Documentary - 75 mins
Audience - General
Classification - Exempt
Region - 0
Format - PAL
Language - English

Product weight 120g

DVD compatibility



 

Aviation was still only in its infancy when military strategists began to think of its importance for waging war. The first World War saw brave pilots risk their lives in “dog fights” over the trenches and men like Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron, and Ernst Udet became national heroes in Germany. The Versailles Agreement put a quick end to further development of the German air force even though a great deal was carried out in secret. Then came Hitler's meteoric rise to power and the German Luftwaffe staged a full dress rehearsal of modern war plane technology during the Spanish civil war.

The Luftwaffe quickly became a war machine to be reckoned with. The swift victories achieved during early years of World War II would not have been possible without the German air force. The gradual build-up of Allied air superiority during the course of the war later prompted German scientists and engineers to concentrate on the first jet-powered and rocket-propelled aircraft. But these revolutionary new technologies came too late to stave off the gradual collapse of the German forces.

This programme features rare film excerpts in colour and black and white which illustrate the development of the German air force from 1914 onwards in an objective and exciting way.

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