Generals at War

2009

Generals at War

8 | en | Documentary

As commanders from the great battles of WWII go head-to-head on the battlefield, they attempt to outwit and outfight each other with strategic moves in a game of skill, bluff and counterbluff. With the lives of thousands of men at risk, the generals’ reputations hanging in the balance, the stakes are impossibly high and the pressure is on.

WATCH FREEFOR 30 DAYS

All Prime Video
Cancel anytime

Watch Now

Seasons & Episodes

EP6 The Battle of the Bulge

Mar. 16,2009

1944 Adolf Hitler plays his last trump card - a gigantic offensive in the West, using his last troops and materiel. Leading the charge is Field Marshal Walther Model - a ruthless commander and loyal servant of Hitler. Model sends his armoured spearheads crashing through the weakly defended American lines of US General Omar Bradley, who is caught completely off guard. If Bradley can't contain the German advance Adolf Hitler could win a victory that may end the Allies' invasion of Germany.

EP5 The Battle of Kursk

Mar. 09,2009

1943 - Germany and Russia clash near the Soviet city of Kursk, as each vies for control of the Eastern Front. The Germans are led by Field Marshal Von Manstein - an aristocratic master tactician. Facing him across the battlefield is the Red Army's Marshal Zhukov - ruthless, opinionated and dangerous to know. Hitler is convinced new super-weapons like the Tiger tank will win the fight and insists Von Manstein holds off his attack until more arrive. Zhukov exploits the delay and orders his men to dig for victory. They create an elaborate network of defences to grind the enemy down - or blow them up... The two armies finally meet in a titanic clash of tanks - on a mind-blowing scale. It is the biggest tank battle of all time and the result changes the course of the war forever.

EP4 The Battle of Stalingrad

Mar. 02,2009

1942 - as the Germans storm across the Soviet Union, Hitler becomes obsessed with taking Stalingrad - the city which bears the name of his arch-enemy Joseph Stalin. The German army is led by General Paulus, a meticulous war gamer. Facing him across the map table is Soviet General Chuikov - a hardened fighter, not afraid to get his hands dirty. Paulus is confident he will soon bring the city to its knees. But the German army reduces Stalingrad to rubble so successfully, that the ruined city actually works against them. It blocks their tanks and creates the perfect killing ground for Russian snipers and street fighters. The battle degenerates into bloody pockets of fierce hand-to-hand combat. The Germans eventually gain control of 90% of the city. Then the Russians unleash a counter-offensive. The Russian "rats" spring the trap back onto their attackers and encircle the German army. Paulus insists on waiting for the order from Hitler to break out, but the order never comes. Ultimately Paulus is forced to make the hardest decision of his military career, and his life….

EP3 The Battle of El Alamein

Feb. 23,2009

1942, two of the most charismatic generals of all time, Field Marshall Erwin Rommel, the Desert Fox, and General Bernard Montgomery face off over a barren stretch of rocky desert in the Egyptian desert. Each is determined to outwit and outfight the other in a bloody battle of minds as well as men. As they duel for North Africa and the oilfields of the Middle East, Rommel relies on blitzkrieg tactics of speed, surprise and daring. Montgomery takes a different tack. He digs in for a defensive battle and puts his faith in planning, training and new equipment. The outcome of their head to head turns Hitler's fortunes in North Africa and gives the British their first decisive win of the war.

EP2 The Battle of Midway

Feb. 16,2009

1942 - The United States Navy has just been devastated at Pearl Harbour. But the Japanese attackers fail to destroy an important American asset - their aircraft carriers. To wipe out these carriers once and for all Japanese Admiral Nagumo takes the mighty Japanese fleet to the island of Midway and lays a trap for US Admiral Fletcher and his decimated forces. Nagumo believes he will finally crush his adversary, but he doesn't know that Fletcher holds a lethal trump card - he has broken Nagumo's code and knows his plan…

EP1 The Battle of Singapore

Feb. 09,2009

In 1941, the British totally underestimate the fighting ability of the Japanese- until Japan launches a surprise attack on Singapore, a tiny jewel in the Crown of the British Empire. General Arthur Percival is the British general tasked with the defence of the wealthy colonies of Malaya and Singapore. General Tomoyuki Yamashita -the Tiger of Malaya - leads the "driving charge" to oust him. The Japanese are outnumbered from the start, but with the help of bluff, speed and bicycles they put the British to rout, striking a blow at the very heart of Britain's Empire in the East.

8 | en | Documentary , War & Politics | More Info

Released: 2009-02-09 | Released Producted By: , Country: United States of America Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website:

Synopsis

Stream Online

The tv show is currently not available onine

Cast

Director

Producted By

Watch Free for 30 Days

All Prime Video Movies and TV Shows. Cancel anytime.

Watch Now

Trailers

Cast

Reviews

de3206 I have read, and watched, a GREAT DEAL about WW2, and I have never seen ANYTHING so historically inaccurate fobbing itself as a documentary EVER.I gave up after the historical errors became so blatant and numerous, that after 2 episodes I couldn't take it.At Midway, it states the Yorktown took 24 hours to be made seaworthy after the battle of the Coral Sea. It was not, more like 48. They claim the combat flight tactic, the Thatch Weave, was never used before Midway. The show presents as an ad hoc tactic, developed at the spur of the moment. It was not. It was a thoroughly rehearsed maneuver designed to maximize the Wildcat's strengths, against a more agile Japanese Zero.In the Battle of the Bulge episode, It says Bradley hated Montgomery deeply. They are mistaking him for Patton. It also says Bradley was reluctant to ask for Patton's help in the Bulge, because it was Bradley's sector. Totally untrue. Bradley was skeptical that Patton could turn 180 degrees, and reach Bastogne in 48 hours. That's a totally different issue.They claim the US bazooka could defeat a Tiger tank, neglecting to mention it would have to be a very lucky shot at very short range.There are just so many historical inaccuracies, that for a someone who has spent as much time as I have watching and reading everything I could get my hands on about WW2 (my Dad was a combat Marine, 4th Marine Division, Kwajalein, Tinian, Saipan, Iwo Jima) it was not watchable.Full of silly demonstrations that if you shoot an explosive pellet into gasoline, it will burn. How informative. Another brilliant demonstration showed how CO2 could put out a candle. Mrs. Parker taught me that in 3rd grade.It's a real disappointment, because new material about the war is getting less and less as memories fade, and veterans pass away

Robert J. Maxwell Like the others, this episode gives us the hypothetical personal views of the two chief adversaries, in this case the German Rommel and the British Montgomery. Basically, the conflict along the North African coast swung back and forth. Each time one side made an advance of any distance, it left a long supply line behind it.That simple fact, along with others of less importance, led to Rommels' defeat.There were few roads near the coast. South of them was an impassable depression of find sand that couldn't support heavy vehicles. Since the supply lines were restricted to one or two roads they were vulnerable to air attack and the Allies had air superiority.The nearest British supply base was at Alexandria, close by. Rommel depended on shipments of fundamental necessities being shipped from Italy to his two ports, one at Benghazi and the other at Tripoli, far behind the usual front lines.Logistics finally won the day. The episode deals with battles and the persons behind them so it doesn't mention the fact that the Brits had broken most of the Italian naval code. That meant that they knew virtually every ship that would leave Italy with supplies for the Germans. Rommel never relied on the fighting ability of his Italian allies. One of their generals, Ettore Bastico, Rommel referred to as "Bombastico." But the British Ultra was critical. It is estimated that 40% to 60% of Axis supply shipping was located and destroyed due to decrypted information. Rommel ran out of men, water, fuel, armor, and everything else. He was reduced to draining the fuel from some tanks in order to keep others running. By the time of the Second Battle of El Alamen, he was down to 35 tanks against several hundred of the Allies' and his men were vastly outnumbered. And so he lost.He took what he had left and retreated west towards Tripoli, where he intended to withdraw his troops from North Africa, despite Hitler's orders to the contrary. There was evidently enough juice left in the Afrika Korps to give the green American troops a pounding before beginning his evacuation, which was only partly successful. Rommel himself was ill throughout much of the campaign and once hospitalized. His name came up during the investigation of the plot to kill Hitler, which Rommel knew nothing about, and he was forced to take poison.