World War II - Hitler's Lost Battles - Episode 1

Good morning, we are still continuing with World War I and World War II documentaries for November.  This time we are coving the series Hitler’s Lost Battles.

It is July 1944, and the British Secret Service is putting a plan in place.  Their goal was to assassinate Hitler.  A man parachutes into Bavaria and he tracks down Hitler.  However, the plan is abandoned.  It has become clear that Hitler is the best way to defeat Germany.  It has become clear that Hitler had made a series of blunders.  When Britain had the chance to invade England, he pulled back allowing the army to rebuild.  What other decisions did Hitler made that cost Germany the war?

On May 10, 1940 Hitler attacked the Netherlands, Belgium and France all at once.  This shocked the world.  Hitler had divided his troops to invade three countries.  The British were cornered on the North Sea.  They are trapped in Dunkirk.  The Germans wanted to press on, but Hitler called the attack off.  This allowed the British to escape from Dunkirk.  Hitler wanted to emphasize that he was in charge.  He was also concerned about getting supplies to the army because the army had moved so fast the supply lines could not keep up.

As a result, the British launched Operation Dynamo which allowed the British to evacuate their soldiers.  Everything that could float was used to evacuate the soldiers from Dunkirk.  Everyone gave a hand to help evacuate the soldiers.  That did not stop the German Luftwaffe from harassing the ships.  Several dozen ships were sunk as a result.  The very survival of the British army was at stake.  The British army was rebuilt, in the mean time the French soldiers and were sent across the Rhine as prisoners of war.

Hitler tried to cut a deal with Great Britain after the French Defeat.  It had everything to do that they were Anglo-Saxon descendants; therefore, they were an Aryan people.  If he could make peace with Britain than he could invade Russia.  However, Churchill was in charge and he was a man for war.  There would be no deal with Hitler.  Churchill played Hitler like a fiddle, Churchill needed time and Hitler gave it to him.

England prepared for a German invasion.  However, the attack came from the sky and the Luftwaffe bombed Britain instead.  Goering said that he could conquer Britain in three weeks.  The attack went ahead.  These attacks would set Britain against the Nazis.  Germany would invade the Channel Islands to help with their future invasion and launch ariel attacks. 

When the Battle of Britain begins the British had only 800 planes.  The Luftwaffe outnumbered them.  However, with their pilots and the plans maneuverability they were able to defeat the Luftwaffe.  Britain also used radar to defend against the air raids.  The Nazis were bombing military targets and war industry targets.  Eventually London suburbs came under attack and so the British bombed Berlin as a symbolic gesture towards the Nazis.  The bombing of Berlin shocked the Germans which angered Hitler.  Hitler then ordered attacks on the city.  London became the prime target for Nazi targets.  The war industry in Britain was spared and Britain was rearming itself once again.  Additionally, Britons came together to take care of each other.  Despite this, over 50,000 people were killed.  German losses were also high, and the Luftwaffe were facing defeat in the Battle of Britain.

Tune into the rest of this episode to discover more about Hitler’s blunders during the Battle of Britain.

This documentary is excellent and would be something I would show in a history classroom.