I haven't seen any other episodes yet but this appears to be a fine documentary, with Michael Redgrave's sonorous narration sounding like Peter O'Toole with a slight sinus condition.
It's rather a shock to hear from so many participants in the war. They were not only still alive in 1964 but many look no more than middle-aged.
This particular episode outlines Germany's widespread colonial empire. Like all other outposts it depended entirely on coal-fueled ships for supplies and personnel. One by one, the British eliminated the coaling stations in the Pacific and Africa.
But in the course of doing so, and in other engagements, certain weaknesses of the British Navy were exposed. The episode doesn't get into them in detail. I imagine they'll be explained elsewhere. But they included a lack of understanding of undersea warfare -- U-boats and mines -- and failures in signaling and gunnery, which were to be paid for later in the Battle of Jutland (not mentioned here).
The comparison with Jonathan Lewis's later "The First World War" is inevitable, I guess, but I won't do anything about it here because the sample is too small. So far, my impression is that Lewis' emphasis leans a bit more -- barely discernible -- to the geopolitical and less to the tactical.
It's rather a shock to hear from so many participants in the war. They were not only still alive in 1964 but many look no more than middle-aged.
This particular episode outlines Germany's widespread colonial empire. Like all other outposts it depended entirely on coal-fueled ships for supplies and personnel. One by one, the British eliminated the coaling stations in the Pacific and Africa.
But in the course of doing so, and in other engagements, certain weaknesses of the British Navy were exposed. The episode doesn't get into them in detail. I imagine they'll be explained elsewhere. But they included a lack of understanding of undersea warfare -- U-boats and mines -- and failures in signaling and gunnery, which were to be paid for later in the Battle of Jutland (not mentioned here).
The comparison with Jonathan Lewis's later "The First World War" is inevitable, I guess, but I won't do anything about it here because the sample is too small. So far, my impression is that Lewis' emphasis leans a bit more -- barely discernible -- to the geopolitical and less to the tactical.