logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2024
54m 19s

217 - How the Luftwaffe Lost the skies o...

Angus Wallace
About this episode

Starting with small raids at the start of the war, the aerial offensive grew into a massive operation. Huge air armadas would eventually pulverise Germany, with the Mighty Eigth Airforce flying by day and the Lancasters of Bomber Command by night. This 24-hour campaign seriously damaged Germany’s ability to make war and killed hundreds of thousands.

Joining me is Jonathan Trigg, whose new book is The Air War Through German Eyes: How the Luftwaffe Lost the Skies over the Reich, which looks at the air war from the point of view of the Germans.

 

Patreonpatreon.com/ww2podcast

 

Up next
Oct 6
280 - MacArthur and the Philippines
Douglas MacArthur was one of the most prominent — and controversial — generals of the Second World War. As Field Marshal of the Philippines, he withdrew to Australia in 1942, famously declaring, “I shall return.” That promise became central to his reputation and shaped the rest o ... Show More
47m 37s
Oct 1
279 - The Vistula-Oder Offensive 1945
By January 1945, the war in Europe neared its final phase. In the west, the Allies had repelled the Ardennes offensive. In the east, the Red Army prepared the Vistula–Oder offensive, a huge strike that pushed German forces out of Poland. The Soviet advance carried them to the ver ... Show More
48m 44s
Sep 22
278 - The Maginot Line
The Maginot Line was one of the most ambitious defensive projects of the 1930s. Built along France’s eastern border, this vast system of underground forts, tunnels, and bunkers included hospitals, kitchens, telephone exchanges, electric railways, and turrets that could rise from ... Show More
50m 20s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2023
WW2 Bombing Raids on Germany Were Bloodbaths for the Allies Until a Futurist Fighter Plane (the P-51) Was Developed
One of the lowest points of World War 2 for the Allies was autumn 1943, when bombing runs from England to Germany were ramping up. Hundreds of B-17s flew out to strike military targets, but they flew unescorted due to being the only planes with enough range (fighters could only m ... Show More
35m 16s
May 2022
Lost Airmen: The Epic Rescue of WWII U.S. Bomber Crews Stranded in the Yugoslavian Mountains
Late in 1944, thirteen U.S. B-24 bomber crews bailed from their cabins over the Yugoslavian wilderness. Bloodied and disoriented after a harrowing strike against the Third Reich, the pilots took refugee with the Partisan underground. But the Americans were far from safety. Holed ... Show More
32m 27s
Jan 2024
The Ghost Army of World War 2
In the summer of 1944, a handpicked group of young GIs—including such future luminaries such as Bill Blass, Ellsworth Kelly, Arthur Singer, Victor Dowd, Art Kane, and Jack Masey—landed in France to conduct a secret mission. From Normandy to the Rhine, the 1,100 men of the 23rd He ... Show More
41m 39s
Oct 2017
EP1 Imperial Germany vs Nazi Germany
Dan once said that he thought Germany's First World War military was superior to Nazi Germany's Wehrmacht. He is often asked to elaborate, so he does in this show (note:this “pilot” show was previously posted on YouTube) Notes: The Pity Of War: Explaining World War I by Niall Fer ... Show More
52m 4s
Aug 2020
Radar and World War Two
During World War Two, British women were employed as operators of a top-secret radar system for detecting aircraft. The new technology had helped shift the balance of power in the air war with Nazi Germany. Laura Fitzpatrick talks to Margaret Faulds, who was stationed at a Royal ... Show More
8m 56s
Nov 2020
The Empire Strikes Back: Germany's Final Push to Win WW1 in Spring 1918
Many thought that Germany was capable of winning World War One until the very end. Unlike World War 2, in which the Allies believed that victory was inevitable as early as 1943, this was not the case with the Great War. It is also easy to assume that German defeat was inevitable ... Show More
45m 22s
Oct 2021
The Night Witches
October 4, 1938. Soviet pilot Marina Raskova beats a world record: the longest continuous flight ever recorded by a woman. She'll soon break another barrier-- she'll lead the first-ever female air force pilots to fly on the front lines of World War Two. One of her regiments in pa ... Show More
32m 6s
Sep 2018
The Arnhem Parachute Drop
Thousands of Allied troops parachuted into the Nazi-occupied Netherlands in September 1944. At that point, it was the most ambitious Allied airborne offensive of World War Two. British, American and Polish troops were dropped behind German lines in an attempt to capture a series ... Show More
8m 51s
Mar 2021
Witnessing The Final Destruction of Hitler’s War Machine
By mid-February 1945, the Wehrmacht had finally reached strategic bankruptcy. In January and February alone, it had lost 660,000 men. The Home Army lacked the weapons (including small arms) and ammunition to equip new divisions. In January, against a monthly demand for 1,500,000 ... Show More
39m 2s
Oct 2020
WW1 At Sea: The Battle of Jutland (1916)
Although overlooked today, the war at sea was a crucial part of World War I overall. The German use of the Unrestricted Submarine Warfare (in which non-military ships could be blown up by submarines without the latter surfacing, making it impossible for innocent men, women, and c ... Show More
56m 50s