The D-Day story is one I’ve always found irresistible … Much of our accepted view of the Normandy landings needs questioning … The story is more nuanced. James Holland, Normandy ’44: The Battle Beyond D-Day, BBC 2018
A massive assault that caught the Germans completely by surprise … The events that followed are often overlooked. ibid.
These static divisions that would confront the Allies as they came ashore … before the Panzer divisions could counter-attack. ibid.
After the initial slaughter, the Americans overcame the German strongholds. ibid.
Operation Overlord was largely Monty’s plan. ibid.
At their height, the Mulberry harbours landed nearly 7,000 tons of supplies every day. ibid.
The most feared was the Tiger tank … It’s enormous … If a Tiger broke through, the damage could be considerable. ibid.
It’s long been known that German soldiers used a form of Methamphetamine called Pervitin during the Second World War. But have tales of Nazis on speed diverted attention away from the other side of the story – the widespread use of stimulants by British and American troops? Did WWII unleash the world’s first pharmacological arms race? James Holland, World War Speed: The Drugs that Won WWII, BBC 2019
Many Nazis including the Fuhrer himself were heavy drug users. ibid.
Even more than keeping troops awake, British commanders wanted a pill that made men fearless. ibid.
‘Benzedrine has been introduced in the UK in 1935.’ ibid. expert
Whether Monty himself brought Benzedrine into the desert and whether he saw it as a morale builder … Orders for Benzedrine came straight from the top. ibid.
In September 1940 death and destruction came to the streets of Britain on a scale never seen before or since. They called it the Blitz. In the space of little over eight months more than 450,000 bombs rained down on British soil. But in the midst of the chaos and confusion meticulous records were kept. Blitz: The Bombs that Changed Britain I, BBC 2018
A bomb falls on the east end of London on the very first night of the Blitz: 8 Martindale Road. This bomb changed lives. But it also exposed a social care system in crisis. What followed was a radical shift in attitudes towards the welfare of us all. And it began with one bomb. ibid.
Wave after wave of bombers began to hammer the London docks. ibid.
As many as one in ten bombs that fell during the Blitz were classified as UXBs. ibid.
A city in flames and a transport system in chaos. ibid.
March 1941: A bomb fell on a quiet suburban street in Hull. It destroyed lives. It entangled its victims in an extraordinary psychological study. A study that was used to support one of the most controversial wartime strategies the British government has ever carried out. And it began with one bomb. Blitz: The Bombs that Changed Britain II
By March 1941 the Luftwaffe had inflicted severe damage on London. They now set their sights on other cities. ibid.
In the course of the war nearly 500,000 tons of allied bombs were dropped on German cities. ibid.
In one of the most brutal raids of the Blitz a bomb falls on Jellicoe street in the Scottish town of Clydebank. This bomb and others like it shattered lives and threatened total defeat. Blitz: The Bombs that Changed Britain III
It killed everyone inside the tenement block. 31 people in all. ibid.
November 1940: The port city of Bristol is assailed by deadly weapons of mass destruction. More than 12,000 incendiary bombs fell on Bristol that night. Blitz: The Bombs that Changed Britain IV
German aggression towards Poland is building … This warning seems to have been all but ignored … revealed only recently in a secret intelligence officer’s private papers. Document: The Hague Warning, BBC Radio 4 2014
These are the wrecks of World War II. Some of its greatest mysteries lie beneath the sea. Imagine if we could empty oceans letting water drain away to reveal secrets from the deep. WW2 Wrecks: Draining the Ocean, Channel 5 2018
For over a hundred years battles have raged in the air for command of the skies. Since its earliest beginning in World War I, the aeroplane is the supreme weapon of the armed forces. It revolutionised battle and changed the ways war was fought and won. Wings of War I: Bombers, Discovery 2019
A new kind of warfare is unleashed: blitzkrieg. ibid.
The largest payload of any World War II bombers … Over 7,000 Lancasters were built … 150,000 sorties during the course of the Second World War. ibid.
The British now had a bomb which could bounce … The Lancaster’s approach run had to be spot-on. ibid.
The B17s were at their most exposed on a bomb run. ibid.
By 1940 Germany had conquered most of Europe. Hitler’s next target was a small island across the English channel – Britain. In the summer of that year Britain prepared for an all-out air attack to defend the country from Nazi Germany. Britain’s Royal Air Force was in the front line to defend against the German invasion. This would be an air battle that would decide the fate of Britain and the course of World War II. Wings of War IV: The Battle of Britain
Armed with eight 7.7 Browning machine guns, the Spitfire could attack at speeds of over 360 mph at high altitude. Flying alongside the Spitfire was the Hawker Hurricane. ibid.
The combat planes that decided the greatest Naval encounter the world had ever seen: the Battle of Midway … It was combat aircraft that determined the outcome of the most decisive naval battle of World War II: the epic clash between the Japanese imperial forces and the United States of America took place on June 4th 1942 off the tiny island of Midway. Wings of War s1e7: Battle of Midway
In just two weeks the German army storms across France and Belgium, pushing hundreds of thousands of British and French soldiers to the sea at Dunkirk. A brutal aerial bombardment, fast moving tanks, a super human infantry: this is Blitzkrieg – lightning war. Blitzkrieg is one of the most extraordinary events of World War II. Greatest Events of WWII I: Blitzkrieg, Discovery 2019
He introduces compulsory military service in 1935. And marches back into the Reinland the following year with 30,000 troops. ibid.
What the French didn’t know is that the German army had a secret weapon – the weapon was manufactured by the Berlin drug company called Temmlerweke: Pervitin is a powerful methamphetamine known on the streets today as Crystal Meth. ibid.
The poor visibility makes it very difficult for the Luftwaffe to divebomb. ibid.
The fate of Western Europe hangs in the balance. Wave after wave of Nazi bombers head for London. Hitler believes Britain is on its knees. The RAF scramble every available fighter to defend the capital city: it will be a battle to the death. If the Nazis defeat the RAF, a seaborne invasion of the British Isles can begin. The Battle of Britain is one of the most heroic clashes of World War II. Greatest Events of World War II II: Battle of Britain
Britain and her empire stand alone against Hitler’s armies. ibid.
So he [Churchill] reluctantly instructs the Royal Navy to sink the main French fleet anchored off the coast of Algeria. ibid.
The British have developed sophisticated advance warning. ibid.
Britain braced itself for a Nazi invasion. ibid.
Pearl Harbor is one of the most extraordinary events of World War II … The largest gathering of naval air power in history sets out on a top secret mission. 30 ships carrying 408 aeroplanes and 16,000 men are travelling 4,000 miles across the Pacific ocean. Greatest Events of World War II III: Pearl Harbor
The Battle of Midway is one of the most dramatic events of World War II. Greatest Events of World War II IV: Battle of Midway
The entire Japanese military is now galvanised behind Admiral Yamamoto. ibid.
Midway is a valuable forward airfield and refuelling base for the Americans. ibid.
‘The Battle of Stalingrad is said to have been the bloodiest [battle] of World War II.’ (World War II & Battle) Greatest Events of World War II V: Siege of Stalingrad, Saul David
The Battle of Stalingrad is one of the most brutal engagements of World War II. ibid.
The Red Army suffers astonishing casualties losing three million soldiers. But the Nazi onslaught is finally halted at Moscow. ibid.
‘The landscape was apocalyptic.’ ibid. Saul David