Category: WW2 Podcast
-
308 – Mers El-Kébir: The British Attack on the French Navy
In the summer of 1940, Britain stood alone. France had fallen, invasion seemed possible, and Winston Churchill faced a grave question: what should be done about the powerful French fleet? Fearing it might fall under German control, Britain launched Operation Catapult. At Mers el Kébir on 3 July 1940, the Royal Navy opened fire on…
-
306 – The Battle for Berlin
The final battle for Berlin in 1945 was not just the end of the war in Europe, it was the violent collapse of Nazi Germany, and the moment the shape of post-war Europe was decided. As the Red Army advanced from the River Oder, they faced one last major obstacle in the Seelow Heights. What…
-
305 – A Boy Soldier in Hitler’s Army
In the final months of the Second World War, as the Third Reich collapsed in on itself, boys were sent to the front to hold back the Red Army. Among them was fourteen-year-old Willi Langbein. He had grown up under Nazism, saluting Hitler at school, joining the Jungvolk at ten, and the Hitler Youth soon…
-
304 – Eisenhower
The partnership between Dwight D. Eisenhower and Winston Churchill was one of the defining relationships of the Second World War. At the heart of the Anglo American alliance, they worked closely to plan major operations, manage coalition warfare, and steer the Allies towards victory. In this episode, Angus is joined by Jonathan W. Jordan to explore how that relationship worked in…
-
303 – The Link Trainer
Before the Second World War, learning to fly by instruments was one of the most difficult and dangerous skills a pilot had to master. Training had to be done in real aircraft, often in poor weather, and accidents were common. In the late 1920s, an American inventor named Edwin Albert Link came up with an…
-
302 – Task Force Hogan
My guest today is William Hogan, and we are going to be talking about the remarkable story of his father, Sam Hogan, and the men of Task Force Hogan. At just twenty-eight, Sam was one of the youngest lieutenant colonels in the US Army, commanding a battalion of Sherman tanks in the Normandy Campaign only…
-
301 – A Canadian in Stalin’s Army
How does a Canadian end up fighting in the Soviet Red Army during the Second World War? My guest today is Scott Bury, and we’re going to tell the remarkable story of his relative, Maurice Bury — a Canadian citizen who found himself caught in Eastern Europe when war broke out. Drafted into the Red…
-
300 – Exploding Rats and the Devices of SOE
James Bond may have Q Branch supplying him with ingenious gadgets, but during the Second World War the agents of the Special Operations Executive had something just as remarkable — the SOE Camouflage Section. This secret unit developed ingenious ways to hide weapons, radios, explosives and documents inside everyday objects, from oil cans and firewood to record…
-
299 – Berlin, 1939-45
In this episode, Angus is joined by Ian Buruma to talk about life in Berlin during the Second World War. Rather than focusing on the regime at the top or the battles fought far from the city, we look at how ordinary people experienced daily life as war, repression, bombing, and fear increasingly shaped everything…
-
298 – The Long Death of Adolf Hitler
In April 1945, as the Third Reich collapsed around him, Adolf Hitler died in the Führerbunker in Berlin. It is one of the most famous deaths in modern history and yet, in many ways, one of the least securely witnessed. There was no public body, no official announcement at the moment it happened, and no…