Colour of war [DVD]

Almost all our recollections of the Second World War are in black and white. But years of research have unearthed hours of previously unseen colour film offering a completely new portrait of the war. The result is ‘Colour Of War’ a remarkable insight into the event that has shaped our modern world. Dramatic colour footage from as early as 1933 shows home movies of Adolf Hitler and his co-horts, the devastation wrought by the Blitz, life on the home front, D-Day and the Allied Invasion of France, British bombers defying German fighters, the horror of the Holocaust that greeted troops as they entered Germany and the jubilation of VE Day. With John Thaw’s narration and spoken accounts from the letters and diaries of those who fought, those who survived, and those the war claimed as victims, this three part documentary is an extraordinary remembrance.
1. ‘A new world order’ Reccollections of those involved during the pre-war turmoil of 1930s when the rhetoric of ideology and extremism was increasingly being heard. Highlights include combat footage of the Spanish Civil War, the coronation of King George VI in 1937, spectacular mass rallies in Germany and the Soviet Union and the images of the devastation of the Blitz in Great Britain.
2. ‘Total War’ Focuses on the period when the war reached a new, global intensity, beginning with the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941 and ending in the Summer of 1944 with US Marines fighting bloody battles with the Japanese in the Pacific.
3. ‘Triumph and despair’ The experiences of British, American and Canadian soldiers, who made the historic crossing of the Channel, and who fought through The Battle of the Hedgerows to liberate Northern France, are heard through their letters and diaries. The fears and emotions expressed by American, French and Japanese soldiers and Japanese and German civilians are accompanied by footage of the fall of Berlin, the Battle of Okinawa, Kamikaze attacks and the devastation of the Atom bomb. This volume concludes with footage of the release of POWs, refugees and displaced people and reflects on the legacy of a war which cost 50 million lives.

Also available on VHS [313552], [313553], and [313554].