THE HISTORY OF THE LUFTWAFFE - A PHOENIX RISING

THE HISTORY OF THE LUFTWAFFE - A PHOENIX RISING

From the ashes of the fires lit in the dog-fights of World War I, a phoenix
would rise - the Luftwaffe of the Third Reich.

No ordinary air force, the Luftwaffe was to become the handmaiden of Hitler's
dream of conquest and a vital component of 'Blitzkrieg' or 'lightening war'.
However the glories won in Poland, Scandinavia, Holland, Belgium and finally
France, as the Nazi's marched, victorious, through Europe, were to turn sour.

The fuehrer's continual demands upon his air force, as he fanatically pursued
his 'Grand design' forced the Luftwaffe into the role of workhorse, though
incompetence, intrigue and greed amongst its commanders made the task near
impossible. Starved of new planes and pilots to fly them, stretched across two
fronts in Europe and playing a vital role in North Africa, Goering's elite
corps was fatally flawed.

This tragic story chronicles the initial brilliant success of the Luftwaffe in Europe. It's structure and tactics and the inherent weaknesses that were to drag the phoenix once again to it's inescapable consummation within the fires of Berlin.

This story is told using very rare footage only recently obtained (1989) from
the Eastern block and not seen since the war.

Running Time: 53 Minutes
Black & White/Colour