The WORST episodes of Battlefield

Every episode of Battlefield ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Battlefield!

The landmark television series 'Battlefield' is a documentary series initially relased in 1994 that explores some of the most important battles fought during the Second World War and the Vietnam War. Featuring fascinating archive footage, the programme includes a review of the political and military situation before the battle, portraits of leaders and commanders, an explanation of weapons and tactics and the story of the battle itself. Vivid graphics place the battles into the context of the war as a whole. Seasons 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 are all WW2 battles and Season 3 focuses on the Vietnam war in a special 12-part season.

Last Updated: 5/5/2024Network: PBSStatus: Ended
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Pearl Harbor
star
0.00
0 votes

#1 - Pearl Harbor

Season 4 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/1/2000

The infamous Japanese attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii was one of the most significant events of World War II. Brilliantly planned and executed, it dealt a crippling blow to the US Pacific Fleet, however it failed to inflict any damage on the US aircraft carriers. Ultimately, the attack brought the US and its industrial might into the war with disastrous consequences for the Axis powers.

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The West Wall
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0.00
0 votes

#2 - The West Wall

Season 5 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/1/2001

This is the story of the construction and defense of Hitler's three-mile deep web of fortifications, pillboxes, troop shelters, and anti-tank obstacles that ran along Germany's western frontier. "The Siegfried Line," as it was nicknamed by the Allies, and the natural barrier formed by the Rhine River, were key to Germany's defense of its Western Front. The breaching of the Siegfried Line at the Battle of the West Wall, and the subsequent crossing of the Rhine barrier at Remagen, heralded the collapse of German resistance in the West.

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The Battles for Tunisia
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0 votes

#3 - The Battles for Tunisia

Season 5 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/1/2001

The campaign in Tunisia saw the battles that finally ended the brutal war in North Africa. The arrival of the British 1st Army gave the Allies a six-to-one numerical advantage in troops and a fifteen-to-one superiority in tanks, guns, and aircraft. The Allied blockade in the Mediterranean also began to bite, making the beleaguered Germans short of fuel, food, and ammunition. Eventually, all German troops in Tunisia surrendered.

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Scandinavia: The Forgotten Front
star
6.20
30 votes

#4 - Scandinavia: The Forgotten Front

Season 6 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/1/2002

The vicious 14-week war between the Finns and the Russians ended in March 1940 when the Finns finally surrendered a large part of its territory to the Soviet invaders. It was a hollow victory, since for much of the war the Russians took a drubbing from the determined and resourceful Finns, who organised the defence of their country brilliantly. It is believed that one million Russians lost their lives during the fighting. Hitler became increasingly aware of the potential threat of Norway and mounted the world's first airborne invasion there in February 1940. At the same time, German Forces invaded Denmark. Over the next few years, the horrors and intrigues of the Quisling government in Norway unfolded amidst determined Norwegian resistance.

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The Undeclared War
star
6.21
33 votes

#5 - The Undeclared War

Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/1/1999

Covers the US's growing invovlement from military advisors to combat troops after the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. Also covered is Operation Starlight which was the US Marines first battle against the Vietcong in 1965.

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El Alamein
star
6.75
4 votes

#6 - El Alamein

Season 5 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/1/2001

Covering the leaders, the equipment, and the men, as well as the battles, it covers the period from the beginning of the war in Africa until the end where the Axis is expelled. The main battle covered here is the last battle of El Alamein.

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The Tet Offensive
star
7.00
4 votes

#7 - The Tet Offensive

Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 1/1/1999

Covers the Tet Offensive of 1968 in great detail, especially the street battles in Saigon and Hue and the resulting near annihilation of the Vietcong.

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The Battle for Caen
star
7.00
2 votes

#8 - The Battle for Caen

Season 5 - Episode 6 - Aired 1/1/2001

The French city of Caen was identified by the Allies as an early goal for troops coming ashore during the D-Day invasion. Rather than quickly falling, the struggle for Caen became a bloody, grinding affair that lasted for seven weeks due to intense German resistance. While a costly struggle, the fighting around Caen pinned down German troops which facilitated Operation Cobra in late July. This saw the Allies breakout of the beachhead and move to encircle German forces in Normandy.

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The Battle for Monte Cassino
star
7.00
1 votes

#9 - The Battle for Monte Cassino

Season 5 - Episode 3 - Aired 1/1/2001

The Battle of Monte Cassino, also known as the Battle for Rome and the Battle for Cassino, was a series of four assaults made by the Allies against German forces in Italy during the Italian Campaign of World War II. The ultimate objective was to break through the Winter Line, and facilitate an advance towards Rome.

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Dien Bien Phu - The Legacy
star
7.18
33 votes

#10 - Dien Bien Phu - The Legacy

Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/1/1999

Covers the battle at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 and the resulting expulsion of the French and the division of the country into a North and South Vietnam.

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The Battle of Berlin
star
7.22
36 votes

#11 - The Battle of Berlin

Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 6/8/1994

The furious, climatic last battle of Hitler’s war. Over half a million lives were lost as the Red Army finally crushed the last Nazi citadel.

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The Battle of Normandy
star
7.23
35 votes

#12 - The Battle of Normandy

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 6/8/1994

The Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Normandy landings. A 1,200-plane airborne assault preceded an amphibious assault involving more than 5,000 vessels. Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on 6 June, and more than two million Allied troops were in France by the end of August.

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The Battle of France
star
7.24
42 votes

#13 - The Battle of France

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 6/8/1994

Blitzkrieg's most astonishing triumph, establishing Hitler as unassailable within continental Europe.

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The Showdown in the Iron Triangle
star
7.25
4 votes

#14 - The Showdown in the Iron Triangle

Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/1/1999

Covers the US Operations which try to seek and destroy the Vietcong and induce them into set piece battles in various areas between Saigon and Cambodia in 1966-67.

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The Battle of Britain
star
7.26
39 votes

#15 - The Battle of Britain

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 6/8/1994

The two mightiest air fleets in the world clashed in tumultuous mortal combat. At issue was Britain’s very survival.

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Countdown to Tet
star
7.33
3 votes

#16 - Countdown to Tet

Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 1/1/1999

Covers the events in 1967 which lead the Vietcong to plan an all out attack on South Vietnam during the Tet New Year of 1968.

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The Battle of Kursk
star
7.33
3 votes

#17 - The Battle of Kursk

Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/1/2000

In the summer of 1943 more than 2,000,000 men and 6,000 tanks of the German and Soviet Armies faced each other near the Soviet city of Kursk. The ensuing battle is the largest tank battle ever fought in history. It marked the last major offensive operation of German forces in the East and combined with the Soviet victory at Stalingrad was the decisive turning point on the Eastern Front.

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The Battle of Stalingrad
star
7.36
39 votes

#18 - The Battle of Stalingrad

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 6/8/1994

The Battle of Stalingrad is infamous as one of the largest, longest and bloodiest engagements in modern warfare. From August 1942 through February 1943, more than two million troops fought in close quarters – and nearly two million people were killed or injured in the fighting, ultimately turning the tide of World War II in favor of the Allied forces.

Directors: Dave Flitton
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The Battle for Italy
star
7.50
4 votes

#19 - The Battle for Italy

Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/1/1996

When victory in North Africa seemed assured, Allied planners turned their attention to Italy. The objective was to seize Rome, knock Italy out of the war and push north towards Germany.

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Guadalcanal
star
7.50
2 votes

#20 - Guadalcanal

Season 4 - Episode 5 - Aired 1/1/2000

Guadalcanal was the first major land battle of the Southern Pacific campaign. The island was considered key to the defense of eastern Australia and was the first step in the "march" up the Solomon Island chain to neutralize the key Japanese base at Rabaul, open up the road to the Philippines, and ultimately to Japan itself.

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Campaign in the Balkans
star
7.50
2 votes

#21 - Campaign in the Balkans

Season 6 - Episode 5 - Aired 1/1/2002

In August 1943 the Romanians changed sides. Thereafter, events moved swiftly: the Russians soon captured the vital Ploesti oil fields, a huge loss to the German war effort, and within days the Soviets captured Bucharest. A nervous Bulgaria sued for peace with the Allies, but the Russians pushed on into Sofia. Despite German delaying tactics, Hungary fell next. In Yugoslavia the Germans held grimly on to Belgrade until October. The bloody mop-up fighting was left to the Soviets and lasted until the end of the war.

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The Battle of Midway
star
7.60
65 votes

#22 - The Battle of Midway

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 6/8/1994

The Battle of Midway changed naval combat forever. Fought almost entirely with aircraft, the United States destroyed Japan’s first-line carrier strength and most of its best trained naval pilots. Together with the Battle of Guadalcanal, the Battle of Midway ended the threat of further Japanese invasion in the Pacific.

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The Battle of the Rhine
star
7.67
3 votes

#23 - The Battle of the Rhine

Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired 1/1/1996

During the last months of 1944, the British and Americans pressed steadily through France and Belgium to the western frontiers of the Third Reich.

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Search and Destroy
star
7.75
4 votes

#24 - Search and Destroy

Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 1/1/1999

Covers the US Army's first battle against the NVA at the Ia Drang Valley in 1965 and the strategy and tactics of the US and North Vietnamese in their efforts to win the war.

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Manchuria - The Forgotten Victory
star
7.75
4 votes

#25 - Manchuria - The Forgotten Victory

Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired 1/1/2000

The remarkable Soviet victory over the once mighty Japanese Kwangtung Army in the mountains of Manchuria is one of the least known of the Second World War. This was no steam roller triumph of greater numbers and brute force, but a victory for superior weaponry, brilliant tactical use of surprise and bold command that was achieved in little more than a fortnight.

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