The WW2 Podcast

I've been planning to look at some individual soldiers stories for some time, the first was going to be the story of a Green Howard who fought through from D-Day until the end of the war. As his story is similar to my great uncles everyone in my family was interested and the book has gone on it's travels passed from my mother to my sister to my brother…  As of typing I haven't got it back... In th...

In this episode we're looking at a topic we touched up on in way back in episode 06 when we looked at the OSS.  We're looking at the OSS station chief in Bern, Switzerland, Allen Dulles and his connections with the German resistance during the WWII. Dulles incredibly was approached by a number of Germans unhappy with the Nazi regime who fed him information from 1943 onward. I'm joined by Scott Mil...

Once the Allies had crossed the English Channel on D-Day the next large natural barrier would be the crossing of the Rhine into Germany. Toward the end of 1944 the fighting had been hard, the Americans had slogged through the Hürtgen Forest, everyone had reeled against the German counter attack in the Ardennes. The Rhine is a perfect natural border, the crossing of which would be symbolically cros...

In 1943 the Allies made their first mass use of Airborne troops in support of the landings on Sicily. By this time the Germans had already ruled out any further mass use of the airborne  Fallschirmjäger  after Crete, though a huge success the price paid was costly.   I'm joined by Lieutenant Colonel Joe Buccino of the 82nd Airborne, to discuss how those initial landings went.   Joe is a currently...

In this episode we'll looking at how Britain found the manpower to fight the war. By the end at least four and a half million had served from Britain, if we add to that figure Empire and Commonwealth forces we're looking it perhaps upwards of ten million. Its an astounding figure…. I'm joined by Roger Broad. Rogers New book Volunteers and Pressed Men looks at recruitment during both the First and...

In this episode I'm talking to Edward Hooton and we're looking at the air war over the Eastern Front, a topic I'm not familiar with. From my own point of view it's always been overshadowed by the ground war. Edward has written a number of books on aviation history during WWII. His latest book "

In this episode we're looking at the plight of those Jews fleeing Poland who headed east into Russia after the German invasion of 1939. It's a story I wasn't at all familiar with. I'm joined by Annette Libeskind Berkovits. Annettes father Nachman fled the Polish City of Lodz, he had an incredible life… She tells his story in the most remarkable book I think I've read in a long time, " In the Unlik...

With the holiday season upon us I've a festive episode for you.  The US 28th Infantry Division landed in France in July of 1944. After fighting through the Bocage and taking part in the parade through Paris to mark its liberation they were sent to the Hürtgen Forest. Badly shot up they we're withdrawn and sent to a small town in Luxembourg called Wiltz. To tell the story of the American St Nick I'...

We're looking at the Operation Sea Lion, the German invasion plan for Britain in the latest podcast. I'm joined by Robert Forczyk.  Robert is a prolific author and military historian. His latest book " We march against England: Operation Sea Lion 1940/41 " is a fresh look at the German plans to invade Britain and what they might have faced.

In this episode we're looking at women in the secret services, SOE and OSS during WWII. Women played a crucial role a number operating in the field as agents. In occupied countries it was easier for them to blend in than young men of military age. I'm joined by Greg Lewis. With Gordon Thomas he is the author of   Shadow Warriors: Daring Missions of World War II by Women of the OSS and SOE .   Don'...

In 1943 a lone B-17 Bomber set off on a solo reconnaissance mission, it was to be a 1200 mile round trip. Passing within range of Japanese airbases they were swarmed by Zero fighters... It would be only plane of the war where two of the personal would win the Medal of Honor . I'm joined by Bob Drury, co-author of Lucky 666: The Impossible Mission .

In this episode I'm talking to Nicholas O'Shaughnessy. Nicholas is is currently Visiting Professor in the Centre for Strategic Communication at King's College London. His new book Selling Hitler examines the Nazi's use of propaganda and argues Hitler was one of the few politicians who understood that persuasion was everything and was the central to creating an all encompassing strategy...

In this episode I'm joined by Matt Dearden and we're looking at the iconic WWII Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina flying boat. We look at both the history of he plane, and how it flies! Matt is a co-ownder of Miss Pick Up and a qualified pilot. You can find more information on the plane here .

I'd seen the 1975 film Operation Daybreak and was aware of the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, but what I wasn't aware of was the utter destruction of the village of Lidice as an act of vengeance and how the Staffordshire miners helped with the rebuilding of the village after the war. That was until Russell Phillips shot me an email. Russell's book is A Ray of Light: Reinhard Heydrich, Lidice...

We're in North Africa in this episode of the podcast. The War in the desert was full of ups and downs for both Axis and Allies. In January 1941 Tobruk fell to the Allies. With the arrival of Rommel the Allies were forced back and Tobruk held out under siege for seven months, depriving the Axis of a vital supply port, before being relieved as the Allies once more swept forward. Only for it to fall...

In this episode I'm looking at Douglas MacArthur with Walter Borneman. MacArthur is one of those personalities that war throws up which I find hard to pin down. They have a big personalities and seemingly a huge confidence within themselves that overrides everything else (another two examples for me would be Monty and Patton). The media generated about them at the time seems to put them on a pedes...

I've a bit of a different episode for you. In our look at the Stug I talked to Jon Phillips who was close to completing his two year restoration of his Stug III.  The deadline for getting the engine in and running was the Yorkshire Wartime Experience where he'd committed to bringing the Stug along. Knowing Jon was going to be there I took myself down to see how he'd got on. After speaking to Jon I...

In this episode we're looking at the peculiar situation the Republic of Ireland, Eire, found itself during the second world war. Along with countries such as Sweden, Switzerland and Spain, Eire trod the difficult path of remaining neutral. With all that entailed one question that needed to be dealt with was what to do with those servicemen from the belligerent nations who found themselves in Irela...

In december last year we looked at how Churchill in 1940 kept Britain in the war. In this episode we're crossing the pond to look at Roosevelt and America in 1940/41. At the outbreak of war in Europe the majority of the American people did not want to commit troops to another European war. When much of continental Europe fell under Nazi tyranny and Britain looked over the white cliffs at Dover to...

Have you ever wondered where to find surviving WWII tanks? Craig Moore's  tank-hunter.com  is a invaluable resource in tracking them down. What could be better than a summer holiday roaming Europe ticking tanks off your tank-spotter list!  Craig also writes for tanks-encyclopedia.com .

In this episode we're in the Pacific in 1943 looking at the exploits of Lieutenant Hugh Miller. After his ship the  USS Strong  is sunk he washes up on a Pacific island terribly injured. It's is a remarkable story of survival, and a one man war against the Japanese after being sunk  I'm joined by  Stephen Harding . Stephen is long time journalist specialising in military affairs, he's written a nu...

In this episode we're looking at the attempts to disrupt and destroy Germany's access to heavy water, which was essential for their atomic research. If that sounds familiar that could be because you've seen the film "The Heroes of Telemark" or watched one of the many documentaries on the operations against the Norsk Hydro plant at Vemork. I talk to Neal Bascomb, his new book "Winter Fortress" is p...

In this episode we're look at Nazi war criminals and those that tracked them down. I'm joined by Andrew Nagorski. Andrew is an award winning journalist who for three decades served as a foreign correspondent, and editor for Newsweek.  He has written a number of books focusing on the Second World War and his latest is The Nazi Hunters (if you're in the UK the title is In Pursuit) . As the war close...

It's a little known fact that during the second world war drugs were issued to those men on active service on a monumental scale, hundreds of millions of pills were produced. The drug of choice was amphetamines, stimulants used to help push troops beyond there not made endurance and keeping pilots alert on long missions. In this episode of the show I'm talking to Lukasz Kamienski. Lukasz is Associ...

In today's episode we're looking at the De Havilland Mosquito. It was fast, extremely versatile and made from wood, affectionately referred to as the "Mossie". Over 7,000 were built, yet only two remain flying today. I'm joined by John Lilly, Ross Sharp and Nick Horrox. They are from the People's Mosquito, a project aiming to get another "Mossie" flying. John is the Chairman and Managing Director,...