The WW2 Podcast

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 i...

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 towar...

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 1...

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...

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, Br...

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. ...

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, w...

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, Davi...

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 di...

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 large...