Prabhat's expansively mounted historical set at a contentious period of the Maratha empire is a biographical of Ramshastri Prabhune (1720-89), chief justice at the court of Madhavrao and later of Nana Phadnavis, and a major figure in the development of an indigenous legal code.
The Overlord plan called for the use of airborne troops to secure the flanks of the D Day landing and to form a buffer to keep the German counter-attacks away, thus allowing 3rd Division to advance from Sword Beach to seize Caen. 6th Airborne Division was given this task. It was later to be joined by Lord Lovat's Commando Brigade..These tasks included seizing Pegasus Bridge and Merville Battery by 9 Para, whose guns were thought to dominate Sword Beach.Meanwhile, the remainder of the 3 and 5 Parachute Brigades were to secure key objectives. In the event they were widely scattered and facing counter-attack by 21st Panzer Division. Despite this the men of 6th Airborne heroically achieved their mission.
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill suffers from a stroke in the summer of 1953 that's kept a secret from the rest of the world.
Following on from Ligny and Quatre Bras, Part II starts by focusing on the concentration of the Allies on the ridge of Mont St Jean and the plans of the opposing armies. While the guns of the Grand Battery thundered in the centre, French columns bore down on the Hougoumont chateau and farm complex, which protected Wellington's flank held by the Guards and their German allies. Thus began an epic 'battle within a battle' that sucked away valuable troops from Napoleon's main attack, causing Wellington to declare that 'the battle turned on the closing of the gates at Hougoumont'.Meanwhile D'Erlons Corps attempted to bludgeon its way through Wellington's centre, not knowing that the British and Dutch line was in waiting on the reverse slope. Upon seeing the French advance, the British released a disciplined volley of musket fire that checked the French. A further brilliantly timed charge by the Household and Union Cavalry Brigades finally saw the French off.
Following on from Hougoumont and D'Erlon's Attack, Part III starts just as the great battle reaches its crisis point. Marshal Ney launched thousands of France's finest heavy cavalry against Wellington's thinning lines who had already taken a terrible battering on the Mont St Jean Ridge. Wave after wave of armoured horsemen broke against the steady squares of British, Dutch/Belgian and German troops. The crisis, however, took a further turn for the worse as the key bastion in Wellington's centre, the fortified farm of La Haie Sainte, fell to the French onslaught. The way to Brussels was now open and Wellington muttered, 'Give me Blucher or give me night'. With the situation looking bleaker by the second for Wellington and his troops, Napoleon fatefully hesitated to complete the coup de grace as the Prussians had closed in on his right flank at the Village of Plancenoit. Would the Young Guard be able to hold Blucher's men? There was all still to play for.
In 1941 Dr RV Jones realised that the Germans had developed their own radar system that would account for increasing RAF bomber casualties. An enemy Würzburg system was located on the cliffs of Northern France at Bruneval. An operation was planned to seize it involving all three Services, including the newly raised C Coy, 2 Para, commanded by Major John Frost. The planning went well but the rehearsals were all disastrous. As the narrow window of moon and tide approached it was decided 'to bash on'. Nine of the twelve sticks of Paratroopers were dropped by 51 Squadron and the Germans were caught napping. However, they quickly responded and the Paras had a serious fight on their hands to keep the enemy at bay while the experts, who the Paras had orders to kill rather than let fall into enemy hands, dismantled the radar. With the enemy closing in the job was done and the force withdrew. It seemed that they may be caught but they made it to their badly delayed landing craft.
At about 1230 on the 8th August 1944 near St Aignan in Normandy Hauptsturmführer Michael Wittmann the top German tank ace and Coy Comd in an SS Heavy Tank Coy (Tiger) was killed when his tank was knocked out in counter attack against British and Canadian Forces taking part in Op Totalise. Over the years much controversy had grown up over who destroyed Wittmann's tank Joe Ekins of the British Northants Yeomanry, a Canadian tank of the Sherbrooke Fusiliers or a rocket from an RAF Typhoon. In this film the BHTV examine the latest information on the ground, including testimony from German survivors and Joe Ekins himself.. The BHTV team believe that the main weight of the evidence shows that it was most probably Ekins Sherman Firefly that struck the killer blow.
Ten families read letters from their loved ones killed during Operation Iraqi Freedom in this powerful and moving HBO documentary by Oscar and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Bill Couturie (Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam). Photos of the soldiers in military and civilian life are shown as family members read the final correspondence received from Iraq and share their thoughts and memories about the fallen troops and the realities of war.
'A Prayer for Hetman Mazepa' unfolds during an interesting era in the history of Eastern Europe when Russia, under Peter the Great, and Sweden, under King Charles XII, struggled for power; the Ukraine was the pawn in the middle. In 1709, Ivan Mazepa, Hetman of Ukraine, which was part of the Russian Empire, signed a pact with the Swedish king promising to support Sweden in its war against Russia provided that the Ukraine was given its independence.
The film is set in 1905, in a time of feverish revolutionary underground activity in Poland partitioned between three neighbours. All the characters are committed anarchists. The bomb maker puts an invention together to place it at the disposal of young inexperienced terrorists fighting against Tsarist oppression. The story follows the passing of this bomb from anarchist to anarchist as several attempts are made on the life of Tsarist governor general, until, at the end, it is effectively and harmlessly defused by a bomb expert. The presence of the bomb has a destroying effect on all of the Polish revolutionaries, they either die or breakdown.
A Jewish ghetto in the east of Europe, 1944. By coincidence, Jakob Heym eavesdrops on a German radio broadcast announcing the Soviet Army is making slow by steady progress towards central Europe. In order to keep his companion in misfortune, Mischa, from risking his life for a few potatoes, he tells him what he heard and announces that he is in possession of a radio - in the ghetto a crime punishable by death. It doesn't take long for word of Jakob's secret to spread - suddenly, there is new hope and something to live for - and so Jakob finds himself in the uncomforting position of having to come up with more and more stories.
In 1943, while the Allies are bombing Berlin and the Gestapo is purging the capital of Jews, a dangerous love affair blossoms between two women – one a Jewish member of the underground, the other an exemplar of Nazi motherhood.
Magdalena and Michael have loved each other since they were children. But when the Nazis come to power, Michael rebels against the regime and is sentenced to fifteen years in a concentration camp. Magdalena, meanwhile, goes underground with the help of a friend and later immigrates to the Soviet Union. Michael, who has joined the Red Army, discovers on the way to Moscow that Magdalena is staying there. But when his plane lands, she is already on her way back to Germany. Michael hopes that one day, he and Magdalena will be reunited.
Two 17-year-olds, Werner Holt and Gilbert Wolzow, are pulled out of school and into Hitler's army. Gilbert becomes a fanatical soldier; but at the front, Werner begins to understand the senselessness of war.
Dolf a 15 year old boy is sent back in time by a timemachine. Accidentally he is sent back to the Middle Ages. He is rescued by children who are part of a childrens' crusade, on their way to rescue Jeruzalem. During the trip Dolf finds out the danger is not coming from outside the crusade, but from within.
In this classic story of love and devotion set against the backdrop of the American Civil War, a wounded Confederate soldier named W.P. Inman deserts his unit and travels across the South, aiming to return to his young wife, Ada, who he left behind to tend their farm. As Inman makes his perilous journey home, Ada struggles to keep their home intact with the assistance of Ruby, a mysterious drifter sent to help her by a kindly neighbor.
In 1944 Poland, a Jewish shop keeper named Jakob is summoned to ghetto headquarters after being caught out after curfew. While waiting for the German Kommondant, Jakob overhears a German radio broadcast about Russian troop movements. Returned to the ghetto, the shopkeeper shares his information with a friend and then rumors fly that there is a secret radio within the ghetto.
When Lady Sheila Boothroyd hears that the planning authorities are determined to drive a road through her grounds, she announces her intention to kill herself at the precise moment that the bulldozers start on their shameful work. As the hour strikes and the bulldozers' roar is heard, her husband General Sir William Boothroyd enters in full regimental regalia, while his old ex-army servant sounds the Last Post. Then, as the whole family stands stricken, the door opens...
In 1979, the Shah of Iran was overthrown by the country's Islamic Revolution. Forced into exile, he settled in an isolated mansion in Cuernevaca, Mexico and watched as his empire collapsed on television. A powerful examination of dictatorship and its psychological effects on a man, LIBERATION explores a key turning point in Middle-East History and the origins of the Iran we know today.
Based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas.