The Special Operations Executive was tasked by Winston Churchill to set Europe ablaze. More than 400 agents were sent into France, thirty-nine of them women.
Dr Kate Vigurs has researched the story of all these female agents for her book, Mission to France: The True Story of the Women of SOE. Kate joins Al and James to discuss their extraordinary stories.
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After reading George Chatterton’s autobiography Al Murray wonders if glider operations were ever really a good idea. Meanwhile James Holland discusses supply lines in North Africa and Italy. Both Al and James promise to dig deeper into the lesser known
Merry Christmas from We Have Ways of Making You Talk Over the next 12 days Al and James are reading you extracts from some of their favourite books about the Second World War. Today James is reading from The Unwomanly
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.
You could volunteer to fly but you couldn’t volunteer to stop. Dr Dan Ellin, of the International Bomber Command Centre, talks to Al and James about the way in which men were judged and treated as they faced the trauma