In the late hours of hours of June 5th, 1944 six Horsa gliders, towed by Halifax bombers made their way across the channel.  Inside the lead glider, codenamed Chalk 91, sat 30 men readying themselves for one of the most daring missions of D-Day. Little did the men realise that the next 24 hours would turn into a desperate battle for survival, as they became surrounded, deep behind enemy lines attacked by tanks, snipers and the full might of the Nazi army.  Sadly, some would never see home...

In the late hours of hours of June 5th, 1944 six Horsa gliders, towed by Halifax bombers made their way across the channel.  Inside the lead glider, codenamed Chalk 91, sat 30 men readying themselves for one of the most daring missions of D-Day. Little did the men realise that the next 24 hours would turn into a desperate battle for survival, as they became surrounded, deep behind enemy lines attacked by tanks, snipers and the full might of the Nazi army.  Sadly, some would never see home...

On the 9th of October, 1943, one of the bloodiest air battles of the war was unfolding over German skies.  Over 300 hundred fighters were attacking the Flying Fortresses of the American 1st air division, who were on a daylight bombing raid to Anklam, East Germany. The dog fighting was savage, the Germans relentless.  The men on the bombers who flew that day were seasoned war fighters and those that returned said they had never experienced anything like it. It was one of the first times the...

Amazing War Stories: Extra Ammo is the supporting VODCAST of the Amazing War Stories Podcast - click the link in the show notes to watch the video version. In each of these new episodes, hosts Ed Sayer and Bruce Crompton talk about military heroes and examine rare military artefacts. In this pilot episode, we tell the 'origin' story of Bruce, how he got into military collecting and talk about some of his rarer pieces - including the famous original helmet from the movie Full Metal Jacket,...

On a moonlit night of 28th August 1944 an American Sherman M4A1-76 tank sat on a hillside watching the approaching train in the valley below. Sitting on top was a sergeant, Lafayette G Pool. There was nothing normal about this soldier however, he was the US Army’s most feared tank commander and by the end of his service he had clocked over a dozen enemy tank kills. The war film Fury is a movie like no other - directed by David Ayer it follows the exploits of a tank commander called Don “War...

In the early hours of the 15th May 1982 three SeaKing helicopters lifted off the British aircraft carrier HMS Hermes in complete darkness. On board were 42 soldiers of the Special Air Service - their destination, an enemy airfield whose position threatened the entire British landing force. The stakes were high. If the assault failed, the British could not only lose nearly half its special forces soldiers in one go but an Argentinian strike from the airbase could lead to the failure of the...

On the 29th August 1942 a soldier of the Australian Maroubra Force placed his hand on the bipod of his Bren gun, the barrel was still too hot to hold and loaded a fresh magazine. The enemy, only yards away, were crashing through the jungle towards them. The Australian Force were massively outnumbered, exhausted and disease ridden - they knew they were staring defeat in the face. No Allied army had yet beaten the fearsome Imperial soldiers of the Japanese Army in battle. But that would soon...

On the morning of June 10th, 1942 six armed men in three rubber dinghies filled with explosives, paddled ashore to a small beach near Malia, Crete. Their mission - to destroy as many planes as possible at the Luftwaffe Airbase at Heraklion. But already, the operation wasn’t going to plan. They had landed in the wrong location and the occupied island was not only crawling with German soldiers but also Nazi spies the allies called Quislings.  This is the remarkable true story of the SAS’s first...

On the night of 6th June 1944 at 4:50 am, an army medic jeep pulling a small two wheeled trailer, careened through the little French town of Troarn. It was under blistering attack from a garrison of Panzergrenadiers that had set up their headquarters there. But on board the jeep there were no medical supplies, or indeed, medics. All had been replaced by 7 parachute engineers with half a ton of explosives. They’re objective, to blow a bridge that was a crucial crossing for a german...

Produced in glorious 3D audio, Bruce Crompton tells amazing true war stories taken from museum collections in order to help safeguard the nation's historical treasures before they are lost from the public forever. For the ultimate, immersive experience please wear headphones. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former Special Forces Operative (and star of Channel 4's SAS Who Dares Wins) Jason Fox joins Bruce along with Royal Marines Colonel Nik Cavill to tell the story of this remarkable Commando Raid that started on Boxing Day 1941 Summary On the 27th December, 1941, in a small island town in the north Norwegian fjords, a German soldier crunched through the snow back to his barracks. All was calm apart from the sounds of Christmas songs still emanating from some of the bars and houses.   Suddenly,...

On June 6th 1944 a band of US Army Rangers undertook one of the second world war’s most daring missions. Ahead of the main D Day landings, under ferocious fire, they had to land on an exposed beach, scale a 100ft cliff before attacking a well armed and heavily defended German force. Against overwhelming numbers their mission was to silence the huge artillery guns that would target the invading Allied Armies that were about to land on D Day. But we can now reveal a secret about this famous...

On the night of the 10th November 1941 two submarines stealthily left the harbour at Alexandria and headed for Northern Libya. On board were 53 Commandos and 6 Special Boat Service operatives. Underway was one of the most audacious missions of the entire Second World War - a secret attempt to assassinate Hitler’s top General - Erwin Rommel. If they succeeded, it could alter the course of the entire conflict. To find out more about this initiative visit amazingwarstories.com Have a story to...

When legendary footballer Walter Tull joins the army in the First World War he becomes the first black British officer to lead white men into battle and is mentioned in dispatches for a dangerous raid in Italy. He suffers shell shock, trench fever, is gassed, faces flame throwers and finally German stormtroopers in the battle of the Somme. In this special episode to mark Remembrance Sunday Historian Andy Robertshaw reveals an astonishing discovery - the potential resting place of Walter Tull,...

On the freezing night of December 20th 1944 men of the US 82nd Airborne, 504 Parachute Infantry Regiment fought head-on with a deadly SS Panzer Group that vastly outgunned them. This little known battle, which raged for nearly 2 days, would prove to be a pivotal turning point in the Second World War. This is the story of just 5 soldiers from a company of over 100 men, all of them heroes, all of them prepared to pay the ultimate sacrifice. To find out more about this initiative visit...

In almost complete darkness, on the 27th February 1942, 120 men from the newly formed Parachute Regiment, went on a bold mission - to steal technology from a new German Radar installation that was causing heavy losses on Allied aircraft. This is the true story of 7 of the men who took part in that sensational operation. Sadly, not all of them would make it out unharmed- Let us know what you think of this week's episode- use #AmazingWarStories to join the conversation To find out more about...

On the cold evening of the 20th of December 1943 over 650 Allied planes took off from their bases in England and headed for Frankfurt on what they hoped would be a decisive blow against Nazi Germany. But for one crew in particular this sortie would become a desperate fight for survival from which not all of them would return. This is the remarkable true story of the 7 men assigned to Lancaster bomber MG-A JB652.  To find out more about this initiative visit amazingwarstories.com Have a story...

Produced in glorious 3D audio, Bruce Crompton tells amazing true war stories taken from museum collections in order to help safeguard the nation's historical treasures before they are lost from the public forever. For the ultimate, immersive experience please wear headphones. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices