Looking back to World War II...

Wednesday night, WPT will air two programs covering different aspects of World War II.

At 7, Secrets of the Dead explores the Bridge on the River Kwai. The bridge was part of a railroad constructed by more than Allied prisoners of war for the Japanese forces. The railroad linked Thailand and Burma and would be used to deliver goods to frontline Japanese soldiers. More than 16,000 of the prisoners died in the building process. Of the railroad, which only operated for a few months, before the United States-developed AZON smart bomb was able to cripple the bridge. The bridge's construction and subsequent destruction also was the subject of the 1957 film that starred Alec Guiness.

At 8, The Blitz: London's Longest Night tells the story of an ongoing event from Sept. 1940- May 1941 that seems unthinkable in today's age. During that time, people living in London were subject to nearly nightly attacks from Nazi bombers. The film features firsthand memories from survivors of the attacks alongside archival footage. The Museum of London has a great Web site devoted to the Blitz and how it prompted millions of people in the metropolitan center only 65 years ago to work together to survive. The BBC has a collection of archived stories from people who survived the Blitz.