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00:00Previously on the last days of World War II, in the Pacific, the Allies pounded mainland Japan from the air, but the Imperial Command still refused to surrender.
00:14After weeks of brutal fighting, US forces on Okinawa finally captured the capital city of Naha, as the Japanese retreated to the southern tip of the island.
00:24In Austria, hundreds are killed when an attempt to repatriate anti-communist soldiers turns to violence. Those who survived were condemned to the gulags.
00:38This week, Allied leaders meet in Berlin to decide the fate of post-war Germany.
00:46In the fallen German capital, Soviet troops stumble upon what they believe to be the charred remains of Hitler's body.
00:54And in the Pacific, the battle for Okinawa continues. The Japanese army fights on desperately, as US Marines stage a seaborne assault.
01:06June 3rd, Okinawa. U.S. troops have been on the Pacific, Ireland for 64 days.
01:27June the 3rd Okinawa US troops have been on the Pacific Island for 64 days I didn't smoke but
01:38in April I'd started smoking cigarettes I was not shaking but I was pretty shook up inside in May
01:49I was terrified at times and June turned out to be much easier the relentless advance of US forces
02:00supported by massive firepower from the sea and air has left the Japanese cutoff with no hope of
02:06reinforcement US forces have established a front stretching from Naha to Yonabaru but days of
02:17torrential rain have flooded the landscape progress is slow as both men and vehicles get bogged down
02:24in the mud the Japanese commander on Okinawa General Ushijima regroups his 32nd army on a steep ridge just
02:32three miles from the southernmost tip of the island it is their last defensive position this four mile
02:43long escarpment nicknamed the Big Apple by American GIs is the Yaiju Dake rising 290 feet above the valley
02:51floor June the 4th 6 a.m. the 4th Marine Regiment followed by the 29th make a seaborne assault on the
03:04Uruku Peninsula just south of Naha Okinawa's capital city it would be the last opposed amphibious assault
03:11of the war responsible for the defense of this small peninsula is Japanese Rear Admiral Minoru Ota
03:21his force is composed of naval units including torpedo maintenance units and submarine crews and the Okinawa
03:30home guard most have only the most basic training in land warfare but Ota's men are prepared to fight
03:37to the last to hold on to the peninsula and its airfield they are well prepared and resourceful the
03:45Japanese strip machine guns from the grounded plains they use the terrain establishing camouflage
03:52positions at cave entrances this reflects their experiences over the Pacific campaign as well
04:01lessons they had learned in Saipan lessons they had learned in Uojima about the ways in which they
04:07can be most effective with the resources they have on hand against the Americans 8 a.m. two assault
04:14battalions from the 4th Marine Regiment are ashore supported by 24 tanks and four self-propelled guns
04:21resistance is light the 29th Marines are ordered to follow and make their landing just north of
04:28the peninsula the landscape erupts in flame and smoke as the landing zones are pounded by naval guns
04:36artillery batteries and bombs the Japanese troops at this point had already begun to suffer tremendous
04:44losses the troops are having very difficult time communicating they have a very very difficult time
04:49moving around except at night and even then they're under constant threat of attack by the Americans by
04:55nightfall American Marines have pushed eighteen hundred yards inland but the advance of US tanks is hindered by
05:03the muddy terrain and Japanese minefields many tanks were lost to mines however you could spot those mines
05:13they usually had a little detonator protruding from the ground maybe about this far so I can remember in
05:22a certain areas stepping very carefully and very cautiously there are many many tanks had blown treads
05:30American casualties mount as the progress of ground troops is slowed by a hail of fire from concealed
05:39Japanese positions June the 5th facing bitter resistance the US 6th Marine Division manages to capture part of the
05:48Naha airfield in 24 hours the airfield would be secure
05:51June the 8th four days after the landings Ota's men are squeezed into a three-square-mile pocket on the
06:06Uruku Peninsula Okinawan civilians are increasingly caught in the firing line with no means of escape they will
06:13come to call these days the rain of steel thousands will perish from that point on as they move further
06:24and further south the Okinawan civilians and Japanese troops are in such close proximity that the Americans
06:30can't distinguish between them and don't attempt to and the deaths to Okinawan civilians begin to
06:35increase dramatically what I most remember about that was that Japanese Okinawan civilians so many of them were killed down there they got caught
06:52between the remnants of the Japanese army and our massive firepower
07:05we're not exactly sure how many civilians died and how figures I've seen run anywhere from 80,000 to 150,000 and there
07:16were witness cases of suicide not just men killing themselves but whole families parents killing their
07:26children and then killing themselves and sometimes they didn't do the job efficiently Marines are picking up
07:34orphans and bringing them to the rear and soldiers American soldiers are picking up orphans and bringing
07:38them to the rear we ran across this little hut mud hut and a number of Okinawans were in that hut and we were trying to get them out of the hut they started to pass around a teapot
07:51we got very concerned of it there's something suspicious about the teapot so we went and one of us went in and you act the teapot away from the Okinawans and all they fall down on the ground and
08:04started to start to shake to beat the band so evidently what they had been passing around was a combination I believe with strychnine
08:11something like that they were terrified of us they were so afraid we were going to kill them the Japanese had already told these people how cruel the marines were and they would die a horrible death at our hands
08:28in three days U.S. forces will launch a final overwhelming assault on the trapped remnants of the Uruku garrison
08:38thousands more will die as the fight for the island continues
08:43coming up as U.S. troops prepare for the final advance on Okinawa another storm is brewing offshore
08:52typhoons were not enjoyable occasions it gets very very rough and Japanese suicide planes also wreak havoc on U.S. ships in the Pacific
09:04June the fifth a typhoon hits the Ryuku Islands wreaking havoc on Vice Admiral Hulse's third fleet
09:12Typhoons were not enjoyable occasions it gets very very rough and smaller ships would would take a pretty bad beating
09:28The fleet operating east of Okinawa had just completed two weeks of air attacks against Japanese airfields on Okinawa and Kyushu
09:38It is the second typhoon the fleet has faced in six months winds reach 80 miles per hour with gusts reaching 115 miles per hour
09:48When green water started to come over the flight deck you knew you were in water the smaller ships like the destroyers and stuff had a terrible time
10:04When a carrier takes green water that's a good 60 feet above the water if not more and it's rough
10:14Despite changing course and speed 36 ships are damaged including eight aircraft carriers four battleships and several smaller warships and supply vessels
10:3043 carrier planes are damaged 33 are washed overboard
10:37Among the ships that suffer the most severe damage are the USS Bennington
10:41The USS Hornet and the USS Pittsburgh
10:445.28 a.m.
10:4625 feet of the flight deck of USS Bennington collapses due to heavy pounding from the seas
10:52Two hours later the carriers pass through the eye of the storm
10:56The forward flight deck of the USS Hornet also collapses
11:00Around 6 a.m.
11:05The USS Pittsburgh is hit by two massive waves
11:09A 104 foot section of the heavy cruiser's bow breaks away from the ship
11:13Fortunately all watertight bulkheads had been sealed and many lives are saved
11:19Six men of the US 3rd fleet are lost or killed in the typhoon
11:23Four more are seriously injured
11:26The same day the US Navy is also under attack from the Japanese Divine Wind
11:35The USS Mississippi which has been bombarding Japanese defences around Shuri is hit by a suicide plane
11:38The kamikaze smashes into the battleship starboard side
11:52The crew react swiftly to assess the damage
11:55You have a situation to cope with
11:57The technicians got the sizing up
12:01What damage was done? What do we need to do about it?
12:04And they form a plan of action
12:07Despite the attack the Mississippi would continue to support operations on Okinawa for 11 more days
12:15Another suicide plane ploughs into the USS Louisville
12:18But just four days later the heavy cruiser would be back on the firing line
12:22Until she is ordered to return to Pearl Harbor for repairs on the 15th of June
12:29June the 8th
12:30In the wake of the Japanese suicide missions
12:32US carrier aircraft strike airfields on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu
12:37Since October 1944 nearly 200 kamikaze attacks have been made on Allied ships
12:51I had finished breakfast and was back just outside the photo lab
12:58About that time the general alarm went bong bong and then a machine gun and whoom
13:04That was it
13:06And just in a fraction of a second the ship was in a raw inferno
13:10Smoke you couldn't see
13:12And all sorts of confusion
13:15Allied servicemen cannot understand what motivates these fanatical deadly pilots
13:27The Japanese attitude to sacrifice is utterly alien to them
13:31I don't know how anyone can think that they're going to gain anything if they're dead
13:39But if there's something to be gained by committing suicide
13:42Maybe some way I could in my mind justify it
13:46But it's difficult to see how you can gain something if you're dead
13:50As the Japanese resort to suicidal measures
13:53US air strikes are unrelenting
13:55B-29s continue to lay waste to mainland Japan
13:59We were going to city after city
14:02And destroying maybe 20, 30, 40, up to 50, 60% of the city
14:07We hardly had many cities left that we hadn't, you know, that were of any size
14:11June the 5th, mainland Japan
14:14Nearly 500 B-29s dropped 3,000 tons of incendiary bombs on the city of Kobe
14:20On the largest of the home islands, Honshu
14:23Fire consumes entire city blocks
14:28Thousands of civilians are killed
14:34About four square miles of the city are completely destroyed
14:39And 50% of the city now lies in ruins
14:43Only 11 American bombers are lost
14:47June the 7th, 409 B-29s continue the relentless bombardment of the Japanese mainland
14:54At least two square miles of Osaka are destroyed
14:57This time, only two American bombers are lost
15:02June the 9th, 48 hours later, more than 100 B-29s bomb Japanese military factories
15:09The Kawanishi aircraft factories near the city of Kobe are hit
15:13The plants had been making flying boats for the Japanese navy
15:20The Aichi aircraft engine plant in the district of Nagoya is also bombed
15:25Japan can no longer effectively defend itself
15:29American B-29s strike at will, escorted by P-51 fighters
15:33Most attacks are carried out in broad daylight
15:41But Japan still refuses to accept defeat
15:44The Japanese leadership certainly is aware of what's going on
15:48They can't miss it, many of them are based in Tokyo
15:51And Tokyo is a primary target for the initial assaults and for several afterwards
15:55But they are surprisingly unmoved by this
15:57Japan's newly appointed Prime Minister, 78-year-old Kantaro Suzuki
16:03Favours a surrender
16:05But he is powerless in the face of the military's opposition to such a move
16:09Instead, more suicide attacks are ordered
16:12Japanese civilians are also instructed to resist tanks and paratroopers
16:17In the event of a mainland invasion
16:19It certainly gives the message to the Americans that any eventual invasion of Japan is going to be tremendously costly
16:28June the 9th, Washington
16:31In a memo to Secretary of War Henry Stimson
16:34Army Chief of Staff General George Marshall writes
16:36We should cease talking about unconditional surrender of Japan
16:40And begin to define our true objective in terms of defeat and disarmament
16:45As the top brass debate the phrasing of US war aims
16:51Thousands of scientists and technicians continue to work furiously on what is now looking like the best means to achieve those aims quickly
16:58The atomic bomb
17:01The first test of this new weapon is now just 37 days away
17:08And in just 24 hours
17:11The first specially modified B-29s
17:14Capable of carrying and releasing a £10,000 atomic bomb
17:18Would arrive on Tinian Island
17:20The aircraft will be met by crewmen of the 509th Composite Group
17:24The men have been chosen to drop the atomic bomb over Japan
17:27If Truman makes the call
17:32Just four days ago the first ordnance squadron of the 509th left Utah for Tinian
17:37Along with the first of 15 bomber crews
17:40When the 509th moved out to Tinian Island
17:43Which was their base for the actual bombing of Japan
17:46They continued to practice their skills
17:50Diving turns, dropping the bomb
17:51They were dropping what they called pumpkins
17:54Which were big orange painted versions of the fat man bomb
17:59A five-ton bomb
18:01Because they needed to get used to the characteristics of the weapon
18:04When you drop a five-ton bomb out of the B-29
18:07The plane leaps a hundred feet higher
18:09Because of the loss of that weight
18:11As the men of the 509th continue to prepare for their top secret mission
18:14A mission they're told will significantly shorten the war
18:18And save countless lives
18:20Japanese resistance is collapsing in Burma and the Philippines
18:24June the 3rd, Luzon
18:29Infantry of the US 37th Division advanced four miles north of Santa Fe
18:33Less than a week later the infantrymen capture the city of Bagabag
18:40There are an estimated 25,000 Japanese troops scattered in northern Luzon
18:45But they lack communications and central command
18:53US troops block the route into the Cagayan Valley
18:56And isolate Japanese troops holed up in the Sierra Madre Mountains along the eastern coast
19:00About 600 miles to the south on Mindanao
19:08Elements of the US 24th Division take Mandog
19:11The last major Japanese strong point
19:14The once ruthless Japanese occupiers are forced to retreat
19:18In the face of steady US advances
19:25General Tomoyuki Yamashita
19:27Commander of the Japanese 14th Army
19:29Is in a hopeless position
19:32US General Douglas MacArthur however
19:35Expects no let-up
19:44As Yamashita contemplates his hopeless military position
19:47The Japanese 33rd Army in Burma
19:50Led by General Masaki Honda
19:52Is shattered
19:53Weak and demoralised his troops are given little respite and ordered back into action
20:01June the 3rd, Burma
20:03General Kimura orders Honda's troops to attack the city of war
20:07About 70 miles north of Rangoon
20:09The rapid advance of British led forces to Rangoon has trapped the Japanese 28th Army to the west
20:21Honda's attack on war would create a diversion
20:24Giving the 28th Army a chance to break out
20:26A force of 6,000 men attacks the 7th Indian Division at war
20:33But the early monsoon season makes movement almost impossible
20:37Allied aircraft bomb and strafe the bogged down Japanese attack
20:41The survivors try desperately to escape towards Thailand
20:46Back home the Royal Air Force is unveiling a new weapon
20:59June the 9th
21:03The Royal Air Force tests the Vampire
21:06A new type of jet fighter with speeds topping 500 miles per hour
21:10Originally known as the Spider Crab
21:13The Vampire was the first British jet fighter to take off and land from a carrier
21:18But the Vampire is still several months away from being available for active service
21:23The Gloucester Meteor would be the only British jet fighter to see action in the Second World War
21:32The Gloucester Meteor was an interceptor aircraft
21:38It was the first jet aircraft introduced by the British
21:43It had twin jets
21:46And it was a very fast aircraft
21:50And not only was it fast at altitude but it was also fast at low altitude
21:58Initially called the Thunderbolt
22:01The confusion this caused with a US fighter of the same name meant it was renamed the Meteor
22:06When war broke out in 1939 the British Air Ministry had already commissioned power jets
22:13A company headed by Frank Whittle to come up with a gas turbine engine capable of powering a single seat fighter plane
22:21However Whittle's single engine was later abandoned in favour of two Rolls-Royce power plants
22:27That pushed the plane to speeds exceeding 400 miles an hour
22:30The first combat ready Meteors were delivered to the RAF on July the 12th 1944
22:40Armed with four 20mm cannon the Meteor could fly at nearly 500 miles an hour
22:47Had a ceiling of 40,000 feet and a range of 550 miles
22:51In January 1945 from bases in Belgium Meteors began flying missions over Germany
22:59They were expected to counter the new German ME 262 jet fighter
23:03That had terrorised American daylight bomber raids since July 1944
23:08But by the time it took to the skies the Luftwaffe was a spent force
23:12This airplane is going to appear very late in World War II
23:19It's going to appear right in the early portion of 1945
23:23It's only going to be used for defence against the V-1
23:28And it's not going to have much of an effect
23:32One of the big bad problems with this airplane was that the pilot couldn't see out of the aircraft very well
23:38And in combat, seeing is staying alive
23:44The aircraft was also underpowered and had heavy controls
23:48Subsequent models had greater fuel capacity
23:51And a rear sliding canopy for improved visibility
23:57Nearly 4,000 of the aircraft were built
24:00And the Meteor would remain the RAF's principal fighter until 1955
24:04Coming up, Japanese forces in China struggle to hold on to their early conquests
24:14And the Allies meet in Berlin to discuss the future of Germany
24:18But Churchill's suspicions of Stalin taint the atmosphere
24:24He was overcome by the sense of tragedy
24:27That Eastern Europe had merely transferred Nazi tyranny to a Soviet tyranny
24:32Japanese troops are struggling to maintain their outposts in Hong Kong and China's Hunan province
24:40The war between China and Japan has been raging for eight years
24:44The Sino-Japanese War really took off in 1937 after Japan invaded China
24:51They took over Shanghai and Nanking, the capital of the Chinese nationalists
24:56And that's the point at which a long, protracted war between China and Japan began
25:05Now, however, the battle against Japanese forces in China is critical to the Allied war effort in the Far East
25:12The US and Britain were preoccupied with fighting Japan in the Pacific
25:19Therefore, it was very important to get the Chinese to fight against Japanese forces in China
25:25June the 7th, China
25:28Three Chinese armies stationed in the Guangxi province prepare to launch an attack towards Hong Kong
25:33They hope to liberate the British colony occupied by the Japanese since December 1941
25:40The fall of Hong Kong was marked by Japanese brutality
25:46The helpless population was subjected to murder and an estimated 10,000 rapes
25:51Now, with most of the available food going to the Japanese army, they are also starving
25:55Few are spared from the suffering and hardship
26:00In Hunan province, Chinese troops hunt down the retreating Japanese as far as Pouching
26:06The original starting point for the Japanese offensive into China
26:10As Japan stubbornly fights on, in Europe the war has ended
26:16In Berlin, ravaged by the battle fought through its streets, turmoil and disorder still prevail
26:22Allied leaders gather in the war-torn city to discuss the administration of Germany
26:32June the 5th, Berlin
26:37Amid the city's ruins, representatives from the big four meet at a riverside club
26:42Serving as the headquarters for Soviet delegates
26:45After lengthy discussions on the post-war occupation of Germany
26:50The United States, Britain, the Soviet Union and France issue an official proclamation
26:57It contains 15 major articles on the division of Germany
27:01Representing the United States is General Dwight D. Eisenhower
27:05Field Marshal Montgomery for Britain
27:07Marshal Zhukov, the Soviet Union
27:10And Major General de Latre de Tassini, France
27:13It had already been agreed at Yalta, four months previously, that Germany would be divided into four zones of occupation
27:24The US would control the south and south-east, France the south-west, the UK would take the north-west and the Soviet Union the north-east
27:31The Allied Control Council is established to oversee this division of Germany and determine reparations
27:39The Allied Control Council would also control the administration of Berlin
27:44The Allies agree that all decisions concerning the fate of Berlin must be unanimous
27:49The Allies are set to assume complete control over life in Germany
27:57They intend to strip the country, which they hold responsible for the European conflict, of its ability to wage war
28:04And to root out the Nazi system that has held Germany enthralled for over a decade
28:08But among the Allies, old wounds and past deceptions are not easily forgotten
28:15France, the United States and Britain are increasingly suspicious and concerned over the true motives of Joseph Stalin
28:23As the war in Germany came to an end, Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union, had begun consolidating his control over Eastern Europe
28:32It's a far cry from his humble origins as the son of a cobbler
28:41Stalin studied to become a priest, but this was soon abandoned for radical politics
28:47His revolutionary activities earned him four years of exile in the wastelands of Siberia until 1917
28:54Stalin, who had first met Lenin in 1905, then climbed his way up the ranks following the Bolshevik revolution
29:00Following Lenin's death in 1924, Stalin emerged a sole leader of the Soviet Union
29:11He went on to execute, exile or imprison anyone he saw as a threat, including former friends and colleagues
29:20During the 1930s, Stalin launched his Great Purge, ridding the Communist Party of many people who had helped him to power
29:33A bloody purge wiped out thousands of senior officers and depleted the ranks of the Red Army
29:40Among his victims was Marshal Mikhail Tukachevsky, one of the Soviet Union's most gifted officers
29:44As a result, the Soviet Union was ill-prepared when the Nazis invaded in 1941
29:55The war was almost lost within the first few months
29:58But Stalin rallied the people and limited his interference in the military during the crisis
30:03He would become a member of the so-called Big Three, alongside Roosevelt and Churchill
30:08By May of 1945, the Red Army had paid a bloody price for the defeat of Germany
30:15Stalin sought recompense and security, by establishing satellite states ruled by communist regimes in the countries the Red Army had liberated
30:24In the East, one brutal dictatorship was replaced by another brutal dictatorship
30:31Obviously his notion was to create a buffer zone between the Soviet Union and Western Europe, and particularly Germany
30:40Which he feared might try to attack him again
30:43His ambitions in Eastern Europe would split the Allies and lay the seeds of the Cold War
30:48Stalin would continue to rule both his country and the armed forces with an iron fist
30:55Stalin demanded complete loyalty and blind obedience from everyone around him, until his death in 1953 from a cerebral haemorrhage
31:06Winston Churchill continues to be deeply suspicious of Stalin
31:14Their relationship blurs the line between ally and adversary
31:18On May the 12th, four days after the surrender of Germany, Churchill had sent President Truman a telegram
31:25Churchill informed Truman of his deep concern for the future of Europe
31:29He wrote that the Soviets had drawn an iron curtain across the continent
31:32Churchill would repeat these words in a historic speech at Fulton, Missouri, on March 5th, 1946
31:42From Stettine in the Baltic, to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent
31:52He was overcome by the sense of tragedy that the world had suffered so much
31:56And so many people had given their lives in order to liberate Europe
32:03And in the end, Eastern Europe had merely transferred a Nazi tyranny to a Soviet tyranny
32:11Churchill believes it is vital that he, Truman and Stalin meet as soon as possible
32:17But the meeting would not take place until mid-July at Potsdam, a few miles from Berlin
32:22In Britain, Churchill goes on the political offensive in preparation for the country's first general election in ten years
32:30Many believe that the Conservative Prime Minister has little to fear
32:35June the 4th, London
32:37In an impassioned radio broadcast to the nation, Churchill warns against casting a vote for the Labour Party
32:43Led by his wartime colleague, Clement Attlee
32:45Unlike his wartime rhetoric, this speech badly misjudges the nation's mood
32:52I declare to you, from the bottom of my heart
32:56That no socialist system can be established without a political police
33:03They would have to fall back on some form of Gestapo
33:08No doubt very humanely directed in the first instance
33:12Shocked and furious, members of the Labour Party accuse Churchill of vile and vicious tactics
33:23As reconstruction in Europe begins and the war in the Pacific rages on
33:28Churchill faces an uncertain political future at home
33:31This week, final casualty figures from the European Theatre are released
33:37Exactly one year on from D-Day
33:43In London, the War Office announces that 184,512 British and Canadian soldiers
33:50have been listed as dead, wounded or missing
33:54Between D-Day, June the 6th 1944
33:57and VE Day, May the 8th 1945
34:00Despite the grim statistics, Churchill's war record remains his great electoral strength
34:05But the people of Britain are looking to the future, not the past
34:10As Britain's political parties prepare for the election
34:15Allied leaders pause to honour those who died on the beaches of Normandy just one year ago
34:20Church bells ring and sirens pierce the air to commemorate the anniversary of the D-Day landings
34:33Services are held for the fallen
34:36General Eisenhower and leaders from Britain and France gather at Saint-Laurence-aux-meres
34:41and then move on to other beaches
34:44Now the victorious armies face fresh and very different challenges in former occupied countries
34:51and most especially Germany
34:56June the 7th
34:58German citizens in the occupation zones of the Western Allies
35:01are paraded through Nazi concentration camps
35:03They are brought face to face with crimes committed in their name
35:08Most are horrified, claiming they had no idea that such places existed
35:14But others have a very different reaction
35:19Angered by what they see, some claim that it is grotesque Allied propaganda
35:23So we have the reactions, one can see the reactions
35:31Shock for some
35:34Horror
35:37Some wouldn't believe it
35:39This had to be some sort of Allied trick
35:42The fact of the matter is that most of these camps
35:45Both the big camps like Dachau, Buchenwald and so forth
35:48Were very much in the public eye
35:50Local towns and villages, cities in Germany provided power for the installations, for the camps, for the factories that were run at the camps
35:59So people knew what was happening at these camps
36:03Everybody knew
36:05This business of nobody knows was baloney
36:08They knew, but you couldn't do anything
36:12As many German citizens are gripped with shame and bewilderment
36:16Norway welcomes home its exiled king
36:18June the 7th, Norway
36:21King Harkon returns home after five years in exile
36:24The triumphant monarch receives a jubilant reception
36:29Norway had been invaded by Germany in April 1940
36:35Refusing to cower to Nazi aggression and accept a puppet government, Harkon escaped to London
36:40Throughout the war he made a stream of broadcasts condemning the Nazis and encouraging his people to remain strong
36:50The German surrender to the Allies has paved the way for King Harkon to make an emotional return to his people
36:56And the country he stood by for five long years
36:59Across what was once occupied Europe, a deadly reminder of the war still litters the European landscape
37:12Landmines
37:13But a startling discovery would aid the Allies in pinpointing and clearing the minefields
37:19June the 3rd, Bavaria
37:23The US 7th Army uncovers a large quantity of Nazi military maps
37:27Many of these maps identify the locations of German landmines in France
37:31They are immediately distributed to the French government
37:35Allied troops, assisted by German POWs, are engaged in the hazardous work of removing this menace
37:42Other Allied troops are carrying out less dangerous work in the small town of Berchtesgarten in southern Bavaria
37:51The site of Hitler's mountaintop retreat
37:54Troops are busy destroying all evidence of his presence
37:57The Allies are determined the area will not become a Nazi shrine
38:02Elsewhere in southern Bavaria
38:08US troops from the 10th Armoured Division discover a Nazi treasure trove
38:12June the 8th, in the wooded foothills of a mountain near the town of Mittenwald
38:18On the border between Austria and Germany
38:21728 bars of gold, weighing 9 tons, are found
38:25The Nazis had removed it from the Berlin Reichsbank
38:30When the Red Army threatened to encircle the city
38:33As they unearth the extraordinary cash, the men are dumbfounded
38:39The £25 gold bars had been packed in 364 bags and buried in a hole 6 feet deep
38:46The closely guarded gold will be taken to 7th Army headquarters in Munich
38:50Transporting the cash with two and a half tonne trucks takes an entire day
38:56A third surprising discovery is made by Soviet troops in Berlin
39:03The find would be the subject of controversy for years to come
39:07June the 6th, Berlin
39:09Soviet troops find four bodies amidst the ruins of the Reich Chancellery
39:15The men are convinced that one of them is the charred remains of Adolf Hitler
39:19Refusing to become Stalin's trophy, Hitler and his wife of just one day, Eva Braun
39:25Had committed suicide on April the 30th as Soviet troops poured into Berlin
39:29Both bodies were wrapped in blankets, taken to the Chancellery Garden, doused with petrol and set on fire
39:38The Soviets conduct a forensic examination on the remains
39:42They are then loaded into crates and sent to the East German headquarters of the Soviet counterintelligence service Smirsch at Magdeburg
39:50But doubts would linger about whether or not the remains are in fact those of Adolf Hitler
39:58Autopsies would be performed and reports would emerge that a poison capsule was found in Hitler's mouth
40:05Although no bullet hole was found
40:07Hitler and Eva Braun's bodies then vanished
40:11Only photos remained
40:12Then the Soviets mysteriously said, well, no, we didn't really find the body and we're not sure that was Hitler after all
40:19And this began then at what would amount to two decades worth of Hitler in Argentina stories
40:27Or Hitler here, Hitler there
40:29I think anybody that grew up in the post-war era at the checkout counter at the grocery store
40:34Would always see these stories of Hitler being alive or spotted here or there
40:37In 1995, however, a Russian archivist discovered pieces of Hitler's skull and jaw that had been kept in a secret archive for decades
40:47The skull fragment contained a bullet hole
40:52The remains that exist in Russia now have been shown to be Hitler's
40:57There is very, very solid evidence that Hitler indeed killed himself in his bunker
41:02That he gave orders to be cremated by the last 20 litres of gas they could find in Berlin
41:10And there was no question about the fact that he died there
41:19Next, on the last days of World War II, as the fall of Okinawa looms, Japanese soldiers look for an honourable ending
41:26They will defend Okinawa as long as they can and then rather than fall into enemy hands, rather than be dishonoured with surrender, they will take their own lives
41:36Czechoslovakia begins expelling ethnic Germans from the Sudetenland, forcing them into an uncertain future in a divided Germany
41:45There is a population of about 3 million Germans living in the Sudetenlands, which are the westernmost part of Czechoslovakia
41:50And they are driven out by the Czechs, often using very, very brutal methods
41:57And inside the former Third Reich, British troops capture another high-ranking Nazi official
42:03Former Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop
42:06Jürgen von Ribbentrop
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