Few wives of prominent men are more than a footnote in many histories, but they were often central to their husbands' lives. The classic well-known example is the relationship between the wartime British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his wife Clementine (see episode 116). For months I've been sitting on Stefanie van Steelandt's biography of Mrs Patton, Lady of the Army: The Life of Mrs George S Patton. Following my look at George Patton in the last episode, I thought it was the...

If you cast your memory back to episode 157, Kevin Hymel joined me. We discussed General Patton from the campaigns in Mediteranean in 1942 to just before his activation as commander of third army in 1944. Kevin is back. This time we will discuss Patton’s arrival in France through to the Battle of the Bulge. Kevin has worked as a historian for the US Army and is currently doing work for the Arlington National Cemetery. He is also a tour guide for Stephen Ambrose Historical Tours. He is the...

In episode 144, I chatted to Andrew Sangster about Alanbrooke. Earlier this year, I noticed Andrew had a new book, Flawed Commanders and Strategy in the Battle for Italy, 1943-45. With his co-author Pier Paolo Battistelli, the book looks at Montgomery, Mark Clark, Patton, Harold Alexander, Albert Kesselring and the fighting in Sicily and Italy. There is too much to cover in a single episode of the podcast, but I’ve asked Andrew back to discuss the fighting in the Mediterranean from the...

Fought between 8 March and 18 July 1944, the battles of Imphal and Kohima were the turning point of one of the most gruelling campaigns of the Second World War (1939-45). The decisive Japanese defeat in north-east India became the springboard for the Fourteenth Army’s subsequent re-conquest of Burma. Joining me for this episode is Robert Lyman, author of the excellent A War of Empires; Japan, India, Burma and Britain 1941-45. The book covers the defeat of the British and Indian armies in...

In public life, Canadian Dr Winthrop Bell was a Harvard philosophy professor and wealthy businessman. As MI6 secret agent A12, he evaded gunfire and shook off pursuers to break open the emerging Nazi conspiracy in 1919 Berlin. His reports provided the first warnings of right-wing conspiracies in the German establishment, eventually leading to Hitler and the National Socialists. In the 1930s, after reading Hitler's speeches and books, Bell was warning of the Holocaust. But his warnings fell...

With the Second World War slipping from living memory, the University of Oxford has launched Their Finest Hour. The project aims to empower local communities to digitally preserve these stories and objects before they are lost to posterity.  For this episode, I am joined by Dr Joseph Quinn to explain how the project works and how you can get involved. Patreon patreon.com/ww2podcast  

The battle of Leyte Gulf was the largest naval battle of WWII, it consisted of four separate actions near the Philippines between the US Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy. The Japanese plan was to disrupt the American landings on the island of Leyte. In one respect, the plan was a success, the Japanese did draw off Admiral Halsey’s 3rd Fleet. But ultimately, it was a disaster for the Japanese Imperial Navy, which suffered one of the most decisive defeats of the war. Joining me is Mark...

As attacks on London by the Luftwaffe became a reality in the summer of 1940, Londoners needed somewhere to shelter from the air raids. And so during the Blitz and through to the end of the war, deep-level Tube stations of London underground were utilised, sheltering thousands every night. But the role of the underground is much more complicated, in 1939, the station platforms were never expected to see civilians sleeping there, but rather they were to be kept clear for emergency...

When we think of airborne operations in WWII, the historiography is dominated by operations in the European Theatre. Parachute drops on Sicily, the Normandy coast for D-Day and into the Netherlands for Market Garden.  But, in the Pacific, Joseph Swing's 11th Airborne Division - nicknamed the Angels - were making combat drops. They fought in some of the war’s most dramatic campaigns, from bloody skirmishes in Leyte’s unforgiving rainforests to the ferocious battles on Luzon, including the...

The US glider pilots in WWII were all volunteers. Playing a pivotal role in delivering thousands of troops, including logistical support, these pilots landed their gliders ahead of the ground forces in Italy, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. Yet, 80 years later, their story is virtually unknown. For this episode, I am joined by  Scott McGaugh. Scott is the author of The Brotherhood of the Flying Coffin: The Glider Pilots of World War II. If this has piqued your interest in...

In April 1945, with the Allies closing in, the Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini, with his German bodyguards, decided to flee Milan. The convoy was later joined by a Luftwaffe column retreating toward Germany, making a powerful force. In this episode, we're going to be looking at Mussolini's last days and the race between the OSS, the SOE and the Italian partisans to kill or capture him. I am joined by Malcolm Tudor. Malcolm is an Anglo-Italian author specialising in Italy during WWII. He...

Stalingrad ranks as one of the most infamous, savage and emotive battles of the 20th century. To supply the trapped and exhausted German Sixth Army, the Luftwaffe mounted an airlift in the winter of 1942/43. The weather conditions faced by the flying crews, mechanics, and soldiers on the ground were appalling, but against all odds, and a resurgent and active Soviet air force, the transports maintained a determined presence over the ravaged city on the Volga, even when the last airfields in...

Following episode 187, when I talk to Forczyk about the war in North Africa, I thought it might be interesting to see how that fighting is interpreted and simulated as a computer game. And look at the choices game designers make when juggling authenticity and entertainment. I’m joined by David Milne from Relic Entertainment. David is one of the senior designers who worked on Company of Heroes 3, a computer game which focuses on WWII in North Africa and Italy. ...

The war in the North African desert was pure mechanized warfare and, in many respects, the most technologically advanced theatre of World War II. It was also the only theatre where for three years, British and Commonwealth, and later US, troops were in constant contact with Axis forces. In this episode, we are going to be discussing North Africa in the early period of WWII, from 1940 to the end of 1941. I'm joined by, now regular of the podcast Robert Forczyk, whose new book is Desert...

In 1932 career diplomat Joseph Grew was posted to Japan as the American Ambassador. At the time, Japan was in crisis. Naval officers had assassinated the prime minister, and conspiracies flourished. The military had a stranglehold on the government. War with Russia loomed. Not only was the country in turmoil, but its relationship with America was also rapidly deteriorating. For the next decade, Grew attempted to warn American leaders about the risks of Japan’s raging nationalism and rising...

In this episode, I discuss one of the most remarkable soldiers of the British Army, Adrian Carton de Wiart. Belgium by birth, he would fight in the Boer War, lose an eye in the Somaliland Campaign, win a VC and lose a hand in First World War, command the British troops during the Norwegian Campaign of 1940, spend time as a POW for the Italians (where he escaped) and finish the war a Winston Churchill’s personal representative to Chiang Kai-Shek. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography...

Don Townsend joined the British army as a private in 1940 and saw service in Egypt, then India and Burma. After five years of active service he left the army as a Major. I'm joined by Don's son, David has compiled his father’s wartime letters home to his family and future wife into the book My Road to Mandalay. Patreon patreon.com/ww2podcast

The Waffen-SS was one of the most formidable German military formations of the Second World War. Feared for its tenacity and ruthlessness in battle, notorious for the atrocities it committed. As a distinct fighting force derived from the Nazi Party's SS organization, it stood apart from the other units of the German army. Its origins, structure and operational role during the war are often misunderstood, and the controversy still surrounding its conduct makes it difficult today to get an...

The Parachute Regiment was formed in June 1940 and eventually raised 17 battalions. It would see service in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, Normandy, Arnhem and would cross the Rhine as part of the largest airborne assault ever undertaken. To discuss the formation of the regiment and its history through WWII, I’m joined by historian and broadcaster Mark Urban, who has written an authorised history of the regiment called Red Devils: The Trailblazers of the Parachute Regiment in World War Two. ...

During WWII, the whole of Britain’s coastline was involved in the struggle against the Nazis. In 1940-41 invasion was the main threat. Many towns and cities around the coast, such as Plymouth, Portsmouth, Hull and Great Yarmouth, were the targets of devastating air raids. The East Coast was pivotal to North Sea operations against enemy mining and E-boat operations, and the Western ports, particularly Liverpool, were crucial to the vital Atlantic convoys and the defeat of the U-boat threat. ...

In this episode, we’re going to be looking at US Navy combat divers. The Combat Demolition Unit would land on D-Day with the first wave of troops. It was their job to clear coastal defences that might get in the way of landing craft.  In the Pacific, Underwater Demolition Teams were carrying out similar tasks on islands such as Iwo Jima and Okinawa.  I’m joined by Andrew Dubbins. Andrew managed to track down one of the surviving divers who landed on Omaha beach, then was shipped to the...

In late 1944, as a precursor to the invasion of the Philippines, U.S. military analysts decided to seize the small island of Peleliu to ensure that the Japanese airfield could not threaten the invasion forces.  It was estimated that the island would fall in a week or so. In fact, the fighting on Peleliu would go on for 74 days. The US would pay a heavy price for capturing the island with a higher casualty rate than the fighting on Iwo Jima and Okinawa. In this episode, I'm joined by Pacific...

After the failure to take Moscow in the autumn of 1941, the Germans were left with a large salient bulging into the Russian lines, extending to the town of Rzhev. The battles around Rzhev were some of the bloodiest battles of the war for the Russians. Though millions of men would fight and die in the vast tract of forests and swamps, the Rzhev Salient does not have the name recognition of Leningrad or Moscow. I’m Joined by Prit Buttar, author of Meat Grinder: The Battles for the Rzhev...

I seem to have had a good run of episodes this year looking at operations from the German perspective. In this episode, we are off to the Pacific to look at the Japanese perspective of the war. I'm joined by Peter Williams. Peter lived in Japan for four years. Whilst he was there, he interviewed Japanese veterans of the Second World War. His book 'Japan's Pacific War' collects together over 40 interviews with veterans who predominantly fought against the Australians. ...

At the outbreak of WWII, the ancient gothic castle of Colditz was converted into a prisoner-of-war camp. Its location on a rocky spur overlooking a river made it the ideal location for a high-security prison, or so the Germans thought. Sent to Colditz were some of the most difficult allied prisoners-of-war. Made famous after the second world war in memoirs, films and TV, Colditz was known for its multiple escape attempts, some of great derring-do, others were feats of ingenuity and...