Hiroshima (Episode 10)

The final hours of WW2 changed the course of history. As the Americans inch closer to Japan the Japanese fight with greater intensity. The question now is how to end the conflict. Starve them into capitulation? Many in US command believe the Japanese will never surrender. The alternative is to stage a massive invasion that would dwarf D-Day? The massacre of millions would be inevitable. But then a third and far darker option becomes available: the atom bomb.

Britain and France declare war when Hitler invades Poland. In May 1940 the Germans attack Holland and Belgium as a decoy. As the Wehrmacht comes through the Ardennes and the Luftwaffe strikes in…

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 the epic…

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…

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…

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…

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…

High on cocaine, Hitler hatches an audacious plan to turn the tide of the war. He has been prescribed the drug for injuries sustained when Stauffenberg tried to kill him. Colourised archive…

As World War II drags on into another bitter winter the Allies become desperate to end the conflict. Churchill turns to his formidable bomber force to break the deadlock. The population of an eastern…

Hitler’s rise to power was a unique moment in history. Germany suffered a humiliating defeat in WWI; now it’s crippled by massive war reparations. Hitler offers a scapegoat: the Jews. The Nazis are…

The final hours of WW2 changed the course of history. As the Americans inch closer to Japan the Japanese fight with greater intensity. The question now is how to end the conflict. Starve them into…