The story of T E Lawrence's exploits with the Arabs during the Great War. Hitherto unseen clips of Lawrence riding in the desert with King Faisal and the victorious arrival into Damascus.
A group of Norwegians, separate from Milorg, the main Resistance movement, sent back intelligence of German activities in their country by radio direct to the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS). Among their coups was tracking down the German battleship Tirpitz. They were often infiltrated back into their country by the Shetland Bus, a group of Norwegian fishing smacks based in the Shetland Islands.
Set against the backcloth of the Special Operations Executive and its US equivalent, the Office of Strategic Services, the use of light aircraft, parachutes, motor torpedo boats, and submarines to insert agents. The programme illustrates examples of particular agents such as Odette, Yeo-Thomas (The White Rabbit), and Violet Szabo.
The men that have striven for it and the cars they drove. Craig Breedlove and the plane without wings and Malcolm Campbells historic Bluebird. Breathtaking shots of success and disaster in the Nevada Desert.
How the air routes were trailblazed to the east and the Pacific during the 1920s and 1930s. The fascinating story of how the East and Australia became just an air-journey from Europe.
Well before their country entered the Great War a number of adventurous Americans volunteered to fight for the British and French. Among them were a number of pilots, and in early 1916 they were formed into a special French fighter squadron, which fought with great distinction on the Western Front. Amazing aerial footage shows WW1 dog-fights as they really were.
Set against the backcloth of motor torpedo boats attracting adventurous spirits in both world wars, this is the story of the future US President and his struggle to survive after the sinking of his PT-109 off New Georgia in the Solomons in July 1943.
In the tradition of Indiana Jones the true story of Mans efforts to reach the source of the worlds mightiest river including the mystery of the disappearance of Colonel Fawcett in 1923.
The many and sometimes successful attempts to escape under the watchful eyes of the East German border guards.Set against the background of the history of the Wall.
Some of the Twentieth Centurys most famous examples, with emphasis on how the rescue services have operated in the most appalling conditions.
Some of the worlds most dramatic fires and how they have been fought, with live action footage of daring rescues and escapes.
The challenge of the North Pole from Americans Dr Cook and Cdr Pearys claims to have reached it in 1908 and 1909. It includes all the extraordinary methods used to reach the North Pole - dog, skis, icebreaker, and nuclear submarine.
Lost cities in Asia, Africa, and South America, including Hiram Binghams discovery of the lost Inca city of Machu Picchu in 1911 and Sir Leonard Woolleys excavation of Abrahams birthplace, Ur of the Chaldees, in the mid 1920s.
A downed German Bomber in 1940 contained a curious electronic blackbox. Thereafter the skies above Europe witnessed an ever more intense technological battle as the bombers of each side sought more accurate methods of bombing targets and protecting themselves from nightfighter attack. A fascinating insight into the Secret War of electronic code breaking and counter intelligence.
Man first flew in a balloon in the late 18th Century, but the internal combustion engine enabled him to build airships which could effectively combat the natural elements, especially wind. How balloons and airships were used in peace and war, until disasters in the 1930s meant that they were superseded by heavier-than-air machines as the means of air transport. Some amazing footage of daring escapes including personal interviews.
The pre-war attempts, the first successful assault in 1953 and subsequent expeditions, including the attempts to climb it without oxygen - including rare aerial shots of the summit.
The story of airspeed record breaking with emphasis on the Schneider Trophy and culminating in the sound barrier being first broken by a US Bell X-I rocket aircraft in 1947. Set against the background of the belief that an aircraft might well break up if it did fly at more than Mach 1. The true story of ‘The Right Stuff’.
How Orde Wingate conceived and organised a force which twice penetrated deep behind the Japanese lines in Burma during World War II. Hopelessly outnumbered, it tied down thousands of crack Japanese troops. His example was followed by a crack US force - Merrill's marauders.