Combat Machines, The Desert Rats

Examining moments of engineering ingenuity which made the difference between triumph and disaster on the battlefield - beginning with World War I.

Examining the machines used by the iconic military unit "The Desert Rats" in the North African desert campaign of World War 2.

The story of one American GI and how he and his Harley motorbike became a legend.

We examine the robot that defused bombs both on foreign battlefields and British streets, and an astonishing Gulf War minelayer.

Exploring the machines that hide in the shadows, capturing, transmitting and analysing vital combat information.

Machines that would have been used had a stand-off resulted in all-out nuclear war, from the smallest tactical nuke to an experimental flying jeep.

The Vietnam War pitted technology against sheer determination, as the American forces used superior firepower, but were scuppered by North Vietnamese ingenuity.

A look at the origins of the arms race, from the first use of nuclear weapons that ended WW2 through the duration of the Cold War.