Greatest Tank Battles - Episode Guide

The 1991 Gulf War's 'Battle of 73 Easting' is the most studied tank battle of modern times. This is the story of how the American 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment used superior equipment and training to overcome a blinding sandstorm and hundreds of tanks manned by Iraq's elite Republican Guard.

In 1973, Syria launches a surprise attack against Israel in the Golan Heights. This is a story of survival, where a few out-numbered tankers manage to hold off an enemy of overwhelming size in one of the greatest tank battles ever waged.

In 1942, Rommel's Desert Afrika Corps faces off against Montgomery's Eighth Army. This is the story of the climax in the struggle for North Africa, which would change the course of the Second World War.

In December 1944, German forces launch a surprise attack through the Ardennes Forest in Belgium. This is the story of the American tankers who helped defend the American line against Hitler's final gamble on the western front.

In February 1945, Canadian forces launch an attack to cross the Rhine and enter the German heartland. This is the story of the struggle for the Hochwald Gap – the final obstacle blocking the Allies, which the Germans are determined to hold at any cost.

In December 1944, an infamous SS tank force leads Hitler's final offensive in the west. This is the story of the Sixth Panzer Army's incredible breakthrough of the American line and subsequent encirclement and defeat.

On June 6, 1944, the Allies land on the northern coast of France. This is the story of the 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade as they fight their way inland against a stubborn and ruthless German defence.

By September 1944, Patton's hard-charging Third Army threatens to breech the German border. This is the story of the largest tank-vs-tank clash of the Second World War, as Hitler masses hundreds of panzers in a desperate bid to halt Patton's advance.

In the summer of 1943, Hitler launches a massive armoured offensive in an effort to regain the upper hand on the Eastern Front. This is the story of the formidable Russian defense that stalls a massive panzer onslaught on the Northern shoulder of the Kursk salient.

The Battle of Kursk comes to a climax at the Russian village of Prokhorovka on July 12, 1943. This is the story of the largest tank battle in military history, as elite SS troops face off against Russian defenders determined to stop them whatever the cost.

In 1916 the British debut a new mobile weapon, hoping to break the long bloody stalemate on the Western Front. This is the story of the first tanks and how they change the face of the modern battlefield forever

In 1950 the world is caught off guard as North Korea launches a massive armoured assault into South Korea. This is the story of the American tankers who rush to the aid of the South and the bloody battles they fight up and down the Korean Peninsula.

At the outset of WWII, the Germans pioneer a new form of mobile armoured warfare. This is the story of the famed Nazi Blitzkrieg, as thousands of panzers burst through terrain thought impassible to conquer Western Europe in a matter of weeks.

In 1967, in response to a growing threat by her Arab neighbours, Israel launches a pre-emptive strike against Egypt in the Sinai. This is the story of one of the swiftest and most dramatic victories in modern warfare.

By 1944, the Soviets have turned the tide of war in the East and are pursuing the Nazi army back through the Baltic States. This is the story of the German tankers who continue to fight and win the battles even though they cannot win the war.

By late 1942, the German offensive on the Eastern Front begins to stall and the Soviets make their stand in the city of Stalingrad. This is the story of the most infamous battle in history, as an entire German army is lost and the course of the war forever changed.

After the success of the Blitzkrieg, men across Germany flocked to the armoured corps in search of glory. This is the story of one German tanker as he comes face to face with the harsh realities of armoured warfare.

Eager to regain territory lost six years earlier, Egypt launches a surprise attack against Israel in October 1973. This is the story of the final Arab-Israeli war in the Sinai, where both sides enjoy remarkable success, suffer stunning defeat, and gain, most importantly, lasting peace.

By 1942, Rommel's Afrika Corps has been pushed back to Tunisia and the brash new US tank force lands in North Africa. This is the story of the final North African battles as two of history's most famed tank commanders - Patton and Rommel - go head to head.

In 1943, tanks of the Canadian Armoured Corps make their combat debut on the European mainland. This is the story of the Canadian tankers who fight their way up the Italian peninsula in the push to liberate Rome from Nazi occupation.

May 1944: Canadian tanks begin their final push to drive the Germans from Italy. At each step, over rugged mountains and through steep valleys, the Canadians confront Hitler's elite Panzers - at the Melfa river, on the Trasimene Line, in the formidable Gothic Line, finally battering their way into the Po Valley.

Michael Wittmann, the most decorated tank ace in history, fought at Kursk and in Normandy and in many of the greatest tank battles of all time. An officer in the notorious Waffen SS, hailed as a hero by the Nazis, Wittmann remains a focus of cult and controversy.

1965: American ground forces and Marine Corps tanks land in South Vietnam, confident that they will defeat the Communist insurgency, until they encounter the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army.

In 1944 the US 3rd Armored Division spearheads the Allied push from the western border of Germany towards Berlin. The American tankers battle fanatical Germans defending their homeland to the last, armed with the most powerful Panzers ever to take the battlefield.

1968: The Americans mobilize hundreds of tanks to help defeat Communist forces in South Vietnam. Now the Communists combine guerrilla tactics with conventional military might and send their own tanks into battle. The final struggle for Vietnam begins.

By 1942, the Japanese Empire stretched halfway across the Pacific Ocean. This is the rarely told story of the key role played by US Marine tanks in the Pacific Campaign .They fight bloody battles against fanatical Japanese forces that defend the now infamous Islands of Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.