WWII by Drone

World War II was the first war in history in which air power played a critical role. Control of the skies meant control of the war, and both Allied and Axis forces pushed science and engineering to the limits to gain the upper hand. Today, aerial drone footage along with cutting edge Lidar technology is being used to uncover evidence of military aviation innovations that played major roles in the Battle of Britain, the London Blitz, the air war over Berlin, and other key conflicts of the European campaign.

No operation in the history of warfare has matched D-Day in terms of scale, ambition, or achievement. More than 75 years since the historic Allied invasion, conflict archeologists are still uncovering hidden evidence on and off the shores of Normandy, thanks to cutting-edge drone technology. Follow one team as it examines the now-buried site of a British commando raid that liberated Port-en-Bessin. Then watch as wreck investigators and underwater drone operators hunt for amphibious tanks that were designed to play a crucial role on D-Day.

Between 1940 and 1942, the Axis powers unleashed over 3,000 bombing raids on Malta, an island considered key to controlling the southern coast of the Mediterranean. To escape the relentless bombing, the Maltese were forced to survive underground. Desperate missions to supply the island led to Britain's worst submarine disaster of World War II. Follow conflict archeologists as they use cutting edge drone technology to explore the defenses of Malta, above and below water, and uncover how this tiny island was able to withstand the non-stop attack.

In 1943, the Allies launched a campaign to liberate Italy from the grip of the occupying Nazi forces. The key to their success: the capture of Rome, but strong German resistance and tough terrain turned what was supposed to be a five-week mission into a nearly year-long conflict. Now, military experts are using the latest drone imaging technology to understand how the Nazis used the Italian landscape to their advantage and to discover more about what happened at Monte Cassino monastery, the site of one of WWII's most controversial bombings.

Deep in the Ardennes Forest in Belgium, a team of World War II archaeologists are examining the location of the Battle of the Bulge. Using a drone equipped with the latest Lidar technology, they're searching for the fighting positions of the African American 333rd Field Artillery Battalion, a unit that was brutally massacred by Nazi troops after their capture. Follow the modern-day investigation and revisit the battle that helped determine the outcome of WWII while also paving the way towards the desegregation of the U.S. Army.