225. Blitz
Following the Battle of France, came the Battle of Britain. Thanks, though, above all to the fighter pilots of the RAF – 20% of them from other countries, led by Poland and New Zealand – Britain weath...
5 Jan 202514min
224. Very well, alone
The phoney war’s over. The shooting war has begun. And it isn’t going at all well. France is in collapse, its generals quickly turning defeatist and its politicians unable to shake them out of their i...
29 Dec 202414min
223. Blood, toil, sweat and tears
This episode includes several extracts from recordings of speeches by Churchill, so that we can enjoy listening to his actual voice – on the other hand, I apologise for the background noise on the rec...
22 Dec 202414min
222. All behind you, Winston
Britain, along with France, might well have declared war against Germany in September 1939. But that didn’t lead to much fighting for the next eight months. There was some action at sea, during which ...
15 Dec 202414min
221. 1939 turns truly shocking
Between 1938 and 1939, Churchill went from pariah and opponent of the Prime Minister, to the man of the moment many were calling on to re-enter government. That reflected the gradual realisation that ...
8 Dec 202414min
220. Second biggest shock of 1939
The Munich Agreement had bought peace. But at a price. The highest had, of course, been paid by Czechoslovakia which lost much of its territory. But there was also a cost in the increasing distrust of...
1 Dec 202414min
219. Hitler bouncing his Czechs
With the Austrian annexation complete, Hitler could now start eying up his next target, Czechoslovakia again. Although Italy had proved absolutely no help to Britain in trying to stop Hitler’s move ag...
24 Nov 202414min
218. Surprised by the man of no suprises
We start this week with Hitler announcing that there would be no more surprises, though we immediately question whether his word could always be wholly trusted. We go on to look at the way Hitler was ...
17 Nov 202414min
