Victory and Pursuit: The Waterloo Collection - Part 4

Two British redcoats contemplate their place in the American Revolutionary War and the world at large.

In this programe we examine the background to the campaign with a leading American historian before following the advance of one of Hitler's most successful panzer commanders, Hasso von Manteuffel, Fifth Panzer Army. We will travel in wintery conditions from the German border into the lightly held US front line. From the outset small groups of GIs did their best to delay the advance of the panzers, buying time for the vital crossroad town of Bastogne to be reinforced by 101st US Airborne Division. Under the cloak of bad weather, the Germans initially advanced successfully but more slowly than planned However, Germany's chronic lack of fuel hamstrung the advance. The British XXX Corps deployed to the River Meuse amidst controversy over Montgomery's role and injudicious words but the panzer spearheads were halted short of the river as the skies cleared and the feared fighter bombers returned.

Story of a young U.S. Army officer, stationed in England during World War II, who is suddenly conscious of a desire to "prove" himself sexually.

69 Infantry Brigade had a highly successful landing and now had to fight its way through German defences to its objectives eight miles away. It was here that the veteran warrior, Sergeant Major Stan Hollis, continued the actions that led to him receiving the only D Day Victoria Cross.Meanwhile, 231 Infantry Brigade,were attempting to recover the situation and fight through German strong points towards Arromanches and Point 54 ridge. These battles lacked the coordination between infantry and tanks achieved by 69 Brigade and were up against field grade German infantry. Hours behind schedule, the village of Ryes was taken. This allowed the much delayed second wave consisting of 56th and 151 Infantry Brigades to deploy and exploit the early successes, reaching the outskirts of Bayeux by dusk. Meanwhile, in the west, the hard pressed 231 Infantry Brigade and 47 Commando continued its advance through enemy held territory to Port en Bessin, Arromanches and the Longues sur Mer Battery.

The story of British officer T.E. Lawrence's mission to aid the Arab tribes in their revolt against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. Lawrence becomes a flamboyant, messianic figure in the cause of Arab unity but his psychological instability threatens to undermine his achievements.

In 1920s Ireland young doctor Damien O'Donovan prepares to depart for a new job in a London hospital. As he says his goodbyes at a friend's farm, British Black and Tans arrive, and a young man is killed. Damien joins his brother Teddy in the Irish Republican Army, but political events are soon set in motion that tear the brothers apart.

John Rambo is released from prison by the government for a top-secret covert mission to the last place on Earth he'd want to return - the jungles of Vietnam.

On the 6th June 1944, Maj Howard’s Coy of the OX & Bucks LI carried out one of the greatest and most successful small unit actions in history in capturing the two Orne Bridges as a precursor to D Day. The initial part of the film traces the development of the British Airborne Forces to the stage where they can play a major part in the allied plan to storm Hitler’s Fortress Europe. The BHTV team then tell the story of this heroic action and the equally heroic follow up actions of 7 Para in holding the bridges against the might of 21st Pz Div. This action exemplified the British soldier at his best whether in The Glider Pilot Regiment, The Glider Infantry ( Ox & Bucks)or the Parachute Regiment, all showed courage skill and commitment.

The German paratroopers established a reputation in Crete as an elite force. A battalion commander now led a new Fallschirmjäger regiment, deployed to Normandy in the spring of 1944 to the very area where the US Paratroopers were to drop on D Day. This DVD will tell the story of this regiment, one that was more like a pocket division than a regiment, and its six day battle around the base of the Cotentin Peninsula to prevent the effective link up between Omaha and Utah Beaches.Using the established and popular style of expert interviews, pieces filmed on the ground where the battle happened, illustrated with contemporary re-enactment footage and numerous maps, the story of the part played by the 6th Fallschirmjäger in the key engagements against the 101st Airborne Division around Saint-Come-du-Mont, the flooded marshes and the key town of Carentan will be told in graphic and controversial detail.

After the victory at Salamanca Wellington's Army had mixed fortunes and by the the winter of 1812/3 was back in Portugal. Wellington took advantage of the winter to re-equip and retrain his army for his final master stroke in Spain. In June 1813 Wellington launched his whole army in a rapid push NW towards the Spanish/French border outflanking the French. At Vittoria he beat the main French Army on 21st June and pushed the remainder into the Pyrenees on The French border. He was now able to prepare for the invasion of France. In all these actions and leading the Army were the Light Division containing the 3 Battalions of the 95th Rifles. It was during this period that they had some of their toughest and bloodiest actions that showed them to be an elite formation.

Due to the hostile terrain of the Iberian Peninsula Siege Warfare took on an importance here more than anywhere during the Napoleonic Wars. For the French in particular fortresses and fortified towns were the only places they could guarantee the safety of their logistics from the Spanish and Portuguese guerillas. If Wellington was going to liberate Portugal and Spain he would have to overcome these fortified locations. This film looks at the British and French experience during this period and uses the the great sieges of Ciudad Rodtigo and Badajoz to illustrate how both defence and attacks were carried out . The BHTV team use footage from Spain, re enactments, maps and models to bring this much neglected aspect of the Peninsula war to life.

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.

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.

The dramatised story of the Irish civil rights protest march on January 30 1972 which ended in a massacre by British troops.

A group of German boys are ordered to protect a small bridge in their home village during the waning months of the second world war. Truckloads of defeated, cynical Wehrmacht soldiers flee the approaching American troops, but the boys, full of enthusiasm for the "blood and honor" Nazi ideology, stay to defend the useless bridge. The film is based on a West German anti-war novel of the same name, written by Gregor Dorfmeister.

12 American military prisoners in World War II are ordered to infiltrate a well-guarded enemy château and kill the Nazi officers vacationing there. The soldiers, most of whom are facing death sentences for a variety of violent crimes, agree to the mission and the possible commuting of their sentences.

Based on true events, an American submarine collides into a Soviet sub of the coast of America and an ensuing standoff occurs that could lead to total annihilation.