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00:01Previously on the last days of World War II, after three days of bitter fighting,
00:07the Soviet flag was raised over the German Reichstag as Berlin fell to the Red Army.
00:13Hitler committed suicide amid the destruction of his fabled 1,000-year Reich.
00:18In the Pacific, US troops beat off a major Japanese counteroffensive on Okinawa.
00:25This week, after nearly six years of war in Europe, Germany surrenders unconditionally to the Allies.
00:32In London, Paris, New York and Moscow, people take to the streets in celebration.
00:38And in the Pacific, the US Navy suffers another devastating blow as the aircraft carrier Bunker Hill is hit by kamikazes.
00:55The 6th of May, Germany. After bitter fighting and fierce resistance, the Nazi Empire has finally been overcome by Allied forces.
01:19Berliners are left shattered by the six-day battle fought through the city's streets.
01:26The city and its people have witnessed some of the most bitter and intense fighting of the war,
01:33as fanatical Nazi defenders were overcome house by house.
01:37The victorious Red Army now takes whatever it wants, looting houses and committing thousands of rapes.
01:46Many Germans, fearing further brutality at the hands of their Soviet conquerors, seek refuge west of the Elbe.
01:53Hitler's successor, Grand Admiral Dönitz, attempts to negotiate terms for surrender with the Western Allies,
02:02and hopes to fight on against the Russians.
02:05Dönitz sends a senior German officer, Colonel General Alfred Jodl, to Reims, in north-eastern France,
02:14to assist Admiral von Friedeburg in officially offering the surrender of Germany to the Western Allies.
02:21Colonel General Alfred Jodl had been a close advisor to Hitler since he was appointed Field Marshal Keitel's Chief of Operations in September 1939.
02:35While Keitel dealt largely with administrative matters, Jodl was the de facto commander of German armies everywhere but the Eastern Front.
02:42He attended daily conferences with Hitler, offering his advice, but never quite daring to openly disagree with the FĂŒhrer.
02:49His loyalty to Hitler was unwavering. As the war raged on, he continued to carry out Hitler's increasingly irrational orders as best he could.
03:02Jodl was nearly killed in the 1944 bomb plot to assassinate Hitler.
03:09Although Jodl was not as servile to Hitler as is often made out, he retained the FĂŒhrer's confidence until the very end.
03:16After the war, Jodl would be arrested and tried at Nuremberg, charged with sanctioning the execution of prisoners, actions that violated the conventions of war.
03:27He would be hanged in 1946.
03:34The 6th of May, Reim, 5.30pm.
03:38Jodl and his aide, accompanied by two British generals, enter the old schoolhouse serving as the advance headquarters of Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, General Dwight D. Eisenhower.
03:50Jodl explains Germany's position. They are willing to surrender to the Western Allies, but not to the Russians.
03:597.30pm. Eisenhower's chief of staff, Walter Smith, relays Jodl's terms. But Eisenhower has no sympathy. Surrender must be unconditional.
04:09Eisenhower orders Smith to deliver a blunt message.
04:1548 hours from midnight tonight, I will close my lines on the Western Front so no more Germans can get through.
04:22Whether they sign or not, no matter how much time they take.
04:26Jodl relays the ultimatum to Dönitz and Keitel by radio.
04:32General Eisenhower insists we sign today. Otherwise, Allied lines will be closed even to persons attempting to surrender individually and negotiations broken off.
04:42See no alternative to chaos or signature.
04:47It is almost midnight before Dönitz receives the message. Reluctantly, he authorises the signing.
04:57The 7th of May, approximately 2am, negotiators from all sides gather in Eisenhower's headquarters.
05:04The ceremony takes place in the school's recreation hall, which has been transformed into a war room.
05:09Its walls are covered with maps, charts and other military documents.
05:18Eisenhower is waiting in his office down the hall. He refuses to meet with the Germans until the surrender is official.
05:25Instead, he sends his chief of staff, Smith.
05:302.30am. The signatories gather.
05:34Representing Germany are General Jodl, Major Wilhelm Oxenius, and Admiral von Friedeberg.
05:41For the Western Allies, Smith is joined by British General Sir Frederick Morgan,
05:46French General Francois Servais, and British Admiral Harold Borough,
05:50commander of the Naval Expeditionary Force,
05:53and General Karl Spatz, head of the US Strategic Air Force.
05:57General Ivan Susloparov is also present, representing the Soviet Union.
06:04The men are surrounded by 17 invited journalists.
06:092.41am. Jodl signs the official surrender documents.
06:16Smith and Susloparov sign for the Allies.
06:19Seve signs as a witness. The occasion is quiet and sombre.
06:25There is no fanfare, but the language of surrender is unequivocal.
06:31The document reads,
06:32We, the undersigned, acting by authority of the German High Command,
06:36hereby surrender unconditionally to the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force,
06:41and simultaneously to the Soviet High Command,
06:44all forces on the land, sea, and in the air,
06:47who are at this date under German control.
06:50The surrender is to take effect the next day at 23.01 hours, Central European time.
06:56A resigned Jodl stands to make a short speech,
06:59in which he acknowledges the suffering endured, on both sides, during the war.
07:04He concludes by asking the victors to treat the German people with generosity.
07:09With this signature, Jodl says,
07:11the German people and the German armed forces are, for better or worse,
07:16delivered into the victors' hands.
07:19Down the hall, Eisenhower, pacing anxiously,
07:22is told that the surrender has been signed.
07:25A crowd piles into his office to pose for a photograph.
07:31The two pens used to sign the surrender documents are held up in a V for victory.
07:39Eisenhower then addresses the US and British Chiefs of Staff.
07:43January 1943, the late President Roosevelt and Premier Churchill met in Casablanca.
07:51There they pronounce the formula of unconditional surrender for the Axis powers.
07:57In Europe, that formula has now been fulfilled.
08:01Truman and Churchill are informed immediately.
08:03In a phone conversation, the two decide that the next day, the 8th of May,
08:07will be celebrated as Victory in Europe Day.
08:10But in the midst of the euphoria, controversy is brewing.
08:14The Soviets were absolutely furious when they heard about this,
08:18because this they perceived as a deliberate attempt by the Anglo-Americans
08:23to deprive them of their share in the symbolic triumphs.
08:26The Soviets refused to accept the validity of the surrender documents,
08:30citing differences from what has been agreed by the Big Three.
08:34Soviet military officials in Germany are also enraged over broadcasts made by Dönitz,
08:39urging Germans to surrender to Western Allies,
08:42whilst continuing to fight the Soviets.
08:44All through the last months of the Second World War,
08:50the Soviets were morbidly haunted by a belief
08:54that the Western Allies would betray them
08:56by making a separate peace with the Germans.
08:59With German resistance still intense in parts of Europe,
09:03and the liberation of Czechoslovakia and Norway still to come,
09:07Stalin believes that the signed documents amount to a separate peace.
09:11Stalin was beside himself,
09:14and the Russians insisted that the whole ceremony had to be reenacted in Berlin
09:19with senior Soviets present 24 hours after the Reims' signing.
09:25Anxious to break the news, Churchill initially objects,
09:29but General Eisenhower agrees to Stalin's request,
09:32and a second surrender is organised.
09:34The 8th of May, Berlin, 11.30pm.
09:41German officers Field Marshal Keitel, Admiral von Friedeburg,
09:45and General Stumpf assemble at a Soviet Army Group headquarters
09:49in the suburbs of Berlin.
09:50Also present is General de la Treille de Dessigny to sign for France.
09:57Air Chief Marshal Saratha Tedder is present to sign for Britain.
10:01Eisenhower has sent General Spatz to represent the US.
10:07Soviet Marshal Georgi Zhukov, the conqueror of Berlin, is there too.
10:12Keitel signs on behalf of Germany.
10:15Although the document is almost identical to the one signed the day before,
10:19Stalin is now satisfied.
10:21Germany's humiliation is complete.
10:24The 8th of May. After five years, eight months and six days,
10:32the war in Europe has finally come to an end.
10:35Celebrations erupt around the world.
10:38The front page of the Stars and Stripes,
10:40the official newspaper of the US military boasts, Germany quits.
10:44When we found out that Germany had surrendered, we were very happy.
10:47We were pleased that it was over.
10:49And like everyone else in the free world, we had reasons to celebrate.
10:54We had a big copper pot that we got from some German house.
11:00And everybody poured whatever they had into it.
11:03We had pickle juice.
11:04We had all kinds of schnapps and champagne in there.
11:08And we stirred it up and we drank it.
11:11And the next day, we were out of this world.
11:14The 8th of May, Washington, 8.35 a.m.
11:18From the Executive Office of the White House,
11:20President Truman reads a prepared statement to the press.
11:23Half an hour later, Truman addresses the nation from the White House radio room.
11:28This is a solemn but glorious hour.
11:33I wish that Franklin D. Roosevelt had lived to see this day.
11:39General Eisenhower informs me that the forces of Germany have surrendered to the United Nations.
11:48The flags of freedom fly all over Europe.
11:53For this victory, we join in offering our thanks to the providence,
11:58which has guided and sustained us through the dark days of adversity and into light.
12:07Truman, on his 61st birthday, concludes his address with one final request of the American people.
12:14Much remains to be done.
12:17The victory won in the West must now be won in the East.
12:23The whole world must be cleansed of the evil from which half the world has been freed.
12:30Truman's words prompt an outburst of celebration across the U.S.
12:34One of the biggest parties is in Manhattan.
12:37The 8th of May, New York City.
12:40Thousands pour into the streets.
12:42Confetti and ticker tape rain down from the towering skyscrapers.
12:46Traffic throughout the city comes to a standstill.
12:49London, 3pm.
12:54A hush falls over boisterous crowds as Winston Churchill announces the end of the war in Europe.
13:00Grand Admiral Dönitz, the designated head of the German state,
13:08signed the act of unconditional surrender of all German land, sea and air forces in Europe
13:20to the Allied expeditionary forces and simultaneously to the Soviet high command.
13:27Hostilities will end officially at one minute after midnight tonight, Tuesday the 8th of May.
13:40Today is Victory in Europe Day.
13:44Tomorrow will also be Victory in Europe Day.
13:49Advanced Britannia.
13:51Long live the cause of freedom.
13:54God save the King.
13:56Floodlights and bonfires light up the city that night.
14:01Churchill repeats his message to the House of Commons,
14:04warning that though the clouds of war have lifted over Europe,
14:07the war in the East is not yet won.
14:10Japan, with all her treachery and greed, remains unsubdued.
14:18The injuries she has inflicted upon Great Britain, the United States and other countries,
14:25and her detestable cruelties call for justice and retribution.
14:31We must now devote all our strength and resources to the completion of our tasks, both at home and abroad.
14:41In Paris there are also scenes of wild celebration.
14:44The French people can now put behind them the bitter experience of four years' Nazi occupation.
14:54In the Soviet Union, however, large-scale celebrations have not yet begun.
14:59Stalin decrees that the 9th of May would be the official end of the war in Europe.
15:03The celebrations have begun for a tremendous victory parade.
15:10The 9th of May.
15:12By 1am, celebrations erupt across Moscow.
15:15News of Germany's surrender is broadcast on the radio.
15:18Elated crowds take to the streets, hoisting Red Army troops on their shoulders.
15:23Stalin promises that a parade will take place the following month.
15:27He will display to the world the military might of the Soviet Union, which has been so vital in defeating Nazi Germany.
15:39But throughout much of Europe, the joyous occasion is obscured by the trail of devastation, death and destruction left by the war.
15:47Families ripped apart by the war have few means of discovering the fate of loved ones.
15:57Nor can they quickly rebuild their homes.
15:59For those who were victims of genocide, and particularly for Jews, the end of the war was a very complicated experience.
16:12It was only at that point that the few people who survived could begin to think about everything they lost.
16:18For those people, everything had been lost, and they had to reckon with having to build a new life.
16:27We survivors tended to go east, and the Jews were greeted with,
16:33You survived? Hitler didn't kill you all?
16:44As millions of refugees trek across central Europe, Germans must come to terms with the harsh reality of defeat.
16:50The 8th of May, Berlin. Grand Admiral Dönitz broadcasts to the German people.
16:57He tells them,
16:59All of us have to face a difficult path.
17:01We have to walk it with dignity, courage and discipline.
17:04We will walk it united.
17:06Without this unity, we shall not be able to overcome the misery of the times to come.
17:11Some are dumbfounded, shocked at this sudden contradiction of years of Nazi propaganda.
17:24But the evidence of defeat was all around.
17:27Here you had one of the greatest industrial societies in the world,
17:31which had been almost literally leveled to the ground,
17:34in which public transport had collapsed.
17:37They were cold, they were hungry, they were desperate.
17:44BBC correspondent Winford Vaughan Thomas describes the scene in one German town,
17:49where a British officer relays news of the surrender.
17:54This is V-Day in Germany.
17:57And here, in the old town of LĂŒneburg,
18:00we are standing in the main square, where the Germans have assembled.
18:04They've been told to assemble by loudspeaker to listen to an important announcement.
18:08And now, they stand before the old town hall in a docile crowd.
18:13People of LĂŒneburg,
18:17the Nazi government and the German Wehrmacht
18:21have surrendered unconditionally to the Allied expeditionary forces.
18:28Surrender, abject surrender, was all in the air in Germany.
18:32It was as if we were talking to people like zombies, walking in a dream,
18:36and the dream suddenly was over.
18:38They hadn't really thought that the Reich was going to collapse.
18:43Europe has been brought to misery and famine by Germany.
18:47The German nation must not expect to fare better than the nations they have overrun.
18:55And at the end of it, they turned and they went away.
19:02With the annihilation of the Third Reich,
19:04the remnants of the Wehrmacht now face a bleak and uncertain future.
19:08I had to come to terms with myself.
19:11I came to think about the past, about the war, thinking of my comrades, how few came back.
19:25And that they all had lost their lives, thinking they were fighting and dying for a just and noble cause.
19:40Some Nazis choose to fight on.
19:43There were German U-boats popping up in the Atlantic.
19:51And in Europe, the SS, who thought that they had no chance of survival if they surrendered, just fought off.
19:57There was so much bitterness and so much anger and so much hatred among the vanquished Nazis
20:03that those who were still in a position to do harm to people whom they perceived
20:09were now going to be allowed to live on and enjoy peace and so on.
20:12There were some perfectly dreadful acts of murderous spite in the days after the surrender was signed.
20:20The 9th of May, 12pm.
20:22The 62 German U-boats still cruising the high seas finally receive orders,
20:27dispatched 24 hours ago, to surface immediately.
20:31They are to report their position and head for designated British ports.
20:35Over 200 U-boats are scuttled by their crews, rather than be handed over to the Allies.
20:42Amongst the fleet are the new, formidable Type 21 and Type 23 model U-boats.
20:50By May 1943, with the Allies mastering the U-boat threat, Admiral Dönitz, then Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy,
21:02was desperate to relaunch the Battle of the Atlantic.
21:05By April 1944, German engineers and naval architects had developed two submarines that outclassed anything in existence.
21:14The Type 21 and its smaller brother, the Type 23.
21:19The 1600-ton Type 21 sub could remain totally submerged for 11 days and reach 17 knots while submerged.
21:32It was also equipped with a hydraulic torpedo reloading system, up to six times quicker than manual methods.
21:38The Type 21 had six torpedo tubes located four.
21:45The other interesting thing about the boat was that it was actually faster under the water than it was on the surface.
21:54The way it was streamlined, it was made to move under the water rather than as a submersible, which mainly operated on the surface but could dive.
22:07This thing was made as a submarine. It was a real submarine.
22:12This enormous U-boat was packed with batteries that gave the Type 21 unprecedented speed, range and endurance underwater.
22:23The smaller Type 23 was designed for use in coastal waters and shallow seas and carried just two torpedoes.
22:31Only six were operational by the war's end.
22:34But it was a Type 23 that claimed the last U-boat kill on the 7th of May.
22:39Ultimately, the late introduction of these vessels could do little to help Germany regain supremacy at sea.
22:50These weapons, if introduced earlier, say early in 1944, might have turned the tide.
23:00But they were introduced just months before the end of World War II.
23:04So they were, it was really too little too late on the part of the Germans.
23:14The 8th of May.
23:15German forces surrender on the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea.
23:21The garrison had fought on for three days after refusing to surrender to the Soviets.
23:25The same day, German troops in Norway, which has been occupied since April 1940, lay down their arms en masse.
23:34An Allied military commission flies in to oversee the terms of the German surrender.
23:39Freed from five years of repression, Norway erupts in celebration.
23:44The 9th of May.
23:48British troops liberate the Channel Islands.
23:51They've been occupied since June 1940, the only part of the British Isles to fall to the Germans.
23:57And in Czechoslovakia, following four days of intense fighting between the Czech resistance and Waffen SS troops, the Red Army finally enters the city of Prague, the last European capital to be liberated.
24:14Now, as the Soviet first Ukrainian front navigates the city, they find shocking evidence of German brutality.
24:25In the last battle of the war in Europe, thousands of Czech civilians and soldiers had been killed fighting in the streets.
24:32Dozens of workers at Prague's radio station had been gunned down as they tried to defend the building.
24:39At the Masaryk railway station, the bodies of 50 executed partisans are found crumpled on the ground.
24:48Not until the 11th of May, when he is completely surrounded, will Marshal Schörner of Army Group Centre accept defeat.
24:55As Allied forces focus on mopping up Nazi resistance across Europe, many high-ranking officials of the Third Reich are hoping to slip away unnoticed.
25:06In the days after V-Day, there were an awful lot of Nazis who, of course, were hurrying to assume false identities or just to disappear into the great mass of seething, stricken humanity that was milling around Germany before the Allies identified them and got to them.
25:23The 9th of May, Austria. Hermann Göring, former commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe, is apprehended by the US 7th Army.
25:34He fled to southern Germany at the end of the war, believed that he'd been given permission by Hitler to form the successor government.
25:43Göring assumes he'll be taken to Eisenhower to negotiate, but instead he faces a prison cell and charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
25:53Norwegian Nazi leader Vidkun Quisling is also arrested.
26:01A man whose name would become synonymous with treason, Quisling had been installed by Hitler as a puppet leader of Norway's government in 1942.
26:09Now, with the country rid of the German army, Norway's royal family and government in exile prepare to come home.
26:21As resistance is subdued and governments are restored across Europe, the United States begins the process of withdrawing more than 3 million servicemen from Europe.
26:33The 10th of May, American troops received details of demobilization.
26:40The army had a system for selecting people to go home, depending on the number of points you had.
26:46I think your age counted, years in the army counted, how many battles you had been in, all those things counted.
26:55And those with the highest number of points got to leave first to go home.
26:59But the next stop for many GIs is not home.
27:04We had heard, the outfit had heard, the whole battalion had heard, that they were going to re-equip us and take us to Italy and put us on boats and we were going to go to the Philippines and train for a landing in Japan.
27:19With war in the Far East still raging, thousands are to be redeployed for a ground invasion of Japan, a frightening and draining prospect for many GIs who had fought bitterly against the Germans, only to face a new enemy 5,000 miles away.
27:36So, the rumour was, we're getting on a boat, we're going to go to the Pacific.
27:46And that was quite disturbing, you know, I felt, all of us felt, I'm going home.
27:53But there was still war going on the other side of the world with terrible casualties.
27:58In the East, news of Germany's surrender reaches Allied forces.
28:02The 8th of May, Okinawa, 12pm. Ground troops on the island, still fighting for their lives, have little time to reflect on European events.
28:12We were marching through the rain and mud and somebody passed a word down the line that Germany had surrendered and the war in Europe is over.
28:24And the typical reaction I know, including mine, was, so what?
28:31We're going back into the front lines and it doesn't affect us one iota.
28:36The bitter fight for Okinawa, the last stop before mainland Japan, has been raging since the 1st of April, exacting a huge toll on US forces.
28:47Just 24 hours ago, Colonel Francis Fenton of the 1st Marines knelt by the body of his son, Private Michael Fenton, killed by sniper fire.
29:00It is not a typical scene. Hundreds are dying each day on Okinawa. Few deaths attract much comment.
29:07Colonel Fenton would later remark that other dead Marines were not as fortunate as his son, who had his father there to pray for him.
29:13Over the past five weeks, American troops have made a painstaking advance, forcing the Japanese to retreat to the southern tip of the island.
29:26In the wake of a failed counter-offensive against US forces, General Ushijima now leads a decimated army.
29:33The gamble had cost the lives of 5,000 of his men and precious ammunition.
29:38None of these casualties or supplies can be replaced.
29:43The American blockade meant essentially that nothing is going to leave and that the Japanese are not going to be able to receive any reinforcements.
29:52And that they will not be supplied with medicine, with food, with any additional munitions.
29:58On the opposite side of the battlefield, US General Simon Buckner, commander of the 10th Army, is encouraged by the failure of the Japanese counter-offensive and determined to sustain the pressure on the enemy.
30:10The 9th of May, General Buckner orders an all-out attack in southern Okinawa to begin in 48 hours.
30:19Buckner reorganizes his front line in anticipation of the attack.
30:22The 6th Marine Division comes in from the north, relieving the exhausted 27th Infantry.
30:29He has at his disposal two Marine Divisions and two Army Divisions.
30:34Buckner's strategy is to envelop and overwhelm Shuri at the centre of the Japanese 32nd Army's position.
30:40The Marines will push along the western coast and the Army Divisions will do the same in the east.
30:48A strong holding force will exert pressure in the centre.
30:52Experience has taught US forces that the well-entrenched Japanese are more vulnerable to flamethrowers than falling shells.
30:59After a 30-minute artillery bombardment, the infantry will advance using flame weapons and explosives to clear enemy strongpoints.
31:08Buckner has dubbed the tactic blowtorch and corkscrew.
31:12It was difficult to shoot them out of position. You couldn't shell them out of position.
31:19You literally had to close in and wrinkle them out at very, very close ranges.
31:22The flamethrower was a superb weapon to go after the Japanese at close ranges.
31:34The 11th of May. Buckner's assault begins.
31:38Ushijima knew that the American attack would be quickly renewed and his troops are ready and waiting.
31:43There is furious fighting along the line as the Americans try to find a way through the Japanese defences.
31:52In combat, the GIs are relying on one of their most trusted weapons, the M1 rifle.
32:01Named after its inventor, John Garand, the M1 Garand rifle was in use with American forces across the world.
32:09Many men would find their lives depended upon it.
32:12I'd always take care of my rifle and make sure it was clean at all times, because without your rifle you're nowhere.
32:19Often you'd be sleeping and right beside the sleeping bag would be your M1.
32:24You were snuggling your M1 the whole night long.
32:29The M1 was the first semi-automatic rifle to be adopted by a major military power.
32:35It had a smaller recoil than previous military rifles and for that reason could be fired accurately at a range of 450 yards after only minimal training.
32:44Weighing less than 10 pounds unloaded, the rifle was rugged and dependable.
32:53The M1 rifle was loaded with an eight round clip that automatically ejected when spent.
33:02The term clip, as used to describe packs of ammunition, originated with the M1.
33:11The M1's dependability in the field would earn its reputation as the GIs best friend.
33:17General Patton himself called it the greatest battle implement ever devised.
33:20The M1 rifle was the finest rifle in World War II, without a doubt.
33:28The M1 rifle would see service right up to the Vietnam War.
33:35The 11th of May, Ushijima has unified his defences along the hills, ridges and encampments surrounding Shuri.
33:41All of his reserves are committed to hold the line.
33:50The American attack quickly breaks down into a series of intense, isolated battles.
33:55The heaviest resistance is in the west, around Sugarloaf Hill, near the capital city of Naha.
34:01Japanese troops will fight to the death to protect one of their last defensive bastions.
34:05Those Japs must really be dug in. They really are.
34:14You can't see them, but they make you jump around a bit.
34:18I guess you were doing some jumping around a while ago, too, when those mortars you were throwing over here came up.
34:23The battle for Sugarloaf Hill will be one of the most hard fought of the campaign.
34:27One U.S. officer declares, the only way we can take the top of this hill is to make a Jap Banzai charge ourselves.
34:37The 12th of May. A company of the 22nd Marine Regiment advances unsuspectingly on Sugarloaf Hill,
34:44but is soon forced back by heavy fire.
34:48Sugarloaf Hill anchored the west end of the Shuri Line, and it was a precipitous kind of slope.
34:55It was hard to climb, even if people aren't shooting at you.
34:58And the Japanese had it highly fortified, lots of heavy weapons, lots of troops.
35:02They took a heavy toll of the Americans fighting their way up.
35:06Today is May 12th, 1945, the third day of the push of the 6th Marine Division.
35:11The Marines of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Marines, have crossed the ridge, and there's some heavy fighting going on.
35:18And we tried to get our Jeep up that way, but it was a bit impossible.
35:25Heavy rain presents another challenge.
35:28Mud slows the advance and impedes the movement of supplies to the front line.
35:32Once the rains begin, they discover that they are now fighting in mud.
35:42The foxholes that they dig will be immediately flooded.
35:45So you're just sliding down here, unable to climb up there.
35:48Tracked vehicles, wheeled vehicles get bogged down, so it's difficult to bring in supplies.
35:53I can hardly remember it not raining in such a way that I don't think of the rain.
36:02I don't remember the rain, but I know it was there constantly, because you'd be bailing out your foxhole constantly.
36:09You've got guys coming down with pneumonia in the midst of this campaign because they're just being stressed at the maximum, they're fatigued, and then they're operating under wet conditions.
36:19The rain is less of a problem for the Japanese, dug into the reverse slopes of the hills.
36:27US forces are met with furious small arms fire as they move forward.
36:34To cover their ascent, mortars and heavy artillery open fire.
36:40But Sugarloaf Hill becomes a death trap.
36:44Mortars and grenades rain down as the Marines advance.
36:47In deadly banzai charges, the Japanese hurl themselves at their enemy.
36:52The fearless close-quarter assault is unlike anything the Marines have ever encountered.
36:58In addition to the huge physical trauma that takes place over the course of the battle,
37:02the emotional loss and the psychological loss that takes place is tremendous as well.
37:06We don't know how long it's going to last, or how long we're going to be there.
37:19All you can do is try to just persevere.
37:23You can't go anywhere.
37:25The only way to get out of there is to get wounded or killed.
37:30Yes, that was the only way out.
37:34Unless you cracked up like a lot of men did.
37:37The vast numbers of people who have emerged with shell shock or battle fatigue because of the constant nature of the assault was, again, unprecedented in the American experience up to this point.
37:50As the brutal battle for Sugarloaf Hill continues, Japanese kamikaze attacks resume on the fleet following a week-long reprieve.
38:02The 11th of May, 8.30am.
38:05Over 1,000 Japanese suicide pilots attack the Allied carrier task groups.
38:09It is the sixth kamikaze attack the Allies face at Okinawa.
38:16The wave of suicide bombers is known as floating chrysanthemum, named after the imperial symbol of Japan.
38:26Just after 10am, two kamikaze planes head straight for the aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill.
38:34We had been up a good part of the night and part of the morning, and around quarter of 10 in the morning, they let a third of the gunnery department go down to get cleaned up, washed up, clean clothes and stuff like that, and then come back.
38:53And at five minutes past 10, the first suicide plane come in.
38:58The plane drops a 500-pound bomb that rips through the flight deck of the Bunker Hill, exploding with a deafening noise.
39:08The plane itself skids across the deck, taking out parked aircraft before crashing over the side.
39:15And it dropped a bomb that went through part of the hangar deck to the gallery deck below and killed a lot of the pilots and stuff.
39:24The plane that landed amongst all the others had tremendous gasoline fires.
39:31As the crew of the Bunker Hill struggle to cope with the destruction wrought by the first kamikaze, the second attacks.
39:37The Japanese aircraft and its bomb crash through the flight deck, exploding in the hangar deck.
39:46353 crewmen are killed, 43 are listed as missing, and 264 are wounded in the attack.
39:53The survivors are transferred to the USS Enterprise, which itself had been badly damaged by a kamikaze attack a month earlier.
40:02As war drags on in the Pacific, and casualties continue to mount, in America top secret work continues on a weapon of unprecedented destructive power.
40:16The 10th of May, Los Alamos, New Mexico, 9am.
40:23At the office of Dr Robert Oppenheimer, the target committee meets for the second time.
40:29They discuss technical details, including the ideal height at which to detonate an atomic bomb, preferred weather conditions, and procedures in case the bomber had to abort the mission.
40:39The committee also narrows down the list of possible targets.
40:46The top four choices are Kyoto, Hiroshima, Yokohama, and the Kokura Arsenal.
40:53The world is inching closer to the dawn of the nuclear age.
40:59Next on the last days of World War II, as the battle on Okinawa takes its toll on US troops,
41:08the Allies make significant progress in the liberation of the Philippines.
41:13In Europe, the process of reconstruction will begin, but the Red Army continues to pillage the German capital.
41:21The Russians were busy taking everything that moved, and actually simply raping women as an act of real revenge.
41:27And in the US, unsettling evidence of a bomb-making alliance between Japan and Germany ends up on the shores of New Hampshire.
41:34MUSICisan jamais
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