Discovery Channel - Battlefield Series 2 (1994) Part 5 The Battle of Leyte Gulf

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 Leyte Gulf

PRELUDE TO BATTLE American submarine fleets were wreaking havoc with Japanese shipping, prompting severe shortages of fuel. Superior American airmen were slowly stripping the Japanese of their best and most experienced fighter pilots. And the lies the Japanese government were dispensing to its own citizens regarding the course of the war were growing more difficult to cover up. These events led up to the Battle of Leyte Gulf. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt entrusted the U.S. forces in the Pacific to generals MacArthur and Chester Nimitz – an unheard of dual command structure that threatened to derail during crucial moments of battle. Two of the world's mightiest navies would assemble the most awesome fleets in history. Countless suply boats, destroyers and aircraft carriers – self-sufficient to the point of being able to last months alone on the open sea, steamed toward their designated positions on the aquatic chessboard of the southern Pacific. THE BATTLE In October 1944, the first landing maneuvers on the island of Leyte met with little resistance, and the American infantry was able to advance quickly to the interior of the island. Four days later, however, the decisive battle on the coast was to take place. This confrontation, the largest sea battle in modern history, lasted from October 24th to October 26th, 1944, the ships involved ranged from giant Japanese super battleships to tiny little American wooden patrol boats. It was here that Japanese kamikaze pilots were observed for the first time - believing in a fanatical way in the victory of Japan and dying for it. Although the Americans outnumbered the Imperial Japanese Fleet both in the sea and in the air, there was a critical period in the battle during which the invading fleet found itself on the verge of defeat. Eventually a group of destroyers and auxiliary aircraft carriers was able to repel the attacks of a larger Japanese battleship unit and thus achieve a truly remarkable victory. With this battle, American naval power was established in the Pacific. At the same time, the fate of the once overpowering imperial fleet was sealed.

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