After the first volume got a remarkable story started with copious background detail and the beginnings of initial hostilities in World War 2, the second of the five double-disc instalments of the remarkable 1973 British TV series The World At War provides a more diverse - and on many occasions, more shocking - account of eight separate elements in the catastrophic middle period of the war.
World At War producer Jeremy Isaacs chose a different approach to the multi-part documentary format for his series - instead of exploring events chronologically across the 26 episodes, he decided to focus each individual film on one major element of the war, including the key battles as well as the effect the conflict was having on the civilian population in the main participating countries. It’s very apparent by the end of this second volume that Isaacs’ approach works exceptionally well. As each episode covers one subject in detail, the viewer is not confused or distracted by an increasingly chaotic list of simultaneous events (though the goings-on elsewhere in the war are put into context in each episode). Another advantage is, of course, that the casual viewer with an interest in one element of the conflict can happily just watch one episode and see a concise, coherent documentary.
As the second volume opens (with series episode 8), the focus shifts to the African mainland…
8. Desert - The War In North Africa
Across a desolate strip of desert some 600 miles across, the British and German armies fight bitterly for three years to lay claim to what they see as key territory in strategic terms. While the Allies hold out under seemingly impossible odds in the town of Tobruk, the battle see-saws back and forth until an advantage is gained at the battle of El Alamein…
9. Stalingrad
For years, Hitler’s eyes had been keenly focussed on Russia, which he saw as prime territory for colonising by the German people. Initial advances by the German army into Russia are brutally successful, but that all changes when Hitler attempts to take the city of Stalingrad. The outnumbered, under-equipped Russians fight desperately for their city for six months, determined to keep the Nazis - who had dubbed the Russian people “sub-human” - out. The cost in human lives is staggering, as neither side is prepared to give up.
10. Wolfpack
To continue obtaining food and supplies once the war was under way, Britain relied on merchant ships carrying goods from North America. Perfectly aware of this, the Nazis attempt to halt these vital supplies by sinking as many ships as possible, using their U-Boat submarines. The ships are provided with naval escorts, travel in huge convoys for safety in numbers and develop primitive underwater detection devices to help spot oncoming threats. But the Nazis counter by attacking with their U-Boats in packs from both above and under the water, presenting a very real threat to the survival of these haphazard fleets of ships.
11. Red Star - The Soviet Union
While most know of the terrible casualties resulting for the Second World War, the huge losses sustained by Russia are almost impossible to fathom. 20 million Russians died as they battled against the Nazis to save their country - more than the entire present-day population of Australia. Nearly a million die in Leningrad alone. But though the Germans have superior firepower and battle skills, the Russians have one key advantage - they know how to deal with the harsh Russian winter, while the Germans find themselves unprepared.
12. Whirlwind - Bombing Germany
Arthur “Bomber” Harris takes over the leadership of British Bomber Command and immediately sets in motion the mass bombing of German cities, in revenge for the raids on London and surrounding cities. Unable to precisely target key military targets, Harris instead decides to “area bomb” Germany, inflicting horror and death on the civilian population. “Give it to ‘em right on the chin,” chirps a field marshal enthusiastically. “I think Jerry definitely had it coming this time,” says another Brit. “It certainly was a wizard prang!” The civilians of Hamburg may have disagreed, as 30,000 men, women and children burn to death in a firestorm following Harris’ first big raid on Hamburg. One of those doing the flying was Squadron Commander James Stewart - better known in Hollywood as Jimmy Stewart - who relates his memories of the raids in this episode.
13. Tough Old Gut
Winston Churchill’s favoured strategy for attacking the German advance in Europe is to approach through Italy, which the leader describes as the “soft underbelly” of Europe. The Americans disagree, but reluctantly join in the attack, which proves to be a lot tougher than anyone imagined - the soft underbelly has turned out, in fact, to be a “tough old gut”.
14. It’s A Lovely Day Tomorrow
With Vera Lynn to inspire them, the British troops in Burma fought the relentless and skilled Japanese amidst conditions that frightened them - monsoon rains, constant heat and mud, malaria and other fatal diseases and the dangers of the jungle. The Japanese, however, revel in the cover the jungle provides - while the British believe they survive on small amounts of rice, the Japanese are actually living off the jungle’s animals and plants, mirroring the behaviour of the native monkeys to survive. They have the upper hand until the British learn to cope with the conditions - and during the longest retreat in British military history, even the Brits destroy everything they leave behind. The peaceful Burmese, meanwhile, are caught in the middle.
15. Home Fires
A look at the war from inside Britain, as the conflict starts to hit home in the form of rationing, propaganda and political in fighting. Women are conscripted and sent to work in the factories or fields to help produce essential food and supplies cut off my the U-Boat attacks on merchant ships. Black marketeers thrive as rationing starts to bite, strikes hit and American GI’s cause controversy. But the Brits are determined to get on with life in as normal a fashion as possible - there’s even an “arts boom”. Churchill’s leadership, though, is starting to be called into question by both public and politicians, as Germany’s deadly V1 rockets make their first lethal appearance over London…
As with the first set of discs, a fine job has been done by Pearson Television in taking a 26 year-old TV series produced and edited on film and getting it onto DVD in the best possible shape. Of course the archival footage here is often extremely rough, but much of it is quite remarkable in its clarity and condition. The 1973 interviews conducted by the producers almost all look extremely clean and clear on disc, with the occasional exception that makes one wonder if the original negatives could not be found, older video transfers being used instead.
Though no-one in their right mind is going to be picky about the standard of the film material here, it’s worth pointing out that the video transfers are exceptionally well handled, obviously done with a great deal of care.
Only one minor incidence of MPEG compression artifacting showed up across these eight episodes - not surprisingly, the problem scene involved a great deal of rain, always a tough ask for an MPEG encoder to handle transparently. The very brief macro-blocking that occurs here is unlikely to even be noticed by most people watching these discs.
Presented at the original 1.33:1 aspect ratio, these discs are of course not 16:9 enhanced.