Lions Led By Donkeys Podcast

the Empire of Japan built the largest battleship the world had ever seen and then decided to use it in the dumbest way possible. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys Sources: Russel Spurr. A Glorious Way to Die https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/supership/last-nf.html https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/yamato-was-hell-sink%E2%80%94and-it-went-out-bang-nuclear-blast-192257

Once upon a time New Zealand made their own tank. It did not go well. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys sources: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/NewZealand/Bob_Semple_Tank.php The Semple Tank, J.Plowman, Classic Military Vehicle Magazine National Library of New Zealand

Things get weird in the conclusion to the Otto Skorzeny story. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys

The pretender to the Albanian throne and Rhodesia fan boy declares himself king, gets arrested for smuggling guns, and gets in a high speed private plane chase while armed with a rocket launcher. Joe is joined by KD, writer and runner of the War Takes blog. https://wartakes.com/ Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys @war_takes Sources: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/dec/01/leka-zogu https://www.ft.com/content/6f2f39aa-21ab-11e1-a1d8-00144feabdc0 https://web.archive.org/web/20210613055654/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/royalty-obituaries/8926722/Leka-I-Zogu.html https://web.archive.org/web/20010122090100/http://www.time.com/time/europe/magazine/2000/1127/balkankings.html

Skorzeny launches the mission to rescue Benito Mussolini from a ski resort, it does not go well. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys Sources: Stuart Smith. Otto Skorzeny: The Devil’s Disciple Dr Robert Forczk. Rescuing Mussolini: Gran Sasso 1943 Otto Skorzeny. Hitler’s Commando

Otto Skorzeny was Hitler's favorite Commando during WWII, he was also a total loser. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys Sources: Stuart Smith. Otto Skorzeny: The Devil’s Disciple Dr Robert Forczk. Rescuing Mussolini: Gran Sasso 1943 Otto Skorzeny. Hitler’s Commando

An order of knights turned protection racket defend a chunk of rock from an Ottoman force several times their size using the military equivalent of Home Alone tactics. and then people began firing heads out of cannons. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys sources: https://www.historynet.com/no-mercy-malta/ Crowley, Roger (2008). Empires of the Sea: The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest for the Center of the World

The US Marines feed thousands of marines into a Japanese meat grinder for no tactical reason before trying to ignore help from the Army to save their pride. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys Sources: Sledge, Eugene B. (1990). With the Old Breed: At Peleliu And Okinawa Leckie, Robert, Helmet For My Pillow Anderson, Charles R. Western Pacific. The U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/unnecessary-hell-the-battle-of-peleliu/

Joe is joined by the hosts of Ukraine without Hype to talk about the time the Russian Empire fell for a con artist and invaded a khanate to try to steal gold that didn't exist. Check out Ukraine without Hype: https://twitter.com/HypeUkraine Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys Sources: Morrison, Alexander, "The Russian Conquest of Central Asia" "A Narrative of the Russian Military Expedition to Khiva under General Perofski", Translated from the Russian for the Foreign Department of the Government of India, Calcutta, 1867 ‘Pray for the Camels’: The Winter Invasion of Khiva, 1839–41

The conclusion to the story of Witold Pilecki Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys Get Joe's new book: https://www.amazon.com/Frontier-Corps-Military-Sci-Fi-Forlorn-ebook/dp/B0B5YJD7J2/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3KIOPIRCXJ4D1&keywords=joe+kassabian&qid=1665384891&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIzLjI4IiwicXNhIjoiMi44MiIsInFzcCI6IjIuODYifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=%2Caps%2C189&sr=8-3 Sources: Witold Pilecki. Auschwitz Volunteer: Beyond Bravery Adam Koch. A Captain's Portrait: Witold Pilecki - Martyr for Truth Jack Fairweather. The Volunteer