Day: 9 March 2022

Ep 450: Ukraine 1943

Last week we discussed the Battle of Kiev in 1941, today we move forward to 1943 as the Red Army return to the Ukraine. Al and James discuss the Dnepr Battles, the Bukrin Bridgehead and the recapture of Kiev.

Ep 448: The Lost Churchill Portrait

In the autumn of 1944 Winston Churchill agreed to briefly sit for the brilliant portrait artist Frank Salisbury. He gave the artist just half an hour to paint him in oils. The resulting artwork disappeared from Britain after the war and has finally returned. Al Murray and James Holland were offered a sneak preview at […]

Ep 447: Ukraine

As the current situation in Ukraine deteriorates, Al Murray and James Holland explore events both now and in 1941.

Ep 445: The Spymaster

“You have done a Herculean task, a grateful nation should thank you for what you’ve done …but I suppose they never will.” Thomas Kendrick had a list of ‘friends’ which included Counts, aristocrats and generals. All of whom were under his surveillance. Kendrick was more than just a high-flying socialite, he was a spymaster. Helen Fry […]

Ep 444: The Battle of Bréville

Al Murray and James Holland discuss the details of the Battle of Bréville. They also chat about War Fest Zwei, the Philippines and fear of a new European conflict between Russia and the West.

Ep 443: Family Stories Series 2: Episode 12

This week’s family stories include an IRA man who ended up fighting for Britain and being torpedoed twice, a Scot who spent five years as a prisoner of war, a teenage sailor who braved the Atlantic and the U-boats, and a pilot who never forgave his enemy.

Ep 442: The Loyd Carrier

James Holland picks up the podcast’s first restoration project, a Loyd Carrier. He explains the history of the vehicle and how it was used in the Second World War.

Ep 440: Family Stories Series 2: Episode 11

This week’s family stories include a low-level parachute jump on D-Day, tragic endings in the air and at sea, and hearing the news every soldier, sailor and airman longed to hear.

Ep 439: The Bombing Of Dresden

In February 1945 the historic city of Dresden was the target of one of the largest strategic bombing raids of the war. Al Murray and James Holland are joined by US historian Tami Davis Biddle to explore one of the most controversial events of the Allied effort to defeat Germany.

Ep 438: Manila

Al and James discuss the Battle of Manila and how it split opinions between the US Navy and Army. Was the battle even necessary?  The chaps also reflect on how crucial Allied adaptability was to success at D-Day.

Ep 437: Family Stories Series 2: Episode 10

This week’s family stories include fighting in the might of Atlantic storms, reflecting on fighting in Okinawa, landing on D-Day and an unlikely foray into the Black Market.

Ep 436: Stories From India

Why did Indians join the British Army? Al Murray and James Holland speak to Exeter University’s Dr Gajendra Singh about the reasons why young Indian men took part in the Second World War. The discussion spreads to Indian independence, the spread of fascism and how people view the conflict outside of the UK.

Ep 435: Munich

Al and James discuss the new Netflix film Munich: The Edge of War, which is of course based on the book Munich, written by friend of the pod Robert Harris. Is it any good? Was it right to sign the Munich Agreement? James also tells us about recent research he’s been doing into the Battle of Luzon and […]

Ep 434: Family Stories Series 2: Episode 9

This week’s family stories include a long and eventful walk to freedom, an airman becoming a member of a select and unwanted club and a trumpeter’s escape from Dunkirk.

Ep 433: Saving the Nation’s Art

What measures did the government put in place to protect great works of art and culture from air raids? Al Murray and James Holland speak to archivist and historian Caroline Shenton to find out more. 

Ep 432: Midway

Al and James discuss the Mafia’s role in the Second World War, they also talk about Midway and the war in the Pacific.

Ep 431: Family Stories Series 2: Episode 8

This week’s stories include a sailor who witnessed the atomic bomb exploding and lived to tell the tale, a medical emergency solved by a POW, a training exercise with an explosive ending and parents whose paths first crossed in wartime. 

Ep 430: The Canadian Story

Al Murray and James Holland are joined by one of Canada’s leading military historians Mark Zuehlke to discuss the nation’s effort throughout the Second World War.

Ep 429: Who Betrayed Jean Moulin

Al and James discuss the arrest of Jean Moulin and the involvement of SIS. They also talk about All Arms cooperation and British signalling problems.

Ep 427: From Normandy to the Scheldt

We take a new look at the fighting post D-Day with Canadian expert Marc Milner. Why has the Canadian contribution in north west Europe been downplayed?

Ep 425: Family Stories Series 2: Episode 6

This week’s stories take us from the skies with Bomber Command in the company of a Mad Dane, through defying the Nazis from within and suffering the terrible consequences, to the life of children under German occupation and seeing one of Hitler’s right-hand men behind bars.

Ep 421: 12 Days of Christmas – The Thin Red Line

James Holland reads a chapter from one of his favourite books, The Thin Red Line. Written by James Jones, the book draws upon his own experience at the Battle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse during Guadalcanal campaign.

Ep 420: 12 Days of Christmas – Warriors for the Working Day

Al reads a chapter from Warriors for the Working Day. The novel is based on events from June 1944, during the Battle of Normandy, to the invasion of Germany in the Spring of 1945. The book describes fighting by the men of a small unit of British tanks during this period, with the focus on […]

Ep 417: 12 Days of Christmas – Suite Francaise

James Holland reads a chapter from Suite Francaise, the title of a planned sequence of five novels by Irène Némirovsky, a French writer of Ukrainian-Jewish origin, who was tragically murdered before she could complete all five volumes.

Ep 413: 12 Days of Christmas – The Burning Blue

James Holland reads a chapter from one of his own books, The Burning Blue. This book tells the story of a small group of RAF fighter pilots who first fight in the Battle of Britain and then amid the sand and heat of North Africa’s deserts.

Ep 412: 12 Days of Christmas – Bomber

Al Murray reads a chapter from Bomber written by Len Deighton. Bomber is a fictionalised account of “the events relating to the last flight of an RAF Bomber over Germany on the night of June 31st, 1943”

Ep 411: Brothers In Arms – Live from the National Army Museum

James Holland gives a guided tour of his new exhibition at the National Army Museum. This episode was recorded live at the museum as a part of our Independent Company livestream. If you enjoyed this episode, join the IC on Patreon for more exclusive live content every Monday

Ep 410: Grace Taylor

Historian and television presenter Tessa Dunlop introduces Grace Taylor, a former royal artillery member of the anti-aircraft gun team and so-called ‘Gunner Girl’. Grace volunteered far before conscription for women was decreed, out of both a love of her country and her boyfriend at the time.

Ep 409: Family Stories Series 2: Episode 5

This week’s stories take us from cricket in Australia to the skies over Nazi Germany, from life as an evacuee to setting fire to your own tank in front of Winston Churchill. Plus the story of two women facing very different forms of occupation.

Ep 408: The Boys from Reading

In this special episode of We Have Ways, (recently afflicted) journalist Autumn Hendrickson brings to Al and James a year’s worth of research into the war contributions of both the men and women of Reading, Massachusetts.

Ep 407: MI19

Al and James discuss bugging and intelligence during the war. Al also reveals details of a new We Have Ways project.

Ep 405: The Wannsee Conference

“December 1941 is the time the decision was made for the physical extermination of all the Jews in Europe” Al and James are joined by Waitman Beorn to discuss the Wannsee Conference and how the Nazis began the Holocaust.

Ep 404: The Japanese Empire

Why did the Japanese get involved in the Second World War? Could they have stayed out of it altogether? Robert Lyman speaks to Al Murray and James Holland. 

Ep 403: War Room 1941

“December 1941, you literally couldn’t pack more events into it if you tried”.  Did FDR know that a deadly attack from Japanese forces was imminent? How did US generals decide on allocating troops in the Atlantic (instead of the Pacific)? Historian Mike Neiberg joins James Holland to explore the intricate complexities of American geopolitics following […]

Ep 402: Operation Crusader

Al and James discuss the Western Desert Campaign of 1941, especially looking into the Siege of Tobruk.

Ep 401 Pearl Harbor

On the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Al and James are joined by the ‘Pacific War Trilogy’ author Ian Toll to discuss the monumental event.

Ep 400: The Battle of Moscow

Did Hitler and Stalin have a misapprehension of each other? And was scale the main reason Germany couldn’t invade Moscow?

Ep 399: Family Stories: Series 2, Episode 3

This week’s family stories include an act of outstanding bravery on the high seas, a trans-Atlantic friendship, a plate of dodgy sandwiches and a so-called ‘ordinary’ soldier’s war.

Ep 398: The Atlantic War

The Battle of the Atlantic was the most important theatre of the war, so why don’t we ever talk about it? Military and Naval historian, Marc Milner, joins Al and James to navigate their way through the often snubbed battle.

Ep 397: The Maginot Line

Al and James debate whether the British produced the best tanks during the war. They also discuss the key characters involved in the development of the Maginot Line and read extracts from the Alanbrooke Diaries.

Ep 396: Family Stories – Series 2, Episode 2

In today’s Family Stories we hear about a young Englishwoman who found herself in Germany in 1936 and went to hear Hitler speak. Plus stories from South Africa, Australia and the Scottish Isles. Read by Al Murray and James Holland, these extraordinary stories of normal people’s wartime adventures were sent in by you, our listeners.

Ep 395: Battle of The Ebro

James Holland and James Petrie walk the hills and caves around the River Ebro, site of the final battle of the Spanish Civil War.

Ep 394: Wacht Am Rhein

Al Murray and James Holland discuss Dwight Eisenhower’s decision not to cross the Rhine at the end of 1944. Al also questions James on his love for Battle Dress.

Ep 393: Family Stories – Series 2, Episode 1

A new series of Family Stories, the podcast written by you, our listeners. Each week Al Murray and James Holland read out the stories you send us describing the war experiences of your relatives.

Ep 392: The Eastern Front

What common mistakes do people make about the Nazis and the Red Army? Alex Richie, Katja Hoyer and Waitman Wade Beorn talk about the atrocities that happened on the Eastern Front during the Second World War

Ep 391: Typhoons and Republicans

James Holland joins us from Spain where he is exploring the battle sites of the Spanish Civil War. Meanwhile Al Murray has his mind changed about the Typhoon.

Ep 390: We Will Remember Them

Each year on November 11th we pause to remember those who have died in the line of duty. In this Remembrance Day special, Al Murray and James Holland remember the family and friends of our listeners. 

Ep 389:Class Action

The British Army relied heavily on public school boys for its officer class at the start of the war but was forced to abandon its class prejudice as the conflict took its toll. Al Murray and James Holland explore the way in which the war forced a more egalitarian approach to army recruitment.

Ep 388: Niklas Frank: In the Shadow of the Reich

Hans Frank ran Poland for the Nazis during the Second World War and was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity at Nuremberg. His son Niklas was seven years old when Frank was hanged. In this extraordinarily candid conversation Niklas Frank talks to James Holland about living with his father’s legacy.

Ep 387: Home Guard

What was the real reason for the creation of the Home Guard and is the Dad’s Army image fair? James Holland and Al Murray look beyond Captain Mainwaring and Private Pike to examine the Home Guard. Plus the lads break down the British Army in numbers.

Ep 386: What do the Germans think?

For many British people the Second World War is the nation’s modern founding story. But in Germany it remains difficult to talk about and very rarely features in popular culture. German historian Katja Hoyer joins Al Murray to record a live version of the pod at the British Museum.

Ep 385: Black Allied Forces

Black soldiers, airmen and sailors contributed hugely to the Allied war effort. Al Murray and James Holland are joined by John Concagh, who has extensively researched the subject, to explore the role of African, Caribbean and black British forces in the Second World War.

Ep 384: Walking the Ground

James Holland is a keen advocate of walking the ground to gain a deeper understanding of the events of the Second World War. In this special podcast James walks us around some of the key sites in Valletta, Mdina and the old Ta’Qali airbase as he explores the locations which informed much of his writing […]

Ep 383: The Mind of a General

Following on from last week’s examination of US General George S Patton, Al Murray and James Holland dig deeper into his writings to gain a greater understanding of his actions and ideas. Also up for discussion is Operation Jedburgh.

Ep 382. The Sosabowskis

There are few stories more extraordinary than that of General Stanisław Sosabowski, commander of the Polish Parachute Brigade. After fighting fiercely against the German invaders of Poland he was captured, escaped and made his way to Britain. He later led his men at Market Garden and is perhaps most widely known for being played by […]