Second World War

Franco's traditional image has been as a canny neutral in the struggle between the Allied and Axis powers. But in 1940 his aspirations for an African empire drew him to within an ace of war with Britain.

On 4th April 1944, Anne Frank wrote, 'I want to go on living even after my death!' Four months later, she and her family left for a concentration camp after capture by the Gestapo, and she died from typhus at Bergen-Belsen in March 1945, aged fifteen years.

In his actions and writings, Churchill made General Mackesy the scapegoat for the allied failure to recapture Norway in 1940. Was this a fair assessment? And why did Churchill pursue the cause with such bitterness? Mackesy's son explains.

Montgomery had five months to mastermind the Allied D-Day landings - and give the troops faith in their battle.

Geoffrey Warner looks at the reasons for the delay in opening a second Allied Front.

The activities and success of the Resistance movement in France from 1940-1944 is examined by Roderick Kedward.

John Grigg questions whether D-Day could have taken place earlier and, instead, did it drag out the course of the war?

Geoffrey Warner continues our series on Post-War Reconstruction.