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December, 1944.
Hitler launches an all-out assault
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on the Western Front across
Belgium and Luxembourg.
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00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:25,080
In small towns,
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00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:31,360
vastly outnumbered Allied platoons
face off against entire German battalions
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00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:39,840
in a series of David versus Goliath
attacks that pit superior Nazi weaponry
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against American metal.
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The Battle of the Bulge.
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00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:03,960
In this series, we investigate the most
extraordinary events of World War II
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from a brand-new perspective,
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matching rarely seen archive film,
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photography from the front line
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and remarkable aerial reconnaissance
images to their original locations.
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We reconstruct the crucial battles,
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daring bombing raids,
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and deadly terror weapons
that changed the course of history.
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Soaring over the battlefields,
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we reveal the secrets of World War II
from above.
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October 1944,
an Allied pilot flies over the North Sea
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to map the Nazis' defense network
along the coast of Europe.
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Flying over a small Dutch island,
he snaps a series of photos.
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They expose a heavily-fortified site
covered with concrete bunkers
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that sit side by side in a line
that stretches 16 kilometers long.
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It's arguably the most formidable part
of Hitler's infamous Atlantic Wall.
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To win the war in Europe,
it's crucial the Allies break through
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the most heavily-defended section
of this concrete barrier.
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The tide has turned on Nazi Germany.
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Following the successful D-Day
landings in Normandy,
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Allied forces break out across Europe,
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but their rapid advance begins
to overstretch supply lines.
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The Allies now need to establish
a new shipping route
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through Europe's largest surviving harbor
in Antwerp.
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A major obstacle, however, stands between
the Belgian port and the sea.
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The Dutch island of Walcheren,
which the Germans have heavily fortified.
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Walcheren sits on the mouth
of the River Scheldt
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and covers an area of over
180 square kilometers.
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The site guards the entrance to Antwerp's
strategically vital deep water port.
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Its position is so crucial,
Hitler personally oversees
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the planning of its fortifications,
down to the last detail.
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00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:28,240
Archaeologist Natasha Billson
investigates this largely forgotten
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but crucial battleground.
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The Nazis are under no illusion
how important this piece of land is.
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The island is armed to the teeth.
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All along here, on the dunes,
they have coastal gun complexes
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with their sights
on the mouth of the River Scheldt.
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The coastline is brimming
with heavy artillery positions.
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Some of them have mighty
220-millimeter cannons,
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with a range of over 22 kilometers,
to obliterate any assault from the sea.
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00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:12,680
Further inland, a second line of bunkers
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protect the coastal guns
from a rear attack.
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00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:25,840
Each bunker houses a heavy artillery gun,
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supplied with a stockpile
of deadly 155-millimeter shells,
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with a 10-kilometer range of fire.
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Protected by walls up to two meters thick,
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these bunkers are lethal obstacles.
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A closer look reveals
numerous impact marks.
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Looking at the size,
the shape, the depth of them,
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they must be 20-millimeter rounds
coming from Allied aircraft
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shooting down in this direction.
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They're not doing a lot of damage.
They're barely making a dent.
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00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:15,920
To neutralize the threat
of Walcheren's bunkers,
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the Allies could bomb them,
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but there are so many, and the pilots
could only destroy them with direct hits.
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The Nazi defenses, however,
have an Achilles heel.
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Most of the island lies beneath sea level.
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Huge embankments called dykes
up to 76 meters wide
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and a series of rolling dunes
up to 52 meters high along its coastline
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are all that stand
between the islanders and the ocean.
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The dunes and dykes of the island
form its rim. Break the rim
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and the seawater rushes in, cutting off
numerous inland bunkers from each other,
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effectively rendering them useless.
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To get supplies through Hitler's
Atlantic Wall to Antwerp,
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the Allies plan to blow up
Walcheren's dykes and dunes,
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letting seawater gush through
to flood the island.
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Third of October, 1944.
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At 1:00 p.m., 247 British Lancaster
and Mosquito bombers
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conduct a high-precision raid.
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The aircraft target the island's dykes.
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On the first day,
they drop over 1,000 tons of bombs.
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Aerial reconnaissance photos
reveal the devastation.
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The explosions breach the sea walls.
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Further raids widen the gap,
flooding 80% of the island.
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Only the highest villages
and defenses escape the deluge.
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00:08:37,800 --> 00:08:42,480
Dutch historian Tobias van Gent
investigates the site.
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With Walcheren flooded,
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British and Canadian forces
launch an amphibious assault
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across the heavily-defended estuary.
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At 8:20 a.m. on the first of November,
three Allied warships,
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together with dozens of landing craft,
fire their cannons on Walcheren.
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Under the cover of thick clouds of smoke,
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the first waves of
the British No. 4 Commandos
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strike the island's west and south shores.
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Special tanks equipped with fast-rotating
chains explode buried mines.
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This clears a safe passage
along the beaches,
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which allows troops to advance
and knock out the Nazi defenses.
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After several days of fierce fighting,
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the Allies finally take the island
and imprison 41,000 German soldiers.
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It's a devastating blow for Hitler.
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The assault on Walcheren
allows the Allies to secure
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the crucial supply lines through Antwerp.
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Soon they can offload
19,000 tons of supplies every day.
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To reignite the Allied advance
across Nazi-occupied Europe,
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125 kilometers east of Antwerp,
on the German border with Belgium,
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the Allies face their next major obstacle.
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Aerial reconnaissance images captured
near the city of Aachen in Germany
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reveal a menacing concrete structure
that stretches as far as the eye can see.
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Viewed from above, strange geometric lines
crisscross the undulating landscape.
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A closer look reveals the lines are made
up of concrete blocks arranged in rows.
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Each block resembles a pyramid,
standing up to two meters tall.
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The concrete pyramids
are spaced just over one meter apart
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and form part of an immense network
of Nazi fortifications
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called the Siegfried Line.
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00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:10,320
The Siegfried Line
is a wall of concrete and steel.
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More than 22,000 bunkers and pillboxes
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are evenly spaced to create
interlocking fields of fire.
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Stretching up to 30 kilometers deep
and over 600 kilometers long
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down Germany's western border,
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the Siegfried Line is
an extraordinary feat of Nazi engineering.
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00:12:42,960 --> 00:12:49,160
Retired soldier Henri Mignon investigates
the rows of concrete pyramids,
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known as dragon's teeth.
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They're designed to trap tanks.
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00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:31,160
The steel bars tie the dragon's
teeth to a thick concrete foundation
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to create a single impenetrable unit.
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By early November 1944,
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U.S., British, French and Canadian forces
reach the Siegfried Line.
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They urgently need a way
to break through this deadly barrier.
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The teeth are devastating
obstacles for tanks.
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00:14:24,120 --> 00:14:29,040
Rolling over them exposes
the tanks' poorly-armored underside.
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00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:36,840
A welcome target
for German anti-tank weapons.
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00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:43,560
The Germans leave deliberate
weak points in the line
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to lure Allied tanks into kill zones,
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where they can be picked off one by one.
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00:14:56,840 --> 00:15:01,560
Hitler knows Allied supply lines
are now at breaking point.
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In a last-ditch attempt
to reverse the course of the war,
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he plots a massive offensive.
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He orders a surprise attack
on Allied lines
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in Belgium and Luxembourg,
where they are most vulnerable.
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00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:29,200
His plan is to seize
the bridges over the River Meuse
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and then recapture Antwerp
in just a few days.
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Hitler hopes this will drive a wedge
between the Allied forces,
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cut off their supply lines
and force them to surrender.
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00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:51,760
The German offensive is given
the code word Operation Wacht am Rhein.
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"Watch on the Rhine."
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Sixteenth of December, 1944.
80,000 American soldiers
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stationed in the Ardennes
sleep on frozen ground.
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00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:13,160
Hidden in the dense forest,
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00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:17,960
they're completely unaware
that a massive German strike force
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with over 2,000 tanks and assault guns
is closing in on their position.
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00:16:30,720 --> 00:16:36,680
At 5:30 a.m.,
the Germans launch a massive assault
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with 1,900 artillery pieces
and rocket launchers
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against the unsuspecting Americans.
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22-year-old scout Louis Kalil
is part of an intelligence
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and reconnaissance platoon who faces
the brunt of the German onslaught.
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You think the end of the world
is coming. I did.
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I thought, "Well, one of these is going
to land right on top of us, and that's it.
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"We'll never know."
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Shells explode in the trees,
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sending lethal shards
of metal and wood through the air.
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It's a terrible feeling.
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00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:33,880
You know, it's just a constant
one after another for two hours.
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Dazed and disorientated,
many soldiers drop everything and scatter.
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Hitler's ambush has literally
caught the Allies napping.
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His offensive could repel the invasion
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and turn the tide of the war
in Germany's favor.
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00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:01,280
On day one of Hitler's counter-offensive,
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the Allies are blindsided
in a blitzkrieg attack.
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In the Ardennes, the American front line
is held by no more than six divisions,
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with just over 100,000 men.
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They now face one of
the biggest concentrations of firepower
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since the war began.
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00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:34,160
Eighteen German divisions
with over 400 tanks,
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and more than 300,000 German fighters,
but this isn't just a numbers game.
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Among their ranks
are elite units of the Waffen-SS,
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the combat branch of the Nazi Party's
paramilitary organization.
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Commanding its most fearsome armored unit,
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Kampfgruppe Peiper,
is SS officer Joachim Peiper.
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Peiper is the youngest
commander of the Waffen-SS.
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He is a fanatical Nazi,
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who has been marked out
for success by the Führer himself.
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He has the best equipment at his disposal,
including the ultimate tank,
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the King Tiger.
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Marie-France Gregoire is a custodian
of one of the last surviving King Tigers.
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I suppose it was a terrifying
experience for the American soldiers to be
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in front of those ugly beasts.
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Very big beast.
And don't forget the noise.
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The noise was terrible.
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Thousand like that.
Yes, it's terrible.
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The King Tiger is a 70-ton steel beast
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with 18 centimeters of sloping armor
that protects its front.
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00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:25,280
The tank is equipped
with a rotating turret
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and an 88-millimeter anti-tank cannon
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that can smash through
14 centimeters of armor
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from over two kilometers away.
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They were made to intimidate the enemy.
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00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:45,720
So the size of this tank
was absolutely huge.
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If you stand before it,
you think, "Oh, my God."
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And the armor was very thick.
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00:20:55,840 --> 00:20:58,680
It was almost impossible to pierce it.
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00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:05,120
The Nazis' King Tiger
has no equal on the battlefield,
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but it does have one major drawback.
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It devours fuel at a phenomenal rate.
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00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:20,760
As part of his mission, Peiper must
capture fuel depots at key towns
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to push his counter-offensive forward.
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00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:33,200
On the 17th of December, Peiper begins
his blitzkrieg through Belgium,
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but his progress is slower than he'd like.
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00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:46,840
The roads he must take are so narrow
that they squeeze his battle group
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into a huge armored column
25 kilometers long.
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00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:56,640
In the early morning light,
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Peiper's battle group steamrolls
into the small town of Honsfeld.
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00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:11,600
They capture 19 American soldiers
and brutally gun them down in cold blood.
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00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:21,520
The Germans seize the Allied vehicles,
and even steal the boots of the dead.
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00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:30,280
In response to the German offensive,
the Allies reorganize their forces.
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00:22:33,120 --> 00:22:35,280
15 kilometers west of Honsfeld,
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00:22:36,360 --> 00:22:38,960
a U.S. truck convoy of 30 vehicles
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00:22:39,280 --> 00:22:43,240
heads east towards
the small village of Baugnez.
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00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:47,440
The Allied convoy is completely unaware
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00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:51,280
that they are on a collision course
with Kampfgruppe Peiper.
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00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:57,520
Ted Paluch is part of Battery B
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of the 285th
Artillery Observation Battalion.
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We took a road going north.
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And the Germans would take
the same road coming south.
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00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:16,720
I didn't realize it then, but they could
see our whole convoy where they were at.
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The German tanks don't hesitate.
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00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:26,680
They fire explosive shells
into the American vehicles,
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00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:32,440
crippling the convoy and forcing
Ted's entire unit to surrender.
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00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:41,280
Nazi forces group 113 prisoners together
and take them to this nearby field,
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where they're shot with machine guns.
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If someone took a shot, as soon
as that shot was fired, I went down.
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00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:56,960
And I think it was something like 96 tanks
and half-tracks passed,
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00:23:57,040 --> 00:24:00,200
and each one would fire into the group.
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00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:08,080
Most prisoners are
immediately killed. Others panic and flee.
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00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:14,280
Anybody found still alive receives
a gunshot point blank to the head.
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00:24:15,400 --> 00:24:18,480
Ted's best chance of survival
is to play dead.
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00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:23,520
I was shot in the hand,
and they come up and looked.
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00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:27,000
I guess he saw blood
and he thought he got me.
235
00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:34,640
Over 40 soldiers, including Ted,
236
00:24:35,240 --> 00:24:38,920
manage to escape the bloodbath
and report the massacre.
237
00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:49,480
News of the atrocity
spreads fast across American lines.
238
00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:54,000
But rather than demoralizing the troops,
239
00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:59,880
they're now more determined than ever
to hold the German advance.
240
00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:11,960
Day three of Hitler's Ardennes offensive.
241
00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:17,360
The armored German forces in the north,
242
00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:20,920
who were meant to have made
significant progress,
243
00:25:22,360 --> 00:25:26,880
have penetrated only a few dozen
kilometers into Allied territory.
244
00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:31,480
But further south, another German division
245
00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:34,880
is threatening to take
an important strategic asset
246
00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:39,120
that the Allies must move
to protect at all costs.
247
00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:45,440
The ancient town
of Clervaux in Luxembourg.
248
00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:52,560
Clervaux lies in a deep, narrow valley
249
00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:55,720
and is surrounded by
high, forested mountains.
250
00:26:00,360 --> 00:26:03,240
With a station
on the north/south railway line
251
00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:09,760
and several sturdy bridges,
the town is a major transportation hub.
252
00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:14,440
Here, hundreds of American soldiers
253
00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:19,080
resting from the front lines of battle
are quickly called into action.
254
00:26:21,320 --> 00:26:26,080
They transform the town's hotels
and private homes into barracks
255
00:26:27,600 --> 00:26:33,920
and turn Clervaux's huge medieval castle
into a stronghold for American forces.
256
00:26:39,520 --> 00:26:43,240
Tom Scholtes investigates
this key battleground.
257
00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:14,840
On the 17th of December at 9:30 a.m.,
258
00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:17,560
the Germans launch their ground assault.
259
00:27:20,360 --> 00:27:24,560
Thirty armored vehicles
and tanks descend into Clervaux,
260
00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:29,560
but the Americans have
set up traps on the main road.
261
00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:36,000
Allied tanks hide behind
three hairpin bends,
262
00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:38,680
ready to ambush the German advance.
263
00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:44,040
They disable one Nazi tank,
264
00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:52,120
but they're no match for the combined
firepower of the invading army.
265
00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:56,840
The Germans' high velocity shells
266
00:27:57,400 --> 00:28:01,000
tear through the thin armor
of the American tanks.
267
00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:07,160
By the time the smoke clears,
268
00:28:07,840 --> 00:28:12,240
the wrecks of several tanks
block Clervaux's streets.
269
00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:35,440
With no way out of Clervaux,
270
00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:39,720
over 100 soldiers become trapped
in the town's castle,
271
00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:43,640
surrounded by a sea of German forces.
272
00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:50,200
It looks like it's game over
for the American defenders.
273
00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:55,120
The tanks come right up to the gates.
274
00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:01,720
But the castle's 12th-century walls
prove a formidable obstacle.
275
00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:49,960
Just as the Americans think they're safe,
276
00:29:51,760 --> 00:29:55,440
the Germans turn to
a devastating chemical weapon.
277
00:29:58,600 --> 00:30:00,000
White phosphorus.
278
00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:05,800
The Germans fire more than
1,000 incendiary shells
279
00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:07,360
and bullets at the castle.
280
00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:15,000
Streams of liquid fire as hot as lava
seep into every crack,
281
00:30:16,560 --> 00:30:21,240
turning the seemingly safe haven
into a raging inferno.
282
00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:08,200
On the 18th of December,
with just 62 men still alive,
283
00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:14,520
the American defenders
raise the white flag and surrender.
284
00:31:16,680 --> 00:31:19,040
Clervaux has fallen.
285
00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:23,000
The German attack
turns the picturesque town
286
00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:26,840
into a post-apocalyptic landscape.
287
00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:32,840
The Americans suffer a devastating defeat.
288
00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:40,120
But their heroic last stand
has severely disrupted
289
00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:42,720
Hitler's carefully-planned timetable.
290
00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:50,040
Now the Germans need
to make up for lost time.
291
00:31:59,080 --> 00:32:03,040
On day four of Hitler's
desperate Ardennes offensive,
292
00:32:04,760 --> 00:32:08,400
the Allies have blocked the progress
of German forces in the north.
293
00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:14,720
The success of Hitler's advance
now rests in the south
294
00:32:16,080 --> 00:32:20,200
on a crucial tactical position
that provides an express route
295
00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:23,280
to the River Meuse and beyond to Antwerp.
296
00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:28,400
The Belgian town of Bastogne.
297
00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:35,920
The Allies realize the imminent threat,
298
00:32:36,360 --> 00:32:40,920
and order two U.S. divisions directly
into the line of the German attack.
299
00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:46,480
Two days after the launch
of the German offensive,
300
00:32:46,880 --> 00:32:49,720
the first reinforcements reach Bastogne.
301
00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:52,240
Quick on their heels,
302
00:32:53,400 --> 00:32:59,000
11,000 troops from the renowned
101st Airborne Division arrive.
303
00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:03,320
While they set up defenses in town,
304
00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:09,080
additional units receive orders
to create roadblocks
305
00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:12,440
on all the major roads
leading to Bastogne.
306
00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:18,840
Their mission, to delay
the German advance, whatever it takes.
307
00:33:26,640 --> 00:33:29,400
For retired soldier Henri Mignon,
308
00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:34,040
the army that controls Bastogne
controls the whole of the Ardennes.
309
00:33:56,000 --> 00:34:00,800
Six kilometers north of
Bastogne, a team of American soldiers
310
00:34:00,880 --> 00:34:05,680
defend one of its major roads
at the small hamlet of Noville.
311
00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:17,960
Their leader, Major William Desobry,
commands just 400 men and 15 tanks.
312
00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:21,040
He faces a daunting challenge.
313
00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:27,640
Barreling towards him
are 16,000 German soldiers
314
00:34:28,240 --> 00:34:31,560
with more than 120 tanks and assault guns.
315
00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:43,560
Nineteenth of December.
316
00:34:43,960 --> 00:34:48,680
In the early hours of the morning,
a thick fog falls over Noville.
317
00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:54,920
The haze hides the Nazi advance
from the American soldiers.
318
00:35:13,440 --> 00:35:15,640
Knowing the Germans are about to attack,
319
00:35:16,160 --> 00:35:19,720
Desobry's team
duck behind any cover they can find.
320
00:35:25,520 --> 00:35:29,080
But at 10:00 a.m.,
the fog suddenly clears,
321
00:35:30,680 --> 00:35:34,960
to expose a line of German tanks
on the northern ridge.
322
00:35:38,040 --> 00:35:44,360
The Americans don't hesitate
and destroy nearly all of them.
323
00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:51,080
But their success is short-lived.
324
00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:56,800
After 48 hours of vicious fighting,
325
00:35:57,120 --> 00:36:03,600
the Germans overwhelm the Americans
and force them to withdraw to Bastogne.
326
00:36:23,160 --> 00:36:27,440
The cost of holding
Noville is high, but the sacrifice made
327
00:36:27,520 --> 00:36:33,240
by Desobry's team give the Allies
the precious time they need to regroup
328
00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:36,720
and protect the crucial
crossroads at Bastogne.
329
00:36:39,400 --> 00:36:42,880
On the 22nd of December, 1944,
330
00:36:43,480 --> 00:36:46,280
seven days
into Hitler's Ardennes offensive,
331
00:36:47,640 --> 00:36:52,080
54,000 German soldiers
have encircled Bastogne,
332
00:36:52,960 --> 00:36:55,160
outnumbering the American defenders.
333
00:36:59,080 --> 00:37:02,360
Inside the Belgian town's
Allied headquarters,
334
00:37:02,920 --> 00:37:07,840
thousands of U.S. troops prepare
for the incoming German assault.
335
00:37:12,680 --> 00:37:17,360
But snowfall and fog
reduce visibility close to zero,
336
00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:21,160
which conceals German positions
337
00:37:21,280 --> 00:37:26,040
and prevents the Allies from deploying
their superior air force for support.
338
00:37:30,080 --> 00:37:35,880
General Anthony McAuliffe is acting
commander in charge of defending Bastogne.
339
00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:40,760
He receives a message from the Germans
requesting his surrender.
340
00:37:41,840 --> 00:37:44,720
He sends back a one-word response.
341
00:37:46,040 --> 00:37:47,040
"Nuts."
342
00:37:59,320 --> 00:38:02,920
An all-out assault
could overwhelm the defenders.
343
00:38:03,600 --> 00:38:08,800
Instead, the Nazis probe for weaknesses
in the line around Bastogne.
344
00:38:13,240 --> 00:38:17,080
General McAuliffe takes advantage
of this crucial mistake
345
00:38:17,880 --> 00:38:23,720
and moves his limited armored forces
to resist each attack as it occurs.
346
00:38:31,200 --> 00:38:34,120
The vastly outnumbered American soldiers
347
00:38:34,520 --> 00:38:38,400
manage to hold the town
and a defensive perimeter.
348
00:38:41,080 --> 00:38:47,080
But the defenders will soon run
out of food, fuel and ammunition.
349
00:38:52,680 --> 00:38:55,520
Twenty-third of December, 1944.
350
00:38:56,440 --> 00:39:01,040
The morning brings a welcome sight
for Bastogne's beleaguered soldiers.
351
00:39:02,920 --> 00:39:03,920
Blue skies.
352
00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:11,080
Allied planes from France and England
take flight over the Ardennes,
353
00:39:11,360 --> 00:39:14,200
the first time since the battle began.
354
00:39:15,080 --> 00:39:20,640
The following day,
the air force conduct over 2,000 missions.
355
00:39:21,440 --> 00:39:26,120
They deliver over
144,000 kilos of supplies
356
00:39:27,240 --> 00:39:29,840
to revitalize the stranded troops.
357
00:39:32,760 --> 00:39:36,400
It's a devastating blow
to Hitler's great offensive.
358
00:39:40,880 --> 00:39:45,600
Two days later,
General Patton's Third U.S. Army
359
00:39:45,800 --> 00:39:50,480
pierces through the 5th Panzer Division
and breaks the encirclement.
360
00:39:52,920 --> 00:39:58,520
A flood of Allied men and supplies
soon pour into Bastogne's high street.
361
00:40:00,240 --> 00:40:02,280
The siege has come to an end.
362
00:40:04,680 --> 00:40:07,240
But the battle is far from over.
363
00:40:12,040 --> 00:40:17,200
With the skies now clear,
the Allies are ready to strike back.
364
00:40:20,720 --> 00:40:23,560
New Year's Day, 1945.
365
00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:27,640
Hitler's offensive has ground to a halt.
366
00:40:29,720 --> 00:40:34,840
His 17 days of concentrated
advances through the Ardennes
367
00:40:34,920 --> 00:40:38,520
gives rise to the name
the Battle of the Bulge.
368
00:40:42,240 --> 00:40:44,880
The Allies now organize a counterattack.
369
00:40:45,720 --> 00:40:50,600
Their plan is to isolate German troops
and cut off their escape.
370
00:40:52,520 --> 00:40:57,680
Henri Mignon was a young boy at the time
and remembers the counter-offensive.
371
00:41:13,960 --> 00:41:15,920
Thousands of Allied planes
372
00:41:16,000 --> 00:41:20,400
fly missions day and night
to destroy enemy supply lines.
373
00:41:24,520 --> 00:41:28,520
They soar over Belgian towns
captured by the Germans
374
00:41:29,480 --> 00:41:34,000
and drop more than 10,000 tons
of bombs every 24 hours
375
00:41:34,680 --> 00:41:37,680
to create an earthshaking bombardment.
376
00:41:44,120 --> 00:41:48,480
Aerial reconnaissance photos
reveal the complete devastation.
377
00:41:51,080 --> 00:41:56,160
Snowy fields are turned into moonscapes
riddled with impact craters.
378
00:42:00,040 --> 00:42:03,000
Entire towns are razed to the ground.
379
00:42:20,280 --> 00:42:21,880
By the end of January,
380
00:42:21,960 --> 00:42:26,440
the bulge created along
the Western Front has been flattened.
381
00:42:27,080 --> 00:42:30,120
Hitler's great offensive has failed.
382
00:42:33,360 --> 00:42:36,440
The attack lasted just four weeks.
383
00:42:37,400 --> 00:42:40,720
It is one of World War II's
deadliest battles,
384
00:42:41,400 --> 00:42:47,200
with an estimated 100,000 Germans
killed, wounded or captured,
385
00:42:48,760 --> 00:42:52,080
and 75,000 U.S. casualties.
386
00:43:00,720 --> 00:43:02,600
Many of the fallen are buried here,
387
00:43:03,920 --> 00:43:08,760
80 kilometers north of Bastogne
at Henri-Chapelle Cemetery.
388
00:43:10,520 --> 00:43:12,960
Covering 57 acres,
389
00:43:13,040 --> 00:43:19,760
row after row of headstones mark
the graves of 7,900 military servicemen,
390
00:43:21,640 --> 00:43:27,120
including 22 of the prisoners
massacred by the German SS at Malmedy.
391
00:43:29,520 --> 00:43:34,520
In the face of overwhelming odds,
their heroic sacrifices
392
00:43:35,080 --> 00:43:40,400
have crushed Hitler's hopes
of turning the tide of war in his favor.
393
00:43:49,920 --> 00:43:52,280
The Battle of the Bulge is over,
394
00:43:52,680 --> 00:43:58,200
and the collapse of Nazi Germany
is now only a matter of time.
35484
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