History channel marks Remembrance Day

Next week the History channel marks Remembrance Day in this 75th year of D-Day commemorations.

Adolf Island
Sunday November 10 at 7.30pm
In what could turn out to be the largest murder case on British soil, Adolf Island sees forensic archaeologist Caroline Sturdy Colls (go in search of a Nazi SS camp constructed in secrecy on the British Channel island of Alderney during World War II. Years of research and forensic investigation have led Sturdy Colls to examine remnants of concentration and labour camps on the quiet island, and to official SS archives in Germany, where clues emerge that lead Caroline to suspect that Alderney was the scene of Nazi mass murders. However, when local officials attempt to stop the investigation, the search for the final resting place of the victims is imperilled. Sturdy Colls led the forensic team that discovered the gas chambers at Treblinka in 2013, but now they face their toughest challenge to date – this time much closer to home. Shrouded in a decades-long conspiracy of silence amid attempts by local authorities to prevent examination and the search for the missing victims of Nazi atrocities, the team must turn to state-of-the-art technology to get the answers they seek. After much discussion, compromise and stonewalling, their final discoveries, made in spite of vigorous protests by the Alderney government, are chilling.

Forts of Verdun, A Military Chess Game
Sunday November 10 at 9.30pm
The horror of the trenches, the cold, the hunger, the ranging battles… Many documentaries have already told the story of what was everyday life for the French troops. There is another place that was strategic in the Great War about which most people have heard very little: the forts. Defended, lost and recaptured, the forts of Verdun played a pivotal role. 163,000 French soldiers gave their lives to defend them. Today, over a thousand eye-witness accounts by French soldiers that it was thought had been lost, have just been unearthed. It is thus through the voices of the soldiers based in the forts in Douaumont, Vaux, and Souville, that this documentary looks back at this less familiar aspect of World War I. This epic account pays tribute to those men and reveals the strategic role played by the Verdun forts.

Forgotten Allies: The Search for Burma’s Lost Heroes
Monday November 11 at 5.30pm
In the darkest hours of WW2 thousands of men from Burma fought a brutal war to help the Allies win the conflict in the East. Only a handful of these heroes are still alive with many living in poverty and largely forgotten. This film follows a team on a mission to find these veterans and tell their heroic stories for the first time on camera.

Dutch Courage: The Forgotten Squadron
Mondays from November 11 at 6.30pm
In 1942, as the Japanese swept across the Pacific, they invaded the Netherlands East Indies, now Indonesia. When defeat became inevitable, many Dutch pilots escaped to Australia. They became the foundation of a unique air force squadron that played a significant role in harassing the Japanese for the rest of the war. This is their story.

WWI: The Final Hours
Monday November 11 at 7.30pm
During a cold November weekend in 1918 the fate of Europe lay in the hands of a few men who represented the superpowers of the day. This is the story of their extraordinary negotiations, which would end four years of devastating conflict. The culmination of those seminal discussions – a single piece of paper signed in a railway carriage in a forest north of Paris. WW1: The Final Hours explores the fascinating truth behind these fateful negotiations, and reveals the role that the agreement to end one war played in starting the next.

D-Day: The Untold Story
Monday from November 11 at 8.30pm
To commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day, this two-hour History special presents the key events of the Allied invasion of Nazi-held Europe and the subsequent battles that captured the control of the Normandy coast. Some of the last surviving veterans recall in gripping detail the terror, the patriotism and the drama from the frontlines of war. While D-Day has been told many times, this special honours the diverse backgrounds of all who served, including the experiences of African-American servicemen who fought and died. Rare archival footage from the actual invasion along with recreations will enhance the compelling story that changed the world.

The Cold Blue
Mondays from November 11 at 10.30pm
Reliving the WWII Air War in colour. In 1943, one of Hollywood’s most renowned directors William Wyler travelled to Europe armed with state-of-the-art colour film cameras to document the Air War. The footage was transformed into the legendary documentary film, The Memphis Belle. For the first time in 75 years, 15 hours of historical film reels from the National Archives have resurfaced and been restored. The special begins where William Wyler left off, creating the ultimate documentary on the Air War. The Cold Blue is a visceral film that transports the viewer back in time and captures the intensity of WWII air combat. Combining these riveting archives with new interviews featuring the men who flew these missions, we move the story of The Memphis Belle into a new century.

MacArthur: Father of a New Japan
Tuesdays from November 12 at 8.30pm
On September 2nd 1945, the GIs land on the Japanese shores. At the end of the Pacific War, General Douglas MacArthur is in charge of a huge project: administer Japan, a totalitarian country that has committed atrocities. Not limited to American propaganda, we discover why MacArthur has been nicknamed the “White Shogun” by the Japanese people. They understood his reforms, his method and have adopted his Constitution that is still in effect today and is still appreciated by the population.

Air Warriors Season 7
Thursdays from November 7 at 9.30pm
Back for an amazing seventh series Air Warriors brings you three of World War II’s most legendary planes. Discover the P-38 Lightning, an American fighter bomber that was most effectively used in the Pacific Theatre of Operations. Learn all about WWII’s most known figther plane, the Spitfire which was instrumental in the Battle of Britain. And see the inside story of the Douglas “SBD” Dauntless remembered best as the bomber that delivered the fatal blows to the Japanese carriers at the Battle of Midway in June 1942, and earned the nick name “Slow But Deadly”.

The DC-3 Story: The Plane that Changed the World
Friday November 15 at 9.30pm
With more than 16,000 built, the DC-3 became the world’s most successful aircraft and legend in several wars. During both World Wars, the military version of the DC-3 became a crucial factor for success. But by now the Basler factory in Oshkosh near Chicago seems to be an airplane boneyard. Several DC-3 aircrafts seem to be lying about in disrepair. But through 45,000 hours of work, 80 employees hammer, screw, and drill a wreck into a modern aircraft. The DC3 is the only aircraft in the world that can be fully rejuvenated after 80 years of service and then continue to fly for another 50 years or more.