This is the extraordinary and compelling story of the world’s first suicide bombers. The kamikazes were Japanese pilots who made the ultimate sacrifice: to carry a new and incomprehensible weapon of war; a final mission that would result in certain death; to dive and crash into enemy ships.

Sixty years ago, with the Second World War entering its final stages, Japan faced total ruin and total defeat. As the Allies crept ever closer to the Japanese mainland, an increasingly desperate Japanese High Command sought desperate measures. Surviving kamikaze pilots and families of those who died reveal how military leaders, Japan’s increasingly desperate situation, and their country’s proud history each played a part in persuading men to sign up for certain death. The tactic permeated the nation’s conscience as an entire generation prepared for kamikaze attack should their homeland fall into enemy hands.

By the summer of 1945, 1,900 kamikaze pilots had been sacrificed to sink 27 Allied warships. Fewer than two out every 100 pilots put one ship out of action. Over 3,000 Allied naval men perished in kamikaze attacks. Interviews with surviving American and British sailors reveal the horror of facing the daily suicide tactic for the first time. Original US archive colour film shows the deadly dives made by the pilots into Allied vessels and the horrific aftermath of the attacks on the ship and crew. Japanese footage and drama sequences also reveal how the pilots trained for their final mission and prepared for death.

Monday 18 February 2008 9PM, Channel 4