cast:
- Chris Wilson, Andrew Goddard, David Hopper
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"The Royal Air Force at War" is a unique collection of three, extra-length videos chronicling the RAF in service during the Second World War and covering the period 1940-1944. Each remarkable volume contains a wide selection of rare films that have never been released on video before and, in many cases, will not have been seen since the war years. These carefully selected films cover a truly diverse range of subjects, from ditching procedures for Halifax bomber crews to a celebration of the newly introduced Lancaster and from instructions for navigators on board Stirlings to the best way to rescue crashed fighter pilots from their cockpits. There are film guides to preventing air accidents, fascinating behind-the-scenes accounts of servicing Wellington bombers and even a look at the RAF Regiment Together, these 24 training and public information films provide a fascinating historical record of the Royal Air Force during the height of the war years. - Director:
- Not Available
- Cast:
- Not Available
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Continuing the story of 'Operation Bulbasket' the BHTV team follow the development of the attacks on the railways in order to delay the arrival of crucial German re-enforcements in Normandy. They find the clandestine drop zones where the men and jeeps dropped, look at the targets (railway bridges and junctions) and SAS camps deep in isolated forests, before examining how it all started to unravel.
Following the information from the torture cells of the Gestapo headquarters in Poitiers to the barracks of the SS training battalion who were to attack the SAS, this film details the German cordon and search tactics used in the Verrieres Camp Raid. The majority of the SAS were captured by the SS and the Resistance fighters with them were summarily executed. After interrogation and buck passing, 'Hitler's Kommando Order' to execute all Allied commandos was finally carried out in the depths of a remote wood.
But the operation went on, with Captain Tonkin and the surviving officers and men of the SAS carrying out regular and increasingly risky attacks on the railways, having been joined by US airmen. Together they forced the Germans to tie up increasing numbers of men guarding the lines if they were to avoid total logistic paralysis on the routes north to Normandy. A few brave men had an impact on the liberation of France out of all proportion to their number.
Finally, orders were received in early August for their extraction and the presenters look at the preparation of the landing strip and the risky night landing of RAF and USAAF aircraft to take them home.- Director:
- Not Available
- Cast:
- Not Available
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The German battery of six 150mm guns established on Pointe du Hoc during the building of Hitler's vaunted Atlantic Wall provided cover for both Omaha and Utah Beaches. The 100ft high cliffs weren't a suitable objective for paratroopers, who were already at full capacity elsewhere so the task fell to Colonel Rudder, who developed and trained 2nd Rangers in a series of scaling techniques. These included sectional aluminium commando ladders, rocket grapples and ropes, plus the so called Swans-London Fire Brigade ladders. On hearing the Ranger plan to scale the cliffs and seize the battery before the beach landings, experienced commanders commented that 'three old women with brooms could sweep them off the cliffs'. On the morning of 6 June a culmination of bad weather, navigational errors and communications failure meant that less than 200 of Rudder's Rangers were delivered to the foot of the cliffs. In an epic of American military history against every kind of difficulty, small groups of Rangers battled their way up ropes and ladders, with grenades bursting around them, to scale the unstable cliff. A handful of men spread out and cleared the stunned defenders but, as is often the case, seizing the objective was only a part of the battle. Isolated for over 24 hours, with no relief from the near disaster at Omaha, the Rangers fought on against increasingly determined German counter-attacks. Meanwhile, at Omaha Beach, Company C cleared a dominating German strongpoint and the remainder of the Rangers who should have gone to Pointe du Hoc made all the difference between success and failure in Dog Sector, when General Norman Cota coined the phrase 'Rangers Lead the Way'. - Director:
- Tim Saunders
- Cast:
- Tim Saunders, Richard Hone, Tom Dormer
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"SAS Operation Bulbasket" is the first of two films that explore the ill-fated operation carried out by B B Squadron in the months of June and July 1944. Although this Special Forces operation did have some significant success, it also resulted in the capture and subsequent murder of 35 British and American servicemen. Most of the SAS returned from the Mediterranean in early 1944 but at home they were greeted as yet another of the unwelcome private armies that had proliferated during the war. It was a struggle to find suitable manpower and the D Day planners were reluctant to give them a mission. The former was solved by taking high quality manpower from Churchill's Secret Army the stay behind Auxiliary Force. However, it took doubts over the French Resistance's ability to execute Plan Vert, the disruption of the railways that were vital for the Germans to move the Das Reich Panzer Division from South West France to Normandy. In Operation Bulbasket, A Troop of B Squadron, 1st SAS Regiment were allocated a vast area south of the Loire through which Das Reich would have to transit. With the SAS only allowed to operate after the invasion had begun the Germans faced the pent up anger of the French who started to rise-up against them. Das Reich convoys were attacked as they crossed into the Dordogne and the Vienne regions. Brutal reprisals followed that culminated in the massacre at Oradour. Filmed on the ground by the Battlefield History TV team, the film takes the viewer to the scenes of the action following the resistance and the SAS in the early phases of the operation. Bulbasket s first phase culminated with the men on the ground calling in an airstrike by Mosquito fighter bombers that destroyed eleven vital German petrol trains. In finding the enemy fuel and directing the attack a few men deep behind the enemy lines had a truly significant impact on German operations in Normandy - Director:
- Not Available
- Cast:
- Tom Dormer, Tim Saunders, Andrew Duff
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When Montgomery took over command of 21st Army Group the COSSAC plan only had three beaches. He promptly up-scaled the enterprise inserting two new beaches including GOLD and, what is more, he had just the boys to land there the veteran 50th Northumbrian Division who had fought with the Eighth Army and landed in Sicily. They were joined by the southern regulars of 231 Brigade who already had two assault landings under their belt and they would need every bit of experience to overcome Hitler's Atlantic Wall.
This film covers the build up, assault landing and cleaning of the beatches of Nazi-occupied France. The action is accompanied by expert commentary of the bombardment by air and sea, some of it shot on the decks and turrets of HMS Belfast, as well as on the actual ground where the action took place almost seventy years ago.
69 Brigade had a difficult but successful landing, including the first of his actions that ultimately brought Sergeant Major Stanley Hollis the only D Day Victoria Cross. Thanks to him they were soon heading inland. Meanwhile, all kinds of problems had beset 231 Brigade and the success of their landing was in jeopardy. The veteran Dorsets, Hampshires and Devons got on with their tasks without tanks and artillery thanks to a single surviving anti-tank gun and a massive crater on the only viable route off the beach. Despite these difficulties 50th Division were heading from Gold Beach, towards their distant objectives by mid morning.- Director:
- Not Available
- Cast:
- Tom Dormer, Richard Hone, Tim Saunders
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Following on from BHTV's earlier film in the 'Operation Market Garden' series, Hell's Highway, the series now reaches the battle to seize two Bridges over Europe's largest water ways; the Maas and Waal rivers at Nijmegen. Here the 82nd US airborne were denied coup de main attacks to seize the bridges by the air commanders. Whilst Grave Bridge was captured, confusion in US orders meant that the barely defended bridge at Nijmegen was only attacked when the Germans had taken an opportunity to reinforce the garrison. The resulting battle to regain control of the situation is an epic of Anglo-American military history. With the 10th SS Frundsberg Division marching south to block the Allied advance, the British Guards Armoured Division, delayed by a blown bridge on Hell's Highway, arrived and were pitched into a quick attack fighting alongside the American Paratroopers but this quick attack failed to grab the bridges. A better organised and supported attack was needed the following day. The key was to be a river crossing by 3rd 504th Parachute Infantry that British General Miles Dempsey described as he watched as 'unbelievable'. With the Guards and 82nd closing in on the bridges from both sides the German defence crumbled. Even though the bridges were in Allied hands the 82nd was being assailed by counter attacks from every compass point and the metaphorical life blood of the armoured division, its supplies coming up from Hell's Highway, was being choked off. Our team of expert historians explain this amazing story in impeccable detail whilst not avoiding the controversies of this battle, which are so often divided on national lines, and have concentrated on military logic to cut to the truth. The video also boasts the first on-screen interview with Lord Peter Carrington, who crossed the Nijmegen Bridge in the wake of the first four tanks. - Director:
- Not Available
- Cast:
- Mike Peters, Jo Hook, John Greenacre
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'Arnhem: Battle for the Island and Evacuation' is the fourth film in the 'Operation Market Garden' series of video's. This film covers the desperate fighting in the Oosterbeek Perimeter by 1st Airborne Division and 43rd Wessex Division between Nijmegen and the Rhine. Having reached the Poles at Driel on the banks of the Rhine opposite the Oosterbeek Perimeter, the West Country soldiers struggled to get the Poles and stores across the fast flowing river to the increasingly beleaguered airborne troops, who were grimly hanging on. Experts in this often overlooked part of the battle link events astride the Rhine and bring a new clarity to what is often a one sided view of events.
The tensions between the Poles and the British, American criticism and the fact that the corridor was repeatedly cut behind XXX Corps meant that Montgomery and his senior commanders had to face facts; the plan to cross Holland in a single leap onto the North German Plain and victory had failed. Meanwhile, the Wessex Division attempted to reinforce the airborne troops but only seventy-five out of 300 Dorsets made it across the River and into the Perimeter. Evacuation of the remains of the Airborne Division, who had been sustained in their positions by the guns of the Royal Artillery, was the only option. Eight days after the operation began 2,398 exhausted men, all that remained of one of Britain's finest divisions, escaped 'the Witches' Cauldron' and an eerie silence settled on Oosterbeek.
Presented in the usual BHTV style and complimented by detailed maps and original archive and re-enactment footage, this video gives a fitting conclusion to the 'Arnhem' series, making this a compulsive purchase for all those interested in military history.- Director:
- Not Available
- Cast:
- Not Available
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"Operation Market Garden" was designed to end the war by Christmas 1944 and clear away Hitler's V weapons from the North Sea Coast. Following the collapse of the German Army in Normandy, it seemed that a bold move to seize the three major and numerous other waterways across Holland would place the Second British Army beyond the Rhine, putting the Allies on the North German Plain and on the road to Berlin. The Allies had, however, outrun their supplies and the Germans were staging an amazing strategic recovery. On 17 September 1944 the 101st US Airborne Division parachuted into a drop zone, north of Eindhoven in a bid to avoid 'unnecessary casualties from flak', denying them a coup de main against the first significant canal bridge at Son. With plenty of warning of the approach the Germans blew the bridge, arguably dealing Market Garden a potentially mortal blow from the very outset. Meanwhile, the British XXX Corps were also facing an arduous uphill struggle. A mixture of SS and Fallschirmjagertioops halted the breakout of the Guards Armoured Division in its tracks. However, by nightfall the Irish Guards were through the German defences and had reached Valkenswaard 10 miles along the 60 mile route to Arnhem. With the bridging operation complete the Grenadier Guards Group covered the next 30 miles to Nijmegen in little over three hours. Market Garden looked as if it were back on schedule despite the setbacks and Arnhem was only 10 miles further on. It was one thing to reach Nijmegen in forty hours but for the American Paratroopers holding the route open the situation was bleak. The road north across Holland quickly earned the well deserved nickname 'Hell's Highway' as the Paratroopers fought to fend off a seemingly endless torrent of enemy troops from the east and west. The Germans only had to get within firing range of the road to effectively close the vital highway and starve the troops of all kinds of vital combat supplies. With the help of military experts, the BHTV team will examine the successes and failures on Hell's Highway to paint a true picture of the bitter fighting that took place there almost seventy years ago. - Director:
- Not Available
- Cast:
- Mike Peters, Jo Hook, John Greenacre
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General Winter Takes Command (2001)The Weather at War: General Winter Takes Command
One of the most calamitous military campaigns ever undertaken was planned by an acknowledged military genius, Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. The invasion of hated Russia in 1812 involved an army of more than 500,000 men but less than 50,000 lived to see their homeland again. Was Napoleon undone by a dramatic loss of his military prowess? The answer is no - he was defeated by the freezing snows of a merciless Russian winter, the most severe for more than one hundred years. The unimaginable misery of the infamous retreat from Moscow is vividly retold with the use of extensive film footage and period imagery. The events of 1941 proved that Hitler was no student of history, for the fate suffered by his armies during the Russian campaign in the third year of World War Two was virtually identical to that which befell Napoleon some 130 years earlier. Sent to conquer the great enemy during the summer, the German Army expected and was prepared for, a swift decisive campaign but the Russians refused to buckle and the fighting dragged on. Soon the Germans, supplied with only light summer clothing, were faced with an enemy every bit as dangerous as the Red Army, the savage Russian winter. This episode of "The Weather at War" describes the effects of winter conditions on these disastrous campaigns and draws eerie similarities and coincidences between them both. - Director:
- Not Available
- Cast:
- Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, Adolf Hitler
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"Hitler's Bodyguard" tells the fascinating story of jealousy, betrayal and murder and what it was like to protect the biggest villain in history from bombs, snipers, plots, maniacs, poison gas and Allied assassination attempts. This is the detailed story of Hitler's survival from a very new angle. Access to original SS records gives a fascinating insight into Hitler's inner circle of bodyguards, providing a unique insight into The Fuhrer and the men who made up the his team of bodyguards, their protection techniques and the rivalries that raged between them. - Director:
- Jonathan Martin
- Cast:
- Robert Powell, Adolf Hitler, Sepp Dietrich
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The German Propaganda Kompanien (PK) captured the events of Hitler's war on every front. Their footage was used to produce Die Deutsche Wochenschau, a weekly cinema newsreel detailing the events of World War II on land, sea and air. For the first time these unique primary source films have been collated, edited and translated into English in order to produce a complete military history of the Third Reich drawn exclusively from German primary sources. This amazing range of films captures the events of World War II exactly as they were presented to contemporary cinema audiences while the actions on the battlefield were still unfolding. This volume features translated Wochenschau newsreels dating from June through to August 1940 and records the military events following the collapse of French resistance and the withdrawal of the BEF from France. Particular emphasis is placed on Hitler s triumphal return to Munich and Berlin. - Director:
- Not Available
- Cast:
- Adolf Hitler
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In 1919 the first wave of fascism is created in Italy by Benito Mussolini and in Germany by Adolf Hitler. In his infamous rise to power Il Duce (Mussolini) bans all other parties, freedom of the press is abolished and opponents butchered. Adolf Hitler's ascent to absolute power is equally violent with all enemies either assassinated or imprisoned. The Swastika - the party emblem becomes a symbol of fear and hatred wherever it is displayed. This video, using some of the most unique library footage currently in existence, takes you through all the major events leading up to the second World War and the ultimate demise of both dictators. - Director:
- Not Available
- Cast:
- Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler
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When Adolf Hitler inherited political power in Germany, he became the idol of a country that had been brought to its knees and humiliated after defeat in World War I. Following the Great War, Germany was engulfed in total poverty, financial collapse and violent social disarray. Hitler seized this opportunity to elicit favor, and remodeled an entire nation to his idealistic view. At first, his fiery rhetoric encouraged people's faith in 'A New Order', but as unprecedented incursions into neighboring countries rapidly escalated into the outbreak of World War II, Hitler began to make seriously catastrophic errors in military strategy. Despite the urgent pleas of his military generals, Hitler continued to pursue an extraordinary course of action that would eventually end in total defeat for Germany. This fascinating documentary highlights the fundamental mistakes made by Germany's once revered Fiihrer, and accurately follows Hitler's 'Strategy of Failure' - Director:
- Roger Owen
- Cast:
- Stephen Greif
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