War Factories

In 1932 The German aviation industry produced a mere 36 planes and employed only 3,200 people, yet in just a few short years it will go on to create the largest and most formidable air force the world had ever seen. At its height it would employ 3 million workers, produce tens of thousands of aircraft and represent over half of total German war production. So how did this fledgling industry come to dominate the skies of Europe… and then how did it all go so wrong?

The Krupp company were responsible for the manufacture of two of Germany's most feared war products: the Panzer Tank and the U-boat. The fall of this historic and powerful armaments manufacture is as amazing as its early triumphs and Krupp will end the war being described in Nuremberg as the modest sadistic of all the Nazi industrialists.

At the start of World War II, Hitler relied on three ‘superweapons' to dominate the sea, the sky and the land: his U-Boats, his Stuka dive-bombers and his Panzer tanks. The company that can perhaps lay claim to doing much to defeat all three, was Britain's engineering giant Vickers-Armstrong. Guns, tanks, submarines, and then then the fighter plane that became known as the Spitfire - Vickers-Armstrong was one of the most important manufacturers in the world.

During World War 2, the Americans put their skills and knowledge to turn their infant army supplies into mass production which dwarfed the rest of the world's.

America is completely underprepared for aircraft warfare when war breaks out. The Luftwaffe has almost a decade on them in preparation time. Henry Ford sets out with the help of Albert Kahn, to build a giant new factory in Michigan. And it is the largest factory the world has ever seen.

When the Nazis take France, they are desperate to use the giant Peugeot factories to build up their war machine. France has some of the best industry in all of Europe. Its car manufacturers – Peugeot, Citroen, Renault – have gone further than any other European company in the race to achieve mass production. The France that the Nazis occupy is rich with gold, infrastructure and talent. The Nazis waste no time in looting it, and trying to forcibly attach these assets to its cause.

The story of America's 'Liberty Ships', which were produced in incredible numbers and became known as the Model T Fords of the ocean.