The German aerial attack on Stalingrad is the most intense of the entire war on the eastern front. ibid.
General Paulus struggles to come to terms with the new reality. ibid.
It’s the largest invasion fleet in history. More than 160,000 Allied troops crossed the Channel to Nazi-occupied France. But landing on the beaches would be just the beginning. Beyond the formidable sea defence, an army battle-hardened on the Eastern front lies in weight. The cost will be high. Greatest Events of World War II VI: D-Day
German defences are strongest at Calais. ibid.
‘The scale of D-Day defies belief.’ ibid. historian
The greatest military deception since the Trojan Horse … Inflatable jeeps, planes and tanks deceived German reconnaissance. ibid.
‘The losses were horrific.’ ibid. historian #2
And then the weather shifts in the Allies’ favour. ibid.
A very different story for the Americans on Omaha beach … Omaha beach is a disaster. ibid.
The Allies surge westwards across Europe and look set to win the War when Hitler unexpectedly counter-attacks. The German army has lost millions of men in the east and the Luftwaffe has taken a hammering. But Hitler is hell-bent on striking back. But the assault costs more American lives than any other in the War. The hard-fought gains of D-Day hang in the balance. Greatest Events of World War II VII: Battle of the Bulge
One of the most titanic clashes of World War II. ibid.
Aided by the chaos and the weather the German Fifth Panzer army drives towards the Belgium towns of St Vith and Bastogne, both strategically important targets en route to the port of Antwerp. ibid.
The initiative is now with the Allies pushing back the Germans towards the River Rhine. ibid.
If your intention is to kill civilians – how would you define an atrocity? Greatest Events of World War II VIII: Dresden Firestorm, Professor Sonke Neitzel
Dresden was a raid that went horribly right – superhot air spreading the fire underground. ibid. English historian
The bombing of Dresden is one of the most controversial events of World War II. ibid.
What is the truth about Dresden? ibid.
London is hit by blitz for over fifty consecutive days. ibid.
The German air raids in Britain kill over 40,000 people. ibid.
Hamburg: A firestorm grips the city … Over 43,000 people are killed … A shock even to Winston Churchill … ‘This strange duality in Churchill.’ ibid. English historian
Harris’s bombing campaign is relentless. ibid.
There were very few bomb shelters in the city [Dresden]. ibid.
244 Lancasters dropped their bombs in the space of about 15 minutes. Huge high-explosive blockbuster bombs and 200,000 clustered incendiaries smashed into the historic centre of Dresden. The precise combination is deliberately designed to get inside the buildings and start fires. ibid.
When a political fanatic hijacked a civilised nation he set in motion that slaughter of millions. Greatest Events of World War II IX: Buchenwald
Early April 1945: The War in Europe is coming to a head. Soviet soldiers are advancing from the east on the disintegrating German empire; on the western front the US third army under General George Patton is pushing through central Weimar. ibid.
Buchenwald: Nothing would have prepared them for what they are about to see. ibid.
Desperate to end the war the US is planning to invade Japan. But unleashing the elemental power of the atom offers another way out. President Truman makes a fateful decision to deploy the most deadly weapon ever created. Greatest Events of World War II X: Hiroshima
The tide turned with the Battle of Midway … and steadily pushing the Japanese back … The single most destructive air attack ever carried out; at the start of the campaign it destroyed 67 cities. ibid.
A fascist state … the military effectively rule the country through fear, censorship and fierce indoctrination … The authorities do everything they can to cement this sense of devotion. ibid.
By April 1945 the US have a foothold on Okinawa, less than 400 miles from Japan … The losses on both sides are appalling. ibid.
Deep in New Mexico the Manhattan Project engineers are on the verge of opening a new and even darker prospect. ibid.
The ethics of this destructive weapon are not a priority for Truman. ibid.
A burst of neutron and gamma radiation emanates out along with deadly shockwaves. In less than a second 70,000 people are killed. A giant mushroom of smoke rises from the fire and a half-thousand-degree firestorm. ibid.
Nagasaki: At 11.01 a.m. the United States had deployed the plutonium bomb Fatman on the city. ibid.
December 1941: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor plunged the United States head-first into World War II. Fought not just against Japan but against Hitler’s Nazi Germany. Over the course of the War sixteen million Americans would serve in active duty in the armed forces. Eight of them would become US presidents. Presidents at War s1e1: A Call to Valor, History 2019
December 1942, RAF Hurn, England: Eleven months after Pearl Harbor, the man who would one day be 34th president of the United States, Dwight D Eisenhower, flies from England to Gibraltar. He’d been ordered to command a joint Allied military operation against Nazi Germany. This would be Eisenhower’s first time in combat. ibid.
JFK’s older brother Joe junior had received his wings as a naval aviator. ibid.
The eagerness to serve even hit young boys. In Massachusetts a high school prep student decided to enlist: George H W Bush. ibid.
‘He [Bush] doesn’t just enlist in the war; he signs up for the most dangerous job in the war.’ ibid. historian
From a more humble background but just as eager to serve was a brilliant young student Jimmy Carter. ibid.
JFK: He was commanding a PT boat in the Solomon Islands. ibid.
‘He [Reagan] became the face of the fight man, even though he never picked up a gun and had never fought.’ ibid. son
Nazi-occupied Poland: In April 1944 with the outcome of World War II hanging in the balance two Jewish prisoners lay hidden near the outer fence of Auschwitz concentration camp. On 10th April 1944 they abandoned their hiding place and cut through the fence … ‘They escaped in order to warn the world that Auschwitz was a killing mechanism.’ 1944: Should We Bomb Auschwitz? Michael Berenbaum, BBC 2019
One of the greatest moral questions of the 20th century. 1944: Should we bomb Auschwitz? ibid.
‘Auschwitz should have had the most outrageous response while it was happening, and that’s a moral failure on the west.’ ibid. Barenbaum
Why was the greatest crime of the 20th crime of modern history allowed to proceed unimpeded for almost two years. A million Jews perish there by gas. It wasn’t because of lack of evidence. ibid.
‘Some of the groups would be frightened and disorientated, others would be almost relieved.’ ibid. prisoner eye-witness escapee
Rabbi Weissmandl: An appeal for help but also a rebuke for those who refuse … He demanded that the Allied Air Forces bomb Auschwitz. He was the first to do so. ibid.
June 1944: A month after the deportations from Hungary began, 109 trains had arrived at Auschwitz, with an average of 2,975 Jews per train. ibid. caption
‘The first thing was – you breathe in and there’s a very strange smell. It was sort of sweetish and burning.’ ibid. on arrival at Auschwitz
Liverpool: It was also the scene of Nazi pre-war spying. Nazi Victory: The Post-War Plan, Guy Walters, Yesterday 2019
The information and intelligence gathered by Nazi pre-war spying in Liverpool would go on to be used against the city with devastating effect by the German Luftwaffe. ibid.
The German army with all its might was at the gate. It had crushed all before it in just a few days and Britain was next on the list. Invasion seemed inevitable and the country began making preparations to meet it. ibid.
The Nazi intention to capture Britain was planned with frightening detail. ibid.
Not only would our art have been under threat but also many of Britain’s most iconic buildings. ibid.
The Nazis would have implemented their doctrine with immediate effect. ibid.
There are exactly 2,820 names on this list all of them were earmarked for immediate arrest. ibid.