WWII

It's long been known that German soldiers used a methamphetamine, called Pervitin, during WWII. But have tales of Nazis on speed obscured the massive use of stimulants by British and American troops?

Did total war unleash the world's first pharmacological arms race? And in the face of industrial slaughter, what role did drugs play in combat? Historian James Holland is on a quest to dig deeper and unearth the truth behind World War Speed.

The search for the wreck of the Yamato, the largest and mightiest battleship ever floated and the pride of the Japanese Imperial Fleet. Constructed in absolute secrecy and sunk by American planes toward the end of World War II, her rapid demise had been a mystery, rather like a military Titanic.

Duration 53m28s
Resolution 656x368
Video format Xvid
Audio format AC3
Language english
Subtitles 0

NOVA dives beneath the waters of Pearl Harbor to trace provocative new clues to one of the most tragic events of World War II -- the sinking of the USS Arizona.

Duration 54m09s
Resolution 1280x720
Video format MP4
Audio format AAC
Language english
Subtitles 0

"Program Overview

"The Ghost Army

On the Front Lines of World War II, Illusion Was Their Ultimate Weapon.

"The real Great Escape didn't feature Steve McQueen racing through the Third Reich on a motorcycle like in the 1963 movie, but the big breakout was still thrilling in every way. This program sheds new light on the audacious escape of 76 Allied airmen from a Nazi POW camp during World War II.

On January 11, 2000, a trial opened in London's High Court that would prove to be a crucial test of Holocaust "deniers." British author David Irving brought a libel action against Deborah Lipstadt, author of Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory. In her book, Lipstadt characterized Irving as a "Hitler partisan" who manipulated the historical record to deny the reality of the Holocaust. In seeking damages, Irving claimed that her book destroyed his reputation.

"One of the most daring clandestine operations of World War II was the 1944 sinking of the Norwegian ferry Hydro with its cargo of ""heavy water"" destined for the Nazis' secret atomic bomb project. Although the mission was declared a success, no one ever established if the special shipment was actually on board. In this program, NOVA descends 1,300 feet beneath a remote Norwegian lake to find the answer.

Underwater archaeologists and technical divers excavate the wreckage of the B-24 Liberator bomber Tulsamerican in hopes of finding out what happened to the three airmen who went missing when the plane crashed off the coast of Croatia in 1944. Dive to the bottom of the Adriatic Sea in search of the Tulsamerican, a B-24 bomber that crashed off the coast of Croatia during World War II. In 2010, divers located the plane. Now the Department of Defense, aided by the Croatian Navy and some of the world’s leading underwater archaeologists, sets to work investigating the wreckage.

Archaeologists and divers recover remains of ships and planes that were lost in Dunkirk, France during World War II. As France fell to the German armies in May 1940, 400,000 Allied troops were trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk. Their annihilation seemed certain—a disaster that could have led to Britain’s surrender.