Britain At War - Our Finest Hours (Box Set) (Three Discs) (DVD)

Disc 1 - Assault On Fortress Europe: Early in the morning of 6th June 1944, a vast and bizarre armada ploughed steadily through the waters of the English Channel, heading for the Normandy coast. Amongst the 5,000 vessels were many of the best British and American warships, of stupendous collective firepower, also ancient battleships and tankers on their last voyage, destined to be sunk to provide breakwaters. It was D-Day. Conceived almost on the shores of Dunkirk, four years planning, two in the organising and one day in the execution, the landing in Normandy was easily the largest and most extraordinary combined military operation ever attempted. Had D-Day failed, the western allies would have found it impossible to launch another operation for at least a year, perhaps more and today's map of Europe might have been very different. Disc 2 Battle Of Britain The Fight For The Sky: "With the surrender of France on 22nd June 1940, Britain and her Commonwealth stood alone against the might of the German armed forces. In that dark summer of 1940, the threat of invasion hung heavily over Britain and the children were once more evacuated to the country side. The Army was still recovering from its defeat in France and could offer no real defence against invasion. That Britain had a strategy to meet German threat was due to one man- Air Chief Marshall Sir Hugh Dowding. Against enormous internal pressure, Dowding had resisted committing the majority of his Spitfire and Hurricane squadrons to the battle of the Continent, knowing that the major battle was yet to come - the Battle for Britain itself. Having preserved his squadrons, Dowding could now concentrate on his four-point master plane of defence:-A fighter strike force of Spitfires and Hurricanes - A superbly flexible radar fighter direction system - A defence shield of anti-aircraft cover- And a brilliantly simple defence strategy, disrupting the bomber attacks before they could reach their targets, but ensuring enough air cover for the bases of the squadron involved in the Battle. Disc 3 - Dunkirk Battle For France: In Britain, despite Churchill's stern reminder that "wars are not won by evacuations", a tangle of myths quickly sprung up around Dunkirk, which came to be regarded almost as a major victory. A major victory it certainly was not. Dunkirk was a brilliantly- executed withdrawal of land forces - minus all their equipment - across the Channel, following a series of unparalleled military disasters. Indeed, to the Germans, Dunkirk was virtually a sideshow. Intent on completing the conquest of France, they no longer regarded the small British army as posing any significant threat. For the French, Dunkirk became a bitter symbol of British betrayal. Yet the evacuation owed much to the unstinting bravery of the French troops. The visions conjured up of a ragged fleet and fishing boats yachts and dinghies sailing the channel, their pilots risking life and limb to save our soldiers from certain defeat and captivity.