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- WW2TV brings top military historians and best-selling authors on to share their knowledge and stories via our live battlefield shows. WW2TV is operated by Paul Woodadge who hosts and produces the shows.
- We examine this famous photo taken on D+1 on Omaha Beach. We talk, weapons and flags and about the likelihood that the photo was staged.
- 2019–TV EpisodeOperation Nordwind began on December 31st 1944. Elements of two German army groups attacked the U.S. Seventh and French First Armies in the icy, hilly and snowy Vosges Mountains. Overshadowed by events in the Ardennes, those who fought in and around Reipertswiller recall it vividly as a desperate engagement that resulted in terrible losses to both sides. Alex Kershaw talks about Major Felix Sparks, the father and son who fought side-by side and the unrelenting danger from German snipers and tanks as the men of the 157th find themselves surrounded and running out of supplies.
- A livestream starting on the Jig sector of Gold Beach at Asnelles. We will talk about the landings with a focus on 231 Brigade and their actions on the beach and inland. We will look at the area where the distinctive sanatorium depicted in the show graphic was situated and also look at the nearby memorials. From there we head inland a mile or so to Point 54 (WN 40a), where C and D Companies of the 1 Dorsets assaulted a hill top position defended by elements of the German 352nd Infantry Division. World renowned military historian and author Peter Caddick-Adams, PhD, FRHistS, FRGS is the expert.
- 2019–TV EpisodeWe are absolutely delighted to speak Sarah Megan Thomas, the writer and star of the brilliant WWII film A Call to Spy. In July 1940 Churchill ordered the creation of a new agency -- the Special Operations Executive (SOE). One of their key tasks was to recruit and train women as spies to work in Occupied Europe. Their daunting mission: conduct sabotage and build a resistance network. SOE's "spymistress," Vera Atkins (Stana Katic), recruited two unusual candidates: Virginia Hall (Sarah Megan Thomas), an ambitious American with a wooden leg, and Noor Inayat Khan (Radhika Atpe), a Muslim pacifist. Together, these women help to undermine the Nazi regime in France, leaving an unmistakable legacy in their wake.
- 2019–TV EpisodeThe Canadian offensive on Verrières Ridge, led by the Canadian Black Watch part of the II Canadian Corps, was a savage battle that helped ensure General Omar Bradley's US Army breakout from Normandy in Operation Cobra. I am delighted to have David O'Keefe join me for this show - historian, author, teacher, filmmaker and former soldier. We will focus on the role of the Canadian Black Watch and their attack towards Fontenay-le-Marmion held by German units including the 9th SS. We will have 3 camera teams on the ground showing both Canadian and German points of view.
- 2019–TV EpisodeSpike Milligan was a comedian, poet, novelist, satirist and actor, possibly best known for being one of the Goons along with Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe and Michael Bentine. He was also a WWII veteran and served in the Royal Artillery in North Africa and Italy. He wrote about his experiences in a series of 7 books, beginning with his conscription in 1940 to being demobbed and adjusting to a very different Great Britain, one of hardship and struggles postwar. His wartime memoirs combine side-splitting humour and pathos to reveal a deeply honest understanding of warfare. Spike witnessed death and suffering on a large scale and wrote about it with honesty and depth. Interspersed with barrack room japes and tales of the mundanity of army life he writes of battles. Actual battles with tanks and artillery and his private battles with fear, anxiety and also what would now be labelled PTSD.
- 2019–TV EpisodeIn the first of two shows this week we look at the history and creative teams behind WWII Comics. For so many WW2TV viewers it was comics like Commando, Battle Weekly, Warlord and Sgt Rock that fuelled our interest in combat and history. Join Paul Woodadge and three incredible guests for this live discussion: Garth Ennis is a Northern Irish writer now living in New York. Although probably best known for Preacher, The Boys and Judge Dread he is also a prolific writer of WWII comics. Series and books like Tankies, D-Day Dodgers, The Last German Winter and Night Witches (about a female Soviet bomber unit) are highly regarded. He has also written the introductions to reprinted volumes of Battle comics from the 60s and 70s.
- 2019–TV EpisodeMarty Morgan, the eminent American historian joins us to talk about his two decades of research into the history of Graignes, a small village in Normandy. You probably know the story, it has been featured in documentaries, films and books. Around 150 US paratroopers, miss-dropped 15 miles from their DZs on D-Day end up in the village of Graignes, deep in the marais (marshes) south of Carentan. There, against overwhelming odds and a fanatical SS Division they defend the hilltop. When finally overrun, the vengeful SS set fire to the church and massacre many of the survivors and civilians. Though some of this is undoubtedly true, and memorials there to this day remember and honour those who fell, many of the facts are now disputed. This show will be a conversation between two frequent visitors to Graignes with a single question - what really happened?
- 2019–TV EpisodeIt is a widely held belief that chemical weapons and chemical warfare were significant in the First World War, but not the Second World War. The actual history is much more complex. Chemical weapons were used between the Second World War in a number of ways that most people don't really consider. Joining us to discuss this is Dan Kaszeta. Dan has decades of experience in protecting against chemical and biological weapons, and has held positions in the US Army, the White House Military Office, the US Secret Service and private industry. Dan will address the Japanese use of chemical weapons on the Chinese front - a campaign that resulted in more deaths than to mustard gas in the First World War. He will also explain the development of nerve agents by the Nazis and what happened to the stock piles of such dangerous toxins at the end of the conflict.
- 2019–TV EpisodeThe war film Go for Broke (2018) follows a group of University of Hawaii ROTC students during the tumultuous year after the attack on Pearl Harbor, as they navigate wartime Hawaii and fight discrimination. In the dark days following December 7th, these Americans of Japanese ancestry form the Varsity Victory Volunteers (VVV), fighting to defend their beloved Hawaii and get back their right to bear arms. The brave actions of these young men, their families, and the people who helped them, along with the perseverance of the original 100th Infantry Battalion draftees from Hawaii, directly led to the formation of the segregated all-Japanese fighting unit, the 442nd RCT - the most decorated combat unit in U.S. military history.
- 2019–TV EpisodeNearly three decades after her passing, Audrey Hepburn remains one of the most beloved of all Hollywood stars, known for films like Sabrina, Roman Holiday and Breakfast at Tiffany's. Our special guest is author Robert Matzen who wrote Dutch Girl about Audrey's early life and will talk about Audrey's war. He has also written books on Carole Lombard and Jimmy Stewart and frequently appears on TV and in other media. "The war made my mother who she was." said Audrey's son Luca Dotti. Audrey Hepburn's war included participation in the Dutch Resistance, working as a doctor's assistant during the battle of Arnhem, the brutal execution of her uncle, and the ordeal of the Hunger Winter of 1944. She also had to contend with the fact that her father was a Nazi agent and her mother was pro-Nazi for the first two years of the occupation. But the war years also brought triumphs as Audrey became Arnhem's most famous young ballerina. We will talk about all this and more during the show.
- 2019–TV EpisodeSterling Hayden was a true Renaissance man - master sailor, war hero, actor, and author who struggled with self-hatred, alcoholism and substance abuse. Joining me is the author of Sterling Hayden's Wars - Lee Mandel a retired USN Physician. Hayden's wartime career is incredible. After a couple of minor film roles, he left Hollywood to fight. His first attempt to serve ended up badly after he broke his ankle jumping from a Stirling bomber in the UK on assignment with the British. Later, he joined the USMC where he served under the name John Hamilton. While at Parris Island, he was recommended for Officer Candidate School. After graduation, he was commissioned and was transferred to service as an undercover agent with William J. "Wild Bill" Donovan's Office of the Coordinator of Information. He remained there after it became the Office of Strategic Services. As OSS agent John Hamilton, his exploits included sailing with supplies from Italy to Yugoslav partisans and parachuting into fascist Croatia. Hayden, who also participated in the Naples-Foggia campaign and established air crew rescue teams in enemy-occupied territory received the Silver Star for gallantry and a commendation from Yugoslavia's Josip Tito. After the War he acted in some classic films including: The Killers, The Asphalt Jungle, Johnny Guitar, The Last Command and was (famously) the corrupt Police Chief killed by Michael Corleone in The Godfather. He also appeared in the War Films: Fighter Attack, Battle Taxi, The Eternal Sea and the cold-war satire Dr Strangelove.
- 2019–TV EpisodeOn December 15th 1944 a single-engine UC-64 Norseman, departed from RAF Twinwood Farm in Clapham near Bedford, and disappeared while flying over the English Channel. On board and heading for Paris were band leader Major Glenn Miller and two US Army Airforce officers: Lieutenant Colonel Norman Baessell and the pilot, John Morgan. Miller's disappearance was not made public until December 24th, when the Associated Press announced Miller would not be conducting the scheduled BBC-broadcast "AEF Christmas Show" the following day. My guest for this exciting show is Dennis M. Spragg. During a comprehensive six-year investigation, Dennis discovered and assembled detailed evidence with the cooperation of the United States Air Force Historic Research Agency, the National Archives of the United States, the National Archives of Great Britain, the Imperial War Museum, the Royal Air Force and other sources to unravel the mysterious disappearance and examine all the various theories and rumours..
- 2019–TV EpisodeDavid O'Keefe joins us again. In Part 1 he talked about the real reason for the raid on Dieppe in August 1942.7 - In Part 2 we will talk about the plan for Operation Jubilee and David will share his presentation about the intentions of the raid and how it was supposed to unfold. A final show sometime in the summer will come live from Dieppe to explain how the plan unravelled and how the nearly 1,000 British, Canadian and American commandos died.
- 2019–TV EpisodeFollowing his hugely popular debut in December, Marty Morgan joins us once again to talk about the events immortalised in The Longest Day Film. Marty and I will look at the accounts of everyone who was in the square that fateful June 5th/6th night, in an attempt to make sense of the chaos. We will address the layout of the square, the bell tower, who could see what? who was where? and where the different stories started? The most frequently told story of the DDay landings will be rigorously analysed and you're all welcome to join us.
- 2019–TV EpisodeThe US Airborne landing in Normandy is still one of the most written about military operations of the war. Joining us today to discuss the roles of the two June 6th 1944 Divisional Commanders is Mitch Yockelson PhD - military historian, archivist, professor and author. Matthew Ridgway of the 82nd "All-American" Airborne Division and Maxwell Taylor of the 101st "Screaming Eagle" Airborne Division refused to remain behind the lines and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with their paratroopers in the thick of combat. Jumping into Normandy during the early hours of D-Day, Ridgway and Taylor fought on the ground for six weeks of combat that cost the airborne divisions more than 40 percent casualties.
- 2019–TV EpisodeIn 1980 the British band OMD released Enola Gay from their second album "Organisation". The synth-pop classic, which sold over 5 million copies worldwide, addressed the atomic bombing of Hiroshima by the B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay on 6th August 1945. It was written by OMD's vocalist and bass guitarist Andy McCluskey who joins us to talk about the song. Frequently labelled as "anti-war" we will find out what inspired Andy to write the song and what it means to him and to the fans 40 years later. What's fascinating is that the song is now referenced in class-rooms as an indicator of the public's perception of the use of the Atomic bomb to bring an end to WWII. Yet to others it is simply a highly catchy pop song.
- 2019–TV Episode
- 2019–TV EpisodeOn the 76th anniversary of the liberation of Saint-Lô we bring you two shows. Part 1 will cover the assault towards the town in early-mid July. For Part 1 we are joined by Joe Balkoski, the prolific author and historian who will share his unrivalled knowledge of the US 29th Infantry Division in WWII.
- 2019–TV EpisodeOn the 76th anniversary of Operation Lüttich - the German advance on Avranches in Normandy, we will livestream two shows from the battlefields. The shows will cover the epic defence by men of the US 30th "Old Hickory" Infantry Division. Part 1 will cover the 117th Infantry Regiment's stand in Saint-Barthélemy and their "last stand" position astride the road to Avranches. We will also cover the battle for Le Neufbourg where two famous photos were taken. We will look at the action of the American anti-tank gunners and examine how the German plan began to unravel. Joining me will be author and historian Kevin Hymel who wrote about the battle for WWII History magazine and Frank Gubbels from the Netherlands, a 30th Division historian.
- 2019–TV EpisodeOn the 76th anniversary of Operation Lüttich - the German advance on Avranches in Normandy, we will livestream two shows from the battlefields. The shows will cover the epic defence by men of the US 30th "Old Hickory" Infantry Division. Part 2 will cover the fighting in the town of Mortain and also the battle for Hill 314. We will visit the Little Chapel and look at the foxholes and positions around the hillside, including where the Forward Observers were directing Allied artillery fire and indeed the attacks from the air by British Typhoons. Joining me will be author and historian Kevin Hymel who wrote about the battle for WWII History magazine and Frank Gubbels from the Netherlands, a 30th Division historian.
- 2019–TV EpisodeAn interview by Paul Woodadge with Michael Sellers (director and producer) and Michael Cudlitz (narrator) of the new documentary film Return to Hardwick, about the 93rd Bomb Group which was the most decorated, most traveled and most effective bomber group of WWII. Crippling Hitler's Europe from the air, they executed some of the most daring bombing raids of the war. Along with the group's rich history, sons, daughters and grandchildren travel to England and explore the 93rd's long forgotten airbase - Hardwick Aerodrome 104. Return to Hardwick is released on June 9th 2020 in North America.
- 2019–TV EpisodeMy friend Adam Makos has graciously agreed to take a break from writing his new book to join me for an interview. Adam has taken the military history world by storm with his trilogy of deeply personal stories about men at war. The themes of redemption, forgiveness and compassion are paramount in Adam's writing and readers who don't necessarily enjoy war books love them for that very reason. I've known Adam and his family for well over a decade and I am thrilled to have him on a WW2TV show.
- 2019–TV EpisodeWe at WW2TV are delighted to have the authors of this forthcoming book join us to talk about the Dick Winters collection. Erik Dorr is the curator of the Gettsyburg Museum of History where the collection is displayed. Jared Frederick appeared on our DDay livesteam and is an instructor of history in Pennsylvania.