Loading titles…
Documentary / Drama / Crime / War & Politics
Covers the 1941 Japanese military strike on a Hawaiian naval base in never before seen detail.
A detailed account of the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbour, beginning with the inception of the idea and the obstacles it faced during the months of planning. Some of the survivors of that day share their stories, including a 103-year-old Japanese torpedo bomber, who is interviewed for the first time, and an American sailor who was on the USS Arizona when it was hit by a bomb that ignited its ammunition magazine, killing 1,177 men.
The attack begins and the months of practice by Japanese fighters are put into place, as 183 Japanese bombers and fighters wipe out almost all the Pacific Fleet's battleships. During the attack, heroes emerged, such as Dorie Miller, the first African-American to receive the Navy Cross, the US Navy's highest military honour, while people questioned whether commander of the Pacific Fleet Husband Kimmel could have done more to prevent an attack that would lead to the United States entering the Second World War
Drama and mayhem ensue as the first wave of the attack draws to an end. The Americans realise a second wave of attack must, inevitably, be incoming. They prepare anti-aircraft guns and manage to launch a few planes that were not destroyed
Narrator (voice)
Myths die hard, and the history of the 20th century is no exception to this rule. Even today, we hold popular beliefs that we take for Evangelical truths. Thus, we believe that Hiroshima caused Japan to surrender, that the Marshall Plan saved Europe, that Adolf Hitler was a military genius, or that Mao Zedong was a necessary evil for China’s modernization. Of course, these judgements contain some truth; but, too broad-stroked to be accurate, they contradict the historical reality by denying its complexity. What if the truth was slightly different? Through an exploration of great national or international myths, this full archive documentary collection revisits the key moments of the 20th century with a new perspective in order to provide a new, smarter and more subtle interpretation, bringing elements to light that have been forgotten or sometimes overshadowed.
From dangerous explosives and deadly curses that put everyday people at risk, to treasures found in the unlikeliest of ways, each episode digs into the people, the places and historical significance of these discoveries. And sometimes just being in the right place at the right time can make history…because nothing stays hidden forever.
