Episode list

In 1980 the British band OMD released Enola Gay from their second album "Organisation". The synth-pop classic, which sold over 5 million copies worldwide, addressed the atomic bombing of Hiroshima by the B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay on 6th August 1945. It was written by OMD's vocalist and bass guitarist Andy McCluskey who joins us to talk about the song. Frequently labelled as "anti-war" we will find out what inspired Andy to write the song and what it means to him and to the fans 40 years later. What's fascinating is that the song is now referenced in class-rooms as an indicator of the public's perception of the use of the Atomic bomb to bring an end to WWII. Yet to others it is simply a highly catchy pop song.

Sterling Hayden was a true Renaissance man - master sailor, war hero, actor, and author who struggled with self-hatred, alcoholism and substance abuse. Joining me is the author of Sterling Hayden's Wars - Lee Mandel a retired USN Physician. Hayden's wartime career is incredible. After a couple of minor film roles, he left Hollywood to fight. His first attempt to serve ended up badly after he broke his ankle jumping from a Stirling bomber in the UK on assignment with the British. Later, he joined the USMC where he served under the name John Hamilton. While at Parris Island, he was recommended for Officer Candidate School. After graduation, he was commissioned and was transferred to service as an undercover agent with William J. "Wild Bill" Donovan's Office of the Coordinator of Information. He remained there after it became the Office of Strategic Services. As OSS agent John Hamilton, his exploits included sailing with supplies from Italy to Yugoslav partisans and parachuting into fascist Croatia. Hayden, who also participated in the Naples-Foggia campaign and established air crew rescue teams in enemy-occupied territory received the Silver Star for gallantry and a commendation from Yugoslavia's Josip Tito. After the War he acted in some classic films including: The Killers, The Asphalt Jungle, Johnny Guitar, The Last Command and was (famously) the corrupt Police Chief killed by Michael Corleone in The Godfather. He also appeared in the War Films: Fighter Attack, Battle Taxi, The Eternal Sea and the cold-war satire Dr Strangelove.

Nearly three decades after her passing, Audrey Hepburn remains one of the most beloved of all Hollywood stars, known for films like Sabrina, Roman Holiday and Breakfast at Tiffany's. Our special guest is author Robert Matzen who wrote Dutch Girl about Audrey's early life and will talk about Audrey's war. He has also written books on Carole Lombard and Jimmy Stewart and frequently appears on TV and in other media. "The war made my mother who she was." said Audrey's son Luca Dotti. Audrey Hepburn's war included participation in the Dutch Resistance, working as a doctor's assistant during the battle of Arnhem, the brutal execution of her uncle, and the ordeal of the Hunger Winter of 1944. She also had to contend with the fact that her father was a Nazi agent and her mother was pro-Nazi for the first two years of the occupation. But the war years also brought triumphs as Audrey became Arnhem's most famous young ballerina. We will talk about all this and more during the show.

Lt. Cyril Rand was a Platoon Commander in 2nd Battalion The Royal Ulster Rifles in WWII, landing on Sword Beach on DDay. He as photographed in Caen on July 9th 1944 standing in front of a pharmacy. A few weeks later he was badly wounded near Troarn following Operation Goodwood. He was returned to England for treatment and saw no further action in WWII. Postwar he rose to the rank of Major in the London Irish Rifles and died in 2010.

Conflict on Camera - WWII Photos in Focus Our friend Alina Nowobilska joins us to talk about a photograph of the first mass transport of prisoners by the Third Reich to Auschwitz Concentration Camp. On 14th June 1940 the transport departed from the Polish city of Tarnow/ The photo shows the prisoners being marched down the street in the early morning.

Joining me today to talk about her father is Carol Schultz Vento. You'll all remember him. He was famously played by Richard Beymer in The Longest Day, winning all those dollars in a card game, jumping into Normandy, getting lost and then ending up in a farmyard with Richard Burton's RAF pilot. Well, the real story is even more fascinating. Here are Carol's words: "My father, Arthur 'Dutch' Schultz, was in his late twenties and had the physique of the welterweight boxer and baseball player he once was. Tall, with mercurial blue-green eyes and light brown hair, Dad had a rakish smile that charmed every woman he met. I didn't know at the time, but he had been the boxing champion of his 82nd Airborne regiment, and a combat survivor of the European Campaign in WWII, including a bloody and confused D-Day and nightmarish Battle of the Bulge. To me, he was just Daddy - and my hero. Because Dad was silent about his war experiences, only later did I realize that his war wasn't all fun and games. The traumas that he experienced during his war years would haunt him for decades." Carol's journey to understand her father's war resulted in an excellent book and we are delighted she is joining us to share this powerful story of understanding and forgiveness.

Conflict on Camera - WWII Photos in Focus Our friend Alina Nowobilska joins us to talk about a photograph taken in Warsaw during the Uprising in August 1944. We learn about her Grandfather's platoon and the very PIAT seen in the photograph. Captain Cyprian Odorkiewicz "Krybar" commander of "Krybar" Regiment (second from left) is seen with members of the "Rafalki" Platoon.

In 1945 Yevgeny Khaldei took the now world-famous photo of the Russian flag being flown from the Reichstag, but 4 years earlier he created this striking image of a Reindeer standing in front of a flight of Hurricanes. Laurance Robinson of Finland at War, a student of the Eastern Front campaign shares the history of the image.

Conflict on Camera - WWII Photos in Focus Join us as Ben Mayne explains how a photo captioned as being of a 13th/18th Hussars DDay grave in Hermanville is in fact a Trooper from the East Riding Yeomanry. IWM ref- B.5184, part of the catalogue B.5180.

Conflict on Camera - WWII Photos in Focus Greg Way joins us to tell the remarkable story of how he investigated this striking photo of two German paratroopers in WWII. He talks about the process of identifying the location in Crete and also some fascinating uniform details.

The US Airborne landing in Normandy is still one of the most written about military operations of the war. Joining us today to discuss the roles of the two June 6th 1944 Divisional Commanders is Mitch Yockelson PhD - military historian, archivist, professor and author. Matthew Ridgway of the 82nd "All-American" Airborne Division and Maxwell Taylor of the 101st "Screaming Eagle" Airborne Division refused to remain behind the lines and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with their paratroopers in the thick of combat. Jumping into Normandy during the early hours of D-Day, Ridgway and Taylor fought on the ground for six weeks of combat that cost the airborne divisions more than 40 percent casualties.

Operation Nordwind began on December 31st 1944. Elements of two German army groups attacked the U.S. Seventh and French First Armies in the icy, hilly and snowy Vosges Mountains. Overshadowed by events in the Ardennes, those who fought in and around Reipertswiller recall it vividly as a desperate engagement that resulted in terrible losses to both sides. Alex Kershaw talks about Major Felix Sparks, the father and son who fought side-by side and the unrelenting danger from German snipers and tanks as the men of the 157th find themselves surrounded and running out of supplies.

Conflict on Camera - WWII Photos in Focus A two-for-one show this time, with two photos take on June 7th in Culoville of a mass being held by men of the 101st Airborne Division. Paul shares stories concerning Colonel Sink, Dick Winters, Father Maloney and other men of the 506th and 326th AEC.

Conflict on Camera - WWII Photos in Focus A photo I don't know much about honouring an Engineer who cleared a path through a minefield on Omaha Beach on DDay.

Following his hugely popular debut in December, Marty Morgan joins us once again to talk about the events immortalised in The Longest Day Film. Marty and I will look at the accounts of everyone who was in the square that fateful June 5th/6th night, in an attempt to make sense of the chaos. We will address the layout of the square, the bell tower, who could see what? who was where? and where the different stories started? The most frequently told story of the DDay landings will be rigorously analysed and you're all welcome to join us.

Conflict on Camera - WWII Photos in Focus A slightly longer show this time with guest historian Brad St. Croix talking about the famous photo taken on Nan White sector of Juno Beach.

David O'Keefe joins us again. In Part 1 he talked about the real reason for the raid on Dieppe in August 1942.7 - In Part 2 we will talk about the plan for Operation Jubilee and David will share his presentation about the intentions of the raid and how it was supposed to unfold. A final show sometime in the summer will come live from Dieppe to explain how the plan unravelled and how the nearly 1,000 British, Canadian and American commandos died.

Conflict on Camera - WWII Photos in Focus A moving episode about a Lancaster crew lost over Germany in 1943. Dr Dan Ellin shares the back story of this photo and reads the last letter of Sergeant Edward Milling, the Navigator. Dan works at the International Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive at Lincoln University. All the images shared in this film are from this superb collection.

Prolific RAF and aviation author and publisher Steve Darlow joins us for the exciting show about Operation Crossbow. In the summer of 1944, in the skies over Southern England, a new era in international warfare began. A German reprisal weapon, called the V1 or 'flying bomb', launched from occupied France, would bring indiscriminate terror and panic to the civilian population of London and the home counties. The German High Command hoped the weapon would not only revenge the Allied bombing of their homeland, but seriously hinder Allied invasion plans. The Allies tried desperately to prevent this new scourge diverting their attention from D-day and the liberation of Western Europe. It was the job of RAF's Bomber Command to combat the new threat. Steve will talk about some of the raids against the V-weapon targets, using testimonies from Bomber Command veterans, Luftwaffe night fighter veterans and from French people who witnessed the whole German operation from the construction of the secret weapon installations to the launching of the flying bombs.

We examine this famous photo taken on D+1 on Omaha Beach. We talk, weapons and flags and about the likelihood that the photo was staged.

Conflict on Camera - WWII Photos in Focus WW2TV and History Hack regular Matt Bone joins us to talk about 6 frames from a Hawker Typhoon camera gun taken over Brest in 1943. Matt explains how the dog fight started and talks about the participants.

These days people get their history fix from many different sources. We at WW2TV interview lots of authors and military history books still sell in their tens of thousands. But the internet is fast becoming a vitally important portal for history buffs all over the World, and one of the YouTube channels leading the way is History Underground. The format is simple: J.D Huitt takes his camera to battlefields, historical sites, memorials and cemeteries and talks about them. We are delighted that J.D. is joining us to talk about using video to bring history to the living rooms of history enthusiasts.

The war film Go for Broke (2018) follows a group of University of Hawaii ROTC students during the tumultuous year after the attack on Pearl Harbor, as they navigate wartime Hawaii and fight discrimination. In the dark days following December 7th, these Americans of Japanese ancestry form the Varsity Victory Volunteers (VVV), fighting to defend their beloved Hawaii and get back their right to bear arms. The brave actions of these young men, their families, and the people who helped them, along with the perseverance of the original 100th Infantry Battalion draftees from Hawaii, directly led to the formation of the segregated all-Japanese fighting unit, the 442nd RCT - the most decorated combat unit in U.S. military history.

Conflict on Camera - WWII Photos in Focus WW2TV regular Sean Claxton joins us to share his research into Lt. John Weese and the P-47 Thunderbolt that came down on Juno Beach in Normandy in June 1944. This iconic photo was taken in Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer from the location of the 5cm German bunker. We talk about the crash, the German defences and the landings in general.

A live discussion with three legendary swing performers about the importance of swing music on the morale of servicemen and women during the war years end beyond. Our panelists will talk about the style, the passion and the escapism swing music offers. Sorry I ended up being GREEN. I have never had that happen before!!. There were clearly gremlins in the works The line-up of guests: Kurt Sodergren. Kurt is the drummer with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy which he co-founded in 1993, helping to usher in the swing revival. His Grandfather played in a US Army big band in WWII. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy have appeared across the world, sold millions of records, and had their music appear in hundreds of movies and television shows. With sold out concerts from the Hollywood Bowl to Lincoln Center, appearances with many of the country's finest symphony orchestras, and television appearances ranging from Dancing with the Stars to Superbowl XXXIII, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy continues its decades long mission to celebrate and revitalize jazz and swing music - America's original musical art form - and bring joy to audiences around the world. Ray Gelato is a British jazz, swing and jump blues saxophonist, singer and bandleader and one of the major forces in the revival of swing music. In 1998 a commercial for Levi's using his band's version of "Tu Vuò Fà L'Americano" became known all over the World. Ray has played the Royal Albert Hall, Jazz festivals all over the World and even Carnegie hall. Ray brings a wealth of experience and music knowledge to the panel and we are delighted he is joining us.

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Cornelia Fort was already in the air. At twenty-two, Fort had escaped Nashville's debutante scene for a fresh start as a flight instructor in Hawaii. She and her student were in the middle of their lesson when the bombs began to fall, and they barely made it back to ground that morning. Still, when the U.S. Army Air Forces put out a call for women pilots to aid the war effort, Fort was one of the first to respond. She became one of just over 1,100 women from across the nation to make it through the Army's rigorous selection process and earn her silver wings. The brainchild of trailblazing pilots Nancy Love and Jacqueline Cochran, the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) gave women like Fort a chance to serve their country-and to prove that women aviators were just as skilled as men. While not authorized to serve in combat, the WASP helped train male pilots for service abroad, and ferried bombers and pursuits across the country. Thirty-eight WASP would not survive the war. But even taking into account these tragic losses, Love and Cochran's social experiment seemed to be a resounding success-until, with the tides of war turning, Congress clipped the women's wings. The program was disbanded, the women sent home. But the bonds they'd forged never failed, and over the next few decades they came together to fight for recognition as the military veterans they were-and for their place in history.

For this show we are joined by Ellin Bessner, a Canadian journalist based in Toronto. She is the author of a super book about Canada's Jewish servicemen and women who fought in the Second World War. We visit the graves of 17 Canadian soldiers killed in the battle of Normandy.

An army may march on its stomach, but it needs more than hot dinners to fight. As Canadians battled through Northwest Europe in 1944/45, how did they reinforce their front line? And at what cost? Special guest Arthur Gullachsen joins us to talk about his new book. Captain Gullachsen currently works at the Royal Military College of Canada and has published several books and articles and instructs on battlefield tours. An Army of Never-Ending Strength investigates the operational record of the First Canadian Army during 1944-45 to provide detailed insight into previously unexplored areas of its administrative systems, structure, and troop and equipment levels.

Our guest today is award winning Canadian WWI and WWII historian Tim Cook. Tim is the author of numerous books about the Canadian war experience, and joins us to talk about his most recent publication The Fight for History - 75 YEARS OF FORGETTING, REMEMBERING, AND REMAKING CANADA'S SECOND WORLD WAR. Tis wonderful book examines how Canadians have framed and reframed the war experience over time. Just as the importance of the battle of Vimy Ridge to Canadians rose, fell, and rose again over a 100-year period, the meaning of Canada's Second World War followed a similar pattern. But the Second World War's relevance to Canada led to conflict between veterans and others in society-more so than in the previous war-as well as a more rapid diminishment of its significance. By the end of the 20th century, Canada's experiences in the war were largely framed as a series of disasters. Canadians seemed to want to talk only of the defeats at Hong Kong and Dieppe or the racially driven policy of the forced relocation of Japanese-Canadians. In the history books and media, there was little discussion of Canada's crucial role in the Battle of the Atlantic, the success of its armies in Italy and other parts of Europe, or the massive contribution of war materials made on the home front. No other victorious nation underwent this bizarre reframing of the war, remaking victories into defeats. The Fight for History is about the efforts to restore a more balanced portrait of Canada's contribution in the global conflict. This is the story of how Canada has talked about the war in the past, how we tried to bury it, and how it was restored. This is the history of a constellation of changing ideas, with many historical twists and turns, and a series of fascinating actors and events.

They had no voice - they had no choice Millions rallied to the cause of freedom against Nazism and the menace of Imperial Japan. But did you know that some of those heroes had fur, or feathers? War animals guarded American coasts against submarine attack, dug out Londoners trapped in bomb wreckage, and carried vital messages under heavy fire on Pacific islands. They kept up morale, rushed machine gun nests, and even sacrificed themselves picking up live grenades.

Conflict on Camera - WWII Photos in Focus In September 1940 a photograph of a Home Guard with camouflaged helmet and Ross rifle graced the cover of Picture Post, arguably Britain's version of Life Magazine. Archaeologist and historian Andy Brockman (of buried Spitfires in Burma fame) joins us to talk about the photo, the magazine feature and its photographer Zoltan Glass, a Hungarian immigrant who had previously worked in advertising in Berlin.

Conflict on Camera - WWII Photos in Focus In the middle of the battle of Peleliu Stanley Troutman took this iconic photograph of the twice wounded and badly fatigued Frank Pomroy of the 1st Marines. Joining me to talk about it is Ryan Lowry from Patriot Preservation.

Thomas Jones joins us to talk about a photo taken during the Soviet attack on Manchuria in August 1945. Arguably the most successful Russian campaign of the war and yet overshadowed by events taking place elsewhere. We look at the vehicles and equipment and also the campaign itself.

Jenny Grant joins us to talk about @SilenceInPolish General Stanislaw Maczek: the Commander of the 1st Polish Armoured Division in North-West Europe 1944-45. Maczek's measured leadership on the Mace at Montormel was instrumental in the closing the Falaise pocket in August 1944, resulting in the destruction of a good number of German Wehrmacht and SS divisions.

Neil Lawrence joins us to talk about a photo taken during the Italian retreat from Stalingrad over the winter of 1942/43. It does descend slightly into two old mates talking about WWII equipment, but hopefully you will enjoy it. We talk about the fate of the Italians in the battle and their journey back to the Axis lines.

Niels Henkemans joins us to talk about a photo taken of a knocked out Sturmgeschütz on the N13 highway just north of Sainte-Mère-Église. For the first time on YouTube (we think) the vehicle will be attributed to the correct German unit and the full version of it's destruction by the 82nd Airborne explained in full.

The IV SS-Panzerkorps was activated for the defense of Warsaw in late July 1944. Its primary units, 3. SS-Panzer Division (Totenkopf) and 5. SS-Panzer Division (Wiking) spent the last ten months of the war in almost continuous combat. In August 1944 the Korps fought east of the river Vistula. Herbert Otto Gille's IV SS-Panzerkorps was renowned for its tenacity, high morale and, above all, its lethality, whether conducting a hard-hitting counterattack or a stubborn defense in situations where its divisions were hopelessly outnumbered. Douglas Nash is a West Point Class graduate and retired U.S. Army Colonel with 32 years of active duty service in places like Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, Germany, Cuba, and Uzbekistan. We are delighted that he is joining us on WW2TV. Douglas is the author of several books focussing on German units in the later part of the war.

Dr Alexandra Richie joins us again to talk about the events that occurred between the end of the Warsaw Uprising and the "liberation" of the city by Russian troops in January 1945, which in reality marked the beginning of another dark chapter in Poland's history. The Vistula-Oder Offensive was a Red Army operation in January 1945. The army made a major advance into German-held territory, capturing Krakow, Warsaw and Poznan. The Red Army had built up their strength around a number of key bridgeheads, with two fronts commanded by Marshal Georgy Zhukov and Marshal Ivan Konev. This advance followed others that took place after the Warsaw Uprising.

Reg Jans from the Ardennes joins us to talk about an iconic photo taken during the Battle of the Bulge of a 504th PIR Paratrooper. Walt Hughes was in I Company of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment and the photo ended up in Life magazine. Reg examines Walt's story and questions where it was taken and in what circumstances.

Conflict on Camera I am delighted to have David O'Keefe join me for this show - historian, author, teacher, filmmaker and former soldier. We discuss this photo of a British sniper in 1945 but expand on this to talk about the Canadian Black Watch snipers that David wrote about. We talk equipment, smocks, scrim-scarves and even body-armour.

Our friend Alina Nowobilska joins us again to talk about what happened after the Warsaw Uprising which left the city in ruins and almost uninhabited. The story involves loss, deportations, crimes, murder and tragedy. We will focus on the fate of the civilians and the surviving members of the Home Army.

Conflict on Camera Magali Desquesne shares the moving story of the two boys in this famous photo and what happened to the town of Saint Lo in WWII. Max and Jean Robin were photographed in the town in August 1944, not knowing that their father (a member of the Resistance) had been shot by the Germans in June.

Historian Prit Buttar has written several excellent books on the Eastern Front in WWII and we are delighted he is bringing his unrivaled knowledge of the Red Army and its campaigns to WW2TV. He will talk about the Red Army progressing from an old-fashioned outdated force to a modern army by 1944.

On 16 September 1944 an RAF fighter pilot was shot down near Arnhem, the day before Operation Market Garden. He was captured, beaten and then murdered. War Crimes investigators brought four Germans to trial, one was executed but others involved were never caught. The man who was executed had fired the fatal shot 'under orders', but the man who gave the order has not been found - yet. This is the compelling story of ordinary family men who became cold-blooded killers, and of Spitfire pilot Bill Maloney who was in the wrong place at the wrong time and lost his life to them.

Our special guest is Jochen Böhler a German historian, specialising in the history of Eastern Europe especially WWII and the Holocaust. He is the recipient of several international awards. Jochen will explain the role of the Einsatzgruppen of the Security Police and SD, the core group of Himmler's murder units involved in the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question," during and immediately after the German campaign in Poland in 1939.

Part of Iwo Jima week on WW2TV. Ian W. Toll is a renowned naval historian and the author of a trilogy of books about the Pacific campaign including Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945. In this show Ian will place Iwo Jima in the context of the wider Pacific theatre and look at the decision making by commanders like Nimitz and MacArthur.

Part of Iwo Jima week on WW2TV. 76 years on from the first day of the battle for the hellishly hot and sulfurous, volcanic island of Iwo Jima, Harlan Glenn joins us to talk about the terrain of this naturally spectacular island. Harlan has written books about USMC uniforms and equipment and has had a long career in Hollywood working on war films and shows including: Midway, Homeland, NCIS, Westworld and The Last Ship. He also worked on TV documentaries such as Battle Rats - Iwo Jima and Mail Call. He is also a friend of mine for about 25 years.

Part of Iwo Jima week on WW2TV. On the 76th anniversary of the first day of the battle for the hellishly hot and sulfurous, volcanic island of Iwo Jima, Bryan Mark Rigg joins us to talk about Medal of Honor recipient Woody Williams. A few days into the bloody battle, the US Marines were taking a hammering from Japanese soldiers in pillboxes and bunkers who knew that the greatest danger they faced was from a flamethrower - if the Marines could get close enough to use them. Imagine strapping on a highly flammable 70-pound weapon and moving on such a position under fire. Woody Williams did just that against dire odds. He, along with numerous comrades, did it again and again, taking out hundreds of fortifications which had stalled their regiment's advance to secure the islands airfields. Bryan will tell Williams' story objectively, placing it in the context of the broader Pacific theater of WWII. Rigg explores the numerous problems with the conventional narrative to make sense of one of the most extraordinary and controversial Medal of Honor decorations of the war.

Part of Iwo Jima week on WW2TV. In the fight for Iwo Jima, one of the battles that led to the end of Imperial Japan, "uncommon valor was a common virtue." The guns used by the Marines included John Browning designs such as the M1911A1 pistol, M1918A2 BAR and M1919A4 and M1917A1 machine guns, as well as a little-known gun called the "Stinger." A popular guest on WW2TV, Marty Morgan joins us to talk about some of the more unusual small arms used in the campaign.

Thomas Withington is a defence commentator, journalist and military historian and joins us to talk about the use of Electronic Warfare by Bomber Command and especially 100 Group during WWII. Not sure, what Electronic Warfare is? Well watch the show and find out.