1x2 - Battlefronts: 1942-1944

February 12, 2003

The second episode focuses on the years 1942 to 1944, from the massive buildup of America's military and industrial capabilities to preparations for D-Day. Among the many images captured in color are the mobilization of women and African Americans on the industrial home front and in the military; the internment of Japanese Americans; American troops landing in North Africa, and tank battles in the North African desert; training of African-American aviators at Alabama's Tuskegee Institute; the horrors of the Warsaw Ghetto; activity behind Nazi lines in Yugoslavia, and Yugoslavian resistance fighters helping downed U.S. airmen; and the boarding of troops onto landing craft bound for Normandy, scene of what was to be the largest amphibious invasion in history.