BBC Timewatch - Hitler, Churchill and the Paratroopers (2001)

The German invasion of Crete in 1941 marked the first large scale use of airborne forces in warfare. It was a tough fight for both sides, with the Germans the eventual victors. But strangely, the two war leaders came to differing conclusions about the battle. Churchill was convinced that parachute armies would become a war winning weapon, whilst Hitler – horrified at the scale of the losses – declared that they would never be used in the same way again. It was a decision that contrasted with the move by Britain and America to immediately introduce more paratroopers to the front line, although their subsequent defeat at Arhhem made it clear that once the element of surprise was gone, their deployment was too costly in men. The film features interviews with former combatants, British and German, and features a group of German veterans taking to the air again in their old parachute plane – the Junkers JU52.

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