Secrets of the Dead (TV Series) Churchill's Deadly Decision (2010) User Reviews

A part of WWII history you don't often hear about...and a sad episode indeed.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 15 May 2015]

This episode of "Secrets of the Dead" is set during 1940. The British and French are at war with Germany and things look bad. However, when the French quickly fold and agree to pull out of the war, leaving Britain alone, Prime Minister Churchill is worried. Worried because the French have the second biggest fleet in Europe and it appears as if the Nazis will take it as part of the French capitulation. This French fleet, combined with the Nazi fleet, would very likely result in the war soon ending and the British defeat. So, Churchill desperately looks for a solution--one which will royally tick off the French, yet, conversely, impress the Americans about the British resolve!

All in all, this is a very interesting show (though I have no idea how this really relates to the series) and talks about a seldom discussed event--the British attack on their very own allies, the French!

A Strategic Conflict During World War II

[dahlswede · 27 November 2013]

In "Secrets of the Dead: Churchill's Deadly Decision" (2010), the award winning PBS documentary series presents information about a challenge which confronted the British government shortly after the German military's rapid invasion of France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Prime Minister Winston Churchill's controversial response still arouses debate.

The documentary offers excellent historical background details surrounding the dilemma confronting the newly elected English leader. During the first few, tense weeks of the war, Winston Churchill appreciated that his nation would require the support of industrial resources in the United States in order to counter the Nazi onslaught.

But across the Atlantic Ocean, President Franklin Roosevelt and his closest advisers worried: would the small British Isle be able to resist or would that government, too, surrender to Adolf Hitler's regime? Faced with an upcoming national election, the Roosevelt Administration did not want to commit resources to support the British unless Americans could be assured that the assistance would not be wasted.

With the humiliating defeat of the elected French government, the British Cabinet and Prime Minister faced a terrible problem-- they feared that the Nazi regime would be able to assume control of the powerful French Navy and possibly launch a successful invasion of the British Isles. The documentary covers this tragic history in a thought provoking, yet fast-paced way.

"Secrets of the Dead: Churchill's Deadly Decision" will appeal to history buffs and a general audience alike. It is a well written and well executed documentary.