Battlefields of the World Wars

Verdun in Northeast France was the scene of World War Is most emblematic battle During the harsh winter the German army prepared to launch an powerful offensive on the Meuse Valley After 300 days of fighting and 300000 dead the fighting shifted away from the Verdun front With so much firepower trained on the French lines why did the German offensive fail How did it color the course of this Great

April 1917 With the gloom of winter still hanging over France French soldiers were sure the Great War was about to end More than a million gathered on the 30 kilometer front with aircraft and tanks deployed to break through German defenses Yet the Germans easily repelled the attack tens of thousands died Why did this fullyequipped French army fail How did the Germans manage to stop them

June 1940 In The Highlands Of Southeastern France A Small Number Of French Soldiers Faced Off Against An Invasion Of 300000 Italian Troops Everywhere The French Army Was In Disarray The Government Had Fled To Bordeaux The Germans Had Entered Paris The Roads Were Crowded With Refugees And Retreating Soldiers Why Did This Relative Handful Of French Soldiers Continue To Fight When All Was Lost What E

This infamous battle is one of the worst chapters in the story of World War II On one August evening after 9 hours of fighting over 2000 Allied soldiers most of them Canadians were killed in a raid on a Nazioccupied port How did this fiasco unfold What strategic goals were served by this perilous operation What lessons did the Allies learn as they planned for the Normandy landings two years

In July of 1944, at the height of World War II in Europe, Americans stormed the beaches of Normandy in Northern France. Everyone thought it would be a relatively easy move through Adolph Hitler's Nazi defenses. They were wrong. It took nearly two months to advance 50 kilometers into the French countryside. Now, commanders and historians study the invasion to understand what went right and wrong.

June 5th 1944 over 13000 men from two American parachute divisions flew a nearly impossible mission to secure the right flank of the Normandy invasion open roads secure bridges and blunt German counterattacks Who were these brave men most of whom jumped for the first time and many of whom perished How did they achieve this incredible feat Why did the Germans fail to stop their attack

June 6 1944 156000 Allied soldiers pushed toward the French Normandy coast in Operation Overlord Among them were 15000 Canadians of the 3rdInfantry Division Of the first wave half got no further than the shore Those who punched through entered one of the most brutal battles of the offensive In just a few hours these heroes faced a counterattack from the Hitler Youths 12th SS Panzer Division nbsp

August 1944 For Four Years The Swastika Flag Flew At The Top Of The Eiffel Tower In A Time Of Deprivation Humiliation And Repression Despite Hitlers Vow To Destroy Paris Rather Than Surrender It Parisians Rose Up To Play A Crucial Role In Driving The Nazis Out General Charles De Gaulle Returned To Paris To Address The People In A Moment Of National Reconciliation Ldquowe Who Have Lived The Greates

December 1944 the Ardennes region of Northern France was the scene of one of the bloodiest battles of World War II immortalized in the movie ldquoSaving Private Ryanrdquo A few days before Christmas 500000 Germans prepared to attack Allied forces with overwhelming force The Allied counterattack demonstrated the steely nerve of American generals led by Dwight D Eisenhower and the incredible

There is no equal on the battlefield to the indomitable presence of the tank. For the last century, the tank has laid siege to front lines, provided protection to infantry, and struck fear into the hearts of its enemies. This special episode of Battlefields chronicles the development and evolution of this metal beast, from its birth in WWI to its deployment in modern urban warfare.