The WW2 Podcast

When people think about the secret war in occupied Europe, they often picture agents, resistance fighters, and acts of sabotage carried out behind enemy lines. But those networks depended on a hidden air bridge that carried agents and supplies into occupied territory and brought people back out again.
Flying alone at night, Special Duties pilots crossed occupied Europe guided only by moonlight and improvised navigation. Their missions demanded extraordinary skill and nerve as they landed in isolated fields, avoided German night fighters and flak, and battled some of the worst flying conditions imaginable.
For this episode, I'm joined by Paul Smiddy, author of Moonlight Crusaders: Special Duties Pilots over Occupied Europe. Drawing on first-hand accounts and extensive research, Paul explores the story of these under-recognised pilots, the aircraft they flew, and the vital role they played in supporting resistance movements and Allied intelligence operations across occupied Europe."
You can also find Moonlight Crusaders on Audible and Spotify.
 
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In the summer of 1940, Britain stood alone. France had fallen, invasion seemed possible, and Winston Churchill faced a grave question: what should be done about the powerful French fleet?
Fearing it might fall under German control, Britain launched Operation Catapult. At Mers el Kébir on 3 July 1940, the Royal Navy opened fire on its former ally, killing nearly 1,300 French sailors in one of the war's most painful and controversial decisions.
For this episode, I am joined by Edward Abel Smith, author of 'A Hateful Decision', which tells the full story of this dramatic moment through new research and eyewitness accounts.

Before he became a familiar face on screen, appearing in over 70 films like 'The Bridge on the River Kwai', 'The Cockleshell Heroes', 'The Guns of Navarone' and 'The Wild Geese', Percy Herbert survived one of the most brutal chapters of the Second World War.
Captured during the fall of Singapore in 1942, he endured life as a prisoner of war, facing starvation, violence, and witnessing events like the Alexandra Hospital massacre. Those experiences would stay with him and later shape the performances that made his name.
His story is told in his autobiography, Time Will Pass Johnny, a remarkable account that traces his journey from the camps of the Far East to a long and successful acting career.
To talk about her father's life, I'm joined by Katrina Wood.
 
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The final battle for Berlin in 1945 was not just the end of the war in Europe, it was the violent collapse of Nazi Germany, and the moment the shape of post-war Europe was decided.
As the Red Army advanced from the River Oder, they faced one last major obstacle in the Seelow Heights. What followed was a brutal and costly assault that opened the road to Berlin, and then a savage fight through the city itself, street by street, building by building, until the German capital finally fell.
To guide us through these final days, I'm joined once more by Prit Buttar, one of the leading historians of the Eastern Front, and author 'Berlin: Endgame 1945'.
You can also find Berlin on Audible and Spotify.
 
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In the final months of the Second World War, as the Third Reich collapsed in on itself, boys were sent to the front to hold back the Red Army. Among them was fourteen-year-old Willi Langbein.
He had grown up under Nazism, saluting Hitler at school, joining the Jungvolk at ten, and the Hitler Youth soon after. By March 1945, he was fighting Soviet tanks at close range on the Eastern Front. He was wounded, decorated, and survived the war, though many of the boys he fought alongside did not.
In this episode, I am joined by his daughter, Heidi Langbein Allen, to talk about her father's war and the long shadow it cast over his life. Heidi is the author of Save the Last Bullet: Memoir of a Boy Soldier in Hitler's Army.
 
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