The Century of Flight — Season 1, Episode 9: Airpower and Armies
Documentary • 50 min • 1 season, 26 episodes
Episode synopsis
How aircraft were used in direct support of ground forces. Camera gun shots in colour of aircraft attacking ground targets. Blitzkrieg - the JU87 Stuka divebomber and the role it played in the German Blitzkrieg offensives. Colour graphics are used to explain how the Stukas operated with the Panzers. Close Air Support (The Allied version) in North Africa, Europe and the Pacific, including colour footage. Descent from the Skies - The employment of airborne forces during World War II. Examples include Norway 1940, Belgium and Holland 1940, Crete 1941, Sicily, Normandy, Arnhem, Rhine Crossings. Gliders are also included. Secret War - how aircraft inserted agents into enemy territory.
About The Century of Flight
This definitive history of manned flight has been compiled into 26 hour episodes, with access to some of the rarest archive film ever taken. Unprecedented co-operation has been extended by the world's leading aircraft manufacturers and leading archive libraries. Included in the footage are shots of rare prototype accidents and failures which contributed to the inevitable achievement and success of man in the air. Since Charles Lindbergh became the first lone aviator to cross the Atlantic in 1927, air transport has greatly accelerated , revolutionised by the giant Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet - and what might we see in the 21st century?