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Curated playlist

Naval battles and operations of the European theatre of World War II

  • Allied invasion of Sicily13 minThe Allied invasion of Sicily, known formally as Operation Husky, began on the night of the 9th and the 10th of July 1943 with one of the largest amphibious operations in the history of World War II. More than 26 beaches stretched along…
  • Normandy landings16 minOn the 6th of June 1944, roughly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel in a single day. They came ashore along a 50-mile stretch of French coastline divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. By the end of that…
  • Dunkirk evacuation12 minThe Dunkirk evacuation began on the 26th of May 1940 with a single, sober target: save 45,000 men within two days, then accept that Germany would close the door forever. What actually unfolded over the nine days that followed shattered…
  • Allied invasion of Italy4 minThe Allied invasion of Italy began at half past three in the morning on the 9th of September 1943. A loudspeaker on the beach at Paestum called out in English: "Come on in and give up. We have you covered." The soldiers of the U.S. 36th…
  • Operation Dragoon15 minOperation Dragoon began in the predawn hours of the 15th of August 1944, when 1,300 Allied bombers from Italy, Sardinia, and Corsica roared toward the sun-bleached coastline of Provence. By 06:00 that morning, the bombs were falling. By…
  • Operation Pedestal12 minOperation Pedestal began with sealed envelopes, handed to the masters of fourteen merchant ships and marked 'Not to be opened until 08:00 hours August 10.' Inside each was a message from First Lord of the Admiralty Albert Alexander,…
  • Last battle of Bismarck3 minHooks on Lütjens' 23:40 signal ("Ship unmanoeuvrable..."), the ~300nmi-west-of-Brest position, the uncontrollable circle, the scuttling by four British ships still firing, and the 114-of-2,200 survivor count. Plants three questions (what…
  • Battle of Anzio12 minThe Battle of Anzio began on the 22nd of January 1944, when Allied forces waded ashore at a strip of reclaimed marshland on the Italian coast, hoping to outflank an entire German defensive line and seize Rome. Thirteen Allied soldiers were…
  • Operation Weserübung12 minOperation Weserübung began at 05:15 on the morning of the 9th of April 1940, when German forces struck Denmark and Norway in one of the most daring and unconventional military gambits of the entire war. Within a single day, port cities…
  • Battle of Cape Matapan11 minThe Battle of Cape Matapan began with a cryptic message intercepted at Bletchley Park: "Today's the day minus three." A cryptanalyst named Mavis Batey had just done something that had never been done before. She had read the Italian naval…
  • Battle of Taranto14 minOn the night of the 11th of November 1940-21 obsolete biplanes changed the way navies would fight forever. The Battle of Taranto was not won by the biggest guns or the fastest ships. It was won by slow, fabric-covered torpedo bombers…

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