]BBC - Secrets of World War II Set 2 (1998) Part 4 Japan's Last Secret Weapons

You probably know the History, now discover the incredible SECRETS OF WORLD WAR II. Rarely has a war produced such clear cut reasons to fight as World War II. On the one hand were the totalitarian Dictators - Tojo, Hitler and Mussolini. On the other were the great democracies of the Western World which were gradually regaining their feet after the Great War of 1914-18 and the Wall Street Crash. Suddenly, ordinary men and women from all walks of life found themselves thrown into fearsome, nerve-tingling situations worthy of any Hollywood movie. The only difference in this series is that every story is true. Real people emerge as the Heroes of Telemark. Ordinary GIs and US Airforce and Navy personnel suddenly find themselves flying against the Japanese in China, jungle fighting in Burma and being dropped by submarine on enemy coasts at midnight. These untold stories can now be examined in great detail with the benefit of hindsight, newly-discovered archive film, maps and computer graphics which can complete the picture for today's viewer. Each fifty-two minute story gives the viewer a clear view of the historical context, the strategic objective, and the tactical effort made by flyers, sailors and foot-soldiers - often in the most oppressive and life threatening situations - to win victory from the enemy. Through this exciting series, you have top-level clearance to previously unseen military footage-both in black and white and color with newly declassified information, vivid re-creations and revealing firsthand accounts. Uncover the daring deeds, ingenious plots and amazing escapes that helped shape the outcome of the 20th-Century's greatest conflict.

Part 4 Japan's Last Secret Weapons

Had it not been winter, North America's vast western forests, farms and cities might have been decimated by a secret weapon sent in thousands across the Pacific by the Japanese in 1944. In October 1944, Japan launched its first batch of 9,000 parchment-paper balloons toward the United States. Loaded with incendiary and antipersonnel bombs, they were designed to float across the Pacific, then descend to spread destruction and terror through the farms, forests and factories along American's west coast. Now, from the first transoceanic balloon attack in history to human-guided missiles to submarines uncover the bizarre stories of “Japan's Last Secret Weapons.” Find out how the U.S. Navy discovered the secret Japanese balloon attack and why scientists feared it could devastate the entire United States. Stand onboard an American battleship as a dynamite-filled kamikaze plane comes screaming in toward the deck. Watch the fatal flight of a rocket-powered “cherry blossom” flying bomb and climb into the cramped belly of a one-man kaiten torpedo submarine. Then discover what deadly secrets the Third Reich was sending a desperate Japan at the end of the war and why they could have turned the western United States into a wasteland.

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