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History
43 videos filed under History. Browse the latest uploads or switch to the most viewed clips.
South African paratroopers in operation reindeer, 1978
This archival footage from 04 May 1978 shows the aftermath of "Operation Reindeer", also known colloquially as "Cassinga Raid" in Angola. As part of the South African Border War, paratroopers were dropped on Cassinga in order to both prove the existence of and destroy a joint SWAPO-Cuban presence there. SWAPO was a guerilla organization fighting for Namibian independence from South Africa. Despite the Cold War and associated Cuban Missile Crisis, Cuba's military efforts to aid the spread of Communism are often overlooked in US perspectives on history. Interestingly, the paratroopers involved (called "parabats" in SADF parlance) were told it was a training operation right up to the point of execution. This led to aircraft full of parabats having to return to base with Reservists who legally could not be used in cross-border operations.
1 views / TodayIRGC troops kill Iraqi tanks, 1986
Archival footage from the First Battle of Al Faw, 1986. Soldiers, purportedly members of the Iranian Republican Guard (IRGC), engage Iraqi T-72 tanks with an RPG and a recoilless rifle. The First Battle of Al Faw was a bold move for the Iranians to capture the Al Faw peninsula, which permitted them to exercise control over the Khawr Abd Allah, the waterway which connected Iraq’s major deepwater port, Umm Qasr, with the northern Arabian Gulf/Persian Gulf, and threatening the strategic southern City of Basra.
5 views / TodaySupersonic bomber ejects bear, 1962
Archival footage from 1962 showing one of two tests in which the U.S. Air Force ejected live black bears from a B-58 Hustler strategic bomber travelling faster than the speed of sound. The purpose of the tests was to assess the suitability of an experimental escape pod, and black bears were chosen due to their anatomical similarities with humans. The bears were anesthetized and then ejected while the bomber was supersonic. The narrator in this video discusses the injury suffered by the bear, including pelvis fractures and whiplash, which would have been unbearable were the animal not sedated. The anesthetic allowed the bear to maintain is bearing and survive the test. Barely.
4 views / TodayWehrmacht troops take Crimea, 1942
Archival footage of German troops fighting in Crimea during World War II. The Wehrmacht launched Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, on June 22, 1941, and by the end of September German troops were fighting for control of the Crimean Peninsula. Throughout 1942, the German Army retained a tenuous hold on much of the peninsula, despite a Soviet counter-offensive from April to May, and significant partisan activity which made life difficult for occupation troops. German forces in Crimea supported operations further east in the Caucasus, and when that offensive failed in late 1943, those forces fell back to the Crimean Peninsula with the Red Army on their heels. By early 1944, counterattacking Soviet Army groups had driven the Germans completely from Crimea, though they suffered horrific casualties in the process.
3 views / TodayWehrmacht MGs and arty in France, 1940
On September 3, 1939, Britain and France declared war on Nazi Germany, in response to the German invasion of Poland. Throughout the winter and spring, a chill hostility fell over the frontier with little actual fighting. This changed on May 10, 1940, when the Wehrmacht launched Fall Gelb, driving through the Ardennes and overrunning Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, and parts of France. The remaining French and British divisions attempted a stand along the Somme and Aisne rivers, but on June 5, the Germans Army initiated Fall Rot, with Italy declaring war against France at the same time. Coordinated Axis armor, artillery, and airpower overwhelmed the allies, resulting in the fall of France and the evacuation of British forces at Dunkirk.
3 views / TodayBattle of Verdun, 1916
Colorized footage from the archives showing the devastation of the battle of Verdun. Considered the longest battle of the war, the carnage lasted from February to December 1916 and cost an estimated 350,000 German and 400,000 French casualties. Conceived by the Chief of the German Imperial Staff, Field Marshall Erich von Falkenhayn, the German objectives of the German offensive were to seize the Meuse Heights, a defensible position offering good observation for artillery to fire on Verdun itself. This would force the French to commit reserves in an effort to recapture the position, resulting in catastrophic French losses in exchange for relatively few German casualties. In short, Falkenhayn intended to “bleed the French white” and force them to sue for peace.
3 views / TodayBattleship defends fleet from air attack, 1944
Archive footage of the battleship, USS Washington, providing antiaircraft fire to defend the U.S. fleet from an Imperial Japanese Navy air attack. The action occurred on June 15, 1944, off Saipan. By this point during World War II, the anti-aircraft armament of all vessels, but particularly, had been significantly upgraded. With the bloodletting that occurred in the Solomon Islands more than a year in the past, the probability of gunfights between surface combatants was extremely low. Battleships were loaded with anti-aircraft weapons and served as flagships and as floating anti-aircraft platforms, protecting aircraft carriers from air attack.
4 views / TodayDestruction of Monte Casino, 1944
Colorized footage of the destruction of the abbey at Monte Casino during the Battle of Monte Casino. In 1943, the allies completed their campaign to expel Axis forces from North Africa, conquered Sicily, landed forces on the Italian mainland at Salerno, and captured the strategic port city of Naples. The allied advance towards Rome ran into the Gustav Line, the western half of the Winter Line which consisted of German troops occupying fortified mountains and hill tops overlooking the Rapido, Liri, and Garigliano river valleys. From January to May 1944, two allied armies bashed themselves senseless against these German fortifications in an effort to advance on Rome.
3 views / TodayWorld War Two vets, 20 years after
This footage is a collection of short memories as recalled by World War Two veterans in the 1960s- 20 years after the fact. When you consider that the height of the Global War on Terror was a rough 20 years ago from today, Long ago enough that the memories are still strikingly fresh to them, from men who were not yet the friendly, quiet oldsters my generation knew.
3 views / Today1st SS Panzer Division, December 1944
German newsreel footage shows the 1st SS Panzer Division fighting near Stoumont, Belgium, on 19 December 1944. The SS-Panzerdivision "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" was a Waffen SS Panzer Division in service from 1933 to 1945. During the Ardennes Offensive from 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945, an operation know to the Allies as the Battle of the Bulge, the 1st SS Panzer spearheaded the 1st Panzer Corps’ push towards the Meuse River, with Antwerp as the ultimate objective. A task force led by Joachim Peiper led the division, and on 17 December Peiper’s men captured, disarmed, and then shot 127 American prisoners, eighty-four of which were killed.
1 views / TodaySoviets invade Finland, 1939
Throughout 1938, the Soviet Union conducted negotiations with Finland, pressuring the Finnish government to cede border territories, citing security concerns. Those negotiations failed. In November 1939, weeks after the outset of World War II, Russia invaded its neighbor. Despite decisive Soviet advantages in armor, aircraft, artillery, and infantry, the Finns inflicted serious casualties on the Red Army. After initial setbacks, the Soviets adjusted their strategic objectives and their battlefield tactics, eventually pressing the Finns to the breaking point. Finland negotiated an end to the Winter War, ceding nine percent of their territory.
1 views / TodayBattleship HMS Neptune, 1913
Footage of the battleship HMS Neptune filmed in 1913 for recruiting purposes. Neptune was a dreadnought battleship, laid down in 1909 and delivered to the Royal Navy in 1911. The ship’s armament included ten 12-inch guns in five twin turrets. Neptune played a minor role in the Battle of Jutland in 1916, engaging a cruiser and a battlecruiser and expending a total of forty-eight main gun shells. In 1922 the vessel was deemed obsolete and sold for scrap.
1 views / TodayBattleship HMS Barham explodes, 1941
British news cameraman John Turner captured the demise of the Queen Elizabeth-class battleship HMS Barham from the deck of HMS Valiant. Completed for the Royal Navy in 1915, Barham served as part of the Grand Fleet at the Battle of Jutland from 31 May to 1 June 1916, where it traded blows with German battlecruisers. During World War II, Barham remained active from 1939 onward, participating in operations from the Mediterranean to Norway. On 24 November 1941, Barham, Queen Elizabeth, and Valiant departed Alexandria, Egypt, with an escort of six destroyers. And the following day Barham was engaged by the German submarine U-331, taking three torpedo hits. The battleship quickly capsized to port, and as she rolled over an explosion in secondary magazines detonated the main magazines filled with 15-inch shells for the main batteries. Of the more than 1,200 crew on board, 862 were killed.
1 views / TodayU.S. vs German tank, Cologne, 1945
Footage from the Battle of Cologne, taken on 6 March 1946 by a cameraman from the 165th Photo Signal Company. A U.S. Pershing tank advances toward the city center, and at one point the twin spires of the Cologne Cathedral can be seen in the background. The American tank engages and hits a German Panther tank. The main gun round from the Pershing ignites the fuel and ammunition inside the Panther. A German crewman escapes as the tank brews up, eventually bursting into flames.
1 views / TodayWreck of the WW II cruiser USS Quincy
Footage shared by the U.S. Naval Institute of the E/V Nautilus exploring the wreck of USS Quincy during the Maritime Archaeology of Guadalcanal Expedition conducted in July of 2025. USS Quincy (CA-39) was a New Orleans class heavy cruiser which was sunk by Japanese surface forces during the Battle of Savo Island on 9 August 1942.
1 views / TodayB24 bomber shot down by flak
Archival footage of a U.S. Army Air Forces B-24 Liberator being shot down while attacking targets on Palau in 1944. This action would have been part of the Marianas and Palau Islands campaign, which occurred from June to November 1944. One crew member managed to bail out and make it to the ground, but was executed while in Japanese activity.
2 views / TodayD-Day 1944, assault on Point du Hoc
Archival footage of the rehearsals for scaling the cliffs at Point du Hoc, Normandy. The rehearsals shown in the footage occurred in Dorset, England. Prior to the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, the German occupiers emplaced a battery of six 155mm captured French guns atop the cliffs at Pointe du Hoc, just west of what would be known as Omaha Beach. In early 1944, the Germans began improving the position, removing the guns one by one to construct more robust casements and defensive works.
2 views / TodayDutch aircraft carrier launched 1948
In May 1948, the Colossus class aircraft carrier HNLMS Karel Doorman was launched and would go on to serve the Dutch Navy for twenty years. Formerly HMS Venerable, her keel was laid in the UK in 1942, she was launched in 1943 and commissioned in January 1945. In 1948 the vessel was sold to The Netherlands as a light escort carrier, and between 1955 and 1958 was rebuilt with an angled flight deck, and in 1960 the carrier was deployed in response to the Western New Guinea Crisis.
3 views / Today