Wars of the World Podcast

In the spring of 1980, six armed individuals marched into the Iranian Embassy in South Kensington - London, England, where they took 26 people hostage, including visitors, staff and even a police officer. Over the course of five days, the group of gunmen made various demands, but progress was slow and British officials were more interested in negotiating for the safe return of the hostages. On day six, following the death of a hostage, the SAS conducted a raid, killing all but one of the gunmen. This siege not only thrust the SAS into the spotlight but also served to strengthen the UK government and the careers of several journalists who’d been caught in the crosshairs. Welcome to Wars of the World. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Schutzstaffel, best known by its shortened name the SS, was a paramilitary organisation operating beneath Adolf Hitler during the Second World War. Beginning as a volunteer guard unit which acted as Hitler’s personal bodyguards, it eventually grew to become one of the most feared and powerful organisations in Nazi Germany, known for its rampant surveillance and ruthless punishments of those who didn’t swear loyalty to the Fuhrer. Worse still, the SS played a huge part in the Holocaust and was responsible for the dispatching of millions of Jews and other victims between 1939 and 1945. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The September 11th attacks in 2001 were quick to ignite America’s ‘Global War on Terrorism’. The main goal of this new conflict was to locate and destroy the terrorists responsible for the attack, with US leadership soon determining that the very group they were looking for was residing in Afghanistan. Over the years, Afghanistan had witnessed the rise of the Taliban, an extremist militant movement that had taken over the country with the help of al Qaeda. In late 2001, the US, aided by anti-Taliban tribe leaders, sought to overthrow the regime, with one of their biggest targets being the city of Kandahar. Welcome to Wars of the World Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the summer of 1815, the gruelling Battle of Waterloo raged. It would be the conflict that would finally put an end to the intermittent warfare between France and other European powers, and usher in the downfall of Napoleon Bonaparte. But this bloody engagement would be costly, with Napoleon suffering as many as 26,000 casualties while European forces suffered around 24,000. It is considered the second bloodiest single-day battle in the Napoleonic Wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Falklands War raged between Argentina and the UK over the course of ten weeks in 1982, with the conflict being part of a bigger dispute over the sovereignty of the territories of the Falkland Islands and South Georgia. The difficult battle led to a total of 1,137 casualties for the British, including 107 captured, while the Argentinians suffered 13,619 casualties, including over 11,000 captured. The Falklands War has been the subject of numerous books, films and even songs over the years and is still a controversial conflict to this day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In April 1945, the Soviet Union’s military, better known as the Red Army, began attacking Berlin from the east, south, and north. Throughout WW2, Berlin was used as the Third Reich's base and, as such, its capture by the Allies was of utmost importance. Over 1.5 million Red Army soldiers participated in the assault and their leaders were ruthless, willing to deal with tremendous casualties if it meant inflicting as much damage as possible to Nazi Germany. The losses that came as a result of this final battle were enormous: over 81,000 Soviet troops were killed while researchers observed that as many as 100,000 German troops and 125,000 civilians were killed during the conflict. Though Hitler took his own life on April 30th, the Battle of Berlin continued until early May and is considered one of the most gruelling fights of the overall Second World War. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Gestapo: Hitler's Secret Police... In today’s episode we will investigate the horrifying legacy of The Gestapo; Hitler’s secret police force; whose reign of terror during the Second World War was one of torture; mass surveillance and murder. So; who were The Gestapo? What was their purpose during those tumultuous years? What were their techniques and methods of law enforcement? And what happened to them after Hitler was defeated? Join us as we try to understand the mind-set and behaviours of ‘The Gestapo’. This is Wars of the World. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s episode will focus on one of the biggest – and most important – turning points in world history; the Battle of Gettysburg. The three-day battle occurred during the American Civil War; a major conflict between the Northern and Southern states, led by the Union and Confederate armies. Between July 1st and July 3rd, 1863 thousands of men – from both sides of the divide - engaged in a bloody and tactical battle in the borough and town of Gettysburg in the state of Pennsylvania. The ferocious onslaught resulted in the end of the Confederacy's intentions to inaugurate an independent nation after the Union – led by Major General George Meade - defeated General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, forcing them to retreat and eventually surrender. Join us as we investigate what happened before (and during) those frantic three days; resulting in how the United States of America – and the world – changed forever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every war has its battles for the cities and in 2003 as US forces, aided predominantly by the United Kingdom, invaded Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, planners in Washington knew that at some point their troops would have to go into the Iraqi capital of Baghdad if they were to ever oust the middle eastern dictator and his government as was the mission objective of Operation Iraqi Freedom. No one was under any illusions that Baghdad would be a tough nut to crack and despite the technological advantage enjoyed by US forces, years of operational experience from Vietnam to Somalia told US commanders that in the end it would largely be down to the skill andfighting spirit of the infantry. This is the story of the Fall of Baghdad. Welcome to Wars of the World Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Officially known as the German Reich, Nazi Germany was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when it was headed by Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party, who governed by way of a totalitarian dictatorship. The term ‘Third Reich’ means ‘Third Realm’ or ‘Third Empire’, and refers to the Nazi declaration that Nazi Germany was the successor to both the Holy Roman Empire and the German Empire, the latter of which took place between 1871 and 1918. In Nazi Germany, life was difficult. Though there was little unemployment, workers were subject to poor wages and bad conditions. Women were to stay at home and produce children while children were indoctrinated with political propaganda as soon as they entered education. And, of course, many who didn’t fit the so-called ‘norms’ of society - whether it was due to their sexuality, religion, ethnicity, race, disabilities or unwillingness to fight in war - were punished and persecuted. Join us for this documentary as we explore the rise and fall of the Third Reich. Learn more…

In the spring of 1945, The Battle of Iwo Jima raged between the US Marines and Navy, and the Imperial Japanese Army. Tasked with capturing the Japanese island and its accompanying airfields, the US launched a five-week assault that ultimately became one of the bloodiest conflicts of the Pacific War, leading to the deaths of almost 7000 US soldiers and as many as 18,375 Japanese troops. Though the US would ultimately succeed, the clash between the two countries was not without its controversies. Join us for this documentary as we examine The Battle of Iwo Jima. Welcome to Wars of the World Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us Fan Mail In late 2004, the Second Battle of Fallujah commenced. It was an American-led offensive during the Iraq War, with the operation involving the efforts of the United States, United Kingdom and Iraqi Interim Government in what is considered the war’s first major engagement against the Iraqi insurgency, as opposed to its military forces. The conflict resulted in as many as 2000insurgent deaths and has been described as the single bloodiest battle of the entire war. This is the story of the Second Battle of Fallujah. Welcome to Wars of the World. Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us Fan Mail Referred to by Vanity Fair as Hitler’s Doomed Angel, Geli Raubal was the fuhrer’s niece, whose demise at the age of 23 was swept under the carpet almost as quickly as it had come. Over the years, the pair’s relationship has come under intense scrutiny with rumours flying about what kind of relationship, exactly, the pair had and what circumstances led to her death. This is the story of Hitler’s strange fascination with his Niece, Geli Raubal. Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us Fan Mail The First World War was the culmination of the age of empires meeting the industrial revolution of the late 19th century. The battlefield had become a machine of death, crushing out life from thousands of soldiers with an efficiency never before witnessed in recorded Human history. In this episode, we are going to examine how the Allies snatched victory from the German clutches and then began a one hundred day march towards defeating the forces of the Kaiser. This is the story of the 100 Days Offensive. Welcome to Wars of the World. Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us Fan Mail The Second Boer War, also known as the Anglo-Boer War, raged between October 1899 and May 1902. Involved in the conflict were the British and the Boer residents in the South African Republic and the Orange Free State, both regions established in South Africa in the 1850s. This 31-month clash led to the deaths of almost 100,000 people, while more than 75,000 Brits were wounded and 24,000 Boer troops were captured and sent overseas. The war also led many, including the British public, to question the morality of the oppressive British Empire. Join us for this documentary as we examine the Second Boer War: Britain vs South Africa.. Welcome to Wars of the World. Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us Fan Mail The Second Battle of Ramadi, fought in 2006 during the Iraq War, saw the US military and Iraqi Security Forces come together to drive insurgent groups out of the city of Ramadi. In a tense and difficult battle, coalition forces sought to capture key areas of the city, allowing them to take control. This 8-month conflict is considered one of the most decisive battles in the overarching Iraq War and many in the military believe it led to the formation of the Anbar Awakening, which saw Iraqi tribal groups reject al-Qaeda and cooperate with US forces. Join us for this documentary as we examine the Second Battle of Ramadi. Welcome to Wars of the World. Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us Fan Mail September 1999. On the small south-east Asian island of Timor, demands for independence from Indonesia which had ruled over the population there since annexing it in 1976 had grown to such an extent as to spark open violence between those who wished to remain Indonesian and those who wanted the island to take control of its own future. This forced the United Nations to intervene, creating a peacekeeping force predominantly led by Australian defence forces to intervene and secure an open and fair referendum on independence. To assist with this difficult task, the Australian government turned to its two longest and most natural allies namely New Zealand and the United Kingdom for assistance. Dubbed the International Force for East Timor or INTERFET, it included a special operations detachment which arrived in theatre aboard a Royal Australian Air Force C-130 Hercules transport flying out of Darwin, Australia. Disembarking from the aircraft in their specially modified Land Rover Defenders was…

Send us Fan Mail The Great War – the First World War – had its own stories of Foo Fighters, again set against the paranoid backdrop of technology advancing seemingly out of control. The Airship Scare or Scareship phenomenon became a very real menace to the Allied powers in the years leading up to and during the First World War as the fear of German airship technology conjured up images of cities destroyed from the air, Allied defences being powerless to stop them.Was this just mass hysteria as is generally accepted? As we celebrate the month of October, in association with our UFO-themed sister channel Destination Declassified, we are going to examine how a world gripped with fear, began seeing mysterious airships and aircraft in the sky whether they were really there or not and how one of Britain’s most celebrated figures, was left egg-faced to explain them. Welcome to Wars of the World. Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us Fan Mail On the afternoon of May 14th, 1940, beleaguered citizens in the Dutch city of Rotterdam looked skyward as they heard the approaching drone of German bombers; through the thick, noxious smoke drifting upward from burning buildings, they could just make out the massed formations of Heinkel HE-111’s, the infamous black balkenkreuz insignia stark against their white undercarriages. For the next quarter of an hour, over a thousand high explosive bombs would smash the Dutch into submission, murdering over 700 civilians and devastating an entire city, callously shattering its short-lived defiance in the face of Nazi tyranny. When the dust had settled, questions arose about how this atrocity - which German field commanders claimed was accidental - happened? Worse, were the theories that it was a deliberate act intended to force Dutch capitulation... Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us Fan Mail Jonathan Glazer's 2023 critically acclaimed film The Zone of Interest follows the life of Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Hoss and his family as they go about their daily lives, right next to the infamous concentration camp. It shows the unsettling juxtaposition between the comfort felt by the well off Hoss family, and the atrocities committed just over the other side of the wall. In reality, this was very much the case: Nazi officials of all ranks simply went about their comfortable day to day lives whilst huge populations of people were being systematically murdered, in some cases literally, on their doorstep. It can be argued that Adolf Hitler experienced this comfort more than most, as we will explore in today's video. When Hitler wasn't actively taking part in political action, he spent much of his time at the Berghof - a picturesque holiday home in the Bavarian Alps. In fact, with the exception of his headquarters in East Prussia, he spent more time at the Berghof than he would any other…

Send us Fan Mail “I don’t think of all the misery but of the beauty that still remains.” These are the words of an extraordinary young girl whose words have provided light in one of the darkest chapters of Human history. These are the words of Annelies Marie Frank, more commonly known as Anne and her life has become one of those most in recent history as she recorded the events surrounding her family and their ultimately doomed effort to escape the persecution of the Nazis as they cast their shadow over Europe during the first half of the 1940s. It is a story of youthful hope, the ordinary struggles of everyday adolescent life against a far from ordinary backdrop of fear and persecution and of surviving those extraordinary events not just physically but mentally. This is the tragic tale of Anne Frank. Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us Fan Mail How The "Tet" Began the End of The Vietnam War...In early 1968, while the battle for US outpost Khe Sanh raged on, General Vo Nguyen Giap of the People’s Army of Vietnam, or the PAVN, orchestrated a series of coordinated assaults on over 100 South Vietnamese cities and towns. Considered a major escalation, the Tet Offensive was one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War, resulting in the deaths of over 14,000 civilians, around 5,000 South Vietnamese soldiers and approximately 45,000 North Vietnamese soldiers. In this episode, we will explore the offensive strategy, launched by the Communist North Vietnamese forces, during what should have been a brief respite of peace. These are the events which made up the Tet Offensive. Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us Fan Mail The Battle of Khe Sanh was a brutal conflict during the Vietnam War... The Khe Sanh Combat Base was located in the Khe Sanh area of northwestern Quảng Trị Province, a coastal province of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. In late January 1968, the People’s Army of North Vietnam orchestrated a brutal bombardment on the US base, leading the US Marines stationed there to fight back. What ensued was one of the most gruesome battles of the Vietnam War. Welcome to Wars of the World... Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us Fan Mail The Soviet-Afghan War raged for nine years and is considered a major part of the overarching Cold War between the US and its allies, and the Soviet Union. A major faction was the Afghan Mujahideen - the Islamist resistance groups that fought against the Soviets and the Republic of Afghanistan - backed by the US, UK, China, Iran and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, all of whom had waged war against the communist Afghanistan government after it had seized power in 1978 on the back of a coup. The Soviet-Afghan War led to the deaths of around three million Afghans, while refugees fled to Pakistan and Iran. As much as 11.5% of Afghanistan’s population was killed during the conflict, sometimes referred to as “The Soviet Union’s Vietnam.” In this episode, we will explore the Battle for Hill 3234, which took place just over one year before the end of the Soviet-Afghan war, in January of 1988. It saw members of the Soviet Union, supported by the Republic of Afghanistan, attacked by over 200…

Send us Fan Mail During the 1980s, the United States was still struggling to come to grips with its involvement in the Vietnam War and as part of that effort, Hollywood churned out a number of movies with the conflict as its backdrop. For younger audiences especially, they provided an insight into what their fathers or older siblings may have experienced during their tours of duty in the jungles of southeast Asia. One of the most seminal pieces produced in this period was 1987’s Full Metal Jacket directed by legendary director Stanley Kubrick. The film demonstrates the process of turning ordinary young men into weapons to be used in war and how that impacts them when they get to the battlefield. Thus, the movie starts in a US Marine boot camp and then transitions to the battlefield of Vietnam just as the Tet Offensive gets underway, the main characters fighting in the streets of a city called Hue. For countless young people at the time, this may have been the first time they would have heard of Hue or been…

Send us Fan Mail British Army Sergeant Norman Midgley must have thought he had seen it all by April 1945. Even before the war started, he had seen his fair share of both the best and worst of humanity in his vocation as a staff photographer for the Daily Express newspaper based in Manchester, England. When the war started the British Army therefore had a specific task for him in mind given his experience and expertise; specifically as a member of the Army Film and Photographic Unit. It was his job to record in pictures the events experienced by British and Commonwealth forces in the fight against the Axis, he and his compatriots being embedded inside frontline British combat units. It was a role no less dangerous than any other soldier on the battlefield and in fact statistically, it was even more so with Midgeley’s unit alone suffering an appalling 1-in-4 casualty rate. By the time he found himself travelling in a jeep to a remote location being held by the British 11th Armoured Division in northern…

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we are going to examine the events leading up to and surrounding the tragedy of the Brno Death March as thousands of ethnic Germans were rounded up in Czechoslovakia and marched to the Austrian border all the while being subjected to the vilest abuse and mistreatment. Many would not make it in this genocide largely forgotten by history for it concerned those labelled as the enemy. Welcome to Wars of the World. Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us Fan Mail November 1918 and the war to end all wars comes to its conclusion as the guns on the western front fall silent. For four years prior, the army of German Kaiser Wilhelm II had shot and shelled its way into France and Belgium but had been held back from total victory behind a line of trenches and barbed wire. France had survived but its lands were scarred, and its people felt loss like never before. Thus, when war loomed once again, the French swore they would be ready for it. Using the time given to them by the so-called Phoney War, the period following the invasion of Poland and Hitler striking west, they along with their British allies built up their defences and prepared to keep the German eagle east of their shared border. And yet despite this preparation, it would take the Fuhrer Adolf Hitler less than two months to force the French to sue for peace. In this episode we are going to examine the events leading up to the invasion of France, examine the strategies of both sides and chart the…

Send us Fan Mail Many of history’s greatest armoured fighting vehicles emerged during the Second World War. These vehicles have not only come to symbolise the struggle of their respective armies in that titanic clash but, furthermore have transcended the battlefield to become ongoing symbols of their nation’s grit and determination in the face of the enemy. But while we may admire the classic lines of the M4 Sherman or the revolutionary shape of the armour of a T-34, in terms of instilling fear in its enemy, one tank stands head and shoulders above the rest – the German Tiger. Despite a somewhat inauspicious start, when the heavyweight Tiger made its presence known on the battlefield, it sent shockwaves amongst the Allies, who quickly began to fear the prospect of facing off against waves of nothing but these powerful and resilient tanks which for a time appeared almost unstoppable. In this episode, we are going to examine the origins of this tank, explore its impact on the war, assess its drawbacks and look…

Send us Fan Mail The humble fish and chips. It’s still not entirely clear how or even when this quaint but filling little meal became the official dish of the people of the British Isles but what is known is that during the first half of the 20th century it had become as quintessentially British as cricket and the Royal family. One of the most common types of fish to be included in the meal was cod from the North Sea and British fishing trawlers scoured the region between Scotland and Iceland in pursuit of this seemingly unlimited resource of the sea. However, by the middle of the 20th century it would be the pursuit of this innocuous fish that would lead to a series of diplomatic crises and at times confrontations on the stormy, strategically important northern waters that if weren’t managed properly, threatened to escalate out of control and possibly even drag in the superpowers. It is a David and Goliath story where a small fleet of Icelandic Coast Guard patrol boats squared up to the mighty Royal Navy…

Send us Fan Mail For hundreds of years prior to the 20th century, war had changed very little with the improvements in weapon technology that did arise being incremental and slow to establish themselves. However, with the industrial revolution of the mid-to-late 19th century and the meteoric advances in science and technology that came with it, in the span of a few decades, warfare was changed beyond recognition. New weapons that were once the stuff of science fiction from the likes of Jules Vernes or H.G. Wells such as submarines and aircraft were now being realised and with them, the number of ways to kill in war skyrocketed resulting in the brutal death factories that were the frontlines of the Great War between 1914 and 1918. In this episode, we are going to examine the development and use of just five of the myriads of deadly weapons to emerge during the First World War. Welcome to wars of the World. Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us Fan Mail Picture the scene. It is the Eastern Front in 1943 and you are a German soldier on the frontline. In the distance, you can see and hear a line of T-34 tanks trundling and clacking towards your position but more than that, riding on the back of them behind their turrets are swarms of Soviet troops all clutching a small but distinctive weapon. You’ve come to know this weapon very well and with the knowledge of what it can do, you begin firing your MG42 machine gun hoping to kill as many of the Soviet troops as you can before they get in range for once they do, you know hell will be unleashed upon you. Every war has its weapon that helps symbolise the struggle of nations and one of the most distinctive of the eastern front where the conflict is remembered as the Great Patriotic War was the PPSh-41 submachine gun. This crude but effective little weapon would be instrumental in turning the tide against the Axis forces attempting to bear down on Moscow and would prove the old Soviet adage that…

Send us Fan Mail We are all familiar with the Nazi practices of sending Jews to concentration camps, carrying out mass executions and instilling fear into German citizens through their paramilitary organisations like the SS. But one practice that tends to go under the radar concerning Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party was their rampant abuse of medicinal substances, which in today’s world, would be considered as illicit drugs. What you need to consider, however, is that at the time, these drugs were seen as the cutting edge of science. With various drugs and medicines being developed to treat a wide variety of ailments, it’s unsurprising that as the second world war broke out, there would be efforts made to develop drugs which aimed to turn an average, green recruit into a fearsome, dedicated fighting machine. Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us Fan Mail Looking back through history, it’s often difficult to see passed events that have so shaped our modern world. The story of Japan in World War II for example has often left those in the west with an impression that prior to 1945, Japan was always an enemy of freedom, when in fact while we associate Imperial Japan as Hitler’s ally, just twenty years earlier, Japan fought against the Kaiser and that particular tyrant’s quest for power.In this episode, we are going to explore Japan’s entry into the First World War and examine its navy’s intriguing if often forgotten role in safeguarding the Mediterranean Sea from the Kaiser’s fleet of U-boats. Welcome to Wars of the World. Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us Fan Mail August 1964. US President Lyndon B. Johnson has inherited an ongoing crisis in the south-east Asian nation of Vietnam from his predecessor, John F. Kennedy. The crisis involves the spreading of communism from North Vietnam into the south and potentially beyond, threatening the US position in the region against the Soviet Union in the Cold War. At first, he adopts the policy of training and equipping the South Vietnamese Army to fight the war themselves but when a US warship is attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin, he and his government feel the fight now requires more direct involvement. The US military complex was unlike any other on the planet in 1964. Large and highly sophisticated, it was believed that it could achieve any objective put before it and yet in Vietnam, this technical marvel was forced to get down in the mud to fight its enemy. This led US leaders to look back at improving the most valuable piece of equipment at their disposal – the US soldier. Science offered the possibility of…

Send us Fan Mail The unseen enemy is always the most feared for how does one engage an enemy if you do not know their location? Throughout history, the art of camouflage has often been the key to success in battle, greatly increasing an enemy force’s response time as they try to locate just who it is that is shooting them. Mother nature has often provided the best camouflage for armies, concealing them away from the prying eyes of an enemy force moving nearby. Mother nature has also provided armies with food and water and so for an invading army especially, mother nature can sometimes be seen as an enemy ally. As such, with the advent of the industrial revolution and a greater understanding of biology and chemistry, the most advanced nations have developed weapons to deny their enemies the protection of mother nature. In this episode, we are going to examine the development and use of herbicides and defoliants in the Vietnam War and specifically that of Agent Orange. Welcome to Wars of the World. Support the…

Send us Fan Mail In this documentary, we are going to examine the events surrounding probably the most significant sinking of a ship by a U-boat during the entire conflict. It is an event that would have far reaching consequences for the war, and beyond which wouldn’t be fully realised until a generation later. This is the story of the sinking of the RMS Lusitania and how it lit the path to war for the United States of America. Welcome to Wars of the World. Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us Fan Mail On October 15th 2016, the 43,000 ton Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuzentsov slipped out of the Kola Bay fjord in the Barents Sea. Escorted by a small flotilla of warships including the powerful Pyotr Velikiy battlecruiser, the carrier sailed through the North Sea and down the English Channel in to the Atlantic before rounding the Iberian Peninsula and entering the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas. A month after leaving Kola Bay, aircraft of the Kuznetsov began operations against Islamic State and Al-Nusra terrorist groups in Syria in support of the Assad government. It was the first time a Russian carrier group had undertaken a combat deployment and was the end of a long, complex and at times troubled road undertaken by Moscow to produce a carrier force which was hoped would one day challenge the dominance of the United States Navy; a dream that offered great promise but as of 2023 sees one solitary carrier rusting and leaking in a Russian shipyard waiting for the government to release…

Send us Fan Mail Given the horror that Hitler unleashed on the world, it seems unfathomable that he could show any kind of warmth and affection to any living thing. Yet quite the contrary for he was an avid lover of dogs, but this love only serves to remind us of his evil for he could treat animals infinitely better than he treated many people. In this episode, we are going to examine the Fuhrer’s love for dogs, examine the role they played in the Fuhrer’s day-to-day life and how they were even an influence in his ideas for a racially pure world. Welcome to Wars of the World. Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us Fan Mail Throughout history, war has often been characterised as being an elaborate game of chess played by the Generals commanding the armies on the chessboard that is the battlefield. This characterisation has led to the perception of many of history’s great duels being between two key, opposing players and in 1942 on the deserts of North Africa – a land described as being ideal for the game of war – there seemed no greater player than German Field Marshall Erwin Rommell. Commanding the German Afrika Korps, it seemed like the man who history remembers as the Desert Fox could not be stopped. The British Empire forces opposing him changed leaders several times until finally one man stood up to the plate who could match him in both genius and charisma. His name was General Bernard Montgomery who history would know simply as Monty. But Monty’s story extends beyond this one battlefield and in this episode, we are going to explore more of the man who heralded the turning point in the fight against Nazi…

Send us Fan Mail For every nation, there are battles whose names for one reason or another mean more to their people than most. For Americans, its Gettysburg. For Australians and New Zealanders, its Gallipoli. For the British and Canadians, it’s the Somme. For France, perhaps one of the most important battles in its recent history was the Battle of Verdun. Fought almost throughout the entirety of 1916, the battle was instigated by the German Army in an effort to destroy France and achieve victory on the Western Front. Instead, the battle demonstrated France’s determination to resist and fight back over the span of 303 days of fighting – one of the longest battles not just of the Great War but in recorded history. This is the story of the Battle of Verdun. Welcome to Wars of the World. Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us Fan Mail In this, episode, we are going to take a look at the real wartime service of UB-65 and then investigate the legend to establish if there is any truth in the story of the supposedly haunted U-boat or whether it was as some believe the result of an elaborate plan by the Allies to combat the underwater menace. Welcome to Wars of the World. Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us Fan Mail The opening of the air war over the Pacific was brutal. Allied pilots found themselves facing an enemy whose fighters appeared to be able to run rings around their own. The most notable of these Japanese fighters was the Mitsubishi A6M more commonly known to Allied pilots as the Zero. Designed by a team headed by Jiro Honkoshi, the A6M was designed for the Imperial Japanese Navy and as such could be operated from carriers. At the time, most carrier-based fighters had to sacrifice some aspect of its performance to make it suitable for the rigours of carrier operations but what made the Zero so feared was that for the first time, this aircraft had performance that could match most of its land-based adversaries; something almost completely lost on Allied intelligence prior to December 1941.The Zero was a fast slasher, being capable of high speed and great agility. By contrast most Allied fighters such as the US Navy’s Grumman F4F Wildcat were much heavier designs as they incorporated greater…

Send us Fan Mail The streets of Berlin were devastated beyond recognition in some areas as 33-year-old photographer William Vandivert was led to the location of the former German chancellery buildings. Just days before, these streets had been the subject of a two-week long bloody and bitter battle between the Soviet Union’s Red Army and the last of the German Wehrmacht whose numbers had been propped up by old men and young boys recruited from the city’s population. Now that battle was over and red flags upon which was emblazoned the hammer and sickle emblem of the Soviet Union hung from the ruined buildings, replacing the swastika of the Third Reich which was no more. Vandivert later reported in Life magazine that almost every famous building in the German capital was a shambles and one could walk for blocks and see no living thing, hear nothing but the stillness of death and smell nothing but its putrid stench. Vandivert arrived at what remained of the Reich chancellery and was then guided to an entrance…

Send us Fan Mail Hỏa Lò Prison was first built during the French Colonial era between 1886 and 1901 in the French Quarter of Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital city. During this time, Vietnam was part of French Indochina, a group of French colonial territories in Southeast Asia which was eventually dissolved in the 1950s. As well as various Vietnamese regions, French Indochina consisted of Cambodia, Laos and Guangzhouwan. The city of Hanoi remained the area’s capital between 1902 and 1945.Upon first being built, Hỏa Lò Prison was dubbed ‘Maison Centrale’ or ‘Central House’, and was established to hold Vietnamese revolutionaries and political dissidents, particularly those campaigning for Vietnamese independence. The prison had a grisly reputation from the start: prisoners were known to be subject to torture and brutal interrogation tactics, before finally facing execution. The name ‘Hỏa Lò’ emerged some time afterwards, roughly translating to ‘stove’, ‘fire kiln’ or ‘fiery furnace’, and came from the fact that the…

Send us Fan Mail When discussing the Axis powers of World War II, history tends to focus on Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan and Mussolini’s Italy however this is only part of the story. Fascism and antisemitism were by no means limited to Hitler and his closest allies in Tokyo and Rome. Indeed, far-right extremist ideologies had taken hold in several European countries that made them potential allies for Berlin particularly with the natural hostility such policies attracted from the communist superpower of the Soviet Union.One such nation that found itself seduced by the same Fascist ideals as Germany was Romania. Surrounded by potential enemies who viewed its lands with jealousy including the Soviet Union, historic antisemitism combined with a fear of a communism led Romania down a dark path as it found itself working alongside Hitler’s Germany on what the leaders of both countries saw as nothing short of a holy crusade against those who they believed conspired against them, stifling them and holding them back…

Send us Fan Mail In one specific section of his book, Tomlinson details that to qualify for the Increment, a certain amount of time must be served with MI6: “...SAS and SBS personnel must have served for at least five years and have reached the rank of sergeant. They are security vetted by MI6 and given a short induction course into the function and objectives of the service. If they have not already learnt surveillance skills, they take a three-week course at the Fort. Back at their bases in Hereford and Poole, their already substantial military skills are fine-tuned. They learn how to use improvised explosives and sabotage techniques, as well as advanced VIP protection skills, study guerilla warfare organisation and practise advanced insertion techniques - for example, high-altitude parachuting from commercial aircraft or covert landings from submarines. Advanced civilian qualifications are acquired: several of the SBS Increment have commercial ship's skipper’s tickets in their alias name, enabling them…

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we are going to examine the evolution of the Panzer series from the humble Panzer I up to the excellent Panzer IV before German armoured doctrine switched to newer, often heavier and more powerful tanks to help compensate for their increasing numerical inferiority in the face of the Allied armies. Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us Fan Mail The SAS operation known as Bravo Two Zero left three men killed and four men captured to be tortured by Iraqi soldiers during the 1990s. This horrific and deadly exercise is infamous today, having been discussed in various books - some of which were written by the operation’s survivors - and is even the subject of a film starring Sean Bean. But certain accounts of the Bravo Two Zero operation have also come under scrutiny in the last three decades, leading it to become one of the most controversial SAS missions in history. Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us Fan Mail 1942. Nazi tyranny has engulfed Europe, the western Soviet Union and North Africa. Against this backdrop, there seems to be only one force who can take the fight to the heart of Hitler’s Third Reich – RAF Bomber Command. But results have been poor, and the cost has been high. As a new commander takes charge, he brings with him a bold new plan that he believes will be the first knock out blow of the war, and to deliver it, he plans to send over 1000 bombers to hit a single German city. This is the story of Operation Millenium – the first 1,000 bomber raid. Welcome to Wars of the World. Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices