Category: Blog
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From Panjandrum to Instigator of Anti-Aircraft Wheezes and Dodges
Last night I decided to look up the meaning of Panjandrum, lazily I typed the word directly into google rather than a dictionary. The process turned into one of those serendipitous short journeys though Wikipedia. Panjandrum, known also as The Great Panjandrum, was a massive, rocket-propelled, explosive-laden cart designed by the British military during World War II.…
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Merry Christmas
We would like to take the chance to wish you all a very merry christmas and thank you all for your support throughout the year! We would especially like to thank the following people who contributed scripts during 2012: Daniel Najib Michael Karpovage Alex Chalmers Michael Gabbe-Gross Bernard Kelly William Taylor Nicholas Gelber Matthew Gawelczyk…
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Season 14 Planning
Its hard to believe season 14 is almost upon us! Toward the end of each season Nick and I vaguely map out the release dates for the next season which effectively puts things in our diaries for the next five months. Our lives seem to be measured in History Network seasons for us to work…
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A Higher Call by Adam Makos
This is just one of those incredible true stories to come out of the Second World War, a crippled B-17 returning on its own is spared by a German Luftwaffe pilot and left to limp home. Its easy to get swept up in grand manoeuvres, bullish Generals and cool equipment but its harder to put…
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Patton
From the first time as a child I saw George C Scott in Patton: Lust for Glory, General George S Patton Jr has always been a particular favourite of mine, hence he was covered in the second podcast of our first season (and we may go back and look at him again to do him justice).…
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Battle of Moscow in pictures
As an accompaniment to our Battle of Moscow / Operation Typhoon podcast I’ve gather together these pictures of the events of 1941-42. Pictures from Wikimedia
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Invasion Theme Tunes
Here is a little titbit I discovered when writing the Battle of Moscow podcast, each German invasion of a foreign country had its own official musical theme! These would be played over the German state run radio on help raise morale, enthusiasm and support for the military operation. The official tune for Barborossa, the invasion…
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A Christmas present for the man who has everything
I’m sure like most people finding Christmas presents, more often than not, can be a real chore. Have you ever fancied a pair of Tiger tank knitted slippers? Bewared this is only a pattern, you do have to make them yourself,…
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Albert Speer, babies and Wainwright!
Albert Speer, Hitler’s architect and later Minister of Armaments for the Third Reich, at the Nuremberg trials was found guilty and imprisoned for 20 years in Spandau prison. He served the full sentence. During his stay he measured the path round the exercise yard, then each day counted the laps he did each day. His intention…
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Ruins of the Reich
I stumbled into this article on spiegel.de yesterday. Austrian Town Wonders What to Do with Hitler’s Home A debate has erupted in the tiny Austrian town of Braunau over what to do with the building where Adolf Hitler was born. The mayor said last week he wants it to become residential apartments, but many would like to…