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War & Politics / Documentary
Battle Treasures tells the stories behind some of the rarest and most remarkable military artefacts ever discovered.
The German STG 44, history's first true assault rifle, revolutionised infantry tactics. We then uncover a rare AK-47 signed by its inventor, Mikhail Kalashnikov, a weapon that became a global icon of revolution. Finally, Foxy and Bruce handle the M16 with grenade launcher, an actual weapon used during the film Black Hawk Down. Together, these rifles reveal how military engineering, politics, and battlefield innovation shaped the weapons that came to define the twentieth century.
A Viking sword, Tantia Topee's blade, and Sir John Moore's sword of honour reveal stories of conquest, rebellion, and recognition across centuries of battle.
A battlefield cornet, medieval dagger, and WWII medic tins reveal how ordinary items became extraordinary relics of survival, sacrifice, and human experience in war.
Hidden compasses, the SAS silk map from the Bravo Two Zero mission, and resistance radios reveal the ingenious tools of wartime escape. Jason and Bruce uncover stories of survival.
From Martin-Baker Vermont watches to bomber jackets, Jason and Bruce explore artefacts of courage and survival that defined the culture of air combat.
The SAS respirator, KGB umbrella, and Saddam's gold pistol reveal the daring, secrecy, and ruthlessness of special operations from London to Baghdad.
Cast
Cast
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.
In four chapters, largely based on and illustrated with archaeological finds and sites, Neil Oliver explains how, as far as is known, the Iron Age Celtic tribes known as the Ancient Britains evolved and entered European civilization. Their internecine tribal phase was warlike and partitioned. Overseas contacts, especially metal trade, brought wealth and progress. Ultimately, it attracted the superior Roman empire, which would conquer and pacify Britain into a province, like Gaul shortly before, but Caesar's invasion wasn't the definitive annexation yet, that was left to emperor Claudius; even afterward some Celtic traits and even rebellions remained.
The Russian army has no shortage of weapons despite sanctions: With an arsenal mixing old Soviet stocks and modern hypersonic weapons, the country could strike Europe in minutes. An opaque network of spies, shell companies and oligarchs ensures its war capacity through the arms trade, technology theft and state-organized policy of terror.
