The Complete Story of the
Greatest Battles of WWII
World War II was the defining event of the 20th Century. It engulfed the world in conflict for almost a decade, and was fought on four continents and across the great Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Now, BATTLE GROUND brings you the complete story of the epic struggles to defeat the evil that was the Axis. This special 16 disc set documents the breadth and scope of the war, from Nazi Germany and Italy's rise in Europe to Imperial Japan's in the East. Actual combat footage and official military documentaries take you inside the most famous campaigns of the war, including the German blitzkrieg that overwhelmed Europe, the aerial battles for survival in the skies over Britain, the vicious war of attrition by Nazi submarines in the North Atlantic and the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor that set the stage for America to declare war on Japan, and for America's Allies to rise up in one history's most amazing displays of courage, valor and determination.
Never before included in one super collection, the documentaries in BATTLE GROUND cover all the action as the Allies slowly turn the tide against the Axis Powers. Taking you inside these epic battles, from the deserts of North Africa to the skies over Europe, and from the to the islands Death in the Pacific Ocean to the frontier of Germany itself, BATTLE GROUND is the definitive WW II collection.
Disc 1
AXIS RISING: 1939-1941
In the years, leading up to WWII, Germany, Japan and Italy embarked on campaigns aimed at the expansion of their empires and the subjugation of millions of people around the unmatched by powers in the west. In the Far East, Japan was flexing its muscles, expanding into China and Manchuria, with its sights set on taking over the entire hemisphere. Italy invaded Ethiopia, and Germany was stockpiling arms, munitions, tanks and aircraft, waiting for the right time to pursue their dream of a Thousand Year Reich.
In this two DVD set, nine rare films tell the enthralling story of that prelude to WWII. From the economic and political landscape that led to the despotic take-over of Japan, Germany and Italy, to the battles that led the world into war. You will see how the seemingly unstoppable German Blitzkrieg swept across Europe, and how Japan invaded China and planned its devastating Pearl Harbor raid on the American Navy, finally bringing the USA into war.
These amazing films mark some of the early, dark days of WWII, when it seemed like nothing could stop the Axis of Germany, Japan and Italy, bent on world domination.
Prologue to War
World War II - 1939-1941
The Road to WWII
Triumph of the Axis
Disc 2
AXIS RISING: 1939-1941 (Part II)
1939 - The War in Poland
The Battle For France
Dunkirk
The Enemy Japan: Dream of the Empire
Japanese Bomb Pearl Harbor - Silent Reel
|
Disc 3
THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN
In June of 1940, Nazi Germany, having swept victoriously across Western Europe, was poised for an invasion of England. To prepare for the invasion, they planned a bombing campaign to bring England to its knees. Prime Minister Winston Churchill addressed Parliament and declared "I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin," and begin it did, with the Luftwaffe launching the most deadly and sustained aerial bombardment in the history of warfare. The British people and their Royal Air Force responded with valor and glory, bending, but not breaking. Churchill called it "their finest hour." This 2 DVD set brings you the amazing story of the Battle of Britain, as well as background on the RAF and their subsequent role in the air war over Germany.
Battle of Britain
The Battle of London
London Can Take It!
English Wings Over Water
Disc 4
THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN (Part II)
Target For Tonight
The Air Plan
RAF In Action
|
Disc 5
THE BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC
The conflict at seas between Allied merchant ships and their escorts and German U-boats, christened the Battle of the Atlantic by Winston Churchill, was the longest and arguably the most critical campaign of WWII. If Britain had fallen, there would have been no base for the western Allies to launch a strategic air offensive or a land invasion of the European mainland to defeat Germany. To survive, Britain needed imports of food, fuel and raw materials from overseas. The Germans used submarines (U-boats), mines, surface warships, armed merchant ships and aircraft during the battle, but it was the U-boats that posed the deadliest threat to Britain's survival.
'The Battle of the Atlantic was the dominating factor all through the war...' - Winston Churchill
Wolfpacks
Atlantic Convoy
The South Atlantic
Commerce Raider
The Mid-Ocean Gap
Disc 6
THE BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC
(Part II)
Crisis In The Atlantic
Atlantic Patrol
Sea War - Timely Arrival
D-Day + 3
Beachhead To Berlin
Extra Feature: A Ship Is Born
|
Disc 7
NORTH AFRICA AND ITALY
With Germany firmly in control of continental Europe, the Allies, with pressure from the British, made the decision to attack the underbelly of Europe. In the first offensives involving American troops, Operation Torch was launched against the Axis in North Africa. After the successful Battle of El Alamein, the Allies punched north to the island of Sicily and quickly into the Italian mainland. There they made slow, steady progress against an entrenched, determined enemy. This is the story of the bravery and valor of the gallant Allied armies that finally crushed the Italian fascists, and drove nazi Germany to the brink of surrender in the mountains of Northern Italy.
El Alamein
Operation Torch
Sicily
Salerno
Monte Cassino
Disc 8
NORTH AFRICA AND ITALY (Part II)
Anzio
The Battle Of San Pietro
Climb To Glory
|
Disc 9
THE GERMAN FRONTIER
By late 1944, the Western Allies were infected with the over-confidence that flowed from the sweeping victories they had gained since the Breakout from Normandy and that by December had carried them to the very borders of the Third Reich. They were confident that the war would soon be over, but they were sadly mistaken. On December 16, German forces launched a massive attack through the Ardennes, the opening blows of Operation Watch on the Rhine, known to history as the Battle of the Bulge.
The Siegfried Line
Battle Of The Bulge
Tigers On The Loose
Disc 10
THE GERMAN FRONTIER (Part II)
The Battle at St. Vith
Bastogne
The Bridge at Remagen
|
Disc 11
WINGS OVER EUROPE
In the dark early days of WWII, Nazi Germany's military stunned the world with its Blitzkreig, quickly overtaking Europe. A very large part of their success was the German air force, the Luftwaffe. Their aircraft, superior in number and design to the Allies, controlled the skies, raining death and destruction from Poland to Great Britain. The Royal Air Force had to take to the skies and do battle with the Luftwaffe, until America entered the war, and were badly overmatched by the Nazi's Luftwaffe.
In 1941, when Germany declared war on the United States, they awakened a sleeping giant. All across America factories turned to the production of war material, from tanks and troops ship to warplanes. The U.S. Army Air Force moved quickly to train as many pilots, bombardiers and navigators as possible, and in a surprisingly short time, the US and its Allies were taking the fight to the Nazis in the skies over Europe.
This two DVD collection of documentaries from WWII takes you inside the air war in Europe. From the first B-17 missions over Germany to the final achievement of Allied air superiority over the Luftwaffe, these gripping films tell the story of the men and the machines that made victory in the sky possible.
Target For Today
The Fight For The Sky
Disc 12
WINGS OVER EUROPE (Part II)
The Exploits Of The 351st
Mission Accomplished
A Day With The A-36s
Wings For This Man
The Bombing Of Germany
|
Disc 13
PACIFIC OCEAN
Japan is beaten, and carrier
supremacy defeated her."
- Vice Adm. Marc A. Mitscher, USN
At the outbreak of World War II, the United States possessed seven aircraft carriers and one escort carrier. Less than four years later, the number had grown to nearly 100. More than any other weapon, the aircraft carrier made the war in the Pacific not only possible, but also winnable. The Fast Carrier Task Force, which included warships of all description, became the main striking force of the United States Navy in the latter half of the Pacific War. By the time of the Battle for Leyte Gulf, it had already proved itself one of the most potent instruments in the history of naval warfare, obliterating Japanese air power, and sweeping enemy warships and merchant shipping from the seas, wherever it had ventured.
Sea Power In The Pacific
The Battle For Leyte Gulf
Air Power-Pacific Pattern
Silent Victory
Disc 14
PACIFIC OCEAN (Part II)
The Battle Of Midway
The Life And Death Of The USS Hornet
The Fighting Lady
Kamikaze
|
Disc 15
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC
The Southwest Pacific, was one of two theatres in the Pacific region during WWII. It included but was not limited to the Philippines, the Australian Territory of New Guinea (including the Bismarck Archipelago) and the western part of the Solomon Islands.
Under the overall command of General Douglas MacArthur, US and Australian forces, along with smaller numbers of Dutch, Filipino and British soldiers, did battle against the Japanese in some of the most difficult terrain imaginable. As Allied strength grew on the land, sea and in the air, the tide of battle swung away from the Japanese. By the end of 1943, Allied air and naval superiority virtually assured an eventual victory.
Battle For New Guinea
Bismarck Sea Victory
5th Air Force Reports
6th Infantry At Maffin Bay
Mission To Rabaul
Disc 16
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC (Part II)
The Battle For New Britain
Fortress In The Sea
Brought To Action
Battle Of Manila
|
|
|
