Discovery Channel - Battlefield Series 1 (1994) Part 5 The Battle of Normandy

A comprehensive documentary series about the key battles of World War Two. This sweeping series offers detailed accounts of the key battles, combining extensive use of archival footage with full color 3D animation and a compelling and vivid narrative, complete with main weapon systems used and portraits of the principal leaders and commanders. Strategy and tactics are described in detail with excellent graphics, providing a fascinating analysis of the forces in conflict. A review of the political and military situation prior to battle and an examination of the weaponry and combat-readiness of the men are followed by original archive footage of important phases of the battle, supplemented by Situation Reports and finished off with a summary. Dramatic use of 3-D computer graphics and actual battle footage transport the viewer directly in the thick of the fight. Battlefield is a series that chronicles the decisive events and critical battles that shaped history. Archival footage from several sources includes film from the Moscow central military archives. Watch rare archival footage from vaults around the world!

Part 5 The Battle of Normandy

D-Day was the biggest amphibious operation in history. But even after the Allied troops had successfully forced a landing in strength, they still had to face a foe whose tenacity and resilience in defence was legendary. The Battle of Normandy was the last of the great set-piece engagements of World War II. It had been in planning for more than two years, and in preparation for almost as long. In its execution, and particularly in its first critical phases, it was also one of the riskiest operations ever mounted. The French coast was known to be strongly defended, and behind the wire belts and fortifications of the Atlantic Wall were some of the most renowned and formidable divisions in the German order of battle. For ten weeks, the Waffen SS and their supporting infantry and panzer formations fought a desperate battle against steadily mounting Allied forces. Their eventual defeat and destruction clearly signalled the beginning of the end for all but the most blindly loyal of Hitler's soldiers.

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