All language subtitles for wwii.battles.in.color.s01e05.1080p.web.h264-cbfm_Subtitles01_Unnamed

December 1944.

Cameras capture German troops as
they smash through Allied lines.

And surround outnumbered
American units in the Ardennes,

Unstoppable King Tiger Tanks
power through the forest.

Heavy snow and below freezing
temperatures send American plans

for victory into a spin.

SS Commandos wreak havoc
behind Allied lines

The Battle of the Bulge is the
single biggest and bloodiest

battle American soldiers
have ever fought.

Now stunning newly
colorized footage

takes us to the very
heart of the fighting.

This is Adolf Hitler's last
gamble to turn the tide of war.

In the fall of 1944,
37-year-old Hollywood director

George Stevens films in
Kodachrome as US Forces

in Normandy drive
the Nazis from France.

They see what it means to
be greeted as liberators.

The town of St Malo
in Normandy is in ruins.

But locals are still jubilant.

They have survived four years
of brutal Nazi rule.

Allied confidence is high.

Stevens also films US General
George S. Patton

swaggering with
his ivory-handled

Colt 45 on his hip,

and General Omar Bradley
celebrating as they present

awards for valor
during the invasion.

Even British General
Bernard Montgomery,

Ground Forces Commander
cracks a smile

as he gives out bravery
medals to US Service men.

All three play nice
for the photo op.

But behind the scenes,

there is a fierce disagreement
about what to do next.

Flush with success after
Normandy, they have no idea

that the war is about to
take a dramatic turn.

One that will result in
the US Army's largest

and bloodiest battle
of World War II.

The Nazi war machine
is far from beaten.

German factories continue to
churn out ammunition and tanks.

Including their pride and joy,
the new heavily armored

68 ton King Tigers.

German tigers have tusks,
enormous 88 millimeter guns.

The German Armed Forces,
the Wehrmacht,

is still a potent mobile
attacking force.

Now they are regrouping
in Eastern France.

And Adolf Hitler is scheming
a new counter attack

that will drive the
Allies back into the sea.

The Allied Commanders are
oblivious to Hitler's plans.

Many believe the war will
be over before Christmas.

Eisenhower's new broad front

stretches along
the Belgian border.

The British and American forces
have their eyes on Antwerp.

They need a large port to supply
their armies

and continue their
advance towards Germany.

On September 2nd,
the Allies push into Belgium.

A Belgian underground
fighter secretly films

the Germans as they
flee Antwerp, however they can.

Resistance men cut down street
signs to confuse their retreat.

They also sack the homes of
suspected collaborators.

On September 4,
the first British units

drive into Antwerp
in Sherman tanks.

The mood changes to one
of unlimited celebration

as the crowds again embrace
their Allied liberators.

Some six thousand German POWs
get a very different treatment.

The anger of the liberated
Belgians turns against

the imprisoned German soldiers.

These soldiers are now being
brought to all kinds

of prison pens across Antwerp.

But the most famous, or infamous
of them, is the Zoo of Antwerp.

So, where once
the mighty lions roared,

now sit these meek and
humiliated German soldiers.

They will later be
sent to Prisoner of War

camps in the US and UK.

But the port at Antwerp
is still not in Allied hands.

German troops are dug
in on the muddy banks

of the Scheldt Estuary,

the only strategic point
into Antwerp harbor.

In fact for all
the talk of victory,

the Allies initial attempts
to invade Germany fail.

In September they fight
a bloody drawn out battle

in the dense woodland
of Hurtgen Forest.

It becomes the longest
single battle

the US army has ever fought.

There are more than
33,000 casualties.

It's been three months of near
continuous fighting since D-Day.

The men who won
the battle for France

need experienced reinforcements.
But there aren't any.

Four days after
landing in Europe,

the 106th infantry division

is already filmed heading
to the front line.

The vast majority have
no combat experience.

Among them is college student
turned GI Kurt Vonnegut.

He enlisted as
an artillery mechanic.

But the Army needs
foot soldiers.

There were not only college
kids but people

who had been let out of jail,
given the opportunity

to make their country proud of
them instead of ashamed.

And we didn't know
how bad it was

or what it was
like on the front.

In December 1944, these
untrained men find themselves

in the heavily forested
Ardennes region of Belgium.

One of just three divisions

covering 80 miles
on the southern front.

Facing them is the notorious
Siegfried Line,

a dense defensive belt of
minefields, tank traps

and bunkers protecting
the German border.

The sector is so quiet that
GIs call it the "Ghost Front."

There are wide gaps in
the line between units.

But the Allies
consider the Ardennes

to be almost impassable.

The terrain is
extremely difficult

for any military operation.

It's hilly there is
a lot of forest areas.

There are not many roads
leading from west to east

that the Germans could use.

There is only a limited
number of paved roads

that are suitable for
the movement of heavy armor

and it is basically
and practically a maze.

But the Nazis know
the way through.

Four years earlier the Germans
launched a massive attack

right through this same forest!

Now Hitler wants to do it again

and drive a wedge
between the Allies.

In July 1944,
the wooden map room

in Adolf Hitler's command
center, the Wolf's Lair,

is blown apart.

Lieutenant Colonel Claus
von Stauffenberg

and several army generals
have planted a bomb

in a suitcase in an attempt
to assassinate Hitler.

They want to take power and
negotiate peace with the Allies.

Four men die in the blast.

But the newsreels
are quick to show

that Hitler himself is alive.

The coup has failed.

By this stage Hitler has lost
trust in his Army Generals

and the army officers because
of the 20th of July plot 1944.

And he knows that
the Waffen SS are bound to him

by a personal oath
and he can expect more loyalty

from them than the army.

Wearing signature pea-dot
camouflaged uniforms,

the Waffen SS are the
military wing of the SS,

Hitler's fanatical elite guard

They will be the spear
point in a bold new attack.

Right at the Allied weak
point in the Ardennes.

Code Named Operation
Autumn Mist.

Three German Armies will
launch a large-scale attack.

The aim is to drive a wedge
between the Allies in the north

and south, cut
off their supplies,

and break Hitler's
enemies into pieces.

If now we can deliver
a few more heavy blows

then at any moment this
artificially bolstered common

front may suddenly collapse
with a gigantic clap of thunder.

When Hitler looks
at the battlefield,

ideology clearly plays a role.

He doesn't look at the US Army

as some huge conquering force;

he sees it as a mongrel army

of different races
and ethnicities.

And in Hitler's racial world
view, that's a real weakness.

In the north
the Sixth Panzer Army

will drive through
the Northern Ardennes.

Their ultimate goal
is to retake Antwerp.

The Fifth Panzer Army
will attack through

the heart of the
Ardennes region.

While the Seventh Army

protects the southern flank
of the operation.

They must complete the entire
attack in just four days,

or the Allies have time
to bring in reinforcements.

They plan it for late November
or early December

when the Ardennes
is famously fogged in.

Hitler is betting that
this autumn mist

will ground Allied Air support.

And he's counting on
his new favorite weapon,

the new King Tigers,
to power through the forest.

They rumble into formation
on the Western front.

The Assault force will
be 240,000 strong.

To support the tanks,
Hitler rebrands the new infantry

regiments as "Volksgrenadiere"
-- The People's Grenadiers.

Some are hardened veterans
but there are also older men

who would previously have been
considered unfit for the army.

And teenagers.

The word Volk in their name,
means people.

So, these are divisions
now drawn from the masses

of the German people.
The distinction between

civilians and soldiers
becomes blurred,

as they all rise
up to defend Nazi Germany,

and try to stave off defeat.

Troops including
the Volksgrenadier

will be equipped with a deadly
new automatic rifle the STG44.

It can fire faster
than any other infantry rifle

on the battlefield.

While the Wehrmacht gears up,

Hitler consults with one of
his best-know SS officers,

Otto Skorzeny.

Skorzeny is
a Commando Specialist.

He's already famous
for the daring rescue

of the deposed Italian
dictator Benito Mussolini.

The dueling scar on his cheek
only enhances his reputation.

Now he will be in charge
of a unit creating havoc

behind enemy lines,
Operation Greif.

Commandos in Operation Greif
are going to attempt

to pass themselves
off as Americans.

Using American uniforms,
speaking the language;

trying to get into the American
rear, confuse American troops,

shoot up American supply depots.

Operation Autumn Mist will
be blitzkrieg all over again.

Thousands of troops set
out for the Ardennes.

Convoys of tanks drive
along the snowy forest roads.

Camouflage and the weather

provide cover from Allied
Aerial Reconnaissance.

By the middle of December
Hitler's forces are ready.

A quarter of a million
German troops

are poised to attack
through the Ardennes.

Astonishingly the Allies
do not respond to reports

of these troops massing
behind the Siegfried Line.

They think the Germans are just
bringing in reinforcements

to hold off possible
American attacks.

In the early hours
of December 16th,

American soldiers
are out digging

muddy foxholes in the forest.

They have no idea what's coming.

There is dense cloud
cover over the Ardennes.

Just what Hitler
has been hoping for.

At 5:30 am the German
artillery sound reveille.

1900 guns target American
support positions

and forward defenses.

This will clear the path
for the attack.

The earth seemed to break open.

A hurricane of iron
and fire went down

on the enemy positions
with a deafening noise.

Cameras capture the chaos
as German mortars scream in.

Untested and unprepared,
the Americans are blown away.

It was a terrifying experience
to wake up to the crash

of the artillery and the
ear-splitting scream

of the rockets. The ground
shook like a bowl of Jell-O.

The German attack
in the Ardennes

could have hit a number
of US units,

but it hit a
completely green one,

and that unit melted
away in the face

of the German attack,
and now there's a hole

where the US defenses
used to be.

Even as their artillery
pound away in the Ardennes,

the Germans fire a new weapon

from one of their mobile
launches in the Netherlands.

The V-2 Rocket.

This supersonic ballistic
missile is developed

as a vengeance weapon
against Allied targets.

It's aimed at the docks
in newly liberated Antwerp

about 60 miles away.

But instead it hits the roof
of the Cinema Rex

in the city center
at precisely 3:23pm.

More than a thousand
people are packed inside.

The V2 rocket attack that slams
into the Cinema Rex in Antwerp,

is utterly devastating.
In a matter of seconds,

close to six hundred
people are killed.

Half of those are civilians;

the other half are Allied
soldiers of all kinds

of nationalities and services.

Among them,
many navy personnel

from ships docked
in Antwerp port.

It takes more than
a week to clear the rubble.

For the Germans the first
day of the operation Autumn Mist

is running on schedule.

The 6th Panzer army
with their elite SS troops

rumbles through
the Northern Ardennes.

In the south the 5th Panzer Army
has also broken through

the first US defenses.

The King Tigers roll
right past isolated groups

of Allied soldiers defending
the forest's villages.

Hitler's gamble is paying off.

Hitler's Ardennes Offensive
is going according to plan.

So far, the German troops
have stuck to their time-table

and are on course to storm
through the thin Allied line.

Once through they'll
seize key bridges over

Belgium's Meuse river and push
west to the North Sea coast

and cut the Allied
Armies in two.

Within two days some
German units have advanced

up to 30 miles
into Allied territory

creating a bulge
in the frontline,

giving the battle
its popular name.

This captured footage taken
by a German cameraman

shows German soldiers
from the 6th Panzer Army

very happy to get their hands on
looted Chesterfields and Camels.

Waffen SS troops carrying
their new STG44s lead the push.

But many American
troops do regroup.

In the northern villages
they put up a fierce resistance.

The motorized columns
of the 6th Panzer army

are now jammed together
on the narrow roads.

Small American units
play a crucial role

in delaying German
troops in the Ardennes.

They, by holding roads,
crossroads, small bridges

over rivers, will derail
a very tight

and strict German timetable,

and thereby diminish
the chance of German success

in the Ardennes.

With the 6th Panzer Army
and their SS units

now held in check by
the American forces

they try to find
another way through.

Cameras catch the Germans
stopping for directions

in the middle of the invasion.

These men are from an SS
reconnaissance company

in the 6th Army.

They've found a muddy
road through the forest.

Towards a town called Malmedy.

Leading the 6th Panzer
Army advance is a powerful

battle group commanded by
SS officer Joachim Peiper.

On December 17th one of
Peiper's units captures

an American truck convoy at
a crossroads near the town.

134 GIs surrender.

But the SS do not want to be
slowed down by prisoners.

They herd them into a field
and massacre more than 80 men.

Then they continue on their way.

Almost four weeks later

advancing US forces find their
frozen corpses in the snow.

This is a war crime,
and some horrific scenes

play out in that
field near Malmedy.

Some of these soldiers beg
for mercy and then are shot

anyway by the Waffen SS,

others cry for their
mothers before being shot.

Some are actually asked
to hand over their watches

before they'll be executed.

Lee Carson from the
International News Service,

seen here in Normandy,
is one of the few female

war correspondents covering
the Battle of the Bulge.

She visits the site and
describes the atrocity

as a mass slaying that
made Custer's famous last stand

pale in bloody comparison.

The Malmedy Massacre is not
an isolated incident.

On the same day German cameras

film POWs from the 106th
Infantry Division.

Among the prisoners
are the black soldiers

of the 333rd Field
Artillery Battalion

who are supporting the
American frontline positions.

Staff Sergeant George Shomo,

who has been wounded
in both legs,

and his comrades are paraded
for the cameras

in this German propaganda film.

George Shomo is sent to
a POW camp in Germany.

But 11 of his comrades
hide out in a house

in the nearby village of Wereth.

Until they are
betrayed to the SS.

And these men were tortured,

they were stabbed
through their eyes,

their fingers were cut off,
their limbs were broken,

they were shot in the head.

They were mutilated.

Peiper and 70 other SS men

later face a war crimes trial
for the Malmedy massacre.

...session at least two thirds
of the members present...

...sentences you
to death by name.

Such time and place as
our authority may...

Peiper's death sentence is later
commuted to life imprisonment.

But charges are never brought
against anyone

for the murders of
the 11 soldiers at Wereth.

During that time,
particularly in the South,

if a white was accused
of killing a black person,

overwhelmingly, charges
would not be brought.

If charges were brought,
and the person was put on trial

for that crime,
the jury deliberation

may last two or three
minutes, and invariably,

that person would
be found not guilty

and I think that same type
of thinking played out in terms

of the prosecution of
the murders of the Wereth 11.

German footage shows
thousands of Americans,

many of them wounded,
taken prisoner in the Ardennes.

General Eisenhower decides
to take drastic action.

At a crucial meeting
on December 19,

he overrules General Bradley.

And orders General Patton
to stop the German advance.

Patton's Third Army is an
experienced fighting force.

But they are still days away.

The 6th Panzer army
and its heavily armed SS units

have stalled in the north.

But the 5th is still
pushing forward,

toward two towns at key road
junctions in the US sector.

St Vith and Bastogne.

Eisenhower's only
immediate reserves

are the 82nd and 101st
Airborne divisions.

He sends - the 82nd to St Vith
and the 101st to Bastogne.

Their orders are to prevent
the Germans breaking through

to the town at any cost.

Christmas is five days away.

The Germans are
coming for Bastogne.

Some locals gather what
they can and get out.

Everyone is on edge.

Otto Skorzney's sabotage plan,

Operation Greif,
has been implemented.

This Signal Corps footage
shows a German prisoner,

caught dressed in GI fatigues
behind The Allied lines.

Skorzeny's men cause
as much havoc as possible

committing small
acts of sabotage.

When captured they are treated
as spies and executed.

Operation Greif sows
paranoia in the Allied ranks.

The Americans tighten up
their security at checkpoints.

Military police bombard
innocent soldiers with questions

about the World Series
and Mickey Mouse's girlfriend

to make sure that
they are not imposters.

There are not that
many German agents

involved in Operation Greif,

but they do manage to
create mass confusion,

chaos, and panic at times.

Especially, with regards
to Belgian civilians,

because now you have American
soldiers wondering everywhere

in the Ardennes,
is this a Belgian civilian,

or a dressed-up German soldier?

On December 19th some 10,000
of the 101st Airborne Division,

the paratroopers called
"The Screaming Eagles"

pour into Bastogne. Orders are
to grab what they can carry

and get to the front.

The next day the 5th panzer
army reaches the outskirts

of Bastogne and surrounds them.

They want the network
of roads that runs

from the town through
the Ardennes.

So while the bulk of
the army pushes west,

the remainder lay
siege to Bastogne.

Conditions in the Ardennes
are now near arctic.

Visibility is almost zero.
There is no air support.

And the Americans have
no cold weather gear.

It's hand shovels
versus frozen ground.

Reward for their hard
work is a cold foxhole.

And low rations.

Man it was one cold
blast up there.

You couldn't touch the tanks or
your hands stuck to the metal.

The tanks just couldn't make it.

They were sliding back like
bears on a slippery slide.

Foxholes are meant to provide
cover from incoming artillery.

They'll need it!

The Germans open up
all around them.

The Germans surrounded us,
were blowing away

the woods acre by acre.

They were shooting German 88s
that would hit the trees

and shrapnel would
spray everywhere.

We were like sitting ducks,
exhausted; we had no reserves.

At night the Germans
use giant searchlights

to help them probe
the Bastogne defenses.

When the light catches a gun
or a foxhole - they open fire.

The Germans heavily outnumber,
and outgun, the Americans.

The 101st are paratroopers.

They only carry semi-automatic
M1 rifles,

the primary weapon
of American infantrymen.

But they do have some support.

Including the African-American
Artillery Field Battalion,

the 969th.

The Battle of the Bulge is
the first time in World War II

that Black units are allowed
to fight alongside white units.

One of the units, the 969th
Field Artillery Battalion,

an all-black unit,
provides fire support

in the defense of Bastogne.

The 969th fires
155 millimeter Howitzers,

and they are major players,
major supporters

of the 101st Airborne Division
during the defense of Bastogne.

The situation seems hopeless.

On December 22nd,

Acting Commander
General Anthony McAuliffe

is awakened by a German
invitation to surrender.

He writes back: Nuts!

The 101st stands its ground.

The German push to split
the Allied forces,

so precisely coordinated
and timed with the weather,

is stalling.

The following day
the skies clear over Bastogne.

And the Allied Air
forces go into action.

A formation of Mitchell
and Boston Bombers

swoop in on German
supply lines. And unload.

Fighter Bombers strafe
trucks and panzers

trapped in traffic jams
on the Ardennes's icy roads.

Most welcome for the Screaming
Eagles are the C47 Skytrains

airdropping medicine,
blankets, ammo and food.

The Germans respond with their
heaviest attack on Bastogne,

on Christmas day.

The chilling sound
of Nebelwefer rockets,

the screaming mimis,
fills the sky.

But the re-supplied
Allied troops

fire back hard with
howitzers and field guns.

Then on December 27th, General
Patton's 350,000-man Third Army

finally links up with
the beleaguered defenders

at Bastogne.

The siege is broken.

A jubilant Patton can
barely contain himself.

We hit the sons of bitches on
the flank and stopped them cold.

Now that may sound like George
Patton is a great genius.

Actually he had damned
little to do with it.

All he did was to give orders.

But Bastogne residents have
little left to celebrate.

Director George Stevens's
rare color footage

shows the town in ruins.

Civilians pick through
the wreckage,

attempting to
resume their lives.

And US soldiers recover
the wounded

and give toys and ribbons
to the town's children.

The smoke is finally beginning
to clear over the Ardennes.

But Hitler has one more
surprise for the Allies.

The weather in the Ardennes
breaks for good

on New Year's Day 1945.

On the ground Germans forces
are in a muddy retreat.

Their push to retake Antwerp,

cut off the Allied
armies to the north

and force a surrender has
stalled in the Ardennes.

The offensive is on
the verge of collapse.

But Adolf Hitler makes
one last gamble.

Operation Bodenplatte.

This German propaganda
film shows how

in the early hours of the
morning, 900 fighter aircraft

take to the skies to launch
simultaneous attacks

against Allied airfields.

The brief is to shoot up
every Allied plane

and hangar they can see.

To inflict enough damage
on the air power

to give the ground forces
in the Ardennes some
breathing space.

Once again the Allies
are caught sleeping.

Another major failure
of military intelligence.

The attack becomes
known amongst the pilots

as the Hangover Raid.

Following a New Year's Eve
celebration

we were on our way to dispersal
around 5am when the Luftwaffe

arrived on the scene
in copious quantities.

We bailed out of the truck
and dug into the mud

in our best uniforms
while they strafed our drome.

Spitfires scramble to respond.

And dogfights break out.

Allied planes bring
down a German Focke-Wulf 190

as the pilot bails out.

The assault is over by noon.

But the hangover lingers...
for both sides.

Altogether
the Luftwaffe destroys

about 250 Allied planes.

But they lose around
300 and over 230 pilots.

The shattered wreckage
of German hopes

lie scattered across
France and Belgium.

The consequences
of Operation Bodenplatte

are absolutely dire for Germany
and the German air force.

Because of the heavy casualties
sustained the German air force

is now no longer able
to defend the German airspace

and to prevent the
destruction of German cities

by Allied bombers.

The Americans want
to strike back.

But ground fog has now
replaced the cloud cover

and they can't take off.

So the Allies come up with an
ingenious device known as Fido.

They line runways with rows of
fuel pipes and ignite them.

The heat disperses the fog and
clears the runways for takeoff.

The 8th Air Force bombers,
escorted by Thunderbolt

and Mustang fighters attack
German positions

in the Ardennes.

They unleash hell.

But the Germans continue
to fight ferociously.

They cling to captured villages.

Determined not to give up
the ground they have gained.

On January 4 General Patton
writes in his diary:

We can still lose this war.

The Germans are colder
and hungrier than we are.

But the Nazis attempt to
repeat their success

of the 1940 Blitzkrieg has
pushed them to the limit.

Although they have forced
the Allied line back 60 miles

in four weeks their fuel
supplies have now run dry.

Many German troops have
to abandon their tanks.

The attacking force
is literally out of gas.

Lack of fuel for a German
military operation

is like lack of blood
in a human body.

The Germans predicate
themselves on maneuver;

it's what they are all about.
And when there's no fuel,

maneuver is first of all
going to slow down,

and then eventually
stop altogether.

By mid-January,

Hitler realizes there is
no possibility of victory.

The vital SS Units are
the first to pull out

and head for
the Eastern Front.

Then Hitler orders a retreat

for all German forces
in the Ardennes.

From north and south
US forces advance

across the snow-covered terrain

picking up German prisoners
along the way.

Here in Krinkelt,
in the northern sector,

US troops interrogate
German prisoners

left behind in the retreat.

And on January 16 the pincers
of the First and Third Armies

meet up to crush
the famous Bulge.

Hitler's gamble has
failed and at a heavy price.

The initiative is
again with the Allies.

But the Battle of the Bulge
has been a catastrophic blow

to both sides and has
left a muddy graveyard

across East Belgium.

The Battle of the Bulge was
a decisive US defensive victory.

The Germans had plans
to punch through the line,

roll forward, get to Antwerp.

They don't do any of
these things. They fail.

And as a result, any
hopes they had of victory

in the west have
now been dashed.

But let's remember the cost;

this had been
a very bloody battle.

The Americans suffer
80,000 casualties,

the German figure
is closer to 100,000.

The Allies resume their advance.

In February 1945,

Patton's 3rd Army is rolling
on breaching the Siegfried Line.

Then on March 7 1945,

they enter into
the heart of Nazi Germany

as jubilant troops
cross the Rhine

over the bridge at Remagen.

The Western Allies are one
bloody step closer to victory.