War

After ending 120 years of civil war and reunifying Japan under his banner, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the supreme ruler of Japan, lays dead. In a desperate attempt to protect his dynasty, just before his death, Hideyoshi created a council of five powerful warlords. They are to govern Japan until his young son comes of age. But the power hungry Tokugawa Ieasyu declares war on those who oppose him.

In 1940, France has fallen and Hitler orders Operation Sealion, the invasion of Great Britain. But first the Luftwaffe must defeat the RAF for seaborne landings to succeed. In July 1940 an epic struggle in the skies above England begins. Only a brilliant defensive system and the bravery of young pilots stand in the Luftwaffe’s way. Wave after wave of German bombers are attacked by British planes. Featuring the last interview with the youngest Spitfire-pilot in the battle, Geoffrey Wellum.

When Japan’s military expansion in the Pacific reaches its fever pitch, Roosevelt is forced to act. By cutting off oil supplies, he hopes to force Japan to back down. But far from sedating their imperial expansions, he pushes them to take one of the greatest gambles in military history – taking their entire striking fleet 4000 miles across the Ocean to attack the American Pacific fleet in Pearl Harbor. It’s a huge gamble, and if it goes wrong, it will spell suicide for Japan.

In the aftermath of Japan’s devastating attack on the US Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Imperial Navy moves in for a knockout blow. A surprise attack against the island of Midway is planned to draw the remaining American aircraft carriers out for a decisive battle. Admiral Yamamoto devises a meticulous plan. But the attack is in the hands of his by-the-book Admiral, Nogumo. When a genius American code-breaker unearths their plans – the Japanese attack is thrown into chaos.

Mid-1942, as Hitler’s forces are pushing into southern Russia to take the oilfields, he spies a city prized by his enemy Stalin – Stalingrad. If Hitler can capture this city, he can expand his empire all the way to the Urals. But what Hitler hasn’t counted on is the enormous resilience of the Soviet people; men and women willing to defend their Motherland at all costs.
What ensues at Stalingrad is one of the bloodiest battles in the history of warfare, with an estimated 2 million total casualties, and an event that turns the tide for the Germans.

The Allies plan for years how to break through Hitler’s Atlantic Wall in France. The deception operations are some of the most elaborate of the war, including a huge inflatable army in Kent. The D-Day fleet is the biggest assembled in history, with over 160,000 men crossing the channel to land on five Normandy beaches, each with differing success. But landing is just the beginning, what follows is one of the bloodiest and most extraordinary battles of WWII.