World War II From Space-Video Documentary
German prisoners work at a U.S. cemetery, near Omaha Beach. (rarehistoricalphotos.com)
In light of the anniversary of the Normandy landing, here’s a History Channel documentary. It shows the major events of World War II taking place from a strategic level, using the globe as a reference. It goes into detail explaining the events that’ll eventually lead to the D-Day Landings.
It goes beyond the landings and shows the magnitude of the efforts and actions required that would eventually lead to allied victory. It’s longer than an hour but will keep you engaged.
Category: Historical
Thanks for the linky thebesig. I just watched the whole thing. Don’t have TV Cable here so I’m missing all of the D Day re-runs. Knew just about all of the major points they brought out, but it was a cool compilation overview. And unlike some of the History Channel stuff I’ve seen, this one was very factually accurate. And it didn’t seem to have a left ward political slant that a lot of their stuff has presented.
The military did the fighting, but at the end of the day, it was the American People who won that war.
Thanks for posting that, thebesig. Enjoyed it. Though I was hoping they’d try to capture the sheer scale of the war, since I don’t know if we can appreciate it. That global perspective would be helpful.
The US produced 300,000 planes during the war, 50,000 Sherman tanks, 2,710 Liberty Ships, and the Navy went from 790 ships in 1941 to 6,768 on VJ-Day. In just the US, 16 million people served.
As much attention as D-Day (rightfully gets), it was but one of many major offensives in the war. D-Day involved 156,000 men, 892 warships, and thousands of aircraft. Operation Torch was also absolutely huge in scale; 107,000 men and 350 warships.
This video, which I know has been posted here before, captures the shocking scale of the war in human lives.
The only gripe I’ve got about the show is the moralizing about dropping the bomb. My father was a forward artillery spotter in the 28th Division. After fighting thru Europe, they were being prepared to invade Japan. He blessed Harry Truman’s soul every remaining day of his life for using the bomb. Harry probably saved his life. Screw the “moralists” – Japan brought it upon themselves. You start it, we’ll end it.
Here’s a detailed argument in favor of the need for their use:
Excellent video. I’ve had to reiterate this to friends and family so many times. Those atomic bombs saved hundreds of thousands of Japanese military, civilian, and Allied lives.