Warfare

How do you test a weapon of mass destruction? A weapon whose potential you can only estimate. Since 1945, countries with nuclear capabilities have been coming up with solutions to this problem, but they are not without pitfalls. Traces of the fallout from nuclear testing are found across the world, and testing has directly impacted a plethora of communities. From the original inhabitants of the chosen test sites, to the veterans who worked with the weapons, nuclear fallout has had a variety of different effects. Dr Becky Alexis-Martin is a lecturer in Human Geography at Manchester Metropolitan University. She spoke with James about the communities affected by nuclear weapons testing, the topic of her most recent book: Disarming Doomsday: The Human Impact of Nuclear Weapons Since Hiroshima. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gary Lineker's grandfather was one of the 'D-Day Dodgers': men who fought in the Italian campaign, who were accused of missing the supposedly harder fighting in Normandy. Of course, this wasn't true. The Italian campaign was one of the hardest military campaigns of World War Two, and Dan talks to Gary about his grandfather who fought in in that theatre of war. They also, unsurprisingly, talk about football. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Born in Budapest in July 1944, Agnes Grunwald-Spier resided in the Ghetto with her mother from November 1944 to January 1945. For this week's Holocaust Memorial Day, we have brought her interview out of the archives. Having gained degrees in History & Politics and Holocaust Studies, Agnes spoke to James about her family's experiences during the Holocaust. This personal history includes her mother's time alone in the ghetto with a newborn, the loss of her grandfather and the lasting impact of the Holocaust on her father. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For International Holocaust Memorial Day 2021, James spoke to Professor Eve Rosenhaft about the experiences of Black and Roma peoples during the Third Reich. Eve is a historian at the University of Liverpool. She has been looking into how the persecution of these groups occured under the Nazis; how much of it was a continuation of existing prejudices, and who prompted its escalation.Image: Francis Reisz, Obóz cygański (The Gypsy Camp), Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum Collections Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

King George V played a critical role in Britain's war effort during World War One, from the outbreak of war in 1914, until the King's Pilgrimage in May 1922, to visit cemeteries and memorials being constructed by the Imperial War Graves Commission. Alexandra Churchill has combed the Royal Archives to fully understand George's role in the war, including his frequent disputes with David Lloyd George. So bitter was this relationship, Lloyd George at one point attempted to place control of the British army under French commanders. Famously, King George V had to change his family surname from Saxe-Coburg to Windsor during the war, but Alexandra Churchill also tells Dan about the names that were suggested, including one that suggested George's family were bastards. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this incredible episode, Dan spoke to the late Colonel John Waddy OBE. John was the last surviving veteran of the battle for Arnhem, Operation Market Garden, in which three quarters of his battalion were killed or, as in John's case, captured. During the Second World War John also served in North Africa and Italy. He was later stationed in Palestine and Malaya, before taking on advisory posts in Washington D.C. and Saigon. Listen as Dan and John discuss the latter's experiences of the Second World War. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is all about Robert Griesinger. ‘Who?’ you ask. The name means nothing to most, yet his was a life which impacted upon so many, and was mirrored by many more. Robert Griesinger was a German lawyer, senior civil servant and SS officer. Like many of his rank, his life and contribution to the horrifying events of 1930s and ‘40s Europe had been lost to time and to the destruction of files … until, that is, a second hand armchair was taken to be reupholstered. The chair had been used as a hiding place for Griesinger’s personal documents, and these were the starting point for Dr Daniel Lee’s study into the life, work, beliefs and death of an ‘ordinary’ Nazi. Listen as Daniel - a Senior Lecturer in Modern French History at the Queen Mary University of London - leads us through his discoveries, which include not only Griesinger’s family, but also his own. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the spring of 1945, the aerial assault on Germany was reaching a crescendo as city after city was devastated by British and American bomber fleets. James Holland, leading World War Two historian and bestselling author, joins Dan Snow on the podcast to talk about why and how the bombing reached such catastrophic levels and whether it actually shortened the Second World War. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On 17 January 1991, an operation to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait began. Codenamed Desert Storm, the air offensive continued for 43 days under US leadership. Lt Gen David Deptula was a principal air attack planner, making calls on strategic targets and operations. For this special episode on the 30th anniversary of this operation, he describes the months and then days leading up to the operation, the challenges and disagreements in the ‘Black Hole’ planning room, and his memory of the outcome. David shares his insights into this war and those that have followed it. He also explains why he believes that knowing the desired endgame is so key to planning, and why landpower is not always going to be the centerpiece of war. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On 11 November 1920, the Unknown Warrior, a common soldier and an unidentified casualty of war, was buried in Westminster Abbey with all the pomp and ceremony of an empire at its zenith. King George V looked on as 100 Victoria Cross bearers formed a guard of honour and the unknown solider was laid to rest. To discuss the backstory of the Unknown Warrior, Dan was joined by author and historian Juliet Nicolson, who has been researching the lasting shadow of the Great War. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.