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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Our WW1 Podcast: https://listen.not-so-quiet.com

General Enquiries: ⁠both-sides@battleguide.co.uk⁠

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Twitter:

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Credits:

- Host: Prof. Dr. Matthias Strohn & Jesse Alexander

- Production & Editing: Linus Klaßen

History
26
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
27
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
28
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
29
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
30
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
31
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
32
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
33
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
34
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
35
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
36
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
37
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
38
Episode 7: Kursk - the Battle and the Myths
Today we’ll visit what might be the biggest single battle in history, the Battle of Kursk. The titanic clash in summer of 1943 showed how far the tide had turned in the east, and has given rise to heated debates and longstanding myths. So did the battle see the largest tank battle in history and did it break the neck of the Wehrmacht in the East, as has been claimed? Let’s find out!
61 min
39
Episode 6: US Entry - The role of China, France...
In this episode, we peel back the layers on what seems to be a straightforward question - US entry into WW2. The story leads beyond Pearl Harbor, into a web of international tensions, persistent mythology - and even to France and China.
57 min
40
Episode 5: The Waffen SS - Elite or Not?
In this episode, we’re going to take a stab at a controversial question muddied by myths and propaganda - that is, was the Waffen SS elite?
53 min
41
Episode 4: The Greatest Victory of All Time?
In this episode, we will tackle the German victory in the West and in particular over France in 1940. Even though it’s been partly overshadowed by later events in the war, at the time it was rightly seen as one of the greatest military victories of all time. It was a short but decisive campaign and it is still the source of all sorts of misunderstandings and controversy.
56 min
42
Episode 3: Origins: More Than Just Hitler
In this episode we’ll go back to the roots: we’ll get into how and why the 2 World War began - which is a story about Adolf Hitler but not only about Hitler - there were a lot of messy things going on in the 1920s and 1930s that plunged the world into total war.
62 min
43
Episode 2: Berlin 1945
In this episode, we will explore one of the biggest battles of the second world war, the Battle of Berlin – the dramatic culmination of four years of war on the eastern front which ended the Third Reich and set the stage for the Cold War in Europe.
83 min
44
Episode 1: Myths of the Second World War
In this first episode, Matthias and Jesse talk about a few widespread myths of the Second World War. How they came about and why and how these myths distort the image of the Second World War even today.
64 min
45
Podcast Teaser: WW2 - Both Sides of The Wire
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 unravelling the complexities of a conflict that still shapes our world today.
1 min