Warfare

The World Wars were total. Entire populations were mobilised at home and away. Part of our fascination with them lies in the fact that our modern wars look entirely different. They are fought by volunteer armies with smart, modern technology. William Arkin is a bestselling author, military expert, and award-winning journalist. He is also a former intelligence analyst. William came onto the podcast...

Over one hundred years after the end of the First World War, Dr Priya Atwal and George Morton-Jackare working to shed new light on the vital role that the Indian Army held during the combat. In this episode from Dan Snow's History Hit, they share their insight into the neglected roles of these servicemen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The ‘Shining Sword’ of Bomber Command. They flew nearly 300 thousand sorties and dropped over 1 million tonnes of explosives. But of the 7,377 Avro Lancasters built, more than half were lost. To find out more about this legendary aircraft, Dan Snow was joined by veteran of the first Gulf War, John Nichol. John has since become one of our most successful aviation historians, and has written a book...

In 2018, the British city of Salisbury crashed into newspaper headlines worldwide when former Russian military officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, were poisoned with nerve agents there. This was the first time that many people had heard of these deadly, yet invisible and odourless weapons being used, but the history of nerve agents goes much further back, to the interwar period and an...

On the first day of the Somme, French forces were more successful than those of the British. In this episode, Stephanie Trouillard spoke to Dan about the way in which the Battle of the Somme - remembered in Britain as brutal and bloody - is looked upon in France. Stephanie is a journalist at France 24, specialising in sports and international history. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mor...

Many Burmese people resisted the Japanese occupation of their country in World War Two. Filmmaker Alex Bescoby has made a film celebrating those who the Empire left behind, despite the hardships they endured to serve Britain during the war. For this episode, he spoke to Dan about the people from Burma, whose fight is often overlooked. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Their name carries an aura of prestige and mystery - the British Army’s most renowned special forces unit - the best of the best. For this incredible episode, James spoke to author and filmmaker, Damien Lewis, about the story of the Special Air Service. They explore the birth of the unit, the selection of the brightest recruits, all day training in the North African desert with just one container...

Laura Doan discusses love and lesbianism during the First World War, from the way women were treated to popular reaction to lesbians in the media and elsewhere. Laura is professor of cultural history and sexuality studies at the University of Manchester. Her book, Disturbing Practices, refocusses the history of sexuality away from continuation and discontinuation, normality and abnormality. Laura...

Arthur Spencer was a navigator during World War Two, completing two tours of operations with 97 Squadron at RAF Woodhall Spa and RAF Bourn. He was awarded the Légion d’Honneur for providing air support for the Resistance in Italy. Dan met him in his house to discuss the life during the war, the hardship of losing friends and whether he feels guilt about the bombings. Photo Credit: Pictorial Press...

Harsh living and working conditions, poisonous chemicals and explosions. For 10,000 navvies, hundreds of chemists and engineers from across the empire, and 12,000 women, this was the reality of mixing the 'Devil's Porridge', cordite, in munitions factories on the Home Front. In 1915, an extreme shortage of munitions on the front line was reported back to Britain. In response Lloyd George was made...

On the night of 24 March 1944, 200 allied prisoners of war attempted to escape Stalag Luft III, a camp in Germany. 76 escaped, but 73 were recaptured and of those, 50 were killed. So was the Great Escape as great as its name suggests? Guy Walters isn't so sure. In this episode he spoke to Dan about the possibility that the mass breakout from Stalag Luft III actually helped the German war effort. H...

Professor Tim Snyder is an expert in authoritarian regimes and how they develop. As the Richard C. Levin Professor of History at Yale University, he spoke to Dan about Russia, the USA, Europe and what the lessons of the past tell us about where power lies in the world today, and how we can change that. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On 23 August 1939, German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov signed a pact in Moscow. This pact was perplexing to many at the time, and remains the subject of much discussion, mainly for the fact that it consolidated a partnership between the communist Soviet Union and the Nazis. Who was first to propose the relationship? Why did both the Soviets...

On 16–17 May 1943, Royal Airforce Squadron 617 succeeded in Operation Chastise to use bouncing bombs to breach the Möhne and Edersee dams, flooding the Ruhr valley. This very special episode was recorded for the 75th anniversary of the Dambusters raid. Dan talks to Paul Beaver, then Secretary of State for Defence Gavin Williamson MP, and Wing Commander John Butcher, from today's 617 squadron.&nbsp...

On 6 August 1945, an American B29 bomber dropped the world's first deployed atomic bomb over Hiroshima. Three days later, Nagasaki was at the receiving end of a second American A-bomb. History Hit’s Rob Weinberg met with Kevin Ruane, Professor of Modern History at Canterbury Christ Church University, to find out more. Why did America decide to hit Japan with two atomic bombs? Why were these two ci...

Espionage. The word brings to mind the Cold War - Stasi informants and surveillance bugging in East Berlin. Or today’s media promoted anxieties about Chinese infiltration. But for this episode, Calder Walton came onto the World Wars podcasts to talk about spying during the Second World War. Calder researches History that is relevant to the policy making of today’s governments and intelligence comm...

The Battle of the Somme is remembered in Britain as one of the bloodiest events of the First World War, and perhaps all time. There were over a million casualties once the battle was through. Robin Schäfer is a German military historian. He spoke to Dan about the German perspective of this momentous battle. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

They may even have helped Adolf Hitler to reach power in 1933, but at the very top of the German hierachy some brave insurgents had begun, by 1936, to recognise the danger he posed. They began to plot against him, first by hindering his war effort, and then by attempting to kill him - up to 10 plots to assassinate Hitler were mounted during his leadership. Paddy Ashdown, who lead the Liberal Democ...

Maximization of damage. That’s the purpose of the cluster bomb. These weapons, which can be traced back to the First World War, when the Kaiser would not give permission for their use, are still being dropped today. Not only that, but duds, unexploded during their deployment during the Second World War, the Vietnam War and the Gulf War still litter the earth. The cluster bomb is a paradox. A force...

The white paper of the Munich Agreement is famed as one of history's key stategic blunders. In this episode, Tim Bouverie takes Dan through the old questions about appeasement. Was it right to appease Hitler in order to buy time to re-arm? Why did Chamberlain and Halifax not take action when the Rhineland was re-occupied, or during the Anschluss of 1938, or during the occupation of the Sudetenland...

In a moment of great danger to national survival, the Royal Air Force defended the United Kingdom against large scale attacks by the Luftwaffe. So how did the Battle of Britain play out? What was Germany’s objective? And how important was it to the direction of the Second World War? To answer the big questions about this seminal moment in British history, Charlie Mills talks to Dr. Mario Draper at...

It's the common recollection of French efforts to repel German invasion. But with 100,000 troops lost in the Battle of France, how true is the depiction of the French surrendering without a fight? How else might their contribution to, and experience of, the Second World War be remembered? Were the French a weak link, willing collaborators with the Nazis, brave resistance fighters or the Allied sac...

The crucible of our modern world is commonly thought to be the 1960s, but Charles Emmerson thinks that it could be argued to have been the tumultuous years at the end of the First World War and those that followed. This was when Communism and Fascism became mainstream movements. This was when the borders of the Middle East, and Eastern Europe were drawn up and fought over. In this discussion he an...

On 10 November 1944, the Icelandic steam merchant ship SS Godafoss was hit by a German U-boat torpedo. She sank in 7 minutes, killing everybody on board. For this episode, James was joined by legendary Icelandic director, producer and presenter, Jón Ársæll. Jón made a documentary about the ship, which was carrying cargo and civilians from New York to Reykjavik, Iceland. He spoke about the conditio...

Sir Douglas Haig was a British commander during the Battle of the Somme, the Battle of Arras, the Battle of Passchendaele, the German Spring Offensive, and the final Hundred Days Offensive of the First World War. When reassessed in the 1960s his leadership was criticised for resulting in costly offensives, gaining him the nickname 'the Butcher of the Somme'. Gary Sheffield is a Professor of War St...