The Battle of Caen (Episode 2)

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June 1944 - The Allies are bogged down in bitter fighting amid the hedgerows of Normandy. The British and Canadians are still short of the objective they planned to capture on D-Day: the city of Caen. This episode tells the story of the bloody fighting for the city. David Willey recounts the story of panzer ace Michael Wittman; Taff Gillingham demonstrates the MG42 machine gun; and Matthias Strohn describes the storm of the century that nearly wrecked Allied plans.

June 1944 – The combined American, British and Canadian armies make up the most powerful invasion force ever assembled. They plan to establish a bridgehead in Normandy, storming beaches along a 50…

June 1944 - The Allies are bogged down in bitter fighting amid the hedgerows of Normandy. The British and Canadians are still short of the objective they planned to capture on D-Day: the city of Caen…

July 1944 – American forces plan a major offensive codenamed Operation Cobra. They would attack near St. Lo, achieve a breakthrough, then unleash General Patton and US Third Army to exploit the…

September 1944 – Montgomery proposes a bold plan to cross the Rhine and encircle Germany’s industrial heartland. Operation Market Garden begins as thousands of Allied paratroopers seize key bridges,…

October 1944 – The Allies face a major supply crisis. Vital fuel and ammunition still has to be landed at the D-Day beaches 300 miles to the rear. When the Belgian port of Antwerp falls into Allied…

November 1944 – As the Allies advance into Germany they run into formidable concrete bunkers, pillboxes, minefields, and tank traps. German soldiers fight tenaciously to defend their homeland. We…

December 1944 – Hitler has picked the Ardennes sector for a major offensive – a last gamble to turn the tide of the war. The surprise attack, spearheaded by elite divisions, initially sends American…

March 1945 – The Allies have reached the River Rhine, which Hitler is counting on to stall their advance. Field Marshal Montgomery plans a giant operation to cross the river in the north, but luck…