logo
episode-header-image
Sep 2025
28m 12s

232: The Battle of Britain Pt. 7 - Battl...

WESLEY LIVESAY
About this episode
On September 15, 1940—Battle of Britain Day—the Luftwaffe launched what would become the climactic daylight assault of their campaign against Britain. In a desperate final effort to enable Operation Sea Lion, the German invasion of Britain, over 500 bombers escorted by hundreds of fighters targeted London's railways and dockyards in two massive raids. Howeve ... Show More
Up next
Feb 25
250: Greece Pt. 2 - After the Failure
This episode continues the story of the Italo-Greek War following the disastrous Italian invasion of Greece in late October 1940. After the Italian defeat at Kalpaki, the Greeks launched a counteroffensive that quickly pushed Italian forces back across the border and into Albania ... Show More
27m 7s
Feb 23
249: Greece Pt. 1 - Plans and Preparations
In October 1940, Mussolini launched an invasion of Greece from Albania, determined to secure Italian expansion in the Balkans before any peace could be negotiated. This episode examines the lead-up to the Italo-Greek War, beginning with Greece under the Metaxas dictatorship and i ... Show More
27m 35s
Feb 16
248: Taranto Pt. 2 - The Attack
On the night of November 11, 1940, the HMS Illustrious launched two waves of Swordfish torpedo bombers against the Italian fleet anchored at Taranto. Despite losing formation in the clouds and facing intense anti-aircraft fire, the British pilots pressed home their attacks agains ... Show More
25m 56s
Recommended Episodes
Dec 2023
Victory to Defeat: The British Army, 1918–40
The British Army won a convincing series of victories between 1916 and 1918. But by 1939 the British Army was an entirely different animal. The hard-won knowledge, experience and strategic vision that delivered victory after victory in the closing stages of the First World War ha ... Show More
37m 51s
Mar 2025
Final Flight: The Last Surviving Battle Of Britain Pilot Dies
As a free bonus livestream episode, James Holland and Al Murray discuss the life and times of the last surviving RAF veteran of The Battle Of Britain, John 'Paddy' Hemingway, who sadly passed away this week at 105. It is also a good time to revisit the myths of The Battle Of Brit ... Show More
50m 16s
Sep 2024
197. Battleground '44 - The Battle of Arnhem
This week on Battleground '44, Patrick discusses with Saul the Battle of Arnhem, part of perhaps the most famous Allied airborne operation of the Second World War - Operation Market Garden. Fought in the German-occupied Netherlands from 17 to 26 September 1944, the bridge in Arnh ... Show More
39m 18s
Sep 2025
597. The First World War: The Massacre of the Innocents (Part 4)
What happened at the crucial, bloody, Battle of Ypres in October 1914? How did the battle come about? Why did the Germans and the British fight each other so brutally and for so long to take Ypres? What made the fighting so particularly violent? How were the British able to repel ... Show More
55m 15s
Nov 2024
How Stalin won WW2
In June 1944 Allied armies landed in force in northern France, and the liberation of western Europe began. But, the battle that really sealed Hitler's fate was taking place in the east, as the Red Army prepared an almighty assault against the war-weary Wehrmacht. Speaking to Rob ... Show More
38m 7s
Mar 2023
Churchill's Darkest Hour
Winston Churchill's ascension to Prime Minister in 1940 was a key turning point in world history, ultimately being one of the first steps to help the Allies secure victory in the Second World War. The legacies of Churchill’s decisions still shape our world today, but a lesser kno ... Show More
42m 22s
Oct 2024
The Greatest Samurai Battle ⚔️
The Battle of Sekigahara, on 21st October, 1600, was the largest in Japanese feudal history, with over 160,000 troops involved. And stakes were high: the victor, Tokugawa Ieyasu, became the Shōgun of Japan, initiating the Edo period; whilst the leader of the losing Western army, ... Show More
11m 20s