184 - My Road to Mandalay
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, David...
15 Jan 20231h
183 - The Waffen-SS
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 dis...
1 Jan 202348min
182 - The British Parachute Regiment
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...
15 Dec 202259min
181 - Britain's Coast at War
During WWII, the whole of Britain's coastline was involved in the struggle against the Nazis. In 1940-41 invasion was the main threat. Many towns and cities around the coast, such as Plymouth, Portsmo...
1 Dec 202258min
180 - US Navy Demolition Divers
In this episode, we're going to be looking at US Navy combat divers. The Combat Demolition Unit would land on D-Day with the first wave of troops. It was their job to clear coastal defences that might...
15 Nov 202243min
179 - Bitter Peleliu
In late 1944, as a precursor to the invasion of the Philippines, U.S. military analysts decided to seize the small island of Peleliu to ensure that the Japanese airfield could not threaten the invasio...
1 Nov 202236min
178 - Battles of Rzhev Salient
After the failure to take Moscow in the autumn of 1941, the Germans were left with a large salient bulging into the Russian lines, extending to the town of Rzhev. The battles around Rzhev were some of...
15 Okt 20221h 1min
177 - Japan's Pacific War
I seem to have had a good run of episodes this year looking at operations from the German perspective. In this episode, we are off to the Pacific to look at the Japanese perspective of the war. I'm jo...
1 Okt 202242min
