WW2: Both Sides of The Wire | A Battl...
World War 2: Both Sides of the Wire is the podcast that takes you beyond the familiar and dives deep into the untold stories and surprising truths of the Second World War from the Allied and Axis perspectives.
Join us as we lift the lid on one of the most pivotal periods in human history, busting myths and unraveling the complexities of a conflict that still shapes our world today.
Host: Prof. Matthias Strohn & Jesse Alexander
More about Matthias & Jesse: https://battleguide.co.uk/bsow#host
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Credits:
- Host: Prof. Dr. Matthias Strohn & Jesse Alexander
- Production & Editing: Linus Klaßen
26
Episode 32: Prisoners of War in East Europe
In today’s episode, we’re going behind the lines to consider the oft-overlooked fates of the millions of soldiers on the Eastern Front who fell into enemy hands and became prisoners of war. Millions were killed or died in camps from Germany to Siberia, and many did not make it home until the 1950s. This is their story.
61 min
27
Episode 31: The “Champagne Campaign”’s Missed O...
In today’s episode, we continue the story of what has been called the Champagne Campaign: the Allies’ blitz landings in southern France in summer 1944, and their role in the course of the war on the western front.
54 min
28
Episode 30: The OTHER D-Day in France: Operatio...
In today’s episode, we’ll take a trip to the sunny coast of southern France! But don’t worry, dear listeners, we’re not going to talk about nude beaches and champagne - we’re going to talk about another D-Day in France: Operation Dragoon and the invasion of southern France in August 1944.
41 min
29
Episode 29: World War 2 Films
In today`s episode, it gets personal. We`re headed for the bright lights of Hollywood and the big screen! We`ll play the role of film buff and film critic, and share our opinions on the best - or at least our favourite - WW2 films
49 min
30
Episode 28: Dieppe - The Disaster Unfolds
In today’s episode, we continue the story of the disastrous raid on Dieppe in 1942. How and why did the Allied plan go wrong, what happened on the beaches, and what did the Germans think of the whole affair?
70 min
31
Episode 27: Dieppe - The Mystery of Why
The Mystery of Why Ep 27 Intro sentence: In today’s episode, we’ll make a stop on the French coast at the port town of Dieppe - the site of a raid-gone-wrong in 1942, the source of a Canadian tragedy, and the cause of heated debates about why this ill-fated battle even happened at all.
45 min
32
Episode 26: Pearl Harbor - Lack of Oil or Chine...
In this episode, we continue our investigation of the Japanese decision to attack Pearl Harbour. Today we pick up the story in 1937, when Japan took the fateful decision to launch a full-scale invasion of China, a crucial step on the road to December 7, 1941.
54 min
33
Episode 25: Pearl Harbor - Japan and the China ...
In today’s episode, we’re going to put a new twist on an old favourite that is shrouded in its share of WW2 mythology: why did Japan decide to attack the United States at Pearl Harbor in 1941? Was it really only the oil embargo that tipped the balance, or is the story more complex?
38 min
34
Episode 24: D-Day, Deception, Deceit: Operation...
In today’s episode we’re going to go behind the scenes to unpack what might have been the most important deception Operation of the Second World War: Operation Fortitude. Was it all just smoke and mirrors or did Allied lies win the Normandy campaign?
50 min
35
Episode 23: End Game in Africa -Tunisgrad 1943
In today’s episode, we’re off to North Africa to dissect the Desert Fox’s last battle in the field and the US Army’s baptism of fire against the Wehrmacht. A campaign that sealed the fate of the Axis in Africa and that some have controversially nicknamed Tunisgrad.
62 min
36
Episode 22: U-Boats
In today’s episode, we’ll get our feet wet in what Winston Churchill once called the most critical battle of the war: the Battle of the Atlantic. And of course the main part of this struggle for mastery of the seas was waged on the German side by submarines - the famous U-Boats, who did their utmost to strangle Britain and win the war for Germany.
67 min
37
Episode 21: Memory Part 2 - The Legacy of WW2 i...
In today’s episode we’re going to revisit a hot topic - a political topic even! That is the memory of the Second World War. Today we’re going to look at the legacy of how WW2 is remembered, commemorated, used and abused, and even enlisted on the political battlefield in the Allied Big Three - the USSR, US and UK.
69 min
38
Episode 20: Memory Part 1 - Germany
47 min
39
Episode 19: What-ifs of World War Two: the Inva...
In this episode, we’ll venture into the fascinating but treacherous realm of the counterfactual, the what-ifs of the Second World War. There are endless topics among these might-have-beens, but today we’ll dig into the invasion that never was: Operation Sea Lion, the German Plan to invade Britain in 1940.
65 min
40
Episode 18: The Greatest Allied Victory of the ...
In this episode we’re going to talk about the biggest operational military defeat that Germany has ever suffered in its history, a campaign that completely destroyed an entire German Army group in a matter of weeks. Despite the massive scale of the damage inflicted and the immense operational achievement it represents, this operation gets nearly no attention in the English-speaking world. I am talking, of course, about Operation Bagration, the Red Army’s triumph against Army Group Centre in the summer of 1944.
60 min
41
Episode 17: The Forgotten Rhine Crossing. - Fu...
In today’s episode, we are crossing the Rhine and push into the heartland of Germany. However, this is not the Rhine crossing you might have heard of, but the one that included the largest one-day airborne drop in history.
62 min
42
Episode 16: The Road to the Rhine - a Forgotten...
In today’s episode, we are crossing the Rhine and push into the heartland of Germany. However, this is not the Rhine crossing you might have heard of, but the one that included the largest one-day airborne drop in history.
69 min
43
Episode 15: Monte Cassino - Allied perseverance...
In this episode we will tackle some of the bitterest and, from the Allied side, most controversial actions of the Italian campaign and indeed of the entire war: the four battles of Monte Cassino, also known as the “Battle for Rome”. Why did the Allies struggle so much, did they commit a massive war crime, and was the campaign worth it in the first place - let’s find out.
77 min
44
Episode 14: Operation Mincemeat
In this episode, we are moving into a new field intelligence and covert operations. Did they influence the outcome of the war, or were they merely a sideshow? There's no shortage of examples and today we are concentrating on what is arguably the most famous and perhaps also the most successful, Operation Mincemeat.
63 min
45
Episode 13: Winter War
In this episode, we are heading to the far North and are going to look at a war within the Second World war that had a profound impact on how the wider conflict would develop and end. I am talking about the 1939-40 Soviet- Finnish War, also known as the Winter War.
73 min
46
Episode 12: Barbarossa - General Winter’s great...
In this episode we take a closer look at Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. It was the largest campaign in the history of warfare, and the one that, arguably, turned the tide and decided the outcome of the Second World War.Why did the Germans decide to invade, what were the Soviets plans, and how did this campaign develop?
87 min
47
Episode 11: More Myths
In this episode, we are returning to the core theme of this podcast series, and this is busting myths and taking a closer look at overly convenient truths - those that are too good and too fantastic to be true. The list of these myths is endless, which is a good thing, because it means we can continue with the podcast series for a long time. Of course, one has to pick and choose what myths to bust, and, in this episode, we will take a closer look at some of the more famous, or infamous, myths, from both the Western and Eastern front.
56 min
48
Episode 10: Stalingrad - the battle and the m...
In this episode, we’re diving into the Battle of Stalingrad – often seen as THE turning point of World War Two and the culmination point of Nazi Germany’s total war in the East. It’s perhaps the bitterest and bloodiest example of urban warfare, and like most big battles, it has given rise to myths that deserve a critical look.
82 min
49
Episode 9: How the Allies Won – More Than Numbers
In this episode we’ll get to grips with what might seem like a simple question – why and how did the Allies win the Second World War. The usual answer is that it was superior numbers. These matter, but we think that the answers go far beyond the statistic, in order to get to grips with all of this, we have to lift some of the fog of war.
69 min
50
Episode 8: Blitzkrieg - unstoppable German stra...
Intro sentence: In this episode we’ll investigate the idea of Blitzkrieg - were the stunning victories of German arms from 1939 to 1941 the result of a brilliant, a new military concept? Is the Blitzkrieg label a myth echoing Nazi propaganda? And what are the military roots of this Blitzkrieg and the associated doctrine?
56 min