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[wind whistling]
2
00:00:11,208 --> 00:00:13,208
- [machine guns firing]
- [soldiers shouting]
3
00:00:15,333 --> 00:00:17,333
[soldier breathing erratically]
4
00:00:17,416 --> 00:00:19,291
[projectile whistles by]
5
00:00:19,375 --> 00:00:20,875
[explodes]
6
00:00:23,416 --> 00:00:26,041
- [indistinct shouting]
- [machine gun firing]
7
00:00:26,750 --> 00:00:28,083
[man in German] Us Germans...
8
00:00:30,625 --> 00:00:32,500
[soldier in German] Fire!
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00:00:34,041 --> 00:00:38,583
...we saw ourselves
as the best army in the world.
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00:00:44,666 --> 00:00:46,458
Then there was Stalingrad.
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[gunfire continues]
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00:00:49,333 --> 00:00:50,750
[explosions in distance]
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00:00:53,416 --> 00:00:57,291
From that moment,
we started to fear the worst.
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00:00:57,375 --> 00:00:59,000
[soldier running, panting]
15
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[narrator] 1942.
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00:01:21,083 --> 00:01:26,458
As the war enters its third year,
the conflict now engulfs the entire world.
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00:01:28,916 --> 00:01:31,541
[announcer] The Japanese
have attacked Pearl Harbor from the air.
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00:01:32,750 --> 00:01:36,791
Japan has bombed Pearl Harbor,
dragging America into the war.
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[Franklin Roosevelt]
I ask that the Congress declare
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00:01:40,541 --> 00:01:42,500
a state of war.
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00:01:43,625 --> 00:01:46,500
[announcer] Japan has announced
a formal declaration of war.
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00:01:46,583 --> 00:01:50,083
{\an8}[announcer 2] This morning's news of
Japan attacks on Thailand and Hong Kong.
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00:01:50,666 --> 00:01:54,833
{\an8}In the West,
most of Europe is under Axis control.
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00:01:54,916 --> 00:01:57,166
[commentator]
The French Resistance has collapsed.
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00:01:59,916 --> 00:02:03,750
Hitler has now launched
a massive invasion of the Soviet Union.
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[newscaster]
The German successes against Russia
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00:02:06,208 --> 00:02:09,125
can be compared to the biggest victories
in the course of this war.
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00:02:11,125 --> 00:02:14,000
{\an8}And now the Germans
are on the march in Africa,
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00:02:14,083 --> 00:02:16,083
{\an8}where they have the British on the run.
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00:02:25,250 --> 00:02:27,791
So, now the stakes had never been higher.
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With the Axis powers
sweeping all before them,
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00:02:35,916 --> 00:02:38,291
can the combined forces of the US,
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00:02:39,375 --> 00:02:40,750
the Soviet Union
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00:02:41,875 --> 00:02:44,708
and Britain finally stop Hitler?
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00:02:44,791 --> 00:02:48,791
Or will the Germans
and the Axis powers conquer the world?
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[Hitler in German] Our great heroes
have history on our side.
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We must crush our enemies
until the final victory!
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[newscaster] Good morning, everyone.
The start of another week of war.
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[newscaster 2]
Down in the desert sands of Libya,
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everyone realizes that
these are mighty serious days.
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{\an8}[Ellis] You must remember
that you are in a desert,
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{\an8}and a desert is a vast expanse of nothing.
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00:03:54,250 --> 00:03:57,125
We had a much more
colorful way of describing it:
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00:03:57,208 --> 00:04:00,250
"miles and miles and miles of sweet F-A."
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00:04:03,708 --> 00:04:07,291
Englishman Ray Ellis has been
fighting the Germans in North Africa
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00:04:07,375 --> 00:04:08,750
for more than a year.
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00:04:13,291 --> 00:04:17,166
Ray joined up at the start of the war,
eager to do his duty.
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00:04:17,875 --> 00:04:21,625
Now, he's starting to wonder
if he'll ever see home again.
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00:04:23,041 --> 00:04:25,625
[Ellis] I was tired of deserts
and killing,
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00:04:25,708 --> 00:04:27,916
and sick of the whole thing.
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00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:29,500
[detectors buzzing]
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00:04:36,750 --> 00:04:40,625
The excrement and bodies dying,
being shot, and rotting.
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00:04:40,708 --> 00:04:43,583
Obviously, flies
were there by the million.
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00:04:44,541 --> 00:04:47,791
Big, black, horrible, juicy flies.
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00:04:52,708 --> 00:04:54,750
And then there was the Germans.
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00:04:56,750 --> 00:04:59,000
The Germans were invincible.
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00:05:02,458 --> 00:05:05,041
Let's face it, nothing had stopped them.
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[newscaster] Rommel's men
are on the march again.
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00:05:08,166 --> 00:05:11,291
Rommel is a daring, skillful opponent.
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00:05:14,625 --> 00:05:17,458
[narrator]
The German General, Erwin Rommel,
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00:05:17,541 --> 00:05:20,666
{\an8}is closing in on the vital
British-held port of Tobruk.
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00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:28,000
{\an8}If Rommel takes Tobruk,
he could take the Suez Canal.
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00:05:28,083 --> 00:05:31,458
{\an8}If he takes Suez, he takes Africa.
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00:05:38,500 --> 00:05:41,875
[Ellis] Two officers came and said,
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00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:43,916
"We've had an order, Sergeant."
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"We've got to fight
to the last man and the last round."
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00:05:48,041 --> 00:05:54,708
He said, "Don't think many of us are going
to see the sun set today, Sergeant."
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00:05:56,458 --> 00:05:58,333
We're all in it together.
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00:06:05,458 --> 00:06:08,458
[narrator] Ray's orders:
hold off Rommel's tanks.
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00:06:09,083 --> 00:06:11,625
No retreat. No surrender.
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00:06:12,375 --> 00:06:15,333
[Ellis] And I can remember
sitting by my gun
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00:06:15,416 --> 00:06:18,750
and just waiting
for this battle to start.
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00:06:24,583 --> 00:06:27,500
Somebody discovered a barrel of Chianti.
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00:06:32,500 --> 00:06:35,500
Everybody was laughing and happy.
It relieved all the tension.
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00:06:36,750 --> 00:06:38,208
Back slapping.
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00:06:44,208 --> 00:06:45,833
And then gradually it changed.
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00:06:52,375 --> 00:06:56,416
And it was mothers,
sweethearts, and wives.
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We was frightened.
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00:07:23,208 --> 00:07:24,833
[loud explosions, gunfire]
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00:07:24,916 --> 00:07:28,416
[noises fade]
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00:07:28,500 --> 00:07:31,041
- [noises resume]
- [soldiers shouting]
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00:07:55,333 --> 00:07:58,208
[noises fade]
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00:07:58,291 --> 00:08:01,166
[Ellis] All I knew was,
I was spinning in the air.
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00:08:09,208 --> 00:08:10,250
I came round.
85
00:08:10,875 --> 00:08:12,875
My gun was upside down.
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00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:18,000
My friends were wiped out.
87
00:08:18,708 --> 00:08:20,250
[flies buzzing]
88
00:08:27,708 --> 00:08:30,708
I was absolutely surrounded by Germans.
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00:08:30,791 --> 00:08:32,791
[machine-gun fire in distance]
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00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:37,000
I got out of my hole and then I ran.
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00:08:45,250 --> 00:08:47,041
There were two of us left.
92
00:08:54,708 --> 00:08:58,916
And this man
who was helping me, he was blotted.
93
00:09:08,041 --> 00:09:09,125
And that was it.
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00:09:12,125 --> 00:09:13,333
I was a prisoner.
95
00:09:17,583 --> 00:09:20,458
[narrator]
Ray is the only survivor of his section.
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00:09:20,541 --> 00:09:24,416
And he's about to be transported
a thousand miles across North Africa
97
00:09:24,500 --> 00:09:26,291
as a prisoner of war.
98
00:09:28,291 --> 00:09:30,500
[Ellis] And so began
the most dangerous journey
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00:09:30,583 --> 00:09:32,083
I've ever made in my life.
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00:09:36,666 --> 00:09:40,416
[narrator] The fall of Tobruk puts
all of North Africa within Hitler's reach.
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00:09:40,500 --> 00:09:43,375
[newscaster]
Rommel inflicted considerable damage.
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00:09:44,291 --> 00:09:45,791
[narrator] Meanwhile, in the Pacific,
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00:09:45,875 --> 00:09:48,708
the Japanese have scored
one victory after another.
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00:09:48,791 --> 00:09:51,833
[newscaster] The Japanese attacked
defense facilities in the Philippines.
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00:09:51,916 --> 00:09:55,500
[narrator] They've conquered
the Philippines, Malaya and Burma.
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00:09:55,583 --> 00:09:59,125
[newscaster] The Japanese are closing in
on Singapore from the north and west.
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00:09:59,208 --> 00:10:03,500
[narrator] They're even on American soil
in a remote outpost of Alaska.
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00:10:06,208 --> 00:10:09,500
[newscaster] The Japs have set foot
in the North American continent
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00:10:09,583 --> 00:10:11,166
for the first time.
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00:10:13,875 --> 00:10:16,583
[man in Japanese]
We will wipe out the cruel oppression
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00:10:16,666 --> 00:10:18,791
of the United States and Great Britain.
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00:10:19,833 --> 00:10:22,666
[narrator] Now they're planning
a surprise attack on the US fleet
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00:10:22,750 --> 00:10:24,583
at the Pacific island of Midway.
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Sink her aircraft carriers,
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00:10:28,708 --> 00:10:31,500
and they'll knock the US
out of the war for good.
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There's just one problem.
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The Americans have
cracked their radio codes
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and know the Japanese are coming.
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00:11:04,541 --> 00:11:06,291
[indistinct chatter]
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00:11:25,541 --> 00:11:28,916
{\an8}[Cheek] They called
all the pilots for a briefing,
121
00:11:29,791 --> 00:11:33,458
{\an8}and somehow the codebreakers
knew right to the minute
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00:11:33,541 --> 00:11:35,541
{\an8}what the Japanese were going to do.
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00:11:35,625 --> 00:11:37,625
{\an8}[voices muted]
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{\an8}[Best] The morning briefing said
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00:11:41,250 --> 00:11:43,375
{\an8}these carriers have been
picked up to the northwest,
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00:11:43,458 --> 00:11:45,083
{\an8}steaming in towards Midway.
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00:11:46,291 --> 00:11:50,541
We knew what the Japanese could do.
We're under no delusions about that.
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00:11:51,458 --> 00:11:52,791
But we know what we can do.
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00:11:52,875 --> 00:11:55,500
We know they're coming.
They don't know we're there.
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00:11:55,583 --> 00:11:58,916
[dispatcher] Pilots, man your planes.
Pilots, man your planes.
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00:12:03,791 --> 00:12:06,625
[Cheek] It would be the most dangerous
flying I ever did in my life.
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00:12:50,166 --> 00:12:54,625
[Cheek] We were just coming up
on a large bank of clouds.
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And I had no idea
exactly what we were coming up on.
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00:13:07,291 --> 00:13:08,875
I guess the best way to put it was,
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00:13:09,666 --> 00:13:12,416
you're stepping
into the main ring right now.
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00:13:15,291 --> 00:13:17,291
[dive bomber revving]
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00:13:30,541 --> 00:13:33,500
[narrator] Japanese fighter pilots
scramble to get airborne.
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00:13:46,500 --> 00:13:49,500
[Iyozo in Japanese]
A large enemy formation in the south
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00:13:49,583 --> 00:13:50,875
came across on the radio.
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When I looked around,
I saw 20 enemy dive bombers.
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00:14:01,333 --> 00:14:04,291
The gunfire was terrifying!
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00:14:04,375 --> 00:14:06,916
[machine guns firing]
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00:14:07,041 --> 00:14:10,666
{\an8}[Cheek] I look straight ahead of me
and here comes a Zero diving in.
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00:14:12,583 --> 00:14:13,833
I squeeze the trigger.
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00:14:15,416 --> 00:14:17,375
My tracer went right into him.
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00:14:22,166 --> 00:14:24,125
[metal clanging]
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00:14:30,125 --> 00:14:34,458
[Iyozo] The tank was hit
and the plane started burning.
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00:14:34,541 --> 00:14:37,416
So I bailed out.
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00:14:40,375 --> 00:14:44,333
And I hit the water.
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00:14:50,875 --> 00:14:54,083
[narrator] US pilots shoot down
a dozen Japanese fighters.
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00:15:28,666 --> 00:15:29,767
{\an8}[Cheek] I looked over to the left,
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00:15:29,791 --> 00:15:33,541
{\an8}and there's the biggest
damn cruiser I've ever laid eyes on.
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00:15:35,208 --> 00:15:38,041
[narrator] Japan's aircraft carriers
are now defenseless.
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00:15:39,708 --> 00:15:42,375
The US dive bombers close in.
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00:15:47,833 --> 00:15:49,916
{\an8}[Best] The first I could
make out anything,
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00:15:50,041 --> 00:15:51,708
{\an8}I could see the bigger black blob.
157
00:15:59,083 --> 00:16:01,000
I pulled up, so the first hit...
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00:16:03,541 --> 00:16:04,541
Second hit.
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00:16:11,166 --> 00:16:13,625
The third hit.
There must have been an inferno.
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00:16:19,083 --> 00:16:21,541
I can see it in my mind right now.
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00:16:25,416 --> 00:16:27,541
[narrator] Four Japanese
aircraft carriers,
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00:16:27,625 --> 00:16:29,500
almost half their navy,
163
00:16:29,583 --> 00:16:32,000
are sent to the bottom of the Pacific.
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00:16:32,916 --> 00:16:34,708
For the first time in the war,
165
00:16:34,791 --> 00:16:38,375
the US has inflicted
a major defeat on the Japanese.
166
00:16:45,750 --> 00:16:47,166
[Best] You're walking on air.
167
00:16:56,041 --> 00:16:58,500
The Japanese fleet was blunted.
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00:17:05,833 --> 00:17:07,458
It was an ambush.
169
00:17:07,541 --> 00:17:10,375
An "ambush" is a dirty term anyway,
but we did to the Japanese
170
00:17:10,458 --> 00:17:12,708
just what they'd done to us,
we ambushed them.
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00:17:12,791 --> 00:17:14,000
It was wonderful.
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00:17:14,083 --> 00:17:16,166
[voices muted]
173
00:17:17,875 --> 00:17:19,416
[men cheering]
174
00:17:40,416 --> 00:17:42,541
[narrator] Meanwhile,
on the Eastern Front,
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00:17:43,125 --> 00:17:45,541
the Germans have failed
to land a decisive victory
176
00:17:45,625 --> 00:17:48,416
over Stalin's forces at Moscow.
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00:17:49,041 --> 00:17:52,291
[newscaster] Repeated German attacks
are failing to hit Moscow's defenses.
178
00:17:53,416 --> 00:17:57,041
Hitler now makes a decision that will
change the course of the entire war.
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00:18:00,541 --> 00:18:04,791
Desperate for a quick win,
he diverts his best army south
180
00:18:04,875 --> 00:18:08,666
to attack the city
named after the Soviet leader...
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00:18:09,750 --> 00:18:11,416
{\an8}Stalingrad.
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00:18:13,625 --> 00:18:20,583
[Hitler] The seizure of Stalingrad
will only deepen this gigantic victory,
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00:18:22,250 --> 00:18:26,000
not because this place
has Stalin's name, which is unimportant,
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00:18:26,083 --> 00:18:30,583
but because it is
a strategically vital location.
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00:18:30,666 --> 00:18:37,500
And you can be sure,
nobody will drive us from this place!
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00:18:37,583 --> 00:18:39,416
[crowd cheering]
187
00:18:57,666 --> 00:19:01,833
[Schönbeck in German]
We were really fired up.
188
00:19:06,291 --> 00:19:08,916
Our tanks were as fast as lightning!
189
00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:28,625
Our morale was sky high
and we had amazing firepower.
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00:19:28,708 --> 00:19:30,416
[indistinct shouting]
191
00:19:31,666 --> 00:19:34,416
[voices muted]
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00:19:44,208 --> 00:19:46,666
[newscaster] The Germans
have advanced in the last 24 hours
193
00:19:46,750 --> 00:19:50,458
and German reserves
are continually arriving by air.
194
00:19:53,333 --> 00:19:57,750
But the defenders of Stalingrad
keep pouring in reinforcements.
195
00:19:57,833 --> 00:20:00,333
[officer shouting commands]
196
00:20:00,416 --> 00:20:04,708
[narrator] The Soviets are outmaneuvered
by the German army's speed and tactics.
197
00:20:06,250 --> 00:20:08,500
But their leader, Joseph Stalin,
198
00:20:09,208 --> 00:20:10,833
has other cards to play.
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00:20:12,458 --> 00:20:14,375
[Stalin in Russian]
Women of the resistance!
200
00:20:14,458 --> 00:20:16,666
The whole world is looking at you
201
00:20:16,750 --> 00:20:19,916
as the force to destroy
the German invaders.
202
00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:23,583
[narrator] The Red Army
has recruited almost a million women.
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00:20:23,666 --> 00:20:24,833
[officer shouts]
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00:20:26,291 --> 00:20:29,333
One of them is Alexandra Bocharova.
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00:20:30,708 --> 00:20:35,458
[Bocharova in Russian] I was told,
"Girl, you're in the army now!"
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00:20:37,625 --> 00:20:42,166
"You will be a machine gunner."
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00:20:42,250 --> 00:20:43,458
"Understood?"
208
00:20:49,208 --> 00:20:53,166
I liked the heavy machine gun best.
209
00:21:03,041 --> 00:21:04,125
[narrator] August 23rd.
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00:21:06,500 --> 00:21:10,375
Luftwaffe bombers launch
the first wave of attacks on Stalingrad.
211
00:21:10,458 --> 00:21:12,458
[bombs whistling, exploding]
212
00:21:21,041 --> 00:21:24,125
Down below,
the Panzer regiments have arrived.
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00:21:29,291 --> 00:21:35,625
[Schönbeck] We came to the Volga
and saw this mighty river.
214
00:21:37,375 --> 00:21:43,208
We were so cocky,
it was, "Great, let's shell the boats!"
215
00:21:56,208 --> 00:21:58,000
{\an8}[Bocharova] I was on a boat.
216
00:22:14,625 --> 00:22:18,500
A shell landed next to us.
217
00:22:21,791 --> 00:22:27,291
A nurse was thrown into the water.
218
00:22:27,375 --> 00:22:30,875
And she was gone
to the bottom of the Volga.
219
00:22:31,666 --> 00:22:33,291
[bombs exploding, gunfire]
220
00:22:36,500 --> 00:22:38,208
Somehow we made it across.
221
00:22:52,541 --> 00:22:56,625
[narrator] The Germans prepare for
a full-scale ground assault of the city.
222
00:23:04,208 --> 00:23:08,041
[Dengler in German]
We saw Stalingrad burning.
223
00:23:10,166 --> 00:23:13,875
We assumed, when we take Stalingrad,
224
00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:16,250
the war would be over.
225
00:23:17,458 --> 00:23:18,708
[in German] Fire!
226
00:23:20,458 --> 00:23:23,666
[Dengler] We started
the advance on Stalingrad.
227
00:23:25,750 --> 00:23:28,500
[newscaster] More news
of the fighting along the Russian front...
228
00:23:28,583 --> 00:23:32,500
[newscaster 2] The German threat
of Stalingrad continues to grow daily.
229
00:23:38,083 --> 00:23:42,666
[Dengler] We'd take a house or ditch...
230
00:23:42,750 --> 00:23:44,625
- [heavy gunfire]
- [soldiers shouting]
231
00:23:44,708 --> 00:23:48,833
...and they would
take it back a few days later.
232
00:23:52,416 --> 00:23:57,041
We suddenly realized
we had a serious opponent.
233
00:24:07,791 --> 00:24:11,416
[Bocharova]
Every house was a battlefield.
234
00:24:15,250 --> 00:24:17,291
Shells were raining down like thunder.
235
00:24:21,333 --> 00:24:25,208
We lost so many troops.
236
00:24:30,083 --> 00:24:31,791
[narrator] For three months,
237
00:24:31,875 --> 00:24:35,625
the Nazis and the Soviets
fight each other to a standstill.
238
00:24:49,500 --> 00:24:52,166
But the Soviets have
a plan to break the deadlock.
239
00:25:19,083 --> 00:25:23,041
[Dengler] It was a mixture
of astonishment and horror.
240
00:25:32,041 --> 00:25:34,958
It was like something from a movie.
241
00:25:44,625 --> 00:25:47,958
The Red Army was coming,
242
00:25:48,833 --> 00:25:51,791
from everywhere, north and south.
243
00:26:00,708 --> 00:26:03,208
[narrator]
Stalin has called up reinforcements,
244
00:26:03,291 --> 00:26:05,333
catching the Germans off-guard.
245
00:26:09,375 --> 00:26:12,000
[Bechler in German]
Our guns were superior.
246
00:26:17,166 --> 00:26:21,500
But there were so many of them.
247
00:26:22,833 --> 00:26:26,041
It was one wave after another.
248
00:26:36,750 --> 00:26:41,708
They weren't getting weaker,
they were getting stronger!
249
00:26:49,375 --> 00:26:52,333
{\an8}[Bocharova]
We didn't care about our own lives.
250
00:26:56,375 --> 00:27:00,541
All that mattered was the Motherland!
251
00:27:05,500 --> 00:27:11,583
[Bechler] Suddenly,
I saw it with my binoculars.
252
00:27:14,291 --> 00:27:18,583
"My God! Stalingrad is surrounded."
253
00:27:33,208 --> 00:27:36,333
[narrator] While the German army
is trapped at Stalingrad,
254
00:27:37,416 --> 00:27:40,500
in the Pacific,
the Americans and the Japanese
255
00:27:40,583 --> 00:27:42,625
continue the battle for supremacy.
256
00:28:04,416 --> 00:28:06,833
[newscaster] Here are
the highlights in the news of the day.
257
00:28:06,916 --> 00:28:09,125
The whole nation
has its fingers crossed for the Navy
258
00:28:09,208 --> 00:28:12,125
fighting what may be one of the most
crucial battles of World War II,
259
00:28:12,208 --> 00:28:13,666
in the Solomons area.
260
00:28:13,750 --> 00:28:15,125
[gunfire echoing]
261
00:28:29,083 --> 00:28:32,625
- [heavy gunfire]
- [men shouting]
262
00:28:53,250 --> 00:28:55,059
[newscaster]
As we must, we are suffering losses.
263
00:28:55,083 --> 00:28:57,500
But we are also
inflicting losses on the enemy.
264
00:29:11,166 --> 00:29:15,041
[narrator] Meanwhile,
in North Africa, the war turns again.
265
00:29:16,125 --> 00:29:19,125
[announcer]
This is the BBC Home and Forces program.
266
00:29:19,208 --> 00:29:23,291
Here's some excellent news,
which has come during the past hour.
267
00:29:23,375 --> 00:29:25,708
The Axis forces in the western desert
268
00:29:25,791 --> 00:29:28,125
are now in full retreat.
269
00:29:29,291 --> 00:29:32,875
Winston Churchill has appointed
a new commander in Africa:
270
00:29:34,333 --> 00:29:35,750
General Montgomery.
271
00:29:38,375 --> 00:29:41,833
And he's begun to halt
the advance of Rommel's Afrika Korps.
272
00:29:43,166 --> 00:29:45,046
[Montgomery]
Our mandate from the Prime Minister
273
00:29:45,125 --> 00:29:48,375
is to destroy
the Axis forces in North Africa.
274
00:29:49,541 --> 00:29:53,041
We are going to finish
with Rommel once and for all.
275
00:29:54,333 --> 00:29:56,833
It can be done, and it will be done.
276
00:30:01,125 --> 00:30:06,375
But tens of thousands of British soldiers
are still prisoners of the Axis forces.
277
00:30:16,041 --> 00:30:18,291
Since being captured near Tobruk,
278
00:30:18,375 --> 00:30:22,166
Ray Ellis has been packed
on a truck in the North African desert.
279
00:30:26,791 --> 00:30:29,333
{\an8}[Ellis] I can't remember
how many days it went on.
280
00:30:29,416 --> 00:30:31,208
{\an8}It was a living hell.
281
00:30:46,541 --> 00:30:48,041
You couldn't sit.
282
00:30:50,125 --> 00:30:54,125
You couldn't move.
In fact, you couldn't turn round.
283
00:30:58,041 --> 00:31:01,375
Dirty, sweaty, stinking men
284
00:31:01,458 --> 00:31:04,333
who were emptying their bowels
and their bladders as they stood.
285
00:31:04,416 --> 00:31:05,750
And you were doing the same.
286
00:31:09,500 --> 00:31:11,833
Many died standing up.
287
00:31:18,250 --> 00:31:21,541
Until we stopped at night,
when the corpses could be carried out.
288
00:31:47,375 --> 00:31:50,833
[narrator] Ray arrives in Italy,
as a prisoner of war.
289
00:31:56,250 --> 00:31:57,916
[Ellis] We'd been starved.
290
00:31:59,708 --> 00:32:01,625
Broken-down group of men.
291
00:32:05,291 --> 00:32:08,500
The street was lined
with people spitting and jeering.
292
00:32:11,583 --> 00:32:14,125
"This is the British army. Look at them!"
293
00:32:38,250 --> 00:32:40,958
And then somewhere, out of the crowd,
294
00:32:43,125 --> 00:32:48,750
a young girl came
and pressed into my hand a big peach.
295
00:32:52,041 --> 00:32:54,500
And then ran back again and hid herself.
296
00:32:59,333 --> 00:33:03,708
And I can remember eating it and holding
my cupped hands round my mouth.
297
00:33:06,625 --> 00:33:09,166
Don't think anything
ever tasted better than that peach.
298
00:33:13,916 --> 00:33:15,875
I just burst into tears.
299
00:33:20,208 --> 00:33:23,458
It made me realize that when you think
the whole world is against you
300
00:33:23,541 --> 00:33:24,958
and things are going wrong,
301
00:33:25,041 --> 00:33:27,750
I always think there's
a girl with a peach somewhere.
302
00:33:31,583 --> 00:33:35,375
It was a wonderful feeling, that...
303
00:33:44,416 --> 00:33:48,041
And it gave me the hope
that things can change.
304
00:33:54,041 --> 00:33:57,708
{\an8}[announcer] This is London calling
in the North American service for the BBC.
305
00:33:57,791 --> 00:34:00,000
{\an8}[newscaster]
Yesterday afternoon at about 4:30,
306
00:34:00,083 --> 00:34:02,291
{\an8}the Axis armies were cut clean in half.
307
00:34:03,250 --> 00:34:07,708
[narrator] November has arrived,
and there's momentous news from Egypt.
308
00:34:08,916 --> 00:34:12,708
The British 8th Army
has defeated General Rommel's forces
309
00:34:12,791 --> 00:34:14,916
at the Battle of El Alamein.
310
00:34:16,208 --> 00:34:23,041
Now, this is not the end.
It is not even the beginning of the end.
311
00:34:23,708 --> 00:34:27,125
But it is, perhaps,
the end of the beginning.
312
00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:32,208
[narrator]
And now the Americans have landed
313
00:34:32,291 --> 00:34:35,791
to help finish off
the Axis powers in North Africa.
314
00:34:35,875 --> 00:34:39,625
[newscaster] American paratroops
and airborne infantry flown from Britain,
315
00:34:39,708 --> 00:34:41,166
1,500 miles away,
316
00:34:41,250 --> 00:34:43,208
have landed to capture airfields,
317
00:34:43,291 --> 00:34:46,583
while other American troops
have poured ashore on the beaches.
318
00:34:51,875 --> 00:34:55,125
This is the end
of the Axis African adventure.
319
00:35:01,250 --> 00:35:04,333
{\an8}[narrator] Meanwhile,
Hitler's forces on the Eastern Front
320
00:35:04,416 --> 00:35:08,166
are facing the possibility
of a catastrophic defeat.
321
00:35:11,416 --> 00:35:14,083
The German 6th Army is surrounded.
322
00:35:16,041 --> 00:35:18,125
And the Russian winter is closing in.
323
00:35:18,208 --> 00:35:20,125
[wind whistling]
324
00:35:32,750 --> 00:35:36,583
Hitler's generals tell him
the only hope is to break out and retreat.
325
00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:45,041
But Hitler orders his army
to stand and fight.
326
00:35:48,666 --> 00:35:52,375
[Hitler] These last few months
have been so tremendous.
327
00:35:54,583 --> 00:35:59,250
Let's pay tribute to the soldiers
that delivered this victory.
328
00:36:01,666 --> 00:36:05,916
Defeat is out of the question.
329
00:36:06,041 --> 00:36:09,500
National Socialist Germany
will emerge from this war
330
00:36:09,583 --> 00:36:11,833
with a glorious victory!
331
00:36:11,916 --> 00:36:13,541
[crowd cheering]
332
00:36:17,291 --> 00:36:22,875
[Schönbeck] At first we thought,
we're going to get out of this.
333
00:36:30,208 --> 00:36:34,375
But then things got really bad.
334
00:37:03,250 --> 00:37:05,291
We ran out of gas.
335
00:37:12,250 --> 00:37:15,083
Then we ran out of ammunition.
336
00:37:26,291 --> 00:37:28,875
Then we ran out of food,
337
00:37:30,791 --> 00:37:34,750
so we ate the horses.
338
00:37:40,500 --> 00:37:46,291
We got orders
to demolish houses for firewood.
339
00:37:50,166 --> 00:37:53,583
We'd say, "Get out, we need your house!"
340
00:38:13,625 --> 00:38:16,333
In one house,
341
00:38:18,500 --> 00:38:20,583
there was an old couple.
342
00:38:20,666 --> 00:38:26,416
An old man from Stalingrad
343
00:38:26,500 --> 00:38:27,791
with his wife.
344
00:38:28,416 --> 00:38:33,000
They had made some soup.
345
00:38:33,750 --> 00:38:35,250
Something warm.
346
00:38:35,333 --> 00:38:39,000
He said, "Come, eat with us."
347
00:38:39,083 --> 00:38:40,541
I couldn't believe it!
348
00:38:54,541 --> 00:38:56,916
[narrator] Christmas Day, 1942.
349
00:39:02,333 --> 00:39:06,166
Hans and his men are 1,800 miles from home
350
00:39:06,250 --> 00:39:07,916
and starving to death.
351
00:39:10,375 --> 00:39:14,791
[Schönbeck] We had
a little pine tree in my bunker.
352
00:39:19,750 --> 00:39:24,708
I tried to put on a brave face for my men.
353
00:39:35,541 --> 00:39:39,250
I said, "Guys,
we'll get out of here somehow."
354
00:39:44,833 --> 00:39:47,291
Though I didn't believe it myself.
355
00:39:52,291 --> 00:39:54,583
And nobody else believed me either.
356
00:40:07,333 --> 00:40:10,416
[Dengler] During the course of Stalingrad,
357
00:40:12,125 --> 00:40:15,916
my whole world collapsed.
358
00:40:23,458 --> 00:40:27,083
I saw this corpse.
359
00:40:27,166 --> 00:40:30,000
Some soldiers threw themselves onto him.
360
00:40:35,500 --> 00:40:40,125
They cut out his heart
and lungs and ate them.
361
00:40:51,708 --> 00:40:55,625
I thought, my God, how low have we sunk?
362
00:41:28,750 --> 00:41:31,666
[man in German] The High Command
of the Wehrmacht announces...
363
00:41:31,750 --> 00:41:33,458
[man 2 in German] The 6th Army
364
00:41:33,541 --> 00:41:37,166
has succumbed
to the superiority of the enemy.
365
00:41:40,500 --> 00:41:43,291
The battle for Stalingrad is over.
366
00:41:45,250 --> 00:41:48,541
[narrator] On February 2nd,
the German army surrenders.
367
00:41:51,500 --> 00:41:55,708
Eight hundred thousand Axis troops
have been killed or captured.
368
00:41:58,541 --> 00:42:01,916
[Bechler] A Red Army soldier
shoves his gun into my chest.
369
00:42:05,125 --> 00:42:07,833
And that's it, we are prisoners.
370
00:42:14,583 --> 00:42:19,500
[narrator] It's a disaster for Hitler
and his biggest defeat of the war so far.
371
00:42:26,375 --> 00:42:29,458
[Bechler] Then I started thinking of home.
372
00:42:31,083 --> 00:42:34,916
How can we win the war now?
373
00:42:46,791 --> 00:42:52,916
Sooner or later all of Germany will be
surrounded like we are at Stalingrad.
374
00:42:55,000 --> 00:42:57,416
That means the fall of Germany.
375
00:42:58,041 --> 00:42:59,833
That cannot be.
376
00:43:10,250 --> 00:43:13,416
{\an8}[Bocharova] We hugged, we kissed,
and shouted, "I'm alive!"
377
00:43:20,000 --> 00:43:25,666
I learned I was to receive
the Order of the Red Star.
378
00:43:29,291 --> 00:43:32,750
I was walking proudly!
379
00:43:35,083 --> 00:43:40,666
It felt like the world was watching me.
380
00:43:47,791 --> 00:43:51,458
[narrator] Stalin's Red Army
has stopped the Nazi tide.
381
00:44:05,125 --> 00:44:07,541
But as the conflict
enters its fourth year,
382
00:44:07,625 --> 00:44:10,083
an even harder battle is beginning.
383
00:44:19,541 --> 00:44:23,500
To win the war, the Allies
must take the fight to enemy territory
384
00:44:24,833 --> 00:44:28,000
and venture into
the most dangerous place on Earth:
385
00:44:28,583 --> 00:44:30,416
Nazi Germany.
386
00:44:34,083 --> 00:44:38,583
[Bomber Harris] The Nazis entered this war
under the rather childish delusion
387
00:44:38,666 --> 00:44:41,333
that they were going
to bomb everybody else
388
00:44:41,416 --> 00:44:43,583
and nobody was going to bomb them.
389
00:44:44,666 --> 00:44:49,458
They sowed the wind and now
they are going to reap the whirlwind.
390
00:44:49,541 --> 00:44:51,291
[explosion]
391
00:44:52,041 --> 00:44:53,833
[dive bombers buzzing]
392
00:44:56,250 --> 00:44:58,890
- [pilot 1] Fighters at ten o'clock.
- [pilot 2] Watch 'em, Scotty.
393
00:44:59,000 --> 00:45:00,541
[Scotty] I got my sights on 'em.
394
00:45:03,750 --> 00:45:06,125
[pilot 1] B-17 out of control
at three o'clock.
395
00:45:08,458 --> 00:45:10,458
[pilot 2] Come on, you guys,
get out of that plane.
396
00:45:14,166 --> 00:45:16,166
[subdued theme song playing]