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00:07When the United States enters the war it's understood that a second front is needed to
00:12defeat Nazi Germany. The Red Army and Soviet people have taken the brunt of the Nazi onslaught
00:18for nearly a year and now Soviet leader Joseph Stalin demands that the Western allies do their
00:24part. The Allies disagree where to attack. American military leaders want to invade France the most
00:31direct route to Berlin but Churchill and his generals still haunted by the horrible cost of
00:37World War One are reluctant to invade Europe before they're ready. So the decision is made
00:44to attack the Germans in North Africa in an invasion code named Operation Torch. The Americans
00:53inexperienced and untested are about to battle the Wehrmacht for the very first time.
01:00All wars change the world but none of them change the world like the Second World War did.
01:06Japan's on the march. Germany's on the march. No one can imagine a nightmare they're about to unleash.
01:14The most destructive war in human history. Suddenly the world is turned upside down and all hell is let
01:21these. The West is stunned by the speed of the advance. You get the Allies led by the big three.
01:31Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin. Men who are dealing with immensely complicated questions. It's the
01:39biggest military operation of human history. The Allies have to come together not just militarily but
01:46industrial scale. It's a global perspective. They have to fight in every climate from the Arctic to
01:53the jungles of the Pacific to the deserts of Africa and the depths of the ocean.
02:01But there was no certainty of victory. It was going to be a horrific bloodbath. We see humans at their
02:08absolute
02:09worst how they treat other human beings. And we see them at their absolute best willing to give their
02:14lives that others might live. World War II was a struggle in which there could be one victor and one
02:22vanquish.
02:46The British base of Gibraltar has long guarded the opening to the Mediterranean.
02:53Steady as a rock. For nearly 240 years, Gibraltar has stood sentinel above the harbor watching over the
03:00Mediterranean fleet. The strongest fortress in the world.
03:04On November 5th, 1942, Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower lands at the military airstrip.
03:12He's arrived to take command of the joint U.S.-British ground operation in North Africa, codenamed Torch.
03:25This campaign will eventually open a second front against German and Italian forces already fighting in
03:36Africa.
03:37Operation Torch is an extremely complex landing.
03:42In all, we're going to be depositing a force of around 100,000 troops. And in order to deliver
03:49that force, we've got to use 300 merchantmen guarded by roughly 300 warships.
03:55Three Allied task forces are involved in the complex maneuver.
04:02The east and center forces will land in Algiers and Oran.
04:07The west task force, sailing from America, will land on the beaches of Casablanca.
04:15They have to rendezvous at sea, hundreds of miles away, and then carry out simultaneous landings
04:22across nearly 1,000 miles of North African coast. Nothing remotely like it had ever been carried out before.
04:30Eisenhower is handpicked by President Roosevelt to lead the alliance, to the surprise of many
04:36American and British military commanders. He's been a high-level staff officer for years,
04:42but this will be his first wartime operation.
04:46Dwight Eisenhower, a year ago, had been a colonel, and now he's been advanced to lieutenant general.
04:54Eisenhower has never held a combat command. He was not actively involved in World War I.
05:01Never seen the Somme. Never seen Poshendale. Never seen a man die in their arms in combat.
05:09Who is this man, Eisenhower?
05:13Eisenhower is wickedly competitive and really intelligent. And the other thing is,
05:18he's not an ego. He's pretty humble. He gets along with people, which is utterly important when you
05:23think about the center of gravity for the Allies in World War II is the alliance.
05:29From day one in Eisenhower's new role as Supreme Commander, he has a pile of problems on his plate.
05:34He has to run this gigantic operation. Nothing on this scale has ever been done before. He has to keep
05:40a secret. Eisenhower will need to coordinate the American and British commands and synchronize
05:47all elements of torch. Ultimately, every aspect of the operation, including preparing unproven
05:56American soldiers for combat, is on his shoulders.
06:01One of the reasons they've chosen North Africa as a theater for American troops is because it'll give
06:07them an opportunity of blooding them. They're inexperienced. Most of them hadn't even seen combat
06:12up to this point against an incredibly formidable foe. The German troops were battle-hardened.
06:19They'd been in the field now for two full years. They'd conquered various kinds of climbs, various kinds of
06:25terrain, various kinds of enemies, and they'd beaten them all.
06:30By the summer of 1942, the Nazi empire is huge. It goes all the way from the western coast of
06:38France to
06:39well inside the borders of the Soviet Union. So that's the whole of continental Europe effectively
06:45is controlled by the Nazis. The Germans control most of Europe, but that's not the sum total of
06:52Hitler's ambitions. Germany has to be a global empire, he says many times. And so now the focus
06:58turns outside of Europe to North Africa. German and Italian forces are already fighting the British
07:05in North Africa, threatening the Suez Canal, the vital supply line between Britain and India.
07:14British imperial strategists have always been obsessed with the Suez Canal. It is the great
07:18artery of the British Empire. It joins Britain and its empire in the east, particularly India,
07:25the jewel of the British Empire.
07:28The danger is that the Axis forces move from there to control of the oil fields of the Middle East,
07:34and if all of that happens, they're going to sever the supply lines to the rest of the empire.
07:39Prime Minister Winston Churchill also wants to get the Americans to fight against the Axis
07:44as soon as possible. Roosevelt believed that American troops need to be in the field against the Axis
07:53powers in 1942. The people needed to feel that we were striking back.
08:02We need to figure out how to fight a modern battle, and this is where the army is going to
08:07use as its
08:07proving ground. There are valuable lessons to be learned. North Africa might be a place to do it.
08:15But there's an immediate challenge. The future landing spots on North Africa's coast
08:21are on Vichy French territory.
08:24French Empire is the second largest in the world, behind only that of Great Britain.
08:28With immense manpower and resources at its disposal, the French still control Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia.
08:41After France surrenders to Germany in 1940, the country is split in two. The southern half of France
08:48is ruled by the Vichy government, which collaborates with Nazi Germany.
08:55It's led by World War I hero Marshal Philippe Pétain.
09:04Eisenhower is anxious.
09:08Will the French in North Africa resist the American landing?
09:17No one's clear exactly how many soldiers and how much military asset the French have in North Africa.
09:24What they do know is that the French have a lot of very modern warships there.
09:30They also have about 120,000 soldiers, although no one knows exactly how well trained they are,
09:35or most crucially, what their morale is, what they're inclined to do.
09:39American diplomats in North Africa believe the French are unlikely to resist the invasion,
09:46but cannot guarantee it.
09:49Eisenhower has been sending messages to various Vichy governors in North Africa, hoping for cooperation.
10:02On November 7th, over 600 ships gather at their meeting points out at sea.
10:10The warning order is flashed to the waiting ships.
10:15H-hour is confirmed November 8th.
10:21The Allies are ready to land.
10:43On November 7th, more than 100,000 Allied troops are waiting off the coast of North Africa.
10:55There's risk.
10:57Amphibious operations require detailed, advanced preparation.
11:02What are the tides? What's the footing going to be? How close can landing craft get?
11:07Are there mines? Are there underwater obstacles?
11:16The first wave of landing craft from east and center task forces set off for the beaches at Algiers and
11:23Oran.
11:26Shortly after, fighter support takes off from Gibraltar.
11:34Ike Eisenhower must have been incredibly nervous and was nervous.
11:39We know from his naval aide who writes that Ike is like a cat on bricks.
11:46Even though the weather was kind of bad the night before,
11:49when they actually start unloading their landing craft and moving those craft up to the beaches,
11:55the surf is low enough that they're able to get their initial landing forces onto the beaches successfully.
12:01The first reports Eisenhower receives from the landing craft on the beaches are encouraging.
12:08But when large Allied warships enter the ports of Algiers and Iran, the French open fire.
12:20The Allies keep moving and overcome the French a day later.
12:26On the Atlantic landing point at Casablanca, it's a different story.
12:32Eisenhower entrusts this force to his old friend, Major General George S. Patton Jr.
12:38George Patton is an aggressive commander who believes in aggressive leadership.
12:42He is a fast-talking, disciplinarian, a character easily recognizable to the average soldier.
12:51As the Western task force nears shore, Patton delivers a speech to his troops over each ship's public address system.
13:01Soldiers and sailors, it is not known whether the French African army will contest our landing.
13:08But all resistance by whomever offered must be destroyed.
13:16In the early morning, Allied warships enter the harbor at Casablanca.
13:26The French do as they've been instructed to do. They resist.
13:32This is an invading force. And the French open fire on the ships.
13:37It's the last thing in the world that an amphibious operation needs.
13:42Just a couple of heavy shells can destroy a landing.
13:47Despite French resistance, Americans continue their attack from the air as well as by sea.
13:54The result is actually the largest naval battle in the Atlantic during the war.
14:05Despite Eisenhower's diplomatic efforts, the troop landings face heavy French opposition.
14:13Nobody in the American or British side, least of all Eisenhower, wants American forces fighting French forces.
14:18And does not want that to go on for any extended period of time at all.
14:23Eisenhower writes what he calls the worries of a commander.
14:29No Frenchman immediately available, no matter how friendly toward us, seems able to stop the fighting.
14:37Then, with Operation Torch in danger of failing,
14:40the Allies contact a senior French military officer with the power to provide a solution.
14:48It just so happens that the commander-in-chief of French forces, Admiral Francois Darlan,
14:54is in North Africa at this time visiting his son who's stricken with polio.
14:59Although Darlan is a key Vichy collaborator, he's the only man with the authority to stop the French counterattack.
15:07Darlan had been a deep collaborator with the Germans and the Nazi presence in Vichy France.
15:15And, as distasteful as a figure he is, he holds the key to stopping Vichy French resistance in North Africa.
15:24Eisenhower authorizes negotiations with Darlan.
15:35The Allies will put him in charge of French North Africa if he agrees to an armistice.
15:43It's a dirty deal. It's an unpleasant one. It's a nasty one.
15:47It's one that American journalists were absolutely appalled by.
15:51That evening, Darlan orders a general ceasefire and tells all French forces to join the Allies.
15:59And so, on November 11th, in the port city of Casablanca, French guns fall silent.
16:10Algeria and French Morocco have joined hands with the Allies against Germany and Italy.
16:14And this fact has immensely eased the difficulties that face our United Nations commanders in French North Africa.
16:20Eisenhower thought it would save lives on both sides and it will allow them to get on to the military
16:25mission at hand.
16:27The Allies have landed in North Africa and have convinced the French to fight alongside them.
16:36Now, as they push east, they will face tough, battle-hardened Axis forces.
16:56After the Allied landings, General Eisenhower moves his combined force across the North African desert.
17:06The Allied plan is not simply to approach from the west.
17:10Their strategy is more ambitious.
17:13The ultimate goal, if torch works, is the United States and the British,
17:17that land in the western part of Africa, will drive to the east.
17:21The British that are in the east in Egypt will drive to the west.
17:25And they will capture a German-Italian army in between those two pincers.
17:31The British fighting in the east, the Eighth Army, has been battling the Africa Corps.
17:40Led by the desert fox, Erwin Rommel.
17:44He had a mystique about him. He had a World War I reputation.
17:48He was a feared leader. He had the fingertip feel of a battle.
17:55For months, Rommel has pursued the British through Libya into Egypt, capturing vital supplies and threatening the Suez Canal.
18:06The Africa Corps' success has left Prime Minister Winston Churchill depressed and politically vulnerable.
18:15Churchill looks like he's lost his touch.
18:19He faces two no-confidence motions in Parliament, both of which he wins.
18:24But as one Labour MP says, well, you keep winning the debates, but you lose the battles.
18:29Winston Churchill is in need of victories.
18:33For Churchill and for Operation Torch, one battle in North Africa will be critical.
18:40Just weeks before the Allied landings, the British Eighth Army, led by General Bernard Montgomery,
18:48prepares his troops at a little-known railway junction called El Alamein.
18:55From here, Montgomery plans to launch a massive counteroffensive against the Africa Corps.
19:04Al Alamein shouldn't be viewed in isolation. It's part of a broader Allied plan.
19:10Montgomery's Eighth Army attacking Rommel from the east.
19:13And meanwhile, a vast amphibious landing in the western half of North Africa, Operation Torch.
19:20Converging on Rommel from two directions and eventually presenting him with an insoluble operational dilemma,
19:27trying to maintain himself against not just one, but two superior enemies.
19:34Montgomery is reinforced with American Sherman and Grant tanks.
19:39Plus troops from India, New Zealand, South Africa, and the rest of the British Commonwealth.
19:45At last, Montgomery, who has been fighting the Wehrmacht since the invasion of France,
19:51has the opportunity to go on the offensive against Rommel.
20:08On the night of October 23rd, 1942, Montgomery opens the battle with a massive barrage.
20:18Montgomery knows he's got to proceed step by step, thousand yards by thousand yards.
20:24Get the infantry in, clear the minefield, open the way for the tanks, hold the ground.
20:39Rommel fights back, but he's hampered by lack of fuel.
20:45After days of fighting, the Eighth Army prevails.
20:52By the 11th day of the fighting, Montgomery's superior numbers and material finally begin to take effect.
21:01The British infantry and the New Zealand infantry finally break their way through the German lines and open things up
21:07for the armor.
21:11Tens of thousands of men, thousands of tanks, hundreds of heavy artillery, heavy losses on both sides.
21:21Inevitably, the better supplied and armed force win out.
21:26And that's Montgomery's Eighth Army.
21:31Winston Churchill is absolutely thrilled. This is years of planning and preparation.
21:34He bounces in for lunch with the King and Queen, and he says, I bring you victory, and they think
21:38he's gone mad.
21:39They haven't heard of any victories for years.
21:42In London, at the Lord Mayor's luncheon, Winston Churchill frames the victory at El Alamein and puts it into context.
21:50This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is perhaps the end
22:00of the beginning.
22:08Montgomery's win here is one of the most significant British victories of the entire war.
22:14Montgomery has beaten Rommel at El Alamein, and Rommel is retreating as fast as he can.
22:20The critical pincer plan, the ultimate goal of Torch, is underway.
22:26Montgomery certainly undertakes an epic pursuit. From El Alamein, over the wire, the Egyptian-Libyan border,
22:34and now heading towards Tripoli.
22:37In the West, Eisenhower's troops have moved hundreds of miles.
22:45Three weeks after landing, they're only 12 miles outside Tunis, the capital of Tunisia.
22:51When he learns this, Adolf Hitler is determined to stop the Allies.
22:58The war is not going the way he thought it was going to go. And now, all of a sudden,
23:02you've got these Allies messing around in North Africa. This isn't supposed to happen.
23:12Hitler sends reinforcements, including an entire panzer division, to the ports and air bases around Tunis.
23:21Combined with Rommel's Afrika Korps, there are now 100,000 German and Italian troops on the continent.
23:29No one in either camp had ever envisioned a gigantic continental battle being fought for Tunisia.
23:38But that's where the fortunes of war have brought the two adversaries.
23:51Thanksgiving 1942.
23:55Near Tunis, American tanks clash with German panzers for the first time.
24:01The tank is the modern manifestation of land warfare.
24:04The idea that tank, American tanks, are fighting German tanks. This is what FDR said was going to happen.
24:10We're now pushing back against Germany.
24:13This is the actual battlefield. Germans on the left, Americans on the right.
24:18P-38s move ahead of the advancing forces.
24:24These scenes were photographed from a hill overlooking the battlefield.
24:28All logic would tell you this is going to get badly for the Americans.
24:31They have no experience of warfare at this stage. The Germans are hardened combat veterans.
24:36A lot of them are fought in Western Europe in all those victorious battles.
24:40These are German Mark IV tanks.
24:43These are Panzer IVs with 75-millimeter guns, very effective.
24:47And up against them, you've got relatively light American tanks.
24:51They've only got 37-millimeter guns, and the skin of the armor isn't very effective.
24:57The skirmish begins badly for the Americans, who are supported by British troops.
25:03A British ammunition lorry is hit.
25:07At the start of it, they get knocked back. A whole troop of tanks gets wiped out.
25:13But the Allies have a second company of tanks in reserve.
25:18They're able to fire into the position of the German armor that is very weak,
25:22which is really around the belt and also at the back of the tank.
25:25And they knock out in the space of a few minutes, eight German panzers.
25:29Watch the tank in the center of the picture.
25:33A blast on the left of the screen has struck the center tank. It spins around, disabled.
25:40There it goes.
25:43The panzers now withdraw. In this very first tank-to-tank skirmish,
25:48the Americans beat back the Germans.
25:51Black smoke indicates the end.
25:56But the offensive stalls.
26:22There's a U.S. Army report from this era, which says, at present, the Germans are making war better than
26:28we are.
26:37In the new year, President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill meet in Casablanca.
26:47President Roosevelt flies in, the very first president to fly while in office.
26:58The code name of Roosevelt's secret meeting with Churchill in Casablanca is Don Quixote.
27:04This is the first time that an American president has left the United States during wartime.
27:13Moving a president of the United States and his entourage is always a difficult thing.
27:17In this case, they can't send him by ship across the Atlantic Ocean because of the presence of German
27:21U-boats. So they send him on this insane trip by rail from Washington to Miami, then by a clipper
27:27flying
27:28boat from Miami to Trinidad, Trinidad to Brazil, Brazil to Gambia, Gambia to Casablanca. It's an incredibly
27:34arduous journey that Roosevelt believed he had to make.
27:38Roosevelt and Churchill will meet numerous times throughout the war and derive great benefit from
27:44face-to-face meetings. Churchill can now play the part of the great imperial warlord that so far,
27:53he's been only through his speeches. Now he can do it on the ground. And he does what he does
27:57best,
27:58which is he rolls out the maps and talks about grand strategy with the US president.
28:04Over 10 days, the two leaders and their staffs discuss the progress of Operation Torch and plan
28:12the Allies' next steps. It's really the high-water mark of the Roosevelt-Churchill relationship. They're
28:21statesmen moving chess pieces around on a board. Just before they leave, they talk to reporters from
28:29around the world. The North African Conference is the fourth occasion on which the two great men have
28:35met since the beginning of the war. To the surprise of many, including Churchill,
28:42Roosevelt announces a new war aim. A new phrase was born, unconditional surrender for the Axis.
28:50Unconditional surrender meant that Nazi Germany would have to fall. That did not mean that Germany had to
28:57be destroyed, but Nazi power had to be smashed. We would now call this regime change.
29:05There'll be no armistice. There'll be no soft surrender. There'll be no repetition of World War I.
29:13This is unconditional surrender. It's quite something. We're in early 1943, and it is not at all clear that
29:23the Allies are even winning the war. They're having trouble taking Tunis, which is a very long way from
29:29Berlin. Yet Roosevelt and Churchill know that they can produce more than their adversaries. And if
29:37production goes as they think it will, they will be able to swamp the armies that the Axis puts in
29:44the
29:44field against them. As the conference ends, Allied intelligence reveals Rommel's army, pursued by Montgomery,
29:55has joined with Hitler's reinforcements.
30:00But the Americans and the British now have them surrounded.
30:15By the end of January 1943, the Allies are finally gaining ground against the Axis powers of Germany,
30:23Italy, and Japan. In the Pacific, the Americans have secured Guadalcanal.
30:31The Allies successfully landed in the west, and Montgomery's Eighth Army has pressed Rommel's
30:37Africa Corps across a wide front.
30:51The Allies now surround the Axis army deep inside Tunisia.
30:58But before they can get far, Rommel plots a counteroffensive.
31:04He's identified a weak point in the Allied line at Kasserine Pass.
31:11Kasserine is this very narrow pass. It's only about two miles wide, and it leads into the
31:16dorsal mountains, they call them, the mountain range in the center of Tunisia. You've got heights
31:22on either side of it. If Rommel can drive deep enough through Kasserine and into the rear areas
31:30of the Allied army, he can possibly turn the whole thing around.
31:35From there, he'll have all sorts of choices about what to do next. Overrun Allied supply dumps,
31:42perhaps drive straight north to the sea and cut off the entire Allied force in Tunisia.
31:49There are 30,000 Allied troops in the region, but the narrow pass itself is guarded by just 2,000
31:57men,
31:58spread thinly across the terrain.
32:02The Allied troops in the Kasserine Pass are the U.S. Second Corps, infantry, engineers, artillery,
32:09men who by and large are completely inexperienced.
32:11The Allied forces are distributed and dispersed, lacking mutual support. Air support is not
32:19dominant at this point.
32:26On February 19th, Rommel launches his attack.
32:32Until now, the Americans have had skirmishes with the Germans, but haven't faced a full-scale
32:37panzer assault.
32:44This attack comes in with heavy artillery,
32:49rapid movement of German armor,
32:52and effective use of motorized infantry to clear positions.
32:58The American forces are caught off guard.
33:04Not only is this their first major fight, but their commander is far behind the lines
33:09and doesn't communicate with the front. The results are devastating.
33:16These troops slowly but surely are being outgunned, outmaneuvered, outfought.
33:23What starts out as a defeat becomes a bit of a rout.
33:28The axis now begins streaming up this pass. It's just a steamroller.
33:34By the evening of the second day, U.S. defenses in the pass have collapsed. Around 2,500 soldiers are
33:42wounded, another 2,500 taken prisoner. Others abandon their vehicles and flee over the hills.
33:51Rommel's plan is working, but then he pushes too far.
33:57He sends his troops forward, seeking a way through the mountains and allowing his supply lines to get
34:03dangerously long. Rommel might have thought he had the U.S. Army on the run, but the momentum
34:10that he had established from that opening is now beginning to wear down. His losses are mounting,
34:16his supplies are running out, especially tank ammunition and fuel.
34:21As Rommel weakens, the U.S. Army studies itself and regroups,
34:26blocking Rommel's breakout with a wall of U.S. artillery and air support.
34:40Which ultimately forces Rommel to retreat.
34:46The Americans lose casualties and POWs taken. This is a real black eye for them.
34:54It is the punch in the face that the American doctrine isn't where it should be. We aren't
34:59fighting the way we should. We need better training. We need better leadership.
35:05Kasserine Pass condemns all of those weaknesses.
35:08The result of this is going to be that Americans become much more serious about making sure their
35:13forces remain concentrated, particularly armor forces. That we're not going to allow them to be
35:18doled out in little bits and pieces. General Eisenhower takes responsibility for the initial
35:25breakdown at Kasserine Pass and makes changes to address logistical and operational issues.
35:32He also reorganizes the Allied force in North Africa. His first move is to give General George
35:39Patton, command of the U.S. Second Corps. Patton's a swashbuckler. And he's been waiting in the wings.
35:47And now it's his moment. He's a man who is a strong leader. And troops respond to strong leaders.
35:56His subordinate commanders all know that he will be up there on the battlefield looking over their
36:02shoulders. And if they are not performing up to expectations, they're gone.
36:07He tells his troops famously, you're not all going to be killed. Only about four percent of you.
36:13He reassures them, you're probably going to survive this. But death is going to be your companion going
36:18forward. And I'm not going to spare you. We're going to hit the Germans face to face and toe to
36:23toe.
36:25Eisenhower's troops are now prepared and in position to deal a final blow to the Axis powers in North Africa.
36:42After five months of combat, the combined Allied troops have become an effective fighting force.
36:51General Eisenhower now marshals these troops for what he hopes will be a final confrontation with Rommel
36:58and the Axis. The Allied plan is to bleed Rommel's strength off.
37:06Anytime he faces the British, theoretically, he can have the Americans advancing into his rear.
37:12And every time he turns against the Americans, he can have Montgomery advancing into his rear.
37:22On March 20th, the Allies are ready to attack in a place called El Gattar.
37:31Patton tells his men, we must be eager to kill. If we fight viciously enough,
37:36we will live to return to our family as conquering heroes.
37:41The Germans become aware of that position and say to themselves,
37:46we think we can eject the Americans fairly easily. We did it before at Kasserine, right?
37:55As German panzers burst onto the planes at El Gattar with Stukas plunging down,
38:01Patton deploys U.S. field artillery and tank destroyers.
38:09Patton is very aware of how to use armor, infantry, and artillery all together.
38:16And when the Germans put in that attack, the Americans greet them with a true example of
38:22combined arms. And they absolutely shellack them.
38:36Patton deploys the Nazis.
38:37Having come right after Kasserine passed, it has gone from failure to success.
38:50Over the next month, the Allies squeeze the Axis armies. And by early April,
38:56Eisenhower's forces and Montgomery's Eighth Army finally join. Eisenhower rejoices.
39:05We are at last operating on a single battle line.
39:10Now the Allies set their sights on Tunis. German resistance is ferocious.
39:16Every hill and pass is a struggle.
39:21But gradually, with concentrated firepower from two sides, the Allies continue to move forward.
39:35Almost inch by inch, the Axis position in Tunisia shrinks.
39:41Until it's little more than an arc around the city of Tunis itself.
39:53On May 7th, Allied troops enter Tunis, and the Axis forces surrender.
40:00After the capture of Tunis, North Africa is finally free of the Nazis and their fascist Italian allies.
40:07The North African campaign is over.
40:11By tens, by hundreds, by thousands, they came. And at the end, 15 full divisions,
40:20266,000 of their best men, laid down their arms.
40:26Over a quarter of a million Germans and Italians are captured.
40:32Prisoners as far as the eye can see.
40:36This is a great moment for the Allied cause.
40:38There had been one disastrous encounter with the Germans after the other since this war began.
40:45And now, I think everyone on the Allied side, especially Roosevelt would say,
40:50the home folks, can see that something was going right in this war.
41:02Many high-ranking Axis commanders are captured, but not Rommel, who has been recalled to Germany by Adolf Hitler.
41:13The success of Operation Torch, combined with British victory at El Alamein, pushed the Nazis out of North Africa.
41:22It is the first step toward Allied victory over the Third Reich.
41:27To give you a sense of the scale of the victory in Tunisia, Churchill orders the church bells to be
41:33rung.
41:33They haven't been rung during the course of the whole war.
41:36It's an unbelievable victory for the Allies.
41:41The tide of the war is turning, but it's unclear what's next.
41:50This great victory is a monument to the perfection of cooperation among the fighting services of several nations.
41:57I know you would be proud of the way our own boys, your husbands, brothers, sons, and sweethearts have delivered
42:04here for you.
42:09Winston Churchill said the only thing worse than fighting with Allies is fighting without them.
42:16Operation Torch demonstrates that General Eisenhower could command the multinational coalition of military
42:24forces necessary to topple the Third Reich.
42:26There are many fronts in modern war.
42:30Because of its very nature, the role of gathering intelligence is often obscure and misunderstood.
42:36But when it's successful, it can be decisive.
42:39That's why a small English hamlet, purposefully located between Cambridge and Oxford, becomes a crucial front in World War II.
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