Seasons & Episode
Hitler unleashes blitzkrieg with paratroops, massive air armadas and fast moving armored and mechanized divisions in Western Europe through the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg and invades France. The British Expeditionary Force is pushed to the sea at Dunkirk while the Germany army sweeps through France in six weeks.
Japan draws the United States into the war with attack on Pearl Harbor. Philippines, Guam, Wake Island and the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong also attacked and Japanese forces invade Thailand and Malaysia. In Eastern Europe, the Russians launch a massive counter-attack against the Germans.
Rommel's forces retreat in North Africa. German Army puts Leningrad under siege that would last until early 1944. The British Colonies in Asia fall to the Japanese. A look at the U.S. fighter planes in service at the outbreak of war. With the United States now engaged a look at the World at War.
U.S. troops in the Philippines retreat to Bataan. On the home front, America gears up for global war. The Afrika Corps reverses retreat and catches the Allies unprepared in new fighting in North Africa. A look at the U.S. pilots fighting the air war in China.
Singapore, the major British military base in Southeast Asia and the keystone defense position for the region and the Southwest Pacific falls to the Japanese. It is the largest surrender of British military personnel in history. The Nazis prepare their Final Solution for the Jews in Europe.
Churchill visits North Africa and Moscow. The Luftwaffe pounds the British on Malta, and Rommel is defeated at El Alamein.
After victories at Coral Sea and Midway the Allies take to the offense in the Pacific with U.S. Marines landing on Guadalcanal in August 1942. With the eventual victory at Guadalcanal, the strategic initiative passed to the Allies for the remainder of the Pacific war. In Europe the Russians stop the Germans at Stalingrad and turn the tide of war.
Battle of Bloody Ridge on Guadalcanal. Rommel returns to Germany from North Africa. Allies battle German U-Boat Wolfpacks attacking convoys in the Atlantic. Allied send material aid to Russians. Preparations continue for Operation Torch, the North Africa invasion.
Marines halt Japanese Guadalcanal offensive to retake Henderson Field. Major victory in North Africa as British 8th Army scores huge victory over Afrika Corps in Battle of El Alamein. Allies invade Morocco and Algeria forcing a two front war on the Africa Korps. Profile: Medicine Men - Doctors In The Jungle.
U.S. Navy turns the tide off Guadalcanal ending stalemate. The Vichy French government surrenders to the Allies in North Africa. Germans trapped in Stalingrad by Red Army. The U.S. becomes the arsenal of democracy.
The German grip in Russia broken at Stalingrad and Leningrad. In North Africa British forces take Tripoli. Japan's Hollow Army: After Midway with the Allies naval forces on the offensive, Japan's troops in the South Pacific began to feel the effects of dwindling supplies. New technology: Radar scans the horizon.
Allies inflict major defeat on Japanese trying to reinforce New Guinea at battle of Bismarck Sea. British bombing campaign against Germany targets Nazi industrial base. In North Africa, Patton takes over American forces. Russian Air Force getting upper hand against Luftwaffe. American troops train for jungle warfare.
The Battle of Hill 609 in Tunisia is a key victory for American forces. British fool Germans with Operation Mincemeat convincing German High Command Allies next target is Greece, not Sicily. In the Atlantic, Allies push U-Boats to the brink with Nazi subs retreating from the North Atlantic. A look at life aboard an aircraft carrier.
The Battle of Attu in the Aleutians in May 1943 was the only land battle in World War II fought on incorporated territory of the United States. Attu and Kiska had been occupied by the Japanese as part of the complex Midway campaign undertaken by the Japanese Navy and Army. It is also the only land battle in which Japanese and American forces fought in Arctic conditions.
U.S. plans for Pacific Campaign in 1943 centers on Central Pacific Theater. German armored forces on the Eastern Front move towards Kursk in Russia leading to climactic tank battle. In Europe, the Allies invade Sicily. A look at the Engineers in the European Theater.
Patton takes Palermo in Sicily in route to Messina. American forces capture Munda and key airfield n New Georgia island group in the Solomons. Allies bomb Ploesti oil fields in Romania, a key oil producing complex for the Axis armies. On the Easter Front the Red Army gets relief.
Mussolini rescued by German paratroopers and restored to power in Northern Italy. In the Pacific U.S. Navy launches major drive toward Japanese homeland. Daylight air raids halted in Europe while nighttime raids continue. A look at life in Britain: Civilians share the sacrifice.
Allies take Naples. Italian government turns on Germany and lines up with Allies. Germans fortify northern Italy with more troops. On the Eastern front Russians retake Kiev in the Ukraine. A look at Terra Infirma: Mud on the Battlefield.
Admiral Halsey takes Bougainville in the Solomon Islands isolating main Japanese base at Rabaul. Heavy German resistance stalls Allies Italian offensive across all fronts. Allied leaders Churchill and FDR meet in Cairo to discuss Normandy campaign.
Allied landings at Anzio in Italy initially successful but slow movement allows for major German counterattack stalling drive to Rome. Monte Cassino: The Aftermath: The ancient abbey established by St. Benedict was completely destroyed by bombing and artillery barrages during the fighting. American forces roll across the Pacific through the Marianas and into the Philippine Sea.
Allied forces take Pisa a key position in the last German Army defensive line in Italy. In France U.S. forces take St. Lo and British move on Caen, a critical road hub in the Normandy region. In the Pacific, U.S. forces land on Guam and Tinian in the Marianas. Japanese war leader Tojo resigns. A plot by German politicians and military leaders to assassinate Hitler on July 20, 1944 fails.
Russians halt advance outside Warsaw and Germans crush resistance in Polish capital. The Patton-Montgomery rivalry, started in North Africa, renews on the Western front in Europe. British forces take Florence as Allies continue push in Northern Italy. Allied forces force breakout from St. Lo in Normandy.
U.S. forces move in Brittany to take key ports needed to supply Allied forces in France. Allies make new landings in Southern France, Operation Anvil & Dragoon, and take key ports at Toulon and Marseille and control of railroad hubs. A look at Photo Recon and Mapping.
Peleliu falls to the Marines in the Pacific while British forces take key port of Antwerp in Belgium opening new supply lines for Allied forces in Europe. British Prime Minister Churchill visits Moscow to confer with Russian leadership. Russian forces sweep through the Balkans pushing German forces into retreat.
Allies take the Dutch island of Walcheren taking out German forces in a position to block Allied forces getting to key port of Antwerp for resupply. Japan reinforces its land forces on Leyte. Patton drives to German border and 3rd Army crosses Moselle River near Metz. German battleship Tirpitz, sister ship to the Bismarck, sunk by RAF. FDR elected for an unpresented third term in November 1944.
First Allied convoy reaches Antwerp shortening supply lines for Allied forces in Europe. Vicious land battle in the Philippines continues. A look at U.S. submarines in the war in the Pacific. Metz falls to the Allies but buys time for retreating German Army. Britain stands down the Home Guard in December 1944.
U.S. forces in Luzon drive towards Manila. Battle of the Bulge continues on the Western Front. U.S. forces secure Leyte. Russian forces begin drive to the Oder River after debacle in Poland that sees the destruction of Polish resistance by Germans.
Allies contain Bulge breach ending German Army offense in the West and Allied forces go back on the offensive and drive toward Germany. Allies take Clark Field in Philippines. In Poland, Warsaw falls to Russians. An update on the Burma Theater in Southeast Asia.
Fighting continues on Iwo Jima as Marines push toward Mt. Suribachi through tenacious Japanese defense. Germans launch a major counter attack against Russian forces in Hungary. This would be the last significant German offensive ion the Eastern Front. U.S. forces enter Cologne in Germany, a city in ruin from Allied bombings. A tribute to The Girls Left Behind.
Stalin gets a green light from Eisenhower resulting in Russians to take Berlin. A look at the Tuskegee Airman: Black pilots blast the Hun. A Philippines Update as sporadic fighting contuse throughout the islands. The backbone of victory: The story of G.I. Joe.
Allies launch new offensive in Italy pressuring German defenders. In the Pacific, Japanese Navy sends the battleship Yamato into the fray. The Yamato, and her sister ship the Musashi were the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships ever constructed. The Yamato was sunk in April 1945 by U.S. Navy carrier based bombers during the Battle of Okinawa. A look at the home front in Germany.
'Il Duce,' Benito Mussolini, and his mistress, Clara Petacci, are shot by Italian partisans who had captured the couple as they attempted to flee to Switzerland. Updates from the Western Front and from Okinawa.
May 7th 1945, the German High Command, in the person of General Alfred Jodl, signs the unconditional surrender of all German forces, East and West, at Reims, in northwestern France. 'The Divine Wind' - Kamikaze attacks against U.S. naval forces continue off Okinawa. A look at the aftermath of the German surrender.
Philippines Update: U.S. forces land at Macaljar Bay on Mindanao. Okinawa fighting continues. The Thousand Year Reich Officially Ends: Victory in Europe Day, May 8th 1945. Liberated concentration camps reveal the full Nazi Horror: The Holocaust.
American forces seize Naha Airfield on Okinawa. The Battle of Okinawa was the last major ground battle between U.S. and Japanese forces in the Pacific war. Top Nazi officials face decision: Surrender to Allied forces or commit suicide. U.S. forces final push on Luzon in the Philippines. Australian Forces, supported by U.S. air power, retake Borneo.
Okinawa: Last stand for Japanese forces before home island invasion planned for November 1945. America's Daughters join up: A look at training women for war. MacArthur's forces liberate Philippines with surrender of Japanese forces on August 15, 1945. A look at the Unseen Enemy: Mines.
Next Stop in the Pacific: Japan - Invasion plan presented to Allied high command. A look at British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. U.S. Navy launches major carrier strikes against Japanese Home Islands. The Stars come out: A look at Hollywood and the war effort.
American air forces drop atomic bombs on Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6th and 9th in 1945. Japan announced its surrender on August 15th and signed the instrument of surrender on the U.S. Battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2nd 1945 effectively ending World War II.
September 2nd 1945: VJ Day: Victory over Japan Day causes celebration throughout America. Led by the victorious Allied powers, the United Nations is formed on October 24th 1945 at Lake Success New York and headquartered in New York City. A look at Combat Cameramen: Recording for Posterity.
The final cost of the war is counted. Axis war criminals are tried. Out of the ashes the world looks toward the future - and peace.
Dateline: World War II 2016 TV-PG Documentary · War In this detailed series, learn about the rise of Hitler's new Germany, Japan's invasion of China, and the fall of the Axis powers in 1945. Directed by Edward Feuerherd