The Evacuation of Dunkirk

Part one of the mid-year coverage of things literally and figuratively unearthed in the last quarter includes updates, more updates, animals, edibles and potables, and accidental finds. Research: Addley, Esther. “Solstice-aligned 5,000-year-old monument ‘once in a lifetime find’, ... Show More

This 2023 episode covers how humans have worked on ways to make garments water resistant almost since they started to wear them. But figuring out how to manufacture a raincoat using rubber was a big breakthrough that took centuries.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informat ... Show More

Holly and Tracy discuss how frustrating Charles Goodyear could be. Then Holly talks a lot about shoes and how much she loves them.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

Seven thousand ships depart Britain. The King intervenes to prevent Churchill from personally crossing the Channel. On board, soldiers prepare themselves in whatever ways they can - fevered prayers, photos of loved ones, slap-up meals. As dawn breaks, the first Allied landing cra ... Show More

Seven thousand ships depart Britain. The King intervenes to prevent Churchill from personally crossing the Channel. On board, soldiers prepare themselves in whatever ways they can - fevered prayers, photos of loved ones, slap-up meals. As dawn breaks, the first Allied landing cra ... Show More

As the British occupation of Kabul collapses, the troops flee. What follows is one of the darkest events in British imperial history. A treacherous journey through mountain passes in crippling winter conditions leaves the British at the mercy of the Afghan forces. Over 15,000 men ... Show More

Thousands of nurses begin landing in France, some of them never to return. Codebreakers at Bletchley Park decrypt German communications, feeding vital intel to the front lines. Female pilots dodge German fighters in the skies above Britain. And on a sinking hospital ship in the C ... Show More

July 10, 1943. 150,000 British and American soldiers storm the beaches of Sicily in the first Allied invasion of Nazi-controlled Europe. But the Nazis…aren’t really there to put up a fight. Hitler thought the invasion was coming for Greece. The Nazis have been tricked by two Brit ... Show More

<p>The French colonialists who returned to France after decades in Algeria, the Catholic welcome when the British army was first deployed to Northern Ireland, plus the US nuclear submarine that went under the north pole, Britain's last battle in China in WW2 and the introduction ... Show More

After over a month on the ground fighting through fields and villages, the Allies have forced a retreat by Nazi High Command. The fightback has begun in Western Europe. Al Murray and James Holland assess Allied victory, losses and our memory of June 1944. In the biggest series of ... Show More

Things were going very badly for the French, but then the Germans gave them a bit of a breather. Contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to advertise on History of the Second World War. History of the Second World War is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Learn more about ... Show More

In 1940 a daring rescue operation began to help Allied servicemen escape from Nazi-occupied France.French resistance fighter Roland Lepers was among those who guided stranded Allied soldiers and airmen to neutral Spain during World War Two. The 1,000 km route became known as the ... Show More