315 - The Thin Khaki Line
The British Army in the Second World War is often judged through the lens of manpower shortages and a sense of being overstretched. Critics point to a force spread across too many theatres and suggest...
1 Aug 1h 12min
314 - The Nazi Ghost Train
In early September 1944, as Allied forces raced across France and Belgium, the German occupation of Brussels was beginning to collapse. On 2 September, around 1,500 prisoners, including members of the...
20 Jul 46min
313 - 1942: Hitler's Gamble for Victory
1942 was a year of extraordinary contrasts for Nazi Germany. As the year began, Hitler's armies appeared unstoppable. German forces dominated much of Europe, Rommel was advancing across North Africa, ...
15 Jul 59min
312- Normandy 1944: Operation Martlet
In June 1944, as the Allied armies fought to break out from the Normandy beachhead, attention turned to a series of heavily defended German positions west of Caen. Among them was Rauray Spur, a vital ...
1 Jul 46min
311 - Patton, 1945
In this episode, we turn our attention to the final months of the war in Europe and one of the Allied armies' most famous and controversial commanders, General George S. Patton. At the start of 1945, ...
22 Jun 45min
310 - Great Escapism at Stalag Luft III
When we think of Allied prisoners of war in German camps, we often picture barbed wire, watchtowers, tunnels, and the constant urge to escape. Stalag Luft III is remembered above all for the Great Esc...
15 Jun 48min
309 - SOE Special Duties Flights
When people think about the secret war in occupied Europe, they often picture agents, resistance fighters, and acts of sabotage carried out behind enemy lines. But those networks depended on a hidden ...
8 Jun 45min
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 m...
1 Jun 43min
