Plot Synopsis

Combining eyewitness and expert testimony with dramatic reconstructions and previously unseen archive footage, this series highlights the brilliant World War II generals and brave troops whose selfless acts of courage -- suicidal raids, fantastic rearguard actions, back-to-the-wall fighting and mass evacuations -- saved hundreds of thousands of innocent lives. Each 60-minute episode features a different tale of derring-do, including: The Doolittle Raid, in which U.S. bombers staged an astonishing long-distance strike on Tokyo after the bombing at Pearl Harbor -- all the while knowing they were unlikely to return alive; The Black Battalion, which helped win the Battle of the Bulge when troops found themselves surrounded by the enemy and down to their last ten rounds and executed amazing evasions; Wingate & the Chindits, for which Orde Wingate led the 77th Indian Infantry Brigade in one of the most imaginative and complex escapes of World War II; Sir Robert "Lucky" Laycock in Crete; Australian General Leslie Morshead at Tobruk; Major-General Roy Urquhart at Arnhem; Erich von Manstein's "Elastic Defence"; The Battle of Kohima; Operation Hannibal; Moore's March; Operation Pedestal; and General Wilhelm Stemmermann's "Breakout through Hell's Gate." Military Channel aired the U.S. premiere of this series on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 10pm ET.