Battle of the Atlantic: The Day the U-Boats Fled

Подробнее о видео

As World War II progressed towards its fifth year, the German war machine, which for Adolf Hitler had once seemed so assured of military supremacy, was well and truly faltering. Defeat at Stalingrad in February 1943 had cost the Nazis dear and the Allies were well placed to capitalize on their advantage. However, the Allied leaders were all too aware of the dangers still to be overcome, and they proceeded with the utmost caution, beginning to take tentative but very positive steps towards victory.

By July 1943, progress was very definitely evident. At sea, the Allies were winning the Battle of the Atlantic. Measures agreed by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and US President Franklin D Roosevelt at the Casablanca Conference seven months previously, to beat the U Boat menace, were now yielding results.

For the Germans, with morale plummeting among the U Boat crews, their commander, Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz had no choice but to order them to withdraw from the main convoy routes in the North Atlantic. But for the Allies it was just the boost that they needed; success against the U Boats meant that the British and the Americans could proceed to build up forces for Operation Overlord, the invasion of Western Europe.

Directed and narrated by Liam Dale