WW2 Nation Podcast
70 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 2 years ago - ★★★★ - 86 ratingsJoin me on a journey of discovery into the past and present, as I set out to explore the history of the Second World War. Our travels will take us from the Homefront to the battlefields of Europe and beyond. Travel with us as we revisit historical locations and walk the battlefields of WW2. We will be tracking down wartime artefacts, speaking with veterans and historians alike, and paying our deepest respects to this remarkable generation; as we set out to try and help keep this period of history alive. It’s going to be a long journey, in fact it’s going to be a life long journey!
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Episodes
Ep 19 - Part One: Talking the Day The Devils Dropped In - The 6th Airborne Division in Normandy 1944 with Neil Barber
October 31, 2019 07:00 - 26 minutes - 47.9 MBIn Episode 19 of the WW2 Nation Podcast, we speak with 6th Airborne Division historian & author Neil Barber to discuss the important role this airborne unit played on D-Day and during the subsequent fierce fighting of the 1944 Normandy campaign. In Part One (of 3), we discover why Neil first started researching the men and actions of the British 6th Airborne Division in Normandy in 1944. Before diving right into discussing the plan, role and actions of Lt Colonel Terence Otway's 9th Parachu...
Ep 18 - Part Three: Talking Operation Husky and the Glider Pilot Regiment with Mike Peters
October 23, 2019 06:00 - 38 minutes - 71.1 MBIn this episode of the WW2 Nation Podcast, it is our third and final instalment of talking with battlefield guide Mike Peters about the Glider Pilot Regiment and their role in Operation Husky during the fierce battle for Sicily in the summer of 1943. Music Featured: Hearts & Flowers by Jeff Kaale (SoundCloud/Instagram) *Please note this episode may contain some explicit language / content, parental guidance advised.*
Ep 17 - Part Two: Talking Operation Husky and the Glider Pilot Regiment with Mike Peters
October 16, 2019 18:55 - 36 minutes - 66.5 MBWelcome to another episode of the WW2 Nation Podcast and in this instalment we are turning our attention back to the scorching hot shores of Sicily in the summer of 1943, as we talk with battlefield guide Mike Peters in Part 2 of Operation Husky and the Glider Pilot Regiment. Music Featured: Hearts & Flowers by Jeff Kaale (SoundCloud/Instagram) *Please note this episode may contain some explicit language / content, parental guidance advised.*
Ep 16 - Talking Photographing the Last Surviving Veterans of WW2 - The 3945 Portrait Project with Glyn Dewis
October 09, 2019 06:00 - 55 minutes - 102 MBIn this episode of the WW2 Nation Podcast we talk with professional photographer Glyn Dewis about his incredible journey photographing the last of our surviving veterans from the Second World War. We learn all about this inspirational 3945 Portrait Project, the results of which will be on display in an exhibition held at the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum soon. Discover More About the 3945 Portrait Project Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum Music Featured: Hearts & Flowers by Jeff Kaale (Soun...
Ep 15 - Part Two-Talking the Restoration of D-Day Veteran Landing Craft Tank 7074 with Stephen Fisher
October 02, 2019 06:00 - 34 minutes - 63.9 MBIn Episode 15 of the WW2 Nation Podcast we continue our focus on the restoration of LCT 7074 with Naval Historian and Archaeologist, Stephen Fisher who is one of the team working on this incredible project in Portsmouth. So lets dive right back in to discussing conditions onboard LCT 7074 for her crew in the build-up to D-Day… Discover More About LCT 7074 Talk: The Evolution of the Landing Craft Talk: Embarking the D-Day Armada Tour: New Light on D-Day Lepe Music Featured: Hearts & Fl...
Ep 14 - Part One: Talking the Restoration of D-Day Veteran Landing Craft Tank 7074 with Stephen Fisher
September 25, 2019 19:16 - 32 minutes - 58.7 MBIn Episode 14 of the WW2 Nation Podcast we talk with Naval Historian and Archaeologist, Stephen Fisher about all things Landing Craft related during the Second World War. We will also be going behind-the-scenes and learning all about the ongoing project down in Portsmouth by the National Museum of the Royal Navy to restore D-Day Veteran Landing Craft Tank 7074 to her former 1944 glory. Discover More About LCT 7074 Music Featured: Hearts & Flowers by Jeff Kaale (SoundCloud/Instagram) *Plea...
Ep 13 - Talking Band of Brothers & Masters of the Air with John Orloff
July 18, 2019 06:11 - 48 minutes - 67.3 MBIn this WW2 Nation Podcast episode, we had the opportunity to go behind the scenes and take a look at the making of HBO's international hit sensation WW2 Mini-Series, Band of Brothers with one of the writers, John Orloff. John who wrote Episode Two: Day of Days and Episode Nine: Why We Fight, tells us all about how it came together, what it was like to be part of this life-changing series and much more. We also speak with John about the exciting new WW2 TV Series he is currently working o...
Ep 12 - Part One: Talking Operation Husky and the Glider Pilot Regiment with Mike Peters
August 01, 2018 17:07 - 42 minutes - 58.9 MBIn our next feature – spread out over 3 parts – we turn our gaze to the sweltering and dusty plains of Sicily during the summer of 1943. We talk with battlefield guide and historian Mike Peters to learn more about Operation Husky, the Allied Invasion and campaign to capture the Mediterranean island as well as the Glider Pilot Regiments involvement within these events. Part One sees us taking a look at why Sicily was chosen by the Allies following their success in North Africa, the Casablanca...
Ep 11 - Talking the Spitfire and new Film Documentary Spitfire with Co-Director David Fairhead
July 13, 2018 06:10 - 44 minutes - 61.6 MBWith 2018 marking RAF100, we turn our attention to looking at one of Britain's most iconic wartime aircraft - the Supermarine Spitfire. And in this episode of the WWII Nation Podcast we speak with Co-Director David Fairhead about his new film documentary 'Spitfire' out in cinemas next week. We will be discussing all things Spitfire related and finding out a lot about this remarkable aircraft from David. As well as talking about what it symbolised to the British people, why it had such a lon...
Ep 10 - Part 3: Talking Snow & Steel The Battle of the Bulge 1944-45 with Dr. Peter Caddick-Adams
February 09, 2017 07:14 - 44 minutes - 60.8 MBIn the 10th Episode of the WW2 Nation Podcast, we conclude our conversation speaking about the Battle of the Bulge with British military historian and author of 'Snow and Steel,' Dr. Peter Caddick-Adams. In this instalment, we will be looking at the siege of Bastogne, conditions inside the town for the defenders and civilians alike, the issue of logistics and re-supply, the use of air-power during the campaign including Operation Bodenplatte and the impact of the King Tiger Tank in the Arde...
Ep 9 - Part 2: Talking Snow & Steel The Battle of the Bulge 1944-45 with Dr. Peter Caddick-Adams
January 31, 2017 20:01 - 37 minutes - 51.3 MBIn Episode 9 of the WW2 Nation Podcast, we speak Battle of the Bulge with British military histrorian and author of 'Snow and Steel,' Dr. Peter Caddick-Adams. In this second instalment, we discuss with Peter the terrain and weather conditions in the Ardennes and how well prepared soldiers from both sides were to cope in these harsh circumstances. We also look at the events of Saturday 16th December 1944, that very first day of the battle and how one man or unit could make a big impact, as w...
Ep 8 - Part 1: Talking Snow & Steel The Battle of the Bulge 1944-45 with Dr. Peter Caddick-Adams
January 17, 2017 21:42 - 38 minutes - 52.3 MBIn our third episode of the WW2 Nation Podcast, we speak with British military histrorian and author of 'Snow and Steel,' Dr. Peter Caddick-Adams to learn more about the Battle of the Bulge. In the first of three parts, we discuss with Peter the planning behind Hitler's last throw of the dice in the Ardennes, the reason behind his decision to choose this region, the objectives of the Wacht am Rhein campaign, a secret German POW breakout plot in Britain, the Allied intelligence failings, the...
Ep 7 - A Turret View of Normandy Part 3: Talking with Tank Commander Captain David Render
September 14, 2016 06:23 - 34 minutes - 47.8 MBWelcome to another edition of the Veteran Podcast Archive here at WW2Nation.com In our third and final episode of speaking with Captain David Render about his experience as a Tank Troop Commander with the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry in WW2, we discover the differences between the Allied and German Tanks, the German Tiger and Panther's vulnerabilities, the reality of running these gigantic machines - which meant fuel and a lot of it. We also learn how best to force the German Tanks out of hidi...
Ep 6 - A Turret View of Normandy Part 2: Talking with Tank Commander Captain David Render
August 22, 2016 06:13 - 39 minutes - 54 MBHi Folks, welcome to another edition of the Veteran Podcast Archive here at WW2Nation.com In this episode, Part 2 of A Turret View of Normandy, we rejoin Captain David Render of the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry as he recalls the bitter reality of life and conditions inside a Sherman Tank during the Second World War. In this session we learn about the horrific casualties sustained by the Regiment as they fought their way through the Normandy bocage and towards Germany, and just to give you an i...
Ep 5 - A Turret View of Normandy Part 1 : Talking with Captain David Render
July 26, 2016 20:17 - 37 minutes - 52.1 MBIn this installment of the Veteran Podcast Archive, we feature an interview we did a year ago with WW2 Veteran Captain David Render, a former Troop Commander with one of one of Britain's elite Tank regiments, the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry. David Render joined the regiment in Normandy on D+5 as a 19 year old 2nd Lt fresh from Sandhurst. Due to its length, the interview will be split into 3 parts. In this very first episode, we discuss David's childhood and growing up in London, being evacu...
Ep 4 - Baker 'B' From Le Hamel to Kiel - Part Two: Talking with Bill Betts
May 24, 2016 12:44 - 30 minutes - 41.8 MBIn this episode, we look at the second installment of our conversation from last month with Second World War veteran Bill Betts. We pick up from where we left off in part 1 by discussing Beverly, the second hand M4 Sherman Tank that he and his other crew members inherited and called home for much of their war. We also found out about the improvised measures that Bill and the rest of his colleagues took to add extra protection to their Sherman. We learn about the Essex Yeomanry's time fightin...
Ep 3 - Victor - Victor - Victor - Part One: Talking with Bill Betts
May 08, 2016 16:52 - 30 minutes - 41.3 MBIn this episode, the first of our veteran archive interviews, we speak with veteran Bill Betts about his experience as a radio operator in an M4 Sherman tank during the Second World War. Bill joined the army aged 19 in 1941 and fought with the Essex Yeomanry Regiment as part of B Troop. The Regiment landed on D-Day in the Jig Green Sector of Gold Beach near Le Hamel and fought its way with the rest of the British 8th Armoured Brigade through France, Belgium, Holland and into Germany before e...
Ep 3 (Preview) - Talking with WW2 veteran Bill Betts
May 04, 2016 18:45 - 5 minutes - 7.33 MBA small snippet and sneak preview of our upcoming two-part interview with veteran Bill Betts, who speaks with the WW2 Nation team about his experience as a Sherman Tank radio operator in the Essex Yeomanry Regiment during the Second World War. Music Featured: Hearts & Flowers by Jeff Kaale (SoundCloud/Instagram) *Please note this episode may contain some explicit language / content, parental guidance advised.*
Ep 2 - Talking The War in the West, Germany Ascendant with James Holland
March 23, 2016 21:17 - 34 minutes - 47.9 MBIn our second episode of the WW2 Nation Podcast, we speak with Second World War historian James Holland about the first book in his new trilogy, The War in the West - Germany Ascendant 1939-1941. Music Featured: Hearts & Flowers by Jeff Kaale (SoundCloud/Instagram) *Please note this episode may contain some explicit language / content, parental guidance advised.*
Ep 1 - Talking The Fall of Berlin in 1945 with Antony Beevor
February 23, 2016 22:00 - 35 minutes - 48.2 MBIn our first ever episode of the WW2 Nation Podcast, we speak with renowned British Historian Antony Beevor about the Battle of Berlin in April - May 1945. Music Featured: Hearts & Flowers by Jeff Kaale (SoundCloud/Instagram) *Please note this episode may contain some explicit language / content, parental guidance advised.*