World War II in Colour

Following the surrender of Germany and Japan in 1945, the allied forces found themselves in a difficult and sometimes confusing situation. Having been rewarded for killing German and Japanese troops, they now had to live among their former foes in harmony in what was once enemy territory. They also had to participate in the repair and reconstruction of their adversaries' devastated homelands. During this period, the allied powers chartered a new direction for the defeated nations. This monumental undertaking was known simply as ‘Occupation'. In the skies over Germany, in the jungles of the South Pacific, on the burning sands of North Africa and the frigid waters of the North Atlantic and across the beaches of Normandy, these men and women had undergone a demanding test of their strength and endurance. Yet in the aftermath of the greatest conflict in history, they demonstrated the resolve to embark on a vital process of rebuilding and rebirth. Their fortitude helped lift two former enemies from the ashes of defeat and transform them to strong and stable allies.

The war in the Pacific is recounted, including the June 1944 Battle of the Philippine Sea (aka the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot), which battered the Japanese Navy. Also: the use of specialized units to wage jungle warfare in Burma.

The defeat of Nazi Germany is detailed. Included: American and British forces pushing across the Rhine; the Russians entering Germany; the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen and Buchenwald concentration camps; the street fighting in Berlin; Hitler's suicide; the Nuremberg Trials.

The series finale recounts the end of the war in the Pacific, including Japan's refusal to surrender until President Truman ordered the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.