Dr Rich Willis and Richard Fisher, Founder and Director of the Vickers Machine Gun Research Association, talk about their research into the legend that ten guns of the 100th Machine Gun Company in August 1916 fired off 1,000,000 rounds in a twelve-hour period throughout fighting at High Wood during the Battle of the Somme.
Book Review Christine Alexander & Mason Kunze, Eastern Inferno, The Journals of a German Panzerjager on the Eastern Front, 1941-1943 [Hans Roth] (Oxford: Casement, 2010)
Hans Roth was a private and corporal in the anti-tank battalion of the 299th Division and served with them from the start of Operation Barbarossa in June 1941 to his death in June 1944. During his service, he fought with Sixth Army that was part of Army Group South and took part in operations to […]
Ep175 – Australian POWs during WW1 – Dr Aaron Pegram
Dr Aaron Pegram, Senior Historian at the Military History Section at the Australian War Memorial, talks about his recent book on Australian POWs on the Western Front during WW1. This book is published by CUP.
Book Review: Horst Fuchs Richardson (Ed.), Your Loyal and Loving Son: The Letters of Tank Gunner Karl Fuchs, 1937-41. (Washington: Brassey’s, 2003)
The letters of Karl Fuchs present a different view of the German soldier in the Second World War than is frequently portrayed in the crude caricatures represented in British popular culture. There are three types of German serviceman that occupy this genre and all are demonstrated in the 1963 film, The Great Escape that portrays […]
Ep174 – Ypres and its meaning through time – Prof Mark Connelly & Dr Stefan Goebel
Professor Mark Connelly, Professor of Modern British History, University of Kent and Dr Stefan Goebel, Reader and Director of the Centre for the History of War, Media and Society, University of Kent, talk about their recent book on Ypres. This is published by OUP.
Book Review: Oskar Scheja, The Man in the Black Fur Coat (Privately published, 2014)
Oskar Scheja’s account covers his time as a German soldier and Soviet POW during the Second World war. He rode with German forces into Russia in June 1941 as part of the 5th Company, 2nd Battalion, 525 Infantry Brigade, 298th Infantry Division.[1] In October 1942, he was transferred to the 164th Infantry Division after being […]
Book Review: Armin Bottger, To the Gate of Hell (London: Frontline, 2012)
Armin Bottger was a radio operator in the German Army during the Second World fighting in Panzer IV tanks. He served as a private in the 12th Squadron, 24th Panzer Regiment that was part of the 24th Panzer Division that saw action in France, Italy and Eastern Front from 1943 until the summer of 1944. […]
Book Review – Bruno Friesen, Panzer Gunner (Mechanicsburg, PA, USA: Stackpole, 2008)
Bruno Friesen’s memoir covers his time as a gunner in Wehrmacht during the Second World War. He saw action with the 8th Company of the 25th Panzer Regiment from July 1944 until he was wounded in March 1945. Throughout his time with the unit, he served as part of the 7th Panzer Division and saw […]
Ep173 – The Chemists’ War 1914-18 – Dr Michael Freemantle
Dr Michael Freemantle, a freelance Science Writer, talks about his book the Chemists’ War 1914-1918 that looks at the role of chemists and chemistry during the Great War.
Ep172 – Sevenoaks in the Great War – Matthew Ball
Matthew Ball talks about his research into the community of Sevenoaks during WW1.