Alone: May 1940-May 1941
- Episode aired Nov 21, 1973
- 51m
IMDb RATING
8.6/10
501
YOUR RATING
The Battle of Britain, defeats in Greece and Crete, Tobruk and life in Britain between the evacuation at Dunkirk and Operation Barbarossa.The Battle of Britain, defeats in Greece and Crete, Tobruk and life in Britain between the evacuation at Dunkirk and Operation Barbarossa.The Battle of Britain, defeats in Greece and Crete, Tobruk and life in Britain between the evacuation at Dunkirk and Operation Barbarossa.
Photos
John McBeath
- Self - Commanding 'H.M.S. Venomous'
- (as Rear-Admiral John McBeath)
Max Aitken
- Self - R.A.F. Squadron Leader 1940
- (as Sir Max Aitken)
Anthony Eden
- Self - War Minister 1940
- (as Lord Avon)
- …
Charles Gardner
- Self - BBC Reporter
- (archive sound)
Lord Beaverbrook
- Self - Minister of Aircraft Production
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Winston Churchill
- Self - P.M. of the U.K.
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Hugh Dowding
- Self - R.A.F. Fighter Command 1936-40
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Hermann Göring
- Self - C-in-C, Luftwaffe
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Adolf Hitler
- Self - Führer und Reichskanzler
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
King George VI
- Self - His Highness
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother
- Self - Her Highness
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis episode describes the Battle of Britain in great detail and there are numerous references to Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief RAF Fighter Command. The narrator Laurence Olivier previously played Dowding in Battle of Britain (1969).
Featured review
Rule Britannia
Last time on World at War, we saw how France had failed to stop the Nazi onslaught because of their reliance on defensive tactics reminiscent of the First World War. After france is subdued, Britain stands alone against Hitler. The non-aggression treaty the latter had made with the Soviets was still intact, most of Europe was under nazi rule, and America was not in the war yet. The UK faced seemingly impossible odds, but via the sheer will to survive, they made it through. This episode goes into detail on how much agony the Germans put britain through and what the british did to fight back. At the end of the battle of france, british soldiers sent to help the french are evacuated by many ships from the port city of Dunquerke, but many are left behind. The british didn't have the time to take their vehicles back with them either. Meanwhile, Hitler realizes that although britain is his last obstacle (for now), defeating them will be a problem. Because it's an island country, his formidable armored forces were, for the first time, completely worthless. Britain also had a much more imposing navy, which would make any amphibious assault on the country rather difficult. The nazis plan to invade England using around 9 divisions of soldiers supported by 2 airborne divisions landing on the southeastern coast by Dover, around 200k men in all. Britain was expecting this and placed a large number of soldiers in this area to stave off any potential invasion. As per usual, the Luftwaffe was supposed to clear the way of any threatening targets (in this case aircraft and ships) blocking the way of the invasion force. Germany starts assembling a large force of ships and landing craft to assault british beaches with, but the plan, now codenamed Operation Sea Lion, didn't have the support of the german air force on whom everything depended. Sea Lion was eventually cancelled and germany turns to other methods of getting britain to submit, namely bombing. Goering first orders his bombers to attack british shipping in the Channel, then ups the stakes by attacking RAF airfields themselves. The Royal Air Force had lost many planes helping the french, and its chief, Hugh Dowding, was under constant strain to provide britain with adequate numbers of aircraft for defense. In August, the luftwaffe changes focus and starts to attack radar installations, knowing that radar is what was enabling the british to see where german planes were appearing from before they even came into view. Because of the distance luftwaffe planes had to travel to reach britain, fighters could only stay over the country for half an hour, so the RAF had a big advantage. Still, the last week of august and first week of September in particular prove brutal for the RAF, as the germans relentlessly pound their airstrips from the sky. Right when it looks like britain has no more planes left to defend itself, Goering changes his strategy again. He now decides to bomb London instead of the airfields, and in a twist of irony, the RAF is saved from disaster. While London burns, britain's aircraft reserve steadily replenishes itself. Starting in September 1940, the germans bomb London for 76 nights in a row. Citizens living there simply have to accept that their house might no longer exist when they exit the bomb shelter the next morning. Thousands of people are killed in what is today known as the Blitz, about half of them Londoners. Finally, in May, Hitler turns his attention to the conquest of Russia and pressure is taken off of britain. They know that since most of europe is now controlled by the nazis, they can't attack them on the continent for the foreseeable future, so britain decides to take the fight to them in North Africa and the Middle East. In December 1940, britain finally hits back at the Axis by attacking Italian positions in Egypt and Libya. Shortly after, british troops start arriving in Greece in order to help prevent the conquest of the country by Hitler, but they ultimately fail, losing Yugoslavia in the process as well. Finally, germany hits back at the british by invading the greek island of Crete with paratroopers in may 1941. Even though britain loses its one and only air and naval base in the east Mediterranean, the british nation had withstood Hitler's wrath. As expected, this is another great entry in what many people (including myself) consider to be the king of all World War 2 documentaries, and I can watch this any day without it feeling repetitive or stale. Laurence Olivier's narration is great as always, but interestingly, it's not heard that much here compared to other episodes. This is mostly due to the sheer amount of interviews they put into this one, and we get to hear riveting and disturbing tales from people who experienced carnage in britain firsthand, whether it was in the skies or in the bombed out streets of various cities. One person says how a huge bomb tore off the front of an apartment building, and there was a person still asleep on the fourth floor with around 2 dozen beer bottles around his bed. I guess this is how a lot of the public dealt with such a horrible situation. We also get to hear about how british children were evacuated to other areas, sometimes overseas even, but this was stopped eventually when a german submarine torpedoed a ship with 90 kids onboard. War is truly indiscriminate in its chaos.
helpful•22
- nickenchuggets
- Jun 16, 2022
Details
- Runtime51 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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