Military Blunders

An American B-24 Liberator lost over the Mediterranean in a daylight bombing mission, overshoots its base on the Libyan coast and crashes in the desert.

First, Germany sends its best pocket battleship on a secret mission in the Atlantic in 1939. When confronted by three British cruisers.

In 1940, after an off-course pilot bombs London, the British bomb Berlin. Then: A WWII U.S. B-24 Liberator crew crashes in the Libyan desert. It takes 20 years to learn their fate.

Take a look back at two colossal miscalculations: the attempt by U.S. Special Forces to rescue hostages in the U.S. Embassy during the Iranian Revolution in 1980, and the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion against Castro.

Review the shooting down of South Korean commercial airliner KAL 007 by Soviet fighters after Moscow claimed it had strayed into their airspace.

Gary Powers' reconnaissance spy plane is shot down on a high altitude mission over the U.S.S.R. Then: In another blunder from the early 1960s, a hydrogen bomb is dropped dangerously close to a Spanish holiday resort.

By the mid-1930s, Soviet Armed Forces ranked with the world's most modern - but a purge of senior officers would have disastrous consequences. Then, a look at the failed 1991 coup against Mikhail Gorbachev.

Look at how Saddam Hussein's misunderstanding of the international political climate led to his invasion of Kuwait. Then, examine the aborted attempt by U.S. Special Forces to rescue hostages held in Tehran in 1980.

When an ill-trained lieutenant encouraged his inexperienced platoon to torch a Vietnamese village and massacre its innocent inhabitants, it was his own colleagues who ensured justice was done.

Take a look back at the sinking of half of one of the largest Anglo-American convoys to sail to Russia in World War II.

See how the Lusitania sailed into history, leading the U.S. into World War I, and how the blistering conditions imposed by the Allies on post-war Germany resulted in the rise of Nazism.

British Field Marshal Montgomery races U.S. General Patton into Germany, but deploys airborne brigades one bridge too far. Then: Allied troops are bombed by their own planes at Normandy.

First, look at Hitler's massive counter-offensive in the Belgian Ardennes, where wintry weather works against him. Then, see if the Allies floundered when they bombed a beautiful Franciscan monastery.

A plot by German opposition fails to kill Hitler in 1944 at the Wolf's Lair. Then: In 1917, wide-scale mutinies plague the French army during World War I.

Winston Churchill's badly planned attack on Turkey in WWI is immortalized in the film "Gallipoli." Then: The Canadians face disaster in their first major operation of World War II. But who is really to blame?

The Japanese use of manned torpedoes, speedboats packed with explosives, and midget submarines fails to achieve real success. Then: The U.S. Navy continues to oufit its carriers with a fatal flaw.

When the Germans could have crushed the 400,000 remnants of the British Expeditionary Force, Hitler withholds his Panzers. Then: Hitler's plans are foiled due to his misunderstanding of amphibious operations.

President Roosevelt fights resistance to joining the war against Germany and Italy - until Hitler declares war on the U.S. Then: Hitler's insistence on taking Stalingrad leads to the loss of an entire army.

The Imperial Japanese Navy's greatest blunder happens at Midway, when everything that can go wrong does. Then: Japanese use of manned torpedoes and explosive speedboats fails to achieve real success.

After daring Inchon landings force back the invading North Koreans, General MacArthur insists on pushing forward. Then: Japanese use of manned torpedoes and explosive speedboats fails to achieve real success.

In 1940, Mussolini invades Greece, but suffers a severe setback. Then: In May 1941, the Germans seize Crete in a daring airborne operation - that the British see coming.

In 1940, Mussolini invades Greece, but suffers a severe setback. Next, the "impregnable" British defense line in Libya that proves fatally flawed.

The lack of priority given to night fighting capability by the U.S. Navy proves disastrous when Americans meet the Japanese at Guadalcanal in 1942. Then: A U.S.A.A.F. belief about its own bombers proves fatal

The U.S. loses 700 servicemen in a landing rehearsal off the coast of England. Then, learn why no German spies operated successfully from Britain during WWII.

When the U.S. cruiser Indianapolis is torpedoed, the crew is left struggling in shark-infested waters. Then: The Queen Mary cuts an escorting cruiser in two.