Fields of Armor
Fields of Armor is an in-depth survey of mechanized warfare in the 20th Century, from its advent in World War I to the Gulf War (the last major tank battle of that century). It features footage shot in former and current battle zones around the world and interviews with historians and tankers on both sides of history's greatest mechanized conflicts, including the Battle of El Alamein, the Battle of the Bulge, the Battle of Kursk, Korea, Vietnam, the October (or Ramadan) War, the Russian defeat in Afghanistan, the Gulf War, and the transition to "video game warfare."
- 1993-1993
- 1 season
- Discovery Channel
- Documentary
Fields of Armor is an in-depth survey of mechanized warfare in the 20th Century, from its advent in World War I to the Gulf War (the last major tank battle of that century). It features footage shot in former and current battle zones around the world and interviews with historians and tankers on both sides of history's greatest mechanized conflicts, including the Battle of El Alamein, the Battle of the Bulge, the Battle of Kursk, Korea, Vietnam, the October (or Ramadan) War, the Russian defeat in Afghanistan, the Gulf War, and the transition to "video game warfare."
Season 1 Episode Guide
12 Episodes 1993
Episode 1
The Devil's Coaches
Sun, Sep 12, 1993
Technological revolutions brought new kinds of weapons to the battlefield: the machine gun, the airplane and the tank, born of the need to break the apocalyptic stalemate at the front.
Episode 2
The Debacle
Sun, Sep 19, 1993
From 1919-1939, strategists mulled over the disasters of WWI. Germany refined the idea of Blitzkrieg and led the world in developing tank war tactics. After a dry run in Spain, the German Army swept through Europe.
Episode 3
The Gentleman's War
Sun, Sep 26, 1993
Episode 4
Hammer Into Anvil
Sun, Oct 3, 1993
The battle of Kursk was the turning point in World War II. It was the largest clash of tanks in history, where the Soviet army repulsed an attack by the German Wehrmacht's seemingly invincible Panzer and Tiger tanks.
Episode 5
Nightmare in Normandy
Sun, Oct 10, 1993
WW2: In Normandy the terrain did not suit tanks. Every hedge or building could contain infantry with the equipment to send them to a fiery death.
Episode 6
Wave of Terror
Sun, Oct 17, 1993
Hitler's massive winter counterattack through the Ardennes threw the confident Allies into disarray and swung the advantage temporarily back in Germany's favor.
Episode 7
War of Nerves
Sun, Oct 24, 1993
After WWII many military experts predicted that the age of ground troops and tanks was past - soon, all war would be fought with long-range missiles. Then the Korean War began - the first of many superpower proxy wars.
Episode 8
The October War
Sun, Oct 31, 1993
On October 6, 1973, Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel to reclaim territory lost during the 1967 Six Day War. The results was one of the most ferocious armored battles in history. This is a double-length episode.
Episode 9
Into the Killing Zone
Sun, Nov 7, 1993
Facing overwhelming firepower, the North Vietnamese intermingled their forces with the Americans to blur the lines of battle. Their guerrilla war tactics canceled out US technological superiority.
Episode 10
The Bear Trap
Sun, Nov 14, 1993
The bloody, brutal, ultimately doomed Afghan War played a large part in the anger and disillusionment that led to the collapse of the USSR. The key difference between Vietnam and Afghanistan was the lack of media coverage at home.
Episode 11
The Quick and the Dead
Sun, Nov 14, 1993
The Gulf War was the greatest conflict of armored forces since WWII, and the Kuwaiti desert was well suited to tanks. A combined-arms assault from air, land and sea turned Iraq's quick victory into a costly defeat.
Episode 12
Hyperwar
Sun, Nov 21, 1993
The future of armored warfare was glimpsed on February 26, 1991 at the Battle of 73 Easting, when a small US armored division defeated a brigade-sized force of Iraq's Republican Guard.