WW2 Pod: We Have Ways of Making You Talk

One of the enduring myths arising from the war is that the extreme violence in the east was carried out by the Waffen SS, not the Wehrmacht.  Historian and former US serviceman Waitman Wade Beorn tells Al Murray and James Holland about the atrocities committed by Wehrmacht soldiers on the Eastern Front. Waitman discusses their crimes and what psychological factors create extreme levels of violence...

Merry Christmas from We Have Ways of Making You Talk. Over the next 12 days Al and James are reading extracts from some of their favourite books about the Second World War. Today Al is reading from Arnhem Lift, by Louis Hagen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Merry Christmas from We Have Ways of Making You Talk. Over the next 12 days Al and James are reading extracts from some of their favourite books about the Second World War. Today James is reading an extract from Anthony Cotterell’s war reporting. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Merry Christmas from We Have Ways of Making You Talk. Over the next 12 days Al and James are reading extracts from some of their favourite books about the Second World War. Today Al is reading from Chindit, by Richard Rhodes James. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Merry Christmas from We Have Ways of Making You Talk. Over the next 12 days Al and James are reading extracts from some of their favourite books about the Second World War. Today James is reading an extract from Anthony Cotterell’s war reporting. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Intelligence expert Taylor Downing argues that photo reconnaissance of occupied Europe should be at the forefront of all discussions about intelligence during the Second World War.  He describes in detail the incredible process of how photos were taken, developed, and analysed to discover German military plans - and how this helped find the Bismark.  We Have Ways has a membership club which includ...

James Holland explains the challenges of researching the events of D Day for his new book about the Sherwood Rangers. Al Murray discusses the difficulty of relying on the memories of men caught up in dangerous events. We Have Ways has a membership club which includes a live version of the podcast streamed on the internet each Thursday evening. There are also five free audiobooks on the site. Join...

Al Murray and James Holland discuss the plight and treatment of our nuclear test veterans of the 1940s and 50s. They are joined by campaigning journalist Susie Boniface to discuss the government's mistreatment of the veterans and the litany of illnesses and deformities that ruin their lives today. We Have Ways has a membership club which includes a live version of the podcast streamed on the inter...

Why did Hess fly to Scotland and on whose authority? What was his role in the Reich and was his sentence fair? James Holland and Al Murray also discuss the role of the Gurkhas in the Second World War.  We Have Ways has a membership club which includes a live version of the podcast streamed on the internet each Thursday evening. There are also five free audiobooks on the site. Join at Patreon.com/w...

Between November 1943 and October 1944 Charles Owen DSO DFC flew 55 missions as part of Bomber Command. His extraordinary hand written diary describes these sorties in brilliant detail. Al Murray reads extracts here. With many thanks to his son, Oliver Owen. We Have Ways has a membership club which includes a live version of the podcast streamed on the internet each Thursday evening. There are als...

James Holland and Al Murray reopen the debate about the relative merits of Allied and Axis soldiers. Plus was there ever the possibility of the American, British and Canadian forces swapping beaches in Normandy? We Have Ways has a membership club which includes a live version of the podcast streamed on the internet each Thursday evening. There are also five free audiobooks on the site. Join at Pat...

Part two of our conversation with aviation writer Roland White, as he explains the challenges of flying off carriers in the South Atlantic. Roland tells Al Murray and James Holland about the role played by birds around the islands and he describes the difficult relationship between the RAF and the Navy. We Have Ways has a membership club which includes a live version of the podcast streamed on the...

How did the German forces shape up when it came to training? James Holland and Al Murray explore both myth and reality. Plus the boys head to the western desert to examine the Battle of Knightsbridge. We Have Ways has a membership club which includes a live version of the podcast streamed on the internet each Thursday evening. A new audiobook offering a Canadian soldier’s view of the battle in Ita...

Close friend of the podcast, historian Joe Ricci, joins Al and James during our Thanksgiving Specials to talk about the unsung heroes of the American War Effort - the US Coastguard. Joe Ricci runs his own history podcast 'Home Brew History'. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nicholas Moran is one of the world leading experts in tank warfare during the Second World War. He joins Al and James to reveal what he thinks to be the best tank used during the war. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bob Persichitti was a radio operator on the USS El Dorado during the Second World War. He was present at Okinawa and the invasion of Iwo Jima. James Holland interviews him as part of our Thanksgiving Specials. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Human Rights Lawyer and historian Michel Paradis talks to Al and James about his book 'Last Mission To Tokyo'. The thrilling war story-meets-courtroom-drama focuses on the Doolittle Raiders in Tokyo and attempts to try the Japanese for war crimes committed throughout the Second World War.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastc...

James Holland speaks to US historian Paul Dickson, writer of 'The Rise of the G.I. Army', about how the American Army was mobilized from scattered outposts two years before Pearl Harbor into the disciplined and mobile fighting force that helped win World War II. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Al and James interview Battle of the Bulge veteran Tom Lacey as part of We Have Ways' Thanksgiving Specials. Tom Lacey was fascinated with aeronautics as a young boy, so naturally, he wanted to be trained to become a pilot. Instead, he was assigned to the Army Infantry and volunteered to take a radioman post. Barraged by German artillery, with radio connection completely lost, Lacey later realised...

In the first of our Thanksgiving Specials, Al and James are joined by historian and weapons expert Marty Morgan. Marty talks about his experiences leading tours in Normandy and working with hit video game franchise Call of Duty as their historical advisor. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this rare foray away from the Second World War Al Murray and James Holland are joined by aviation writer Rowland White to discuss the role of the Harrier 809 in the Falklands War. How challenging was it to fly the legendary Harrier Jump Jet and what did the Argentinian pilots make of the battle? We Have Ways has a membership club which includes a live version of the podcast streamed on the inte...

TV presenter and radio host Dermot O’Leary joins Al and James to discuss his passion for Second World War history. The Battle of Britain and the Battle of the Atlantic are two of Dermot’s particular interests, along with a fascination for Norway’s role in the war thanks to his wife’s Norwegian upbringing. A Goalhanger Films production Produced by Joey McCarthy Exec Producer Tony Pastor Twitter: #W...

We Have Ways of Making You Talk receives a fabulous array of messages via email, Twitter and on our members’ site. None more extraordinary than the missive that arrived this week from the Cook Islands. It starts our discussion in today’s pod. We Have Ways has a membership club which includes a live version of the podcast streamed on the internet each Thursday evening. There are also five free audi...

How great a contribution did Monty make in North Africa? And were the actions of the Heroes of Telemark vital to the effort to deny Hitler the atomic bomb? Al Murray and James Holland meander wildly in this entirely non linear approach the the Second World War. We Have Ways has a membership club which includes a live version of the podcast streamed on the internet each Thursday evening. There are...

Small cemeteries in faraway lands, individual stories of heartbreaking tenderness, parents paying for inscriptions on graves they will never see. Al Murray and James Holland are joined by Glyn Prysor, former historian of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission for a moving episode of We Have Ways of Making You Talk. The podcast ends with a short reading from each of Al Murray and James Holland, fol...