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8 Episodes 2013 - 2013
Episode 1
Royal Canadian Air Force bombing operations play a crucial role in disrupting German infrastructure ahead of the Normandy invasion of June 1944. In the process, dozens of Canadian airmen are forced to bale out over occupied Belgium and France. The Germans ruthlessly track these airmen and punish any who assist them through imprisonment, torture, and summary execution. Thanks to the courageous efforts of the Resistance and escape networks like the Comet Line, a lucky few do not fall into Nazi hands.
Episode 2
Between 1938 and 1945, over 200,000 men, women, and children are imprisoned in Buchenwald, the Nazi concentration and slave labour camp in Weimar, Germany. For two months in 1944, that number includes 168 Allied airmen, mainly from the United States, Britain, and Canada. They are shot down over occupied France, betrayed to the Gestapo by the same collaborator, transported to Buchenwald in cattle cars, and held in inhuman conditions until the Luftwaffe transfers their fellow fliers to a prisoner of war camp.
Episode 3
In November 1941, 2,000 Canadian soldiers arrive in the British colony of Hong Kong to bolster defences against Japan. On the morning of 8 December, 50,000 Japanese troops attack. The outnumbered defenders hold out until Christmas Day; the survivors become prisoners of the Japanese. Horrendous conditions, routine beatings, and virtual starvation kill hundreds, but the Canadians sabotage their slave labour projects at every opportunity. They never stop fighting. Freedom comes only with the Japanese surrender in August 1945.
Episode 4
In the summer of 1942, the Germans advance to seize the rich oilfields of the Caucasus. In their path, the city of Stalingrad, its Soviet defenders personally ordered by Stalin to "take not one step back." The Nazis fail to take the city. The Soviets counter-attack, forcing the encircled Germans to surrender. Throughout, the fighting pays no heed to the laws of war or the fate of civilians. Stalingrad is the turning point of the war, and the grave of 1,000,000.
Episode 5
From 1964 to 1973, at the height of the Vietnam War, 50,000 draft-aged American men come to Canada, choosing exile over wartime military service. These young men - as well as women opposed to the war - are forced to choose between their country and their values. For some, the price proves too high, yet, even after American amnesty for draft law violators in January 1977, Canada becomes home for half of all American draft resisters, to great mutual benefit.
Episode 6
The Vietnam War sharply divides American - and Canadian - society. From 1964 to 1973, Canada shelters 50,000 American draft evaders. Simultaneously, at least 12,000 Canadians cross the border to join the US military. They come from all over the country and serve in every branch of the American forces; over 100 Canadians are killed in Vietnam. When the surviving veterans return home, they reintegrate into an indifferent, sometimes hostile, society. Now, 40 years after the American withdrawal from Vietnam, they reflect on their experiences.
Episode 7
In the longest campaign of the Second World War, from 1939 to 1945, German submarines desperately try to sever Britain's shipping lifeline across the Atlantic Ocean. Canada plays the central role in the campaign, despite having only six modern warships at the outbreak of the conflict. Gradually, Merchant Navy vessels escorted by the Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Navy overcome brutal cold, frequent storms, and terrible casualties to supply Britain and win a decisive victory.
Episode 8
In April 1945, the Nazi submarine U-190 attacks HMCS Esquimalt in the approaches to Halifax harbour. A single torpedo blows the Canadian ship apart; she sinks in four minutes, powerless to send a distress signal. Those who escape cling to rudimentary Carley Floats. Other vessels, aircraft, and the Port War Signal Station all fail to notice the sinking. Six hours after the torpedo strike, HMCS Sarnia finally takes aboard the exhausted, freezing survivors: only 27 of the ship's 71 sailors.