Home > Documentary TV Show > Crusade in Europe

Crusade in Europe

1949

Seasons & Episodes

  • 1

EP1 Prelude to War May 05, 1949

The surrender at Reims ended the major phase of the European Theater of WWII. The film dissolves from the surrender to Hitler in his early years of power, follows the rise of Nazism through the Munich Pact, the attack on Poland, the fall of France, and the Battle of Britain.

EP2 America's Unpreparedness May 12, 1949

The draft law of 1940 is passed and American men are inducted into the Army. Large-scale maneuvers are held in 1941. Pearl Harbor is bombed and Franklin Roosevelt asks Congress for a declaration of war.

EP3 America Goes to War May 19, 1949

President Roosevelt lectures Americans on their conduct. Churchill visits the U.S. American troops are deployed in England, and Eisenhower gets command of the European Theater of Operations.

EP4 Platform for Invasion May 26, 1949

Americans arrive in Britain, try to get along with British civilians, and are made ready physically and mentally to fight the Germans. The Eighth Air Force begins its bombing offensive, and the decision is made to invade French North Africa.

EP5 Africa: Our First Offensive Jun 02, 1949

The troops of Operation Torch come from the U.S. and Britain. U.S. industry is shown going to full war production. Equipment is shown being loaded up for transport to North Africa, and the landings are made successfully.

EP6 The Campaign Jun 09, 1949

Eisenhower has to deal with keeping the French in North Africa from causing trouble in the American rear, while at the same time advancing into Tunisia to destroy the Afrika Korps. The Casablanca Conference is shown.

EP7 Rommel Routed Jun 16, 1949

Eisenhower describes how the Allies squeezed Rommel's forces in Tunisia. The Afrika Korps attacks to the Kasserine Pass but is pushed back thanks to Patton. Allied air power helps win the day, the U.S. and British 8th armies meet, and Tunis falls.

EP8 Sicily: Operation Husky Jun 23, 1949

The decision is made at Casablanca to invade Sicily. Pantelleria is bombed and surrenders. The invasion convoys come after an airborne drop, and after a major storm. The landings are made and counterattacks weathered. Sicily is conquered by August 17th, 1943.

EP9 Assault on Italy Jun 30, 1949

General Montgomery attacks Italy across the Strait of Messina. A landing is made at Salerno to coincide with Italy's surrender, after Italy's fleet surrenders at Malta. The Germans resist the Salerno landing strongly. After 7 days the Allies manage to push back the enemy and link up with British forces coming from the south. FDR, Churchill and Chiang Kai-Shek meet in Cairo.

EP10 Rise and Fall of a Dictator Jul 07, 1949

On July 25th, 1943, Benito Mussolini is ousted from power. We then flashback to his rise to power, including the Fascist march on Rome in November, 1922. In 1936 Ethiopia is invaded. The Axis Pact is proclaimed in 1938, followed by the invasion of Albania in 1939. In 1940, Italy gets into the Second World War, and invaded Greece and Egypt, only to be defeated. After Mussolini's ouster, the Germans occupy the country and rescue him from captivity. Rome is liberated in June, 1944, and atrocities by the Germans are uncovered. Mussolini is executed in April, 1945.

EP11 The G.I: Hero of the War Jul 14, 1949

The Italian Campaign was termed by most G.I.'s as the toughest campaign in the European Theater. A G.I., now in a veteran's hospital, reminisces over scenes of the Italian Campaign. on the elements which made it such a tough fight.

EP12 Victory in Italy Jul 21, 1949

Eisenhower tours the Italian Front in December, 1943. The terrain and weather make life difficult for Allied troops. Pontoon bridges collapse in the raging rivers. Eisenhower leaves for Tunisia to plan the Anzio campaign. The landing is made in January, 1944. The Germans attack and put the Anzio landing in peril, but the Allies hold on. After nearly six months of battle, the breakout is made and Rome is liberated. Eisenhower is sent to London to prepare for the Normandy invasion.

EP13 Preparation for Invasion Jul 28, 1949

Eisenhower works with the Allied Joint Chiefs of Staff to plan the invasion of France and beyond. The Ruhr is featured because of coal and industry. German defenses are shown, including naval mines. Reinforcements come from the U.S. and Canada, both ground and air units. Allied maneuvers are shown. The "Mulberry" harbors are assembled. The air campaign against French railroads cuts off the beaches. Eisenhower inspects the troops to boost morale and get the men to talk to him. The ships are loaded for the Channel crossing. A storm causes D-Day to move to June 6th.

EP14 D-Day Aug 06, 1949

Paratroops are dropped into France in the early hours of June 6th. Forty-one hundred Allied ships bring the men and equipment across the Channel. Gliders bring more firepower to the paratroops. Allied warships duel with the German coastal guns. American, British and Canadian troops make their landings against heavy German fire. Three thousand Americans are killed, wounded or missing on Omaha Beach that day. But the beachhead is secure and the Allied push inland.

EP15 Beachhead and Breakthrough Aug 11, 1949

Eisenhower inspects the landing beaches and we see the "Mulberry" harbors put in place along the Normandy beaches. Airfields are built and supplies offloaded. V-1 rockets attack London. We see Germans build the V-2 rockets. Storms wreck a Mulberry harbor and damage the other. Cherbourg is taken, but is wrecked by the Germans. The British and Canadians work to take Caen. Operation Cobra is launched to break out of Normandy.

EP16 Liberation of Paris Aug 18, 1949

The German attack at Mortain is defeated with the help of Allied airpower. The Allies cut off large German forces at the Falaise pocket. One hundred thousand Germans are captured. The Brittany Peninsula is cleared of the enemy. Paris' capture in 1940 is recalled as well as its occupation. The Resistance rises against the Germans as the Americans and Free French close in. LeClerc's 2nd French Armored Division enters on August 24th, 1944. The U.S. 4th Division joins them to help clear out the Germans on the 25th. A victory parade is held with De Gaulle in the lead.

EP17 Pursuit Aug 25, 1949

Operation Anvil-Dragoon lands in Southern France on August 15, 1944. The troops land against light resistance which gets stronger as they move north. The role of the Maquis is highlighted. The Germans suffer heavy losses. On September 11th, 1944, the link-up is made between the U.S. Third and Seventh Armies, making a continuous Allied front in France. The Germans make their stand before the German border. Operation Market Garden tries and fails to capture bridges on the Northern Rhine.

EP18 The Battle of Supply Sep 01, 1949

The supply services strain to the utmost to supply the Allied advance. Equipment was offloaded at the "Mulberry" harbor as well as at Cherbourg. Black troops are featured as drivers for the "Red Ball Highways," which brought supplies to the Allied front. These lines ran 700 miles. The British take the port of Antwerp largely intact on September 4th. The Germans still held the approaches to Antwerp, and the British and Canadians fight to clear the mouth of the Scheldt River so the port can be used. By the end of November, 1944, Antwerp received supply ships. Antwerp is hit with V-1 and V-2 rockets.

EP19 The Air War Sep 08, 1949

This film recounts the air offensive against Nazi Germany after the RAF had successfully repulsed the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain. The first low-level bombing raid in Europe, the Ploesti raid of August, 1943, is shown in this installment, followed by a description of the "round the clock" bombing offensive, with the U.S. Eighth Air Force attacking Germany by day and RAF Bomber Command attacking at night.

EP20 The Battle of the Bulge Sep 15, 1949

The opening shows the American capture of Strasbourg from the Germans, followed by the leave facilities for American servicemen. Hitler is shown with General Jodl planning the Battle of the Bulge. The German attack is a surprise blow, which the Allies turn back by pushing the enemy back to his starting point.

EP21 Crossing the Rhine Sep 22, 1949

The Allies cross the Rhine River into Germany in the early part of 1945. The Canadians cross in February, followed by the Americans and British, with the Americans taking Cologne and crossing the river at Remagen. Winston Churchill visits the front and crosses the river himself in a landing boat.

EP22 Overrunning Germany Sep 29, 1949

The Western Allies entrap a large part of the German Army in the Ruhr Pocket, and captures some 325,000 enemy soldiers. The Americans and Russians meet at Torgau on the Elbe River. The Russians take Berlin, and German forces surrender in Europe and Italy. Eisenhower also inspects a concentration camp.

EP23 Victory's Aftermath Oct 06, 1949

This installment talks about the lesson learned, military and diplomatic, about coalition warfare. It includes a reenactment of the Alamogordo atomic bomb test, as well as its use against Japan.

EP24 American Military Government Oct 13, 1949

The post-war government of Germany is shown. The U.S. in Cologne puts things in order. The Potsdam Conference and Nuremberg War Crimes Trials are shown.

EP25 Russia Oct 20, 1949

Russian and American attitudes about fighting war are compared. The Germans surrender to Zhukov, and Eisenhower goes to Moscow. The Berlin Blockade is mentioned, and the UN founding conference is shown.

EP26 Review Oct 27, 1949

This final installment is a review of the whole series. Highlights deal with the rise of Nazism, finishing with the Battle of Britain, FDR's speech asking for a declaration of war from Congress, the invasion of French North Africa, Sicily and Italy, the planning for the invasion of France, the landings in Normandy, the liberation of Paris, the Battle of the Bulge, crossing of the Rhine and the meeting with the Russians at the Elbe.
7.1| 0h30m| en
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Time-Life Productions Inc.

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Reviews

Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.
Protraph Lack of good storyline.
Contentar Best movie of this year hands down!
CommentsXp Best movie ever!
John T. Ryan ALTHOUGH WE ARE vaguely familiar with this title, we can't truly say that we had an independent recollection of viewing it. This may well be true for this writer (born 1946) and the Ryan family of 4402 S. Shields Avenue, Chicago, Illinois did not get our television set until late in 1950. The series, which we now know to be the first made for television documentary series, ran 1st time in 1949-50 and saw very little subsequent showings. This is a sharp contrast to NBC's VICTORY AT SEA; which seems to have been rerun for years.THIS SERIES OWES its origin and title to the biographical memoirs collected and published by Doubleday in 1948. Using General Eisenhower's book as a guide, the series used graphics of page and individual weekly installments made it a habit to use imagery of the book as beginning and ending visuals. WE FOUND THAT our viewing of this television series was a production of MARCH OF TIME productions; which was a visual and theatrical counterpart of Time Magazine. The television production had many of the same elements as the theatrical news shorts; including narrator, Westbrook Van Voorhis and writers. ALTHOUGH THIS WAS a seemingly "lost" and little seen series, it is a "missing in action" item no longer. Now through the magic of our computerized world and Al Gore's internet*, one can order a order up a comlpete series set in glorious DVD without even leaving the comfort of home! And it won't cost you as much as dining at your neighborhood hash house.WOW, CLEVER THESE Americans !NOTE * We're only kidding about who invented the Internet; but you knew that all along !
bkoganbing This documentary series is based on the memoirs of the Allied Commander in Chief Dwight D. Eisenhower and it is the European Theater from his perspective. After seeing an episode or two and looking at the titles you will see only the operations that Ike was involved in. No mention for instance of the North African campaign before the Americans landing, no mention of the Italian campaign after Ike was removed to start the planning for the cross Channel invasion, no mention of the British and their Greek campaign. This is the war that Ike saw and was involved in.The narration is sprinkled with quotes from the book and having read the book I can tell you that you have to read between the lines. Ike had some truly egotistical subordinates, George S. Patton who didn't live to write memoirs, Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery who wrote memoirs damning Ike with faint praise that he was a figurehead and Monty was the real brains. If Monty had been in charge we would be still figuring out how to break out at Normandy. Even a long time friend like Omar Bradley waited until after Ike's death to take a shot or two at him in memoirs.That was Eisenhower's headache, but George C. Marshall picked him because he knew the value of teamwork. His biggest contribution besides making some strategic decisions that would have global implications was working out an integrated command structure of the British, American, Canadian, and a host of other countries who sent troops to Europe. Basically he took a lot of crap from people during and after the war.If you see this documentary series it is essential you read Crusade In Europe. I'm sure it's still published, hopefully on Kindle for this generation. You read between the lines and you find out what Ike really thought. Same is true of his presidential memoirs. A real treat this series.
ron-oneto-1 I had seen "Crusade in Europe" on TV when it first came out. After viewing, Ken Burns "The War", I think it is time for this series to be placed on DVD as soon as possible. If "The War" has a good viewing audience, "Crusade in Europe" will be a smash. It is time to show what the "Greatest Generation" went through. In my family alone, we had 9 members in the Second World War and I was one of those kids collecting glass, metal, tires and whatever. My uncle died at Normandy in the first wave. Another uncle fought in North Africa, Sicily, Cassino, and Anzio where he was serious wound. Before they are all gone, its time to show the famous and the infamous once again. We have to remember those men and women who served and the type of people they were and what they stood for, on both sides. We most know our history and its people.
bcolquho I saw this on A&E back in 1989. The series was based on Dwight D. Eisenhower's book of the same name. It covered the entire ETO, (European Theater of Operation, for those of you who weren't in the military.) It uses archive footage of the famous and infamous. I wish it was on the History Channel. A show like that is a classic and should be shown again for those who were born after 1989. It's a good show. The program was interesting. If it's on VHS, or DVD, then I say buy it. It's very interesting. You'll love it. I did. I'm sure you will too. If you don't, don't blame me and certainly don't shoot the messenger. That's me too.