World War II Second World War Videos This episode tells the tragic story of the “bridge too far” and the ill-fated Operation Market Garden–the Allied operation that was supposed to end World War II in 1944. Montgomery’s rather fanciful conclusion that Market Garden was “90% successful” was hardly supported by the facts. The operation was an unmitigated failure. This episode, from the landmark television series Battlefield, features fascinating archive footage from all over the world. The …

At the outbreak of World War II, Fort Eben Emael in Belgium was the strongest fortress in the world, and it lay exactly across the German invasion route of Belgium and France. The forts elimination was essential for the success of Hitlers invasion of the West. Deemed impregnable to conventional attack, Hitler himself suggested the means for its capture with the first glider-borne assault in military history. On 10 May 1940, ten gliders carrying just 77 paratroopers landed on top of the fort …

World War II Videos The defeat of the German forces at the Falaise Gap in August 1944 was the culmination of an effort that had begun the previous June, when British, US and Canadian troops stormed the Normandy beaches during Operation Overlord. Then followed the bloody fighting for the all-important city of Caen. The Falaise Gap was an area between Argentan and Falaise, southeast of Caen. For the Germans, it represented an escape route from the advancing Allied troops, who threatened to …

World War II Videos The defeat of the German forces at the Falaise Gap in August 1944 was the culmination of an effort that had begun the previous June, when British, US and Canadian troops stormed the Normandy beaches during Operation Overlord. Then followed the bloody fighting for the all-important city of Caen. The Falaise Gap was an area between Argentan and Falaise, southeast of Caen. For the Germans, it represented an escape route from the advancing Allied troops, who threatened to …

At the outbreak of World War II, Fort Eben Emael in Belgium was the strongest fortress in the world, and it lay exactly across the German invasion route of Belgium and France. The forts elimination was essential for the success of Hitlers invasion of the West. Deemed impregnable to conventional attack, Hitler himself suggested the means for its capture with the first glider-borne assault in military history. On 10 May 1940, ten gliders carrying just 77 paratroopers landed on top of the fort …