History Channel commemorates Anzac Day

The History Channel will again mark ANZAC Day with a slew of commemorative programmes, including Gallipoli From Above: The Untold Story.

This promises to reveal a truth about the ANZAC landing far more significant than the myths about poor planning, wrong beaches and British generals sending the ANZACs to certain death.

GALLIPOLI FROM ABOVE: THE UNTOLD STORY is the true story of how a team of Australian officers used aerial intelligence, emerging technology and innovative tactics to plan the landing at Anzac Cove. Generals William Throsby Bridges and Colonel Brudenell White were charged with the difficult task of landing 20,000 ANZAC troops on a heavily defended and precipitous shoreline. They used an aircraft carrier, a tethered balloon and a squadron of biplanes to gather detailed information on the disposition of the Turkish defenders and developed a plan for the landing that avoided significant casualties. It is now nearly 100 years since the landing and hundreds of books, movies and documentaries have failed to grasp the significance of the ANZAC achievement. Instead, the mythology has clouded the real story of how these two influential Australian officers took control of the landing using every innovation they could muster to safely land their men on Z Beach. Based on Hugh Dolan’s book 36 Days, Gallipoli from Above: The Untold Story will change forever the way Australians think about Gallipoli.

8.30am WWI: THE DEATH OF GLORY (Two-hour Special) November 11, 1918 an armistice, ending World War I was signed. This ended what at the time was thought to be the war to end all wars.
10.30am CHARLES BEAN’S GREAT WAR (One-hour Special) In this local, exclusive production, see WWI through the eyes of war correspondent Charles Bean, who was instrumental in starting the Australian War Memorial and the creation of the Anzac legend.
11.30am PRISONERS OF PROPAGANDA (One-hour Special) In 1943, the Imperial Japanese Secret Service made a film called Calling Australia! to show the “exemplary conditions” under which POWs were kept. This program tells why the film was made and how it came to be forgotten.
12.30pm REVEALING GALLIPOLI (Two-hour Special) Never before has Gallipoli been treated in such an even-handed yet embracing account of the experiences in this historic moment of conflict. We offer new perspectives, stories, and images previously unknown to our audience.
2.30pm BATTLE OF LONG TAN (Two-hour Special) This History Channel exclusive commemorates the heroic efforts and bravery of the Battle of Long Tan veterans who have finally been officially recognised 45 years after the event.
4.30pm HELLFIRE PASS (One-hour Special) On Anzac Day, more than 40 years later, ex-servicemen from Australia, the United Kingdom and Holland return to Thailand to dedicate Hellfire Pass as a monument to those who died.
5.30pm KOKODA Parts 1 & 2 (Two-hour Special) Kokoda was a savage military campaign fought without mercy between foes who seriously underestimated each other, a desperate campaign to keep Papua New Guinea from falling to the Japanese during the darkest days of World War 2.
7.30pm GALLIPOLI FROM ABOVE: THE UNTOLD STORY (One-hour Special) The History Channel world exclusive for ANZAC DAY 2012 reveals a truth about the ANZAC landing far more significant than the myths about poor planning, wrong beaches and British generals sending the ANZACs to certain death.
8.30pm THE BOMBING OF DARWIN: AN AWKWARD TRUTH (One-hour Special) In 1942, the same Japanese force that had attacked Pearl Harbor struck Darwin, dropping more bombs, killing more civilians and sinking more ships, and yet the bombing of Darwin has remained in the shadows.
9.30pm THE DIGGER: A HISTORY (90-Minute Special) The legend of and the truth behind Australia’s national icon, the Digger, is explored through a sequence of pivotal battles from around the world. How has this fighting man come to personify our national character?