Warfare

The Falklands War, or the Guerra de las Malvinas? For today’s guest, it was the latter. Roberto Herrscher grew up singing the songs of the Malvinas at school, and in 1982 was conscripted into the Argentinian Navy to fight against the British. In this episode, find out what it was like to be conscripted, how Roberto felt and continues to feel about the war, and the continuing impact of the conflict on those who fought there and on the broader culture. Roberto is a professor of Journalism at the Alberto Hurtado University in Chile. He has carried out academic papers and presentations on the coverage of the war and the journalistic treatment of its memory and its aftermath. He is the author of ‘The Voyages of the Penelope’, tracing the history of the vessel that he served on in the Falklands.Due to the nature of this episode, some distressing topics are addressed including suicide.For more Warfare content, subscribe to our Warfare newsletter here.If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts, and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today!To download, go to Android or Apple store.

On Sunday 18 June 1815 60,000 men were slaughtered in the Battle of Waterloo. Napoleon Bonaparte's French army was finally defeated by an almighty coalition of troops from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Hanover, Brunswick and Nassau, led by the Duke of Wellington, and the Prussian army under the command of Field Marshal von Blücher. In this archive episode Zack White, who set up Voices of the Battlefield, an oral history project featuring 41 readings of eyewitness testimony from the campaign, joins the podcast. Dan and Zack discuss the battle and hear accounts, ranging from a 10 year old triangle player remembering the chaos of the battlefield to Wellington's own remorse at the horrific bloodshed of what happened that fateful day.For more Warfare content, subscribe to our Warfare newsletter here.If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts, and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today!To download, go to Android or Apple store.

As Europe prepared for the Second World War, a challenge presented itself to the men and women of Britain’s museums, galleries and archives: how could they keep their many national treasures safe? From stately homes and slate mines, to castles and prisons, in today’s episode Dr Caroline Shenton explores the race to protect British heritage.Caroline is an archivist and historian, her new book ‘National Treasures: Saving The Nation's Art in World War II’ can be found here.For more Warfare content, subscribe to our Warfare newsletter here. If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts, and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android or Apple store.

The role of successful and strategic intelligence operations is a vital part of determining the outcomes of battles and wars. But with every decision having the potential of catastrophic repercussions, how do you even begin to gather intelligence on a new foe? In this third installment of a new miniseries from Warfare focusing on the Falklands War, James is joined by Nick van der Bijl - Nick served 24 years as a Regular in the British Army in armour, military intelligence, and security, and finally as an infantry officer in the Territorial Army. Seeing active service with the 3rd Commando Brigade during the Falkland conflict, Nick takes us back through the period, with extraordinary first-hand accounts.For more Warfare content, subscribe to our Warfare newsletter here.If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts, and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today!To download, go to Android or Apple store.

Today, James is the guest on our NEW sister podcast Patented, hosted by Dallas Campbell. Together, they talk us through the century-long history of military drones.Drone technology has transformed the way we wage war today. They have been key in every major conflict since at least 2008, including the current war in Ukraine. But military drones have a much longer history than you might imagine, dating all the way back to the First World War.For more Warfare content, subscribe to our Warfare newsletter here. If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download the app, go to the Android or Apple store.

On the 7th April 1945, 702 French members of the Special Air Service parachuted into the Netherlands to recapture Dutch canals, bridges and airfields in the fight against the occupiers. This was one of the last major airborne missions of the Second World War and, despite a multitude of difficulties, it resulted in the liberation of parts of the Netherlands and paved the way for the Canadian advance. Joël Stoppels is a battlefield guide and founder of Battlefield Tours, he takes us through the mission and its challenges, and explores some of the atrocities perpetrated throughout the war and during the German retreat, discovered by the advancing French paratroopers. Joël’s website can be found here. For more Warfare content, subscribe to our Warfare newsletter here. If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download the app, go to the Android or Apple store.

As a mist set in and the sea began to swell, British and Argentine warships circled one another off the coast of the Falkland Islands. Yet hidden beneath the waves, HMS Conqueror - a Royal Navy nuclear submarine - stalked the packed decks of the Belgrano. This pivotal day 40 years ago witnessed one of the key turning points that shifted the course of the Falklands War.In this second instalment of a new miniseries from Warfare focusing on that very conflict, James is joined by Sir Lawrence Freedman - official historian of the Falklands War - to find out more about the crucial moments that led to Britain's victory in 1982.For more Warfare content, subscribe to our Warfare newsletter here.If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today!To download, go to Android or Apple store.

The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African-American military aviators in American military history. They faced discrimination and segregation at home but in the skies of Europe, they became one of the most successful and feared fighter units as they escorted bombers on raids in Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Poland and Germany.In this week's episode from the archive, Dan discovers just how dangerous becoming a Tuskegee Airmen was. We also hear about a fascinating project to recover the wreckage of the downed plane of a Tuskegee Airman and erect a memorial to honour those pilots who gave their lives whilst training. Dan speaks to Wayne Lusardi, State Underwater Archaeologist for Michigan, and Erik Denson, Lead Instructor with Diving With a Purpose, about their important archaeological work.In the second half of the episode, we hear from Col Harry Stewart Jr., one of the last surviving Tuskegee airmen. Harry discusses his experiences of dogfights in the skies over Europe during World War Two, the discrimination he and his colleagues faced, the progress that he has seen in his lifetime and what it was like to get back into the cockpit of a P-51 Mustang after 70 years.For more Warfare content, subscribe to our Warfare newsletter here.If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download the app, go to the Android or Apple store.

On November 15 2021 Russia tested an anti-satellite weapon, shattering one of their own satellites into over a thousand pieces. This space debris will orbit the Earth for a very long time, posing a threat to space travel and other satellites. With space increasingly becoming a site of military activity, is war in space a real possibility? In this episode James is joined by Major General Robert H. Latiff, who retired from the US Air Force in 2006, to find out whether human conflict could really cross into the final frontier. Robert's new book Future Peace: Technology, Aggression, and the Rush to War is available here.For more Warfare content, subscribe to our Warfare newsletter here.If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today!To download, go to Android or Apple store.

April 2022 marks 40 years since the beginning of the Falklands War - but how and why did these small islands in the South Atlantic become the setting of an international conflict?In this first episode of a new miniseries from Warfare focusing on the Falklands War, James is joined by geopolitical lecturer and author Klaus Dodds. Together they discuss why the 'Las Malvinas' dispute was so important in the 1980s and to the present day, how the war started, and whether its consequences can still be felt in the 21st century.For more Warfare content, subscribe to our Warfare newsletter here.If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today!To download, go to Android or Apple store.