The WW2 Podcast

In this episode we're starting with the US 110th Infantry regiment in the Ardennes and following a small number of GI's who became POW and sent back to Germany, to ultimately work as slave labour on 'operation swallow'. Joining me once more is military historian Mark Felton. Mark is having a busy year, if you recall we chatted to him recently about the Bridge Busters, a raid on the Dortmund-Ems canal in episode 96. In episode 73 we discussed US troops undertaking Operation Cowboy as a rescue mission to save the world famous 'spanish riding school', and one of my favourite episodes 49 we talked about VIP POWs held by the Italians - that is a fantastic episode! And if you've listened to all that, don't forget Mark is prolific on youtube with his short pieces on military history, you can find him at Mark Felton Productions.

2019 marked the 80th anniversary of the invasion of Poland by Germany and then a few weeks later, Russia. It was the event that forced Britain and France to finally declare war on Germany. In a five week campaign the Wehrmacht fought one of the largest armies in Europe to a point where it collapsed. But the Poles were not necessarily the backward force commiting cavalry to attack tanks as often the narrative of the campaign suggests. In 1939 the Polish army could put more tanks in the field than the US military, she was exporting arms, including the Bofors gun favoured by the British. Joining me is Robert Forczyk. I've talked to Robert before when we looked at Operation Sea Lion in episode 32, and Case Red: The collapse of France in episode 59. Well, he's back with his new book Case White: The Invasion of Poland 1939, from Osprey.

If you cast your mind back to February 2018 I discussed the experience of German fighter pilots experience in Western Europe with Patrick Eriksson, that's episode 60. Later that same year, Patrick followed up with a second book Alarmstart East, focusing on the luftwaffe fighting over Russia (episode 85). Patrick has now finished his trilogy of Luftwaffe books with Alarmstart South and the final defeat, closing with the German experience flying in and around the Mediterean; so North Africa, Sicily, Malta etc and through to the end of the war. So I asked Patrick back for a chat…

If you've ever read about the British experience in the Deserts of North Africa during WWII, one name usually gets a mention somewhere in the narrative, that of Eric Dorman-Smith, often refered to as 'chink'. He can be a divisive character, sometimes portrayed as a far thinking military genius whose ideas were ignored or misunderstood. To others he represents what was problematic with both the senior British commanders Wavell and Auchinleck, whose fortunes rose and fell; he was symptomatic of retreat, reorganisation, confusion and poor leadership. The curious thing about Dorman-Smith is so little is directly written about him, he is a footnote in the books of other desert leaders and often only gets a brief mention in histories of the North Africa Campaign. So hopefully in this episode we'll shed some light on 'chink'. Joining me today is James Colvin. James is currently working on a history of the 8th army pre the battle of Alamein, which will be published by Helion next year (I'll keep you all posted when it's released).

June 2019 marked the 75th anniversary of D-Day, we had a month of D-Day podcasts looking at the operation from the British, Canadian and American perspectives. The narrative of that day is the difficulty of the operation, doubts if the landings would succeed, but what if we turn the tables? How was it for the Germans? To answer that question I'm joined by WW2 podcast stalwart Jonathan Trigg. Jonathan has joined us in the past to discuss his work researching foreign recruits to the SS, you can find those in episodes 55 and 77. Earlier this year, he had a new book released titled D-Day Through German Eyes: How the Wehrmacht Lost France. With D-Day fresh in our minds I thought we best get him back to have a chat about the allied invasion of Europe from the German perspective.

On the night of May 16th, 1943, 19 Lancaster bombers took off from England heading toward the German industrial heartland of the Ruhr. They carried a new bomb, designed to skip across water avoiding any torpedo nets before hitting the target and sinking into the depths; then exploding.. The bomb was codenamed 'upkeep', we know it today as the 'bouncing bomb' designed by Barnes Wallis. Those Lancaster's of 617 squadron, commanded 24 year old Guy Gibsonwould become known as the 'Dam Busters', the operation was CHASTISE. The mission would be a success, as in two of the targeted dams were hit and breached causing millions of tons of water to surge down into the Ruhr region, flooding mines, destroying factories and homes. The crews that survived the raid would arrive back in Britain as celebrities, swept up in the wartime propaganda; and of course memorialised in books such as Paul Brickhill's 'The 'Dam Busters', of which the well known 1955 film is based. Joining me to discuss the raid is Victoria Taylor. Victoria is a Post Graduate Researcher at the University of Hull. Her MA thesis is Redressing the Wartime and Postwar Mythologization of Operation CHASTISE in Britain. Recommended books about operation Chastise. Cooper, Alan W. The Men Who Breached the Dams. Pen & Sword Books, 2013. Holland, James. Dam Busters. Random House, 2012. Sweetman, Dr John. The Dambusters Raid(Cassell Military Paperbacks). W&N, 1999.

On the 17th September 1944 Gene Metcalfe, of the 82 Airbourne, parachuted in to Holland as part of Operation Market Garden. Approaching the bridge they were to capture Gene is injured in a firefight and left for dead. He would spend the rest of the war as a POW. I talk to Gene about his wartime experiences in the Airbourne, as a POW and what happened once he was liberated. Left for Dead in Nijmegen, by Marcus Nannini, is the story of Gene's war, it is a fantastic read and well worth picking up a copy.

One thing I've learned from producing these podcasts is the research never ends, it only leads to new avenues of interest branching off from the original topic. And this is the case for Peter Lion. If you recall in episode 33, Peter told us how elements of the US 28nd infantry division, stationed in the Luxembourg town of Wiltz put on a christmas party for the local children, and this included GI Richard Brookins dressing as St Nicholas and arriving by jeep to hand out gifts. In researching that Peter bumped into the story of George Mergenthaler, heir to the Mergenhaler Linotype Company. I've been trying to pin down a guest for an 'extra' episode for quite a while, so when Peter proposed we discuss his book MERGit I jumped at the chance. For Patrons of the podcast I make available parts of the interviews that are off topic or just never made it into the 'final cut'. I've a bit more of Peter and chatting and I've decided to release it free to everyone as a big thank you for listening and all the support you've all given me. If you want to listen to it you can find it at patreon.com/ww2podcast.

September 2019 marks the 75th anniversary of Operation Market Garden, the allied attempt to create a sixty mile corridor, and secure a crossing over the Rhine. The plan was to use the newly formed First Allied Airborne Army to seize and hold nine key bridges until relieved by the British Army's XXX Corp. The Airborne component was known as Market, and the ground attack was Garden. Joining me to talk about the background to airborne operations and Market Garden is Dr William Buckingham. William is the author or Arnhem: The Complete Story of Operation Market Garden 17-25 September 1944.

Last year I got an email from Cole Gill, his grandfather had made a number of tape recordings recounting his experiences during the war serving on the Royal Navy ship HMS Exeter, then as a POW at the Fukuoka camp,where he witnessed the dropping of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Who wouldn't be interested in that story? Cole sent them over and after listening to them they've been languishing in my virtual bottom draw on my computer, awaiting for me to have some inspiration. Well I've got them out, dusted them down and what I have for you is the story of Raymond Fitchett. It's a big thank you to Cole Gill for sharing these recordings.

In this episode we're looking at an RAF raid in 1940 against the Dortmund-Ems canal. The canal was a vital trade route with huge amounts of supplies and raw materials passing along it daily. With the fall of France and the build up to Operation Sealion, the invasion of Britain, interrupting the traffic on the canal would aid in upsetting the German timetable. But to undertake the task a level of accuracy was needed from the RAF which was hitherto unheard of… It was very much a proto-dambusters raid. Joining me to discuss the raid is Dr Mark Felton, author of The Bridge Busters. We've spoken to Mark before, we looked Operation Cowboy, where some elements of the Whermacht joined with the Americans to save the world famous Lipizaner horses at the close of WWII. In episode 49, we discussed British VIP POWs held by the Italians. If you've not heard it, dig it out. I think it's my favorite episode of the WW2 podcast so far. You can also find Mark on YouTube here.

For a long time I've been fascinated by movie stars who chose to join the military and saw combat in World War Two. And one star in particular has always interested me, 'Jimmy Stewart'. A big star in the 1930's, in 1940 he would win the Oscar for best man in The Philadelphia Story' and was nominated for one for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, yet when war came he was insistent on not avoiding it and joined the United States Army Airforce flying combat missions over Europe. Joining me to discuss Jimmy Stewart's military career is Robert Matzen, author of Mission: Jimmy Stewart and the Fight For Europe.

The usual narrative for WWII is that turning points of the war are in 1942 with the battles of Midway, El Alamein and Stalingrad. While these are unquestionably major victories that signalled the 'end of the beginning', as Churchill would put it. Friend of the podcast Andrew Nagorski has suggested that actually 1941 was the pivotal year of the war. Andrew contends that the decisions made in 1941, by the major nations, would make an allied victory not just possible but inevitable. It's a compelling idea. As we've had Andrew on the podcast previously (in episode 18, when discussed Nazi war crimes), I thought it would be good to get him back for a catch up and to outline his thesis laid out in his new book '1941: The Year Germany Lost The War'.

In the last episode we looked at the American experience of D-Day at Omaha beach, this time it's the turn of the British and Canadians at Sword, Juno and Gold on the 6th June 1944. In this episode we're going to concentrate on the British and Canadian landings on D-Day. I'm joined by John Sadler. Now we've talked to John before in episode 26, when we looked at Operation Agreement, a combined operations raid in the deserts of North Africa that included the Long Range Desert Group, the SAS and the Royal Navy. John is also a battlefield guide of the D-Day Beaches and surrounding areas and has a book out called D-Day: The British Landings.

'Before the war, Normandy's Plage d'Or coast was best known for its sleepy villages and holiday destinations. Early in 1944, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel took one look at the gentle, sloping sands and announced 'They will come here!' He was referring to Omaha Beach ‒ the primary American D-Day landing site. The beach was subsequently transformed into three miles of lethal, bunker-protected arcs of fire, with chalets converted into concrete strongpoints, fringed by layers of barbed wire and mines. The Germans called it 'the Devil's Garden'.' In this episode I'm joined by Robert Kershaw military historian, battlefield guide and author of Fury of Battle: A D-Day landing as it happened. We discuss the American landings on D-Day at Omaha beach.

In this episode I'm joined by Walter Borneman, if you cast your mind back I talked to him in episode 25 about General Macarthur. That was nearly three years ago! How time flies! Since then Walter has been busy researching the history of the sinkingof the USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbour in December 194 and the fate of the crew, including a remarkable 23 sets of siblings. He has a new WWII book out called Brothers Down, so I thought we'd get him back to discuss it.

On the 6th of June 1942 Japanese troops invaded the island of Attu which is part of Alaska, it was the first time since 1812 that continental America had been invaded. In this episode we're looking at the US attack to recapture the island, the fighting was bitter in a very hostile environment, and the discovery of a diary of a Japanese army surgeon who had been trained before the war in the USA. I'm joined by Mark Obmascik, author of The Storm on our Shoreswhich traces the story of the fighting on Attu, Paul Nobuo Tatsuguchi and an American GI called Dick Laird.

A few months ago I got email from David Taylor asking if I'd ever considered looking at the cork industry in WWII? I'm sure like you, it had never crossed my mind. The more I looked into it the more I got enthused by the story of cork, it was a wonder product during the early 20th century, used in all manner of things - almost anything that needed a seal such as a gasket used cork, so it was crucial to the auto industry, aviation and munitions. The American government defined it a strategic industry along with coal and steel! What makes the story more intriguing is the majority of it came from neutral Portugal and Spain… I hope I've laid out my case on why it is such a fascinating story. I'm joined by David Taylor, who is the author of 'Cork Wars' which tells the stories of some of those involved in the cork business during WWII and Crown Cork and Seal one of the largest companies producing cork products during the war.

In this episode we're going to be looking at the Free French and the Division Leclerc, commanded by Philippe de Hauteclocque. Raised in the French Colonies of Africa, they fought with distinction in the deserts of Libya and with the British 8th Army. They also took part in the fighting in North West Europe after D-Day, being one of the units that liberated Paris in 1944. This is not just a story of a unit, but is very much the story of the growth of the Free French. For this episode I'm joined by M.P. Robinson. Robinson is author of a number of book, the latest published by Osprey being'Division Leclerc: The Leclerc Column and Free French 2nd Armoured Division, 1940-46'

We've all see the film Downfallabout the Führerbunker in Berlin, in the closing days of the war. And we all know the story of how Adolf Hitler, with his new wife Eva Braun, committed suicide and the body was destroyed. Well, how much of that story do we actually know? Since the end of the war a series of newspaper reports, books and more recently the TV series Hunting Hitler have all put forward the idea that Hitler escaped at the end of the war and the official history, for want for a better phrase is not the whole truth… In this episode I'm joined by Luke Daly-Groves. Luke is a postgraduate researcher at Leeds University and author of the new book Hitler's Death, in which he revisits the original post war investigations by the allied powers and using all the data now available assesses how accurate they were. In doing so he also explores and debunks these Hitler conspiracy theories.

The SAS made their name in the North African desert, but less well known is after that they continued to fight in the mediterranean theatre. They carried out raiding missions in advance of the invasion of Sicily, Operation Husky, and then operating behind enemy lines during the Italian Campaign. For this episode I'm joined by Malcolm Tudor. Malcolm's father actually fought in Italy during WWII, his Italian mother's family worked with the partisans and aided escaped allied POW's. Malcolm is also the author of SAS In Italy, 1943-1945

"There are no more than a handful of Second World War Luftwaffe members alive today. Patrick Eriksson had the foresight to record these experiences first-hand before it was too late. Some witnesses ended up as senior fighter controllers. The recollections and views of the veterans are put within the context of the German aerial war history. By no means all the witnesses were from the ranks of the so-called 'aces'." Last year I discussed the experiences of German Luftwaffe pilots fighting in the West, against the Allies, I was joined by Patrick Eriksson. Patrick has completed the second book in his trilogy looking at the Luftwaffe - Alarmstart East- this time tracking the pilots on the Eastern Front from 1941 though to the end of the war in 1945.

In this episode we're going to be looking at the story of Howard Snyder, a B-17 'Flying Fortress' pilot, flying with the US 8th air force from Britain. Through letters Howard wrote to his family, and exhaustive research, his son Steve Snyder has pieced together the remarkable story of his father, and what happened after he was shot down in Belgium. You can find more about Steve Snyder and his father, Howard, at stevesnyderauthor.com

In 1943 allied surveillance picked up the construction of V1 and V2 rocket sites in France. Without quite knowing the extent of the threat allied planners decided to embark upon a pre-emptive campaign to deny the Germans the use of these sites, the code name was Operation Crossbow. It would be an Anglo-American Operation with ran up until the end of WWII, in 1945. I'm joined by Steven Zaloga. Steven is a prolific military historian and analyst, he has also written a book on Crossbow published by Osprey, Operation Crossbow 1944; Hunting Hitlers V-Weapons.

In this episode we're going to be looking a Japanese submarine operations in the Pacific in the early part of the war. While I'm sure we're all familiar with the Imperial Japanese surface fleets actions during 1941-42, especially if you've listened to my discussions with Jeff Cox in episode #14 and #63, but there seems to be very little mention of submarines. Which is interesting because if we look at the Battle for the North Atlantic it was all about the German U-Boats. Joining me today is Mark Stille. Mark is a retired US Navy commander, alumni of the US Naval War College and author of numerous Osprey titles, mainly focusing on the war in the Pacific - his latest being USN Fleet Destroyer vs IJN Fleet Submarine.

At the outbreak of WWII Britain put into motion the strategy of using the Royal Navy to blockade Germany, depriving her of essential goods. When Europe fell the blockade was widened to include all of Europe. This provided a dilemma for the British, the Ministry of Economic Warfare was in favour of depriving all occupied countries of goods, for the Foreign Office depriving occupied countries would mean negatively affecting countries that were allied with Britain. In Greece this would lead to famine, and a relief operation organised by the International Red Cross. I'm joined by Dr James Crossland of Liverpool John Moores University. James specialises in the history of international humanitarian law and the development of the Red Cross.

Long standing listeners will have heard me chat to Walter Zapotoczny before, in episode 57 we looked at Ardennes offensive, and in episode 63 we looked at German penal battalions. Patrons of the podcast might recall on both occasions after I'd finished recording we got to talking about the Italians in North Africa. Well, Walter's book on the topic was released a couple of months ago 'The Italian Army In North Africa: A Poor Fighting Force or Doomed by Circumstance' Hopefully we can answer the question a poor fighting force or doomed by circumstance in this podcast.

"'Stay low, stay on track, and stay alive' was the motto of the RAF's most secret Station, Tempsford. That's exactly what Geoffrey Rothwell did ‒ DFC & Bar, 1939-45 Star, Aircrew Europe Star with France/Germany Clasp, Defence Medal, Victory Medal, Order of Leopold II & Palme, Croix de Guerre 1940 & Palme, Bomber Command Medal, POW medal, La Légion d'honneur ‒ from Bomber Command via SOE to Stalag and back." In episode 53 I talked to Gabrielle McDonald-Rothwell about the SOE agent Diana Rowden. After we had stopped recording Gabrielle told me about her husband Geoffrey Rothwell, was the last surviving pilot for SOE during the war. At the time she was in the process of checking through a biography of Geoff's experiences. Sadly since then Geoff has passed away, but Gabrielle has managed to complete the book recounting his life and wartime experiences and its been released, the title is 'Last Man Standing'. In this bonus episode of the podcast I talk to Gabrielle about Geoff's life.

'On a dark night in 1944, a beautiful stretch of the Devon coast became the scene of desperate horror. Tales began to leak out of night-time explosions and seaborne activity. This was practice for Exercise Tiger, the main rehearsal for the Utah Beach landings…' This is very much an episode in two halves, I start by looking at the disastrous Exercise Tigerwhich took place in April 1944, at Lyme Bay and Slapton Sands in Devon. Then move on to talk about a Sherman tank! I'm joined by Dean Small. Dean's father Ken did much to rediscover those event in April 1944, and create a memorial to those who lost their lives. He wrote the book The Forgotten Dead: The true story of Exercise Tiger, the disastrous rehearsal for D-Day You can find out more about the exercise on Dean's website Exercise Tiger Memorial.

US Marine, Lt Alexander Bonnymanlanded on Tarawa in December 1942. He was mortally wounded leading an assault on a Japanese bunker, which was key to defense of the island, and act for which he would posthumously receive the Medal of Honor. In this episode of the podcast I talk to his grandson, Clay Bonnyman Evansabout the events surrounding his death and about how his grandfather's remains, along with hundreds of others who had been hastily buried, were lost after the war.

At the beginning of WWII Germany invaded and occupied Denmark and Norway, but left neutral Sweden alone. Less than a year later citizens from all three of those Scandinavian nations were volunteering to join the Waffen-SS. By the end of the war in 1945 the number of Scandinavians who had fought in the Waffen-SS had reached the thousands. Casualties were high, but there were survivors and they returned home, often to face retribution and condemnation. In episode 55, I discussed the Flemish Waffen SS, with Jonathan Trigg. Since then he's been busy tracking down the few surviving veterans of the SS who were from Scandinavia, for his new book Voices of the Scandinavian Waffen SS: The Final Testament of Hitler's Vikings. Being a fellow Yorkshireman, with a new book, on a very interesting topic, I thought it rude not to ask him back!

Way back in episode four of the podcast, I talked to Andrew Panton about the Lancaster Bomber; Andrew is the pilot of Lancaster 'Just Jane' here in the UK. Whilst chatting the role of flight engineer came up, I had no clue what they actually did, I wasn't aware they worked in tandem with the pilot to fly the plane. Ever since I've been on the lookout for someone to talk to about the role, if you do a search on Amazon you'll discover how overlooked the Flight Engineer has been in the historiography. Earlier this year Colin Pateman released his latest book 'Fuel, Fire and Fear: RAF Flight Engineers at War', clearly he is the man to speak!

September 2018 marks the 80th anniversary of the Munich agreement, where the British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, flew to Germany to meet Hitler; in an attempt to avert war. He famously returned with an agreement which he believed would deliver 'peace in our time'. It got me thinking about Hitler's rise to power, in 1933 he joined the government one of only three Nazi's in it. Five years later he was dominating European foreign policy, as he pushes forward with his agenda. In this episode I thought we'd look at Hitler's rise to power, from the end of the First World War, through to him joining in the government in 1933. Joining me today is Professor Matthew Stibbe, from Sheffield University. He has delivered an excellent chapter in the new Oxford Illustrated History of the Third Reichlooking at the rise of National Socialism.

The American built M3 tank was one of the first tanks purchased and supplied in large numbers to the British army in WWII, where it was known as the 'Grant' or the 'Lee'. It's the first American built tank I became aware of as a child, when I saw 'Monty's' at the Imperial War Museum. In this episode I'm joined by prolific tank writer and former employee of Bovington Tank museum, David Fletcher. With Steven Zaloga, David is the author of British Battle Tanks: American-Made World War II Tanks.

Last year I talked to Mark Felton about the escape attempts of British VIP prisoners, held by the Italians. That was episode 49 Castle of Eagles, the book is possibly my favourite read of last year. Well Mark is back, with another cracking story he's managed to turn up in the archives, that of Operation Cowboy; the book is Ghost Riders. It recounts the activities of an American unit which raced into Czechoslovakia to accept the surrender of a group of Germans, in doing so they manage to rescue a number of Allied POW's, with the help of German POW's they fight off a concerted attack by a SS Unit and then evacuate the mares of the famous Viennese, 'spanish riding school'.

Back in episode 7, I talked to Alexander Fitzgerald-Black about his MA thesis which focused on the allied air campaign in support of Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. Which if you're interested has now been released as a book 'Eagles over Husky: The Allied Aire Forces In The Sicilian Campaign, 14 May to 17 August 1943'. Alex and I have kept in touch and always said we should do another episode together discussing the Mediterranean campaign. I was struggling to pin down a topic, when Alex suggested I read Douglas Porch's book 'The Path To Victory: The Mediterranean Theater in WWII', which focuses on the Mediterranean theatre as a whole. It was a light bulb moment for me, so we've decided to have a look at the Mediterranean Strategy. If you want to hear more from Alex he works for the Juno Beach Centre and hosts their podcast, you can find that at junobeach.org.

In this episode we're looking at the sinking of the USS Indianapolis. Returning from delivering the atomic bomb to Tinian, in preparation for it to be dropped, the Indianapolis was hit twice by torpedoes from a Japanese submarine. She sank in less than a quarter of an hour. 800-900 men went in the shark infested waters, and no one in the US Navy was aware of the unfolding tragedy. The men floated in small groups for five nights and four days before they were finally spotted by the passing US plane. And that is just half the story. I'm joined by Sara Vladic. Sara is the director of the documentary USS Indianapolis: The Legacy, she's also so-written a book looking at the events surrounding the sinking, the book is titled Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man. It is quite a story!

In the last episode we looked at the development of the world's navies during the interwar period. To compliment that I thought we'd do something similar with aerial warfare. It is easy to forget in 1939 aviation was still very much in its infancy, and especially aerial warfare. Theorist such as Giulio Douhethad highlighted the importance of controlling airspace, Douhet also advocated that idea that a nation could bomb its way to victory. Other countries such as Germany envisaged the plane in tactical roles, supporting the army. So at the outbreak of WWII each air force was prepared to a fight a war, just not necessarily the war their enemy was expecting to fight. Joining me today is Frank Ledwidge. Frank is a senior fellow in Air Power and International Security, at the Royal Air Force College - Cranwell. Not only does he teach this stuff, he's written a book on the subject 'Aerial Warfare: The Battle for the Skies'.

Today what I thought we'd investigate the interwar naval treaties which aimed to prevent conflict, but at the same time, what they did was help shape the navies of the world, in the run up to WWII. In this episode I'm talking to Craig Symonds. Craig is the Enest J King Distinguished Professor of Maritime History a the US Naval War College and Professor Emeritus at the US Naval College.

Hitler when he came to power, had few international connections, and he distrusted elements of his civil service. What he needed was people he could trust, who were connected to the highest echelons of power throughout Europe. These emissaries would be used to sound out opinion, and smooth over incidents when they happened. And that is what we're looking at in this episode, those 'back channels', the aristocratic go betweens that Hitler employed. Joining me is Karina Urbach. Karina is currently working at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, her book Go 'Betweens for Hitler'was published in 2015.

Joining me today is Max Thimmig, Max's grandfather was the German WWII night fighter ace, Wolfgang Thimmig. Wolfgang joined the German Army, the Reichswehr, in 1934, and was one of the early pilots in Hitler's newly created Luftwaffe, in 1935. Incredibly Wolfgang flew with the Luftwaffe throughout the second world war, from Poland right to the end in 1945. Max's book is Nattens jägare: Ett tyskt nattjaktess under andra världskriget.

The P-61 was built in response to the Blitz on Great Britain, in 1940. The RAF were in need of a night fighter and they confirmed with their US counterparts on the specifications. The result was a twin tail plane with a crew of three, it was specifically designed to house a radar to zero the aircraft in, at night on their target. Only four now survive. Joining me is Russell Strine from the Mid Atlantic Air Museum, who are currently restoring one, the intention is to get it in the air once more. It's thanks to Alex Lowmaster for this episode, he tipped me off to a museum local to him, in Pennsylvania, that were restoring a P-61 Black Widow night fighter.

This episode, is released just after the 75th anniversary of the escape of ten American prisoners of war, and two Filipino convicts, from the Davao Penal Colony. The following year when the story broke, the US War Department would call it the 'greatest story of the war'. The man made famous at the time for escaping, and recounting the story, was Lt. Col. William Edwin Dyess. A fighter pilot who not only fought in the air, but during the defence of Bataan led and amphibious assault as an infantryman. Joining me to tell us the story of 'Ed Dyess' is John Lukacs, who is fighting to get Dyess awarded the Medal of Honor; and keeping his memory alive with the website 4-4-43.com. If you remember back in episode 45, I discussed the Barton Brothers with Sally Mott Freeman, Dyess's story intersects with that as Barton was at the Davao Penal Colony and his brother Bill was in Washington aware of Dyess's escape.

One of my first guests was Jeffrey Cox, we discussed in length the Java Sea campaign in episode 14. Jeff has been busy for the last couple of years writing his follow up book Morning Star, Midnight Sun – The Early Guadalcanal-Solomons Campaign of World War Two. So I asked Jeff back to discuss the campaign. Jeff and I talked for nearly three hours, so whilst the podcast is trimmed to keep us on message if you want some more why not become a patron and have another 30min of us talking what he's unto next and torpedos!

In episode 57 I talked to Walter Zapotoczny about Ardennes Offensive, chatting with him it told me had had a new book out in 2018 looking at German Penal Battalions. That sounded like a topic right up my street so I got him back to talk with us. When war broke out in 1939, Hitler created `Strafbattalion' (Penal Battalion) units to deal with incarcerated members of the Wehrmacht as well as `subversives'. His order stated that any first-time convicted soldier could return to his unit after he had served a portion of his sentence in `a special probation corps before the enemy'.

In this episode we're going to be discussing the plight of 168 Allied Airmen who found themselves imprisoned in Buchenwald concentration camp. It's something that even to this day governments seem unwilling to admit to. "As we got close to the camp and saw what was inside... a terrible, terrible fear and horror entered our hearts. We thought, what is this? Where are we going? Why are we here? And as you got closer to the camp and started to enter [it] and saw these human skeletons walking around; old men, young men, boys, just skin and bone, we thought, what are we getting into?" — Canadian airman Ed Carter-Edward's recollection of his arrival at Buchenwald. Joining me is Frederic Martini, his father was shot down over France in 1944 and was one of the Buchenwald airmen. His written about his father's experiences, the book is Betrayed.

If Slim's 14th army was the 'Forgotten Army' the RAF bombing campaign in the Far East is even more forgotten! In this episode I'm talking to Matt Poole. Matt's mother is from Liverpool, her first husband was in the RAF serving in Burma when he was shot down over Rangoon. In trying to find out what happened that night Matt was introduced to Bill Kirkness who served in the same squadron. Bill had written a memoir of his wartime experience, though he's sadly now passed away Matt has edited the manuscript into RAF Liberators over Burma: Flying with 159 Squadron. We discuss Bill Kirkness's war, the RAF in Burma and Matt's journey of piercing the story together

When I plan the podcast episodes I don't usually sit down and look at the subject and how it relates to those episodes around it, hence we've often found ourselves in the pacific in quick succession. In this instance it seems serendipitous that we're going from looking at the fall of France, in the last episode, to looking at the experiences of German fighter pilots in Europe. The two topics compliment one another rather well. Joining me is Patrick Eriksson. Patrick is the author of Alarmstart: The German Fighter Pilot's Experience in the Second World War. Since the 1970's Patrick has been an associate member of the German Air Force Veterans Association interviewing and corresponding with former members of the Luftwaffe.

In this episode I'm looking at 'Case Red' the German attack on France post Dunkirk. Often when we talk about the Battle of France the history seems to stop at Dunkirk, in actual fact the fight carried on for a few more weeks. There was still British 100,000+ troops in France, Churchill was keen to keep the French fighting… Joining in me is Robert Forczyk, if you recall last year we discussed Operation Sealion with Bob. He's been beavering away and has a new book out, 'Case Red: The collapse of France'. Its a real eye opener…

In this episode we'll be looking at two British soldiers in occupied Burma. Major Hugh Seagrim operated for two years behind the Japanese lines, organising Karen resistance before he was eventually forced to surrender. Seagrim crosses paths with Roy Pagani, trying to make his way back to British army in India, after escaping as a POW working on the Burma railway. Pagani is a remarkable man he had already escaped from Dunkirk in 1940, and Singapore when it fell in 1942. Joining me today is Phillip Davis. Phillip is the author of Lost Warriors, Seagrim and Pagani of Burma The last great untold story of WWII.