The evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk in 1940 is one of the iconic moments of the Second World War. The miracle of the 'little ships' plucking soldiers off the beaches is regularly played out in the popular media, including the 1958 and 2017 films 'Dunkirk'. But, this is very much the British narrative. What if we turn the tables to look at the fighting from the German perspective? Joining me once more is Robert Kershaw. Robert was last with us to discuss D-Day and the l...
Sep 09, 2022•39 min•Ep. 175
In this episode, we are looking at the closing weeks of the war in 1945. August would see the Russians enter the war with Japan, the atomic bombs dropped, and an attempted coup in Japan. The culmination of which would be the final declaration of surrender by Japan’s Emporer Hirohito on the 15th of August, followed a couple of weeks later by the formal ceremony on the USS Missouri presided over by General MacArthur. I am joined by Barrett Tillman . Barrett specializes in naval and aviation topics...
Sep 01, 2022•42 min
In this episode of the podcast, we shine a light on the naval conflict in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. This proved to be a prolonged conflict, waged at differing times against the combined forces of Italy, Germany and Vichy France over a wide area stretching from the coastal waters of Southern Europe in the north to Madagascar in the south and Africa's Atlantic coast in the west to the Persian Gulf in the east. Utilizing a variety of weapons, including surface warships, submarines, and...
Aug 15, 2022•56 min
The German offensive to capture Stalingrad began in August 1942, using Friedrich Paulus's 6th Army and elements of the 4th Panzer Army. The attack was supported by intense bombing that reduced much of the city to rubble. The battle quickly degenerated into house-to-house fighting, as both sides fought for the city on the Volga. By mid-November, the Germans were on the brink of victory as the Soviet defenders clung to a final few slivers of land along the west bank of the river. Then, on 19 Novem...
Aug 01, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 172
I've been trying to slip in an extra episode of the podcast for a while but never seem to manage it! I hope you find this interesting. Running at the Alexandra Palace Theatre this summer is Tom, Dick and Harry , a play telling the story of the great escape. I thought it might be interesting to talk about how you take a story so familiar to many of us - growing up watching endless re-runs of the film - and change that into a stage play. How do you deal with the fantastic, which is true, but on to...
Jul 19, 2022•32 min•Ep. 171
In December 1944 the Germans launched the battle of the Bulge, their last major offensive in the west. Commencing in the depths of winter, with the hope that the weather would neutralise allied air superiority, three German armies attacked through the Ardennes. We have looked at part of the Ardennes offensive before but from the American perspective. In this episode, I’m joined by Anthony Tucker-Jones and we are going to reverse the tables and look at the operation from the German point of view....
Jul 15, 2022•58 min•Ep. 170
The usual historical narrative of the U-boats during WWII usually revolves around the 'Battle of the Atlantic', and the struggle over the convoys bringing vital supplies to Britain. But the story of the U-boat war is much more complex, they went into action on the first day of hostilities with Britain and France and operated in nearly every theatre of operation in which the Wehrmacht served, and within all but the Southern Ocean. To discuss the global U-boat war I am joined by Lawrence Paterson,...
Jul 01, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 169
Operation Foxley was the name of the secret plan supported by Winston Churchill to assassinate Hitler in 1944-45. Different methods of assassination were considered, such as a sharp shooter or poisoning, through to a more elaborate plan that included hypnotism. I'm joined by Eric Lee. Eric has been with us before, in episode 130 , to discuss the Georgian uprising against the Germans on the Dutch island of Texel at the end of the war. His new book is Britain's Plot to Kill Hitler: The True Story ...
Jun 15, 2022•40 min•Ep. 168
In episode 158 , I talked to Henry Sledge about his father's experiences with the US Marines in the Pacific, which led me to rewatch the 2010 TV miniseries The Pacific . The show revolves around three lead characters, Eugene Sledge, Robert Leckie and John Basilone. Basilone received the Medal of Honor for heroism above and beyond the call of duty during the Battle for Henderson Field in the Guadalcanal Campaign and would go on to be posthumously awarded the Navy Cross. In this episode, I am join...
Jun 01, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 167
Rodolfo Graziani, Marshal of Italy, Viceroy of Ethiopia and one of Mussolini's most valued generals remains to this day a divisive figure in his homeland. Revered by some Italians as a patriot and vilified by others as a murderer. From the allied perspective, he was the Italian general whose troops surrendered en masse to the British during operation Compass, which almost knocked the Italians out of North Africa in 1941. But what is the true story of Rodolfo Graziani? Today I am joined by James ...
May 15, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 166
In 1940 the British Purchasing Commission approached North American Aviation (NAA) to build under license Curtis P-40 fighters. NAA suggested that rather than produce an old design they proposed a new design, this would become the P-51 Mustang. When fitted with the Roll-Royce Merlin engine, the Mustang would be one of the most important fighters of the war. With its ability to carry tremendous amounts of fuel, the plane was able to fly deep into Europe providing fighter escort for the bomber gro...
May 01, 2022•42 min•Ep. 165
On September 1, 1939, the day World War II broke out in Europe, Gen. George Marshall was sworn in as chief of staff of the U.S. Army. Ten months later, Roosevelt appointed Henry Stimson secretary of war. For the next five years, from adjoining offices in the Pentagon, Marshall and Stimson headed the army machine that ground down the Axis. In this episode, we’re going to be discussing the relationship between the two men as they negotiated the war. Joining me is Edward Farley Aldrich author of Th...
Apr 15, 2022•55 min•Ep. 164
The expansion of British industry to cater for war production began to be put in place in the 1930s. But still with the outbreak of war Britain needed to stretch every sinew to harness, coordinate and maximise its resources. Firstly to defend itself and then to help liberate Axis-occupied countries. In this episode, I'm joined by Neil Storey. Neil is an award-winning social historian and lecturer specialising in the impact of war on twentieth-century society. His new book is Wartime Industry . P...
Apr 01, 2022•52 min•Ep. 160
Tobruk was one of the greatest Allied victories – and one of the worst Allied defeats – of the Second World War. Almost from the start of producing the podcast I’ve wanted to do an episode looking at Tobruk. I think it probably first gets a mention in episode 11 when we looked at Richard O’Connor, since then the town has come up in numerous episodes. I'm joined by David Mitchellhill Green David is the author of Tobruk: Rommel and the Battles Leading to his greatest victory . It is a fascinating ...
Mar 15, 2022•52 min•Ep. 162
We are back in the Pacific, this time looking at the air war primarily over Guadalcanal. US Marine aviators landed on the island shortly after the Marine ground forces. As Japanese troops held out on Guadalcanal, the skies over the island were heavily contested. In this episode, we are focusing on the top-scoring marine pilots over Guadalcanal. Joining me is aviation historian Bill Yenne. Bill Yenne is the author of more than three dozen books on historical topics and has contributed to encyclop...
Mar 01, 2022•48 min•Ep. 161
At the end WWII 473 men had been honoured by the United States for their bravery and sacrifice by receiving the Medal of Honor. The Medal was awarded to men of all ranks - from Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright at the top all the way down to 18-year-old Private Joseph Merrell. Although 1 million African Americans served in the military during the war, not one was awarded the Medal of Honor, this being despite some extraordinary acts of valour. In 1993 a US Army commission reviewed cases fro...
Feb 15, 2022•57 min•Ep. 160
When we think of the allied war effort it is all too easy to overlook some of the junior partners. In this episode, we are going to be looking at Mexico’s commitment to the Second World War. The Mexican Expeditionary Airforce would serve in the Philippines as the 201st Fighter Squadron known as the ‘Aztec Eagles’. I’m Joined by Walter Zapotoczny whose new book is The Aztec Eagles: The Forgotten Allies of the Second World War . Patreon: Patreon.com/ww2podcast...
Feb 01, 2022•35 min•Ep. 159
In September 1944 a young Marine name Eugene Sledge landed on the Pacific Island of Peleliu. As a mortarman, stretcher-bearer and rifleman Sledge would fight his way across Peleliu then the Japanese island of Okinawa, arguably two of the fiercest and filthiest battles of the Pacific campaign. After the war, Eugene Sledge became a professor at Montevallo University and turned his diary notes from the war into a memoir of his experiences titled With the Old Breed . The book relates the dehumanisin...
Jan 15, 2022•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 158
George S Patton Junior starred as an Olympic athlete in the 1912 Stockholm games. In 1916 under John J. Pershing Patton joined the Mexican Expedition against the paramilitary forces of Mexican revolutionary Francisco "Pancho" Villa. When the US entered the First World War Patton joined the new Tank Corps and commanded the U.S. tank school in France. Leading tanks into combat he would be wounded near the end of the war. But Patton is best remembered for his exploits on the battlefields of WWII, a...
Jan 01, 2022•54 min•Ep. 157
From his earliest days, Winston Churchill was a risk-taker. As a young Lieutenant in the army he charged with the cavalry at the battle of Omdurman, he saw action on the North-West Frontier and took a trip to Cuba to observe the war there. As a journalist, he covered the Boer War putting himself in harm’s way on numerous occasions. Aged 25 he entered the house of commons and held many of the great offices of state including First Lord of the Admiralty at the outbreak of the First World War, then...
Dec 15, 2021•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 156
7th December 2021 marks the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the United States of America into the Second World War. On the morning of 7th December 1941, just before 8am the Japanese launched their attack on the US naval base of Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Japanese planned the attack as a first strike to cripple the US fleet in the Pacific and prevent America from intervening in other Japanese Pacific Operations. From six Imperial Japanese Aircraft carriers, ...
Dec 01, 2021•45 min•Ep. 155
In this episode we are discussing chemical weapons. It might seem like an odd topic, unlike the First World War which saw the deployment of gas, chemical weapons were not used on the battlefield of Europe in WWII. But there was a fear of them being used; everyone carried a gas mask and the belligerent nations had huge chemical weapons industries working throughout the war. I’m Joined by Brett Edwards . Brett is a senior lecture at Bath University, he is also the host of the poisons and pestilenc...
Nov 15, 2021•54 min•Ep. 154
One lesson the allies learned from the fall of France in 1940 was that civilian populations needed managing, to keep them away from military operations. As the allied troops came-a-shore after D-Day in June 1944, with them would be Civil Affairs units. These units were to act as liaisons between the allied combat troops and the civilians they encountered. The remit for the Civil Affairs units was wide and extremely varied, from keeping roads clear of refugees to feeding and housing local populat...
Nov 01, 2021•55 min•Ep. 153
Before the outbreak of war, the US Navy and the Marines had put considerable effort into developing a doctrine to support amphibious operations from ship to shore gunfire. When the marines landed on Tarawa in November 1943, it would be the first serious test of this doctrine. In this episode, I’m joined by Donald Mitchener to discuss the doctrine and how it developed from those initial assault landings on Tarawa through to the end of the war. Donald is a lecturer at the University of North Texas...
Oct 15, 2021•53 min•Ep. 152
I’ve an incredible story for you in this episode of Shanghai born John Robin Greaves, ‘Jack’, who emigrated to Australia in 1939 and volunteered for the Australian Imperial Force to serve overseas. The army would send Jack to the Middle East then to Greece, where he would be captured Germans. Australian ABC journalist Stephen Hucheon has researched his uncle’s story and produced a fantastic article for ABC available on their website. You can find the full article here : https://www.abc.net.au/ne...
Oct 01, 2021•47 min•Ep. 151
I recently read David Colley’s The Folly of Generals: How Eisenhower's Broad Front Strategy Lengthened World War II . David has analysed some of the missed opportunities the allies had in 1944-45 in Europe. He argues that had Eisenhower been more adept at taking advantage of several potential breakthroughs in the Siegfried Line in the autmun of 1944 the war in the European Theatre of Operations might have ended sooner. It was such a fascinating read, so I thought I’d get David onto the podcast t...
Sep 15, 2021•39 min•Ep. 150
Since starting the podcast, I’ve looked at the aspects of the war from the point of view of various countries. But, one glaring omission has been any Australian narrative of the war. The Australians fought across the world on the land, sea and in the air air; notably in the Pacific and the Middle East, which is what we’ll be discussing in this episode. With the fall of France, her overseas territories predominantly remained loyal to the French Vichy regime. This was true for Syria and Lebanon. T...
Sep 01, 2021•55 min•Ep. 149
As the course of the second world war turned against the Third Reich some radical proposals and inventive designs, were put forward by armaments manufacturers, scientists, technicians, aircrew and even private individuals to the German Air Ministry for consideration as weapons to be utilised by the Luftwaffe . Some proposals were destined never to leave the drawing board, while others not only underwent trials but were issued to operational units and used in action. In the episode I’m joined by ...
Aug 15, 2021•46 min•Ep. 148
Buoyed by their victories over Poland and France, on the 22 June 1941 the Germans launched Operation Barbarossa, and over 3 millions men advanced over the border to attack Russia. The opening of the Eastern Front would be one of Hilter’s most momentous decisions of WWII. Having only signed a nonaggression pact with German in 1939, Stalin was taken by surprise. The opening weeks of the offensive were wildly successful for the Germans, but as the Panzer formations rapidly advanced the infantry str...
Aug 01, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 147
In Britain, after the fall of France, there was the fear that the Germans may attempt a channel crossing and invade in 1940. If the Wehrmacht got shore in the south of England, facing them would have been a series of ‘Stop Lines’. These were defensives which comprised a series of pillboxes and anti-tank obstacles. They hoped these static defences would hold up any German advance long enough for the British to bring forward a mobile reserve. During WWII this network of fortifications was spread a...
Jul 15, 2021•47 min•Ep. 146
