BATTLEFIELD HISTORY TV
Original Programming Wars and Battles throughout the world
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HRH Prince Charles recieves BHTV DVDs

26/01/2011

 

During his visit to military history publisher Pen &` Sword at Barnsley on 24 January 2012~ HRH The Prince of Wales~ as Colonel in Chief of both the Parachute Regiment and the Army Air Corps received copied of Battlefield History TV's DVDs 'Pegasus Bridge' and 'The Glider Pilot Regiment'~ which of course feature `these two regiments. BHTV are at the moment producin ...


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Latest Project - The Bruneval Raid

01/02/2011

 

BHTV are pleased to announce that they have just started to film their programme on the Bruneval Raid ( Op Biting) carried out on 27/28 Feb 1942. This vital raid which secured parts of a Wurzburg Radar~ vital to British efforts to defeat the Luftwaffe bombing Campaign was the very first operation carried out by the Parachute Regiment. Major John Frost and C Coy of 2 Para ...


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Filming the 95th in the retreat to La Coruna

23/01/2012

 

A BHTV crew are just back from a trip to North West Spain where they were filming the part played by the 1st 95th Rifles in Sir John Mooore's retreat to La Coruna in the winter of 1808/9. Peninsula War Series producer Andrew Duff say's " We were extremely lucky with the weather~ we had snow~ rain~ sleet~ sun and sub zero conditions. It gave us a real insight into the cond ...


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NEW PRODUCTS

11/11/2011

 

NEWLY RELEASED DVDs AVAILABLE. BHTV and Pen and Sword are glad to announce that` new DVDs`are now available for purchase from the Pen and Sword web site. The DVDs are` Waterloo Pt 4 (Victory and Pursuit)~The Viking Invasion of Wessex 878 AD~ The Hastings Campaign 1066 and the12 SS Hitler Jugend in Normandy. and Sword Beach will be released. Waterloo Part 4. Vict ...


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100 Years War Series - Crecy~ Poitiers and Agincourt

10/10/2011

 

BHTV is finalising plans to film a trilogy of programmes on the 100 Years War in the Spring and Autumn of 2012 for release in early 2013. The programmes will be: The Crecy Campaign 1346 - A detailed examination of Edward III's amazing victories at Blanchtaque and Crecy which altered the balance of power in Europe. These victories were won by smaller but well organised ...


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NEW FILM PROJECT - BATTLE OF THE BULGE

10/10/2012

 

BHTV Executive Producer Andrew Duff has just announced that the finance is in place for the first three of a series of programmes on the Battle of the Bulge. Filming will commence this winter with the aim of releasing the programmes both on DVD and the Internet in late 2012. Director Tim Saunders is keen in this series to show how the heroism of the American soldier allie ...


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LATEST PROGRAMMES ON BHTV
 
WITTMANN v EKINS - The Death of a Panzer Ace. A recent popularist TV programme has done little other than to add heat to the debate over who killed Michael Wittmann  in the fields south of the city of Caen on 8 August 1944 during Operation TOTALIZE. A new programme and detailed programme tells a very different story of how Wittmann and Ekins met on the battlefield and analyses the facts of Tiger 007's last engagement. Joe Ekins, for the first time, tells his story in full, which enables the BHTV team to visit the battlefields of Normandy and piece together the events that led to The Death of a Panzer Ace.
You can purchase downloads on this website at BHTV - Wittmann v Ekins
 
To see a low definition trailer
 
 

The Glider Pilot Regiment.
 In 1939 Britain entered the 2nd World War without any airborne forces. However the German development and use of airborne forces in such operations as the Assault on Fort Eben Emael convinced Winston Churchill of the need for these forces, the British Airborne Forces were borne. This documentary gives the background to and traces the deveopment of the Glider Pilot Regiment, which was a vital part of these forces, from its formation through its training and to the heroic part it played in the great Airborne Operations of the war. It contains interviews with many of the surviving pilots of operations in W Europe, The Middle East and Asia.
 You can purchase downloads on this website at BHTV - GPR.
A copy of the DVD can be puchased from Pen & Sword, 
 
To see a trailer

The Waterloo Collection - Part 1 - Ligny and Quatre Bras
  BHTV in conjunction with Pen & Sword Books is releasing an 13 part documentary on 4 DVDs on the Waterloo Campaign. Unlike previous films this documentary covers the whole campaign from Napoleon's return to France to his final defeat at the hands of the Allies and looks at the part played by all the allied nations not just the Prussians and British. To bring the story to life experienced Battlefield Guides examine the whole campaign and put it into context on the ground. The guides involved in the series are Tim Saunders, Mike Peters, Tom Dormer, Frank Toogood, Andrew Duff and the doyene of  British Waterloo Guides Graeme Cooper, who also acted as series advisor. All are badged members of the Guild Of Guides.
Part 1 This part is split down into 3 parts for ease of download:
  1. Part 1 A. The Campaign Begins. Napoleon the old master shows his strategic ability.
  2. Part 2 B. Quatre Bras.  The battle forgotten by many but crucial in the Waterloo Campaign. Napoleon's poor attention to detail starts to show.
  3. Part 2 C. Ligny. One of the most ferocious battles of the Napoleonic Wars a grudge match between the Prussians and French.
The Waterloo Collection - Part 2 - Hougoumont and D'Erlon's Attack
  BHTV in conjunction with Pen & Sword Books is releasing an 13 part documentary on 4 DVDs on the Waterloo Campaign. Unlike previous films this documentary covers the whole campaign from Napoleon's return to France to his final defeat at the hands of the Allies and looks at the part played by all the allied nations not just the Prussians and British. To bring the story to life experienced Battlefield Guides examine the whole campaign and put it into context on the ground. The guides involved in the series are Tim Saunders, Mike Peters, Tom Dormer, Frank Toogood, Andrew Duff and the doyene of British Waterloo Guides Graeme Cooper, who also acted as series advisor. All are badged members of the Guild Of Guides.
Part 2 -  This Part is split into 3 parts for download :
  1. Part 2A -The Waterloo Battlefield. A detailed description of the Waterloo Battlefield, setting the scene
  2. Part 2B  -  Hougoumont. Napoleon's ill fated attack on Hougomont which drew in and occupied one of his Corps for the day.
  3. Part 2C - D'Erlons Attack. Napoleon felt that as usual this massive corps attack after an artillery pounding of the Allies by the Grand Battery would win him today. This attack showed his lack of tactical awareness and flexilibilty when confronted by the master of defensive battles Wellington utilising the the finest infantry in the world.
The Waterloo Collection - Part 3 - The Cavalry Attack, La Haie Sainte and The Prussian Flank.
  BHTV in conjunction with Pen & Sword Books is releasing an 13 part documentary on 4 DVDs on the Waterloo Campaign. Unlike previous films this documentary covers the whole campaign from Napoleon's return to France to his final defeat at the hands of the Allies and looks at the part played by all the allied nations not just the Prussians and British. To bring the story to life experienced Battlefield Guides examine the whole campaign and put it into context on the ground. The guides involved in the series are Tim Saunders, Mike Peters, Tom Dormer, Frank Toogood, Andrew Duff and the doyene of British Waterloo Guides Graeme Cooper, who also acted as series advisor. All are badged members of the Guild Of Guides.
Part 3 -  This Part is split into 3 parts for download :
  1. Part 3A -The Cavalry Attack. A detailed description of Marshal Ney's magnifeicent but doomed Cavalry Attack on the Allies.
  2. Part 3B  -  Le Haie Sainte. The gallant defence and eventual loss of the farm of La Haie Sainte by the KGL.
  3. Part 3C - The Prussian Flank. Whilst the Allied Army fought and died on the Mont St Jean Ridge all hung on the arrival of Blucher's Prussians on the left flank.
COMING SOON TO BHTV and PEN & SWORD
OPERATION MARKET GARDEN
Montgomery’s brainchild, Operation Market Garden, was designed to end the war by Christmas 1944 and clear away Hitler’s V weapons from the North Sea Coast. Following the collapse of the German Army in Normandy and its flight back across northern France, it seemed that a bold move to seize the three major and numerous other waterways across Holland would place the Second British Army beyond the Rhine. This would deliver Germany’s powerhouse the Ruhr, put the Allies on the North German Plain and the road to Berlin. The Allies had, however, outran their supplies and the Germans were staging an amazing strategic recovery. The BHTV team, made up of leading historians and battlefield guides, probe the controversial background to Operation Market Garden.

Early afternoon on 17 September 1944 the 101st US Airborne Division (Screaming Eagles), who parachuted onto Drop Zones dictated by the air planners wish to avoid ‘unnecessary casualties from flak’ around Eindhoven, had been denied a coup de main against the first significant canal bridge at Son. With plenty of warning of the approach of the US paratroopers, the Germans blew the bridge arguably dealing Market Garden a potentially mortal blow.

Meanwhile, XXX Corps were having trouble of their own after a start at 1430 hours. A mixture of SS and Fallschirmjger troops despite a bombardment halted the breakout of the Guards Armoured Division in its tracks! However, by nightfall the Irish Guards were through the German defences and had reached Valkensward 10 miles along the 60 mile route to Arnhem.

Market Garden Collection

The Salamanca Campaign 1812. BHTV in conjunction with Pen & Sword Books will be bringing out a documentary on the Battle of Salamanca in the Autumn of 2011 in time for the Anniversary of the Battle. Wellington's victory in central Spain on the 22nd of July 1812 laid the foundations for the allies final victory over the French in Spain. In this fresh view of the battle Julia Page, a renowned Peninsula scholar and a team of Battlefield Historians look at those tumultuous events of 1812. This programme has now been filmed on location in Spain and is in post production. This programme is part of a trilogy of Peninsula Programmes including the 95th Rifles and  Siege Warfare in the Peninsula.

THE BRUNEVAL RAID ( OP BITING) 




 On 27/28 Feb 1942 C Coy Group of 2 PARA, commanded by Maj John Frost, carried out a daring parachute raid on the Normandy coast to capture parts of a Wurzburg Radar. This programme which is being produced in conjunction with a new book on the raid by Paul Oldfield tells the story of how and why the raid was concieved and planned. It takes you through the thorough but hurried training and finally the audacious raid itself. The raid was an oustanding success and the foundation for the dash and elan that has made  The Parachute Regiment the success it is.
 Douvresradar1.jpg
The 100 Years War

Between 1337 and 1453 the English and French were engaged in a dynastic conflict for the control of France, known as the 100 Years war. Despite the English winning the major battles of the war, Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt the French won the war due to their of 3 programmes tells the story of the  great campaigns of Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt when the English, knight and commoner, defeated the nobility of France and established the reputation of English and Welsh infantry, a reputation that continues to this day through the Battles of Marlborough, Wellington, WW1 and WW2. The series is being filmed by BHTV during 2012 and will be available in late 2012 and 2013.

File:Josef Mathauser - Král Jan v bitvě u Kresčaku.jpg

SWORD BEACH.
 

On the 6th of June 1944 the 3rd British Infantry Division landed on Sword Beach in Normandy with the task of capturing Caen that day, a task that improved impossible even for this highly trained division which had fought so well in the Dunkirk Campaign with Bernard Montgomery as their commander. The program will examine why they failed despite their training. We will also look at what they heroically  achieved on that historic day. The filming took place on location in England and Normandy. Likely release Christmas 2011.
The Rifles.During the Spring and Summer of 2011 the BHTV Team filmed a programe on the legendary 95th Rifles. We will be examining why and how they were formed and look at their record during the Napoleonic Wars. The filming took place on location in England, Portugal, and Spain. The programme will be released in early 2012.
The Battle of the Bulge.

 


The Battle of the Bulge , known as to the Germans Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein  Operation Watch on the Rhine",16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945 was the last  major German offensive of Worls War 2 . Despite the heroism of the German Troops and their initial successes against the criminally under prepared US forces it was a great American Victory. This victory  was due to the resilience of the American soldier and in a great part to the genius of Gen George Patton. BHTV will be making 3 films during the winter off 2012/3 when they will examine the campaign in detail on the ground where it happened.
1 st SS Panzer Division ( Liebstandarte).

 


On the 14th of June 1944, Hitler ordered that his Praetorian Guard the Liebstandarte should join the Hitlerjugend in Sepp Dietrich's 1st SS PZ Corps with the aim of stopping the British and Canadian troops advancing on Caen the main allied threat to his forces in Normandy. He had astutely realised that at this stage Bradley's US Forces were less of a threat. The tough veterans of the Liebstandarte, overconfident from their successes, in Russia soon realised that the British and Canadians, especially in defence, were a in a higher league than the Russian troops they were used to dealing with. This was going to be a hard battle.
OPERATION MARKET GARDEN
OPERATION MARKET GARDEN. In the summer of 2011 BHTV ;made a series of programmes on Operation ;Market Garden. From the 17th to 25th Sept 1944 an Allied Airborne Corps fought an epic and famous battle in Holland. This was the largest Airborne Operation of all time and was aimed at seizing bridges over the Maas and two tributaries of the River Rhine and thus bounce 21st Army Gp into Germany. The operation was a heroic failure. Sadly most people's knowledge of this campaign is based on the film "A Bridge to Far", an enjoyable but far from accurate portrayal of events. BHTV's programmes will examine the whole operation and endeavour to strip away myth from reality and tell the true story through the eyes of historians and battlefield guides with no axe to grind. We have interviewed many of the the survivors. The programmes will be available both on this Website or as 5 DVD's at Pen & Sword Books. The first DVD will be available in early 2012.


BHTV DVDs AVAILABLE FROM PEN & SWORD
 
WITTMANN v EKINS - The Death of a Panzer Ace. A recent popularist TV programme has done little other than to add heat to the debate over who killed Michael Wittmann  in the fields south of the city of Caen on 8 August 1944 during Operation TOTALIZE. A new programme and detailed programme tells a very different story of how Wittmann and Ekins met on the battlefield and analyses the facts of Tiger 007's last engagement. Joe Ekins, for the first time, tells his story in full, which enables the BHTV team to visit the battlefields of Normandy and piece together the events that led to The Death of a Panzer Ace.
 You can purchase downloads on this website at BHTV - Wittmann v Ekins or a copy of the DVD can be puchased from Pen & Sword, 
 
To see a low definition trailer
 

The Glider Pilot Regiment.
 In 1939 Britain entered the 2nd World War without any airborne forces. However the German development and use of airborne forces in such operations as the Assault on Fort Eben Emael convinced Winston Churchill of the need for these forces, the British Airborne Forces were borne. This documentary gives the background to and traces the deveopment of the Glider Pilot Regiment, which was a vital part of these forces, from its formation through its training and to the heroic part it played in the great Airborne Operations of the war. It contains interviews with many of the surviving pilots of operations in W Europe, The Middle East and Asia.
 You can purchase downloads on this website at BHTV - GPR.
A copy of the DVD can be puchased from Pen & Sword, 
 
To see a low definition trailer
  

THE WATERLOO COLLECTION

A Series of 4 DVDs covering the whole Waterloo Campaign from the return of Napoloeon to France from Elba to his final defeat at Waterloo and expulsion to St Helena.

12th Hitler Jugend SS Panzer Division

 
On the 7th June 1944 the 3rd Canadian Division were stopped in their advance on Caen by the dedicated young soldiers of the 12th SS Pz Div, the Hitlerjugend. For the next 2 months the British Canadian troops in front of Caen fought a ferocious battle with these dedicated and tough soldiers, they and their comrades in 1st SS Pz Div were mainly responsible for the delays imposed on Montgomery's 21st Army Group. These delays fueled the ill informed criticism of the British and Montgomery made by American Commanders whose troops were facing much lower quality non panzer units. In making this programme BHTV have interviewed Hubert Meyer who was Chief Of Staff of 12 SS Pz.

THE 1066 HASTINGS CAMPAIGN. 




 Every Briton knows about the fateful Battle of Hastings, but most do not realise how close the English came to winning and why they lost to the Normans.This programme examines that fateful year when England, one the richest and most cultured countries in Europe was invaded and subjugated by the ruthless Normans and subjected to one of the most vicious campaigns of cultural and racial violence seen in Europe. The programme will cover the crucial events leading up to the Battle and examine the results.Due out by Christmas 2011.

,The Viking Invasion of Wessex 878 AD. In 878 AD King Alfred and the men of Wessex beat the Danes led by Guthrum at the Battle of Ethandun and laid the foundations of the Kingdom of England. This programme looks at the epic events of this year which started with Alfred being defeated at Chippenham and culminated in his defeat of the Danes. BHTV's team of historians and guides also try to locate the location of the Battlefield of Ethandun 
 

 

This military DVD charts the slow development of British airborne forces and the directive given by Churchill in June 1940 to form both the Parachute Regiment and the glider airlanding brigades. We follow the plan to capture the two bridges over the canal and river between Caen and the sea from the germ of an idea, through preparations to its delivery as one of the most successful small unit actions of all time, in the opening hours of D-Day.
The DVD is split into four parts and each concentrate on a particular phase of the D-Day fighting: First are the gliders and their pilots who delivered the force, against all odds, in a poor weather and darkness to the bridges. The surprise and pin-point accuracy they achieved contributed significantly to success of the operation.
Next to be investigated is the thoroughly prepared and highly successful coup de main assault by Major John Howard’s Company of Ox & Bucks Light Infantry on the two bridges.
After a badly scattered drop, Colonel Pine Coffin’s 7 Para Battalion, only a fraction of its strength, arrived to relieve the Ox & Bucks and fought an equally epic battle against the growing strength of 21st Panzer Division until they in turn were relieved on the evening of D-Day when ground troops finally arrived from the beaches.
The famous Café Gondree is also included on the DVD. Indisputably the first house in occupied France to be liberated by the invading Allies, it was central to the story of Pegasus Bridge, its capture and holding. The family Gondree for their willing help and fortitude have over the years, become as much a part of all elements of Airborne Forces as the red beret!

 

THE WATERLOO COLLECTION

A Series of 4 DVDs covering the whole Waterloo Campaign from the return of Napoloeon to France from Elba to his final defeat at Waterloo and expulsion to St Helena.

 

 

WITTMANN v EKINS - The Death of a Panzer Ace. A recent popularist TV programme has done little other than to add heat to the debate over who killed Michael Wittmann  in the fields south of the city of Caen on 8 August 1944 during Operation TOTALIZE. A new programme and detailed programme tells a very different story of how Wittmann and Ekins met on the battlefield and analyses the facts of Tiger 007's last engagement. Joe Ekins, for the first time, tells his story in full, which enables the BHTV team to visit the battlefields of Normandy and piece together the events that led to The Death of a Panzer Ace.
 You can purchase downloads on this website at BHTV - Wittmann v Ekins or a copy of the DVD can be puchased from Pen & Sword, 
 
To see a low definition trailer
 

The Glider Pilot Regiment.
 In 1939 Britain entered the 2nd World War without any airborne forces. However the German development and use of airborne forces in such operations as the Assault on Fort Eben Emael convinced Winston Churchill of the need for these forces, the British Airborne Forces were borne. This documentary gives the background to and traces the deveopment of the Glider Pilot Regiment, which was a vital part of these forces, from its formation through its training and to the heroic part it played in the great Airborne Operations of the war. It contains interviews with many of the surviving pilots of operations in W Europe, The Middle East and Asia.
 You can purchase downloads on this website at BHTV - GPR.
A copy of the DVD can be puchased from Pen & Sword, 
 
To see a low definition trailer
  

THE WATERLOO COLLECTION

A Series of 4 DVDs covering the whole Waterloo Campaign from the return of Napoloeon to France from Elba to his final defeat at Waterloo and expulsion to St Helena.