Diciembre de 1944. Cinco meses después del Día D, la mayoría de los soldados estadounidenses piensan que el ejército alemán está acabado. Los alemanes no comparten esta opinión. En un intento de ganar tiempo para llenar el cielo con sus invencibles nuevos aviones, lanzan una rápida, última y furiosa ofensiva: la batalla de las Ardenas.
Batalla de las Ardenas, Segunda Guerra Mundial, 1944. El teniente Costa, oficial de una compañía de infantería que debe establecer puestos de observación de artillería en una zona estratégica, tiene serias dudas sobre la capacidad de liderazgo del capitán Cooney.
A punto de acabar la Segunda Guerra Mundial, el comandante americano Falconer (Burt Lancaster) dirige un escuadrón de ocho hombres completamente agotados hasta un castillo medieval. El propietario los acoge con la esperanza de que lo defiendan de las tropas alemanas. Pero los soldados tienen otros planes: apoderarse de la fortaleza.
Navidad de 1944, los alemanes hacen un último empujón contra los ejércitos aliados atacantes en el oeste. El teniente Robert Cappa y su pelotón de soldados de la 2da División de Infantería han recibido la orden de mantener un cruce de caminos vital contra los agresores alemanes. Cappa y sus hombres deben encontrar su fe y fuerza para enfrentarse a sus enemigos en la pelea épica conocida como "La batalla de las Ardenas".
El teniente Robert Cappa y su pelotón de soldados de la 2ª División de Infantería deben defender un depósito de suministros vital para que no los capturen los soldados alemanes que atacan.
As the Battle of the Bulge rages on, an American tank unit gets trapped behind Nazi lines. With just hours before the bombs of Operation Ardennes Fury fall, the tank's commander makes the risky decision to rescue an orphanage.
During a shaky 24-hour holiday truce amid the Battle of the Bulge, American Captain John Myers and a Belgian farm girl, Alina, fall in love. Forced to separate when fighting resumes, the couple vows to reunite, under a bell tower, the first Christmas Eve after the war ends, if each is alive and eager.
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.
The Northern most thrust into the wintery Ardennes of General Manteuffel's Fifth Panzer Army fell on the inexperienced 106th US Infantry Division, who had not only just arrived in the Europe but had only been in the line for five days, in what was supposed to be a 'ghost front'. One of the best German infantry divisions, the 18th VG fell on the over extended 106th dug in on the Schnee Eifel, where two US regiments were surrounded and forced to surrender.Major General Jones was unable to stem what became a general retreat but, as in all retreats, both the best and the worst of human nature was on display. Small groups of officers and men fought on repeatedly, delaying the German spearheads on the road to St Vith and buying time for elements of 7th US Armd Div to arrive. After a desperate fight, Field Marshal Montgomery controversially took over the Northern shoulder of the Bulge and ordered 7th Armd Div and the remnants of the 106th to abandon St Vith.
During World War II, a hand-picked group of American GI's undertook a bizarre mission: create a traveling road show of deception on the battlefields of Europe, with the German Army as their audience. The 23rd Headquarters Special Troops used inflatable rubber tanks, sound trucks, and dazzling performance art to bluff the enemy again and again, often right along the front lines. Many of the men picked to carry out these dangerous deception missions were artists. Some went on to become famous, including fashion designer Bill Blass. In their spare time, they painted and sketched their way across Europe, creating a unique and moving visual record of their war. Their secret mission was kept hushed up for nearly 50 years after the war's end.
This film tells the story of one of the most contentious combats of WW2, the actions of Kamfgruppe Peiper during the Battle of the Bulge.From the outset the King Tigers of December 1944, in poor winter weather, could not cut through the forest roads as the smaller Panzers had done in 1940 but were slowed down by determined resistance by small groups of American GIs, Obersturmbannfuhrer Jochan Peiper, commander of the elite spearhead, the Leibstandarte's 1st Panzer Regiment advancing west on one of the Division's three rolbhans became increasingly frustrated by enemy resistance and poor roads. Eventually anger boiled over into atrocity and the murder of US soldiers and Belgian civilians at Malmendy and elsewhere along the route. Experienced soldiers, historians and film makers analyse events on the very ground where they happened, stripping away legend and obfuscation of all kinds to present the facts for the viewer to make their own decision..
On the 16th December 1944 Hitler launched Operation Wacht am Rhein against the largely unsuspecting American component of the Allied Army. Twenty Divisions consisting of 410000 men, 2600 artillery pieces nad 1400 tanks and assault guns attacked the American 1st Army on a 110 kilometre front. How had this happened ? This film examines why the Allies were not prepared.
In 1944 Adolf Hitler decided that his only military option " as Defeat was staring Germany in the Eyes" was to carry out a major offensive in the west to split the Allies Western Front by capturing Antwerp. This would he hoped buy time to halt the Russians in the East. this film examines his dilemma and the plan that was produced.
in 1944 when the Germans launched their last major offensive of the war they had to compensate for their lack of aircraft, manpower and armour. They did this in the main by the use of surprise and artillery. This film examines the German Field Artillery and how it was used in the The Battle of the Bulge.