The Ghost Front. December 1944-March 1945

Description

By December 1944, Americans had grown weary of the war: the stream of newspaper headlines telling of new losses and telegrams bearing bad news seemed endless. In episode 6, The Ghost Front, Ken Burns explores the unpredictable and unnerving months toward the near-end to the war. In the Pacific, American progress had been slow and costly, while in Europe, no one was prepared for the massive counterattack Hitler launches in the Ardennes forest of Belgium and Luxemburg. Back home, newspapers cover the "The Battle of the Bulge" as citizens begin to wonder if victory can truly be won. In March, Allied warplanes drop 185,640 tons of bombs on Germany - more than in any other month of the war - and Marines face 21,000 Japanese defenders who are ordered to kill as many Americans as possible. In the coming months, Allied bombings set Japan's cities ablaze, killing hundreds of thousands and leaving millions homeless. But by the middle of March 1945, the end of the war in Europe finally seems imminent.

Runtime

117 min

Series

Subjects

Geography

Genre

Date of Publication

[2011], c2007

Database

Films on Demand

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