WWII's Most Daring Raids

2016 • Smithsonian Channel
3.7
3 reviews
TV-PG
Rating
Eligible
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Season 1 episodes (6)

1 Stealing Hitlers Radar
9/18/16
The code name is Operation Biting, a planned British raid on Bruneval, in Nazi-occupied Northern France. The mission is to drop paratroopers behind enemy lines and capture a powerful German radar system, but there is an even greater goal to be achieved: show Hitler that they still have plenty of fight in them. But what the brave men of C Company are about to do has never been attempted before, and pulling it off will require sneaking past the very radar they are trying to capture.
2 Easy Company's First Assault
9/24/16
Hours before the most ambitious amphibious invasion in history, Douglas C-47s drop a small group of American paratroopers from Easy Company, the 101st Airborne Division, behind enemy lines. The mission: to take out four German howitzers about to assault Utah Beach. Witness the moments before the D-Day invasion through the perspective of the men carrying out this daring raid, including commanding officer Lieutenant Winters, whose remarkable improvised assault against a much larger force would make history.
3 Churchill Strikes Back
10/2/16
Just a few weeks after Pearl Harbor, over 500 British Commandos raided a Nazi stronghold in Norway on a daring do-or-die mission. Their mission: to assault and destroy the Nazi fish oil factories being used to manufacture nitroglycerin, and to gather as much intelligence as possible. Relive the high-risk attack, as Britain used all three military services – the RAF, Royal Navy, and Army – in a combined assault that would serve as a blueprint for future Allied strikes on Nazi-occupied Europe.
4 Storming Mussolinis Island
10/9/16
July 10, 1943. The Allied Forces have evicted the Axis Powers from North Africa and can finally begin the Italian Campaign. The first mission: Operation Husky, a massive amphibious invasion of the island of Sicily. Before the assault can start, however, an elite new unit of U.S. Army Rangers and combat engineers called Force X must storm and clear the beaches and main streets of Gela. Thousands of ships, aircraft, and troops depend on the success of these soldiers. Its a brutal mission, but Lieutenant General Patton has given his orders: failure is not an option.
5 Cutting Rommel's Lifeline
10/16/16
In the scorching North African desert in January 1942, the Special Air Service is sent on a do-or-die mission. They must infiltrate a Libyan harbor and destroy Nazi Field Marshall Rommels vital fuel supplies and other high-value targets. These men have the expertise, but do they have the experience to pull off this dangerous raid? Witness the action firsthand as we relive this daring raid, told through the testimony of commanding officer Colonel Stirling, and other key members of his fearless force.
6 Secret Weapon Sabotage
10/23/16
Three years after their country was taken from them, an elite force of Norwegian resistance fighters return to their invaded homeland to carry out one of the most daring and significant acts of sabotage in World War II. During the harshest winter on record, they must raid and destroy a hydroelectric plant where the Germans are stockpiling a chemical needed for nuclear weapons research. It could be a suicide mission, but it may be the Allied Forces only way to prevent Hitler from building the worlds first atomic bomb.

About this show

They were U.S. paratroopers, Norwegian operatives, and British Commandos, Allied teams leading high-risk operations throughout Europe, Africa, and Asia to fight Hitler and turn the tide of the war. WWII's Most Daring Raids puts you in the heart of the action, giving you a minute-by-minute account of the most astonishing surprise attacks against the Third Reich. We forensically examine how exactly these assaults played out, through expert analysis and testimonies from the brave men who carried them out.

Ratings and reviews

3.7
3 reviews
A Google user
February 13, 2019
The WW II Greatest Raids are a screaming success. As an arm-chair historian there is a flaw in S1 E3; Hitler's Last Bridge. My research indicates the Americans occupied the west side of the bridge while the Germans occupied the east side with a tunnel. The documentary shows German snipers on a half sunken barge on the west (American) side and just south of the bridge. My research places the half sunken barge with snipers on the east (German) side and just north of the bridge. It's a trite point and, no, I wasn't there. It's a very good series and will continue to watch and learn.
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Michigan fan (go blue)
September 29, 2016
Great show
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