D-Day 70th anniversary thread.

[Skashion]

I can't remember - it's been years since I've seen it, and yes it was superb - were they able to incorporate the details of Ultra/Bletchley Park into TWAW? It was finally declassified around the same time.

No.

 

[Henkeman]

The best documentary series ever.

Daily Mail gave this series away a couple of years back, one dvd every Sunday, I bought the paper, took the dvd, read the sport section and binned it.

Doesn't Lawrence Olivier narrate it? or am I imagining it?

he did. unthinkable that anyone could have done it.

Did you ever hear the story about the opening narration for it? What happened was that Olivier did it, walked out of the booth where the producer was standing. He said "was that alright?". "Yes, it was alright". "So what's the problem?" "Well that's the opening sequence to the whole series and it will be played over the images of the horror of the war". Olivier paused, thought about it, turned around and went back in and did it in the truly memorable way that we now hear it.

 

[Henkeman]

I can't remember - it's been years since I've seen it, and yes it was superb - were they able to incorporate the details of Ultra/Bletchley Park into TWAW? It was finally declassified around the same time.

No.

OK, ta. That's unfortunate, it makes explaining so much of it impossible.

 

[Bill]

Daily Mail gave this series away a couple of years back, one dvd every Sunday, I bought the paper, took the dvd, read the sport section and binned it.

Doesn't Lawrence Olivier narrate it? or am I imagining it?

he did. unthinkable that anyone could have done it.

Did you ever hear the story about the opening narration for it? What happened was that Olivier did it, walked out of the booth where the producer was standing. He said "was that alright?". "Yes, it was alright". "So what's the problem?" "Well that's the opening sequence to the whole series and it will be played over the images of the horror of the war". Olivier paused, thought about it, turned around and went back in and did it in the truly memorable way that we now hear it.

not heard that. thanks for filling us in.

 

[Skashion]

OK, ta. That's unfortunate, it makes explaining so much of it impossible.

Truthfully it makes it explaining it difficult. In reality, the story World at War presents is still perfectly reasonable. That was the invisible hand of Ultra you see. We used it well, very very well, camouflaged it magnificently and always made sure it looked like we'd found out information another way. I can remember in the Kursk episode though that it was revealed that the Soviets knew a lot of detail about the attack that was coming. It left it there though so little bits were known of how much was known were revealed but just not where they come from. It's hard to place yourselves in the shoes of a historian in 1972 but I'm guessing that might be something the Soviets had leaked out themselves, as though it was their own intelligence, Even though the western allies eventually handed the information to them, they already knew themselves as they had spies in Bletchley feeding them everything. However, even though that was the case, the Soviets always made sure to play along with the ruse by sending out snatch squads and the like to capture Germans and the advanced knowledge look like it came from regular sources. They surely knew the value of protecting Ultra as much as we did,

 

[Henkeman]

OK, ta. That's unfortunate, it makes explaining so much of it impossible.

Truthfully it makes it explaining it difficult. In reality, the story World at War presents is still perfectly reasonable. That was the invisible hand of Ultra you see. We used it well, very very well, camouflaged it magnificently and always made sure it looked like we'd found out information another way. I can remember in the Kursk episode though that it was revealed that the Soviets knew a lot of detail about the attack was coming. It left it there though so little bits were known of how much was known were revealed but just not where they come from. It's hard to place yourselves in the shoes of a historian in 1972 but I'm guessing that might be something the Soviets had leaked out themselves, as though it was their own intelligence, Even though the western allies eventually handed the information to them, they already knew themselves as they had spies in Bletchley feeding them everything. However, even though that was the case, the Soviets always made sure to play along with the ruse by sending out snatch squads and the like to capture Germans and the advanced knowledge look like it came from regular sources. They surely knew the value of protecting Ultra as much as we did,

It's not just that it makes it very hard to explain certain things, it's also that the interviewees who talk throughout (one of the undoubted strengths of the series) don't know either. It's still brilliant, of course. It's just a shame that it wasn't a year later.

Incidentally, if you want a perfect example of the difficulty, the film Sink the Bismarck is a fine example, where Kenneth More's character has to take brilliant guesses, simply because they makers had no idea they actually knew, or why they knew.

 

[Skashion]

It's not just that it makes it very hard to explain certain things, it's also that the interviewees who talk throughout (one of the undoubted strengths of the series) don't know either. It's still brilliant, of course. It's just a shame that it wasn't a year later.

Incidentally, if you want a perfect example of the difficulty, the film Sink the Bismarck is a fine example, where Kenneth More's character has to take brilliant guesses, simply because they makers had no idea they actually knew, or why they knew.

I hear you. I have the same issue. If someone watched The World at War thinking it was definitive, they'd be very wrong. Ultra was huge and it's a big miss from the series but it's still an epic series well well worth watching.

Anyway, I'm off to watch this James Holland thing. I enjoyed his views in Battle of Britain Aftermath on the BBC immensely a few years ago so I hope this is just as good.

 

[Damocles]

It's not just that it makes it very hard to explain certain things, it's also that the interviewees who talk throughout (one of the undoubted strengths of the series) don't know either. It's still brilliant, of course. It's just a shame that it wasn't a year later.

Incidentally, if you want a perfect example of the difficulty, the film Sink the Bismarck is a fine example, where Kenneth More's character has to take brilliant guesses, simply because they makers had no idea they actually knew, or why they knew.

I hear you. I have the same issue. If someone watched The World at War thinking it was definitive, they'd be very wrong. Ultra was huge and it's a big miss from the series but it's still an epic series well well worth watching.

In your opinion is there a definitive series to watch that covers it all, at least from a British perspective?

 

[Skashion]

In your opinion is there a definitive series to watch that covers it all, at least from a British perspective?

No, unfortunately. World at War is the best, but incomplete. If you want to learn about the Second World War, piecemeal, in-depth learning is a must. If you inhibit your number of sources, you do yourself a disservice. I'd encourage people to watch this James Holland thing on BBC2. I think he's an excellent historian.

 

[Damocles]

In your opinion is there a definitive series to watch that covers it all, at least from a British perspective?

No, unfortunately. World at War is the best, but incomplete. If you want to learn about the Second World War, piecemeal, in-depth learning is a must. If you inhibit your number of sources, you do yourself a disservice. I'd encourage people to watch this James Holland thing on BBC2. I think he's an excellent historian.

Are there many German sources or documentaries and how do they present it differently from the UK and US productions?