War Factories

The untold secret story of war production that shaped the Second World War, beginning with how the German aviation industry came to dominate the skies of Europe.

The role played by engineering giant Vickers during the Second World War, including the development of the Spitfire and how the Royal Navy recovered from losing so many warships.

Henry Fords plan, with the help of Albert Kahn, to build a giant factory in Michigan, covering 3.5million sq ft and including an aircraft production line half a mile in length.

The story of Americas `Liberty Ships, which were produced in incredible numbers and became known as the Model T Fords of the ocean.

The story of the discovery and exploitation of the Baku Oilfields in the Russian Caucasus, which forced Stalin and Hitler to face-off in the battle of Stalingrad.

While America had Ford or Chrysler or Buick, Hitler also wanted a car that would transform his nation: the peoples car - a Volkswagen.

Japan would create arguably the greatest fighter in WW2 - the Mitsubishi Zero. But their failed War Factories would ultimately reduce the Zero to a Kamikaze plane.

Long before Henry Ford, Samuel Colt was the true father of mass production. Ironically, it was the inadequacy of Soviet factory production which made the AK47 so effective.

The Spitfire, Hurricane, Lancaster and Wellington bombers, aircraft that undoubtedly won the Battle of Britain, had one thing in common, they were powered by the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine.

Ferdinand Porsche was one of the most influential engineers in Nazi Germany.

This episode looks at the the invention of the machine gun, and how weapon that changed the art of war was adopted and adapted by war factories around the world. The Maxim Gun was developed by a British based American inventor called Hiram Maxim and was the first fully automatic machine-gun. The only problem was that it weighed a whooping 136 ibs. British company Vickers aquired Maxims company and moved on the design.