Show Notes
Before the Second World War, learning to fly by instruments was one of the most difficult and dangerous skills a pilot had to master. Training had to be done in real aircraft, often in poor weather, and accidents were common. In the late 1920s, an American inventor named Edwin Albert Link came up with an ingenious solution. His Link Trainer, sometimes called the "Blue Box," allowed pilots to practise instrument flying safely on the ground using a mechanical flight simulator. By the time the war began, these machines had become an essential part of pilot training, and hundreds of thousands of Allied airmen first learned instrument flying inside one. To explore the story of the Link Trainer, I am joined by Robby Houben from the Belgian Royal Military Museum, which holds several examples of these remarkable machines. Robby also has an excellent video on his youtube channel - Two Dudes Talking Tanks - which looks at the Link Trainer in the museum.
patreon.com/ww2podcast
More from The WW2 Podcast
When the United States entered the Second World War, American air power was still developing. Four years later, the United States was operating thousands of aircraft, supported by an enormous industrial and technological effort, and had produced the B-29 Superfortress, the most advanced bomber of the war. At the centre of that transformation was General Henry "Hap" Arnold. Arnold had been involved in American military aviation from its earliest days, and during the Second World War he became the driving force behind the expansion of the US Army Air Forces. The B-29 was perhaps his greatest gamble. It was enormously expensive and technologically ambitious, and Arnold was prepared to push American industry to build an aircraft that did not yet exist. The result was the Superfortress, a bomber capable of flying farther, higher and carrying a heavier bomb load than anything that had come before it. Ultimately, B-29s would carry the atomic bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Today I'm joined by A. J. Baime, author of "Bird Men: The Rise of American Airpower and the Machine That Ended World War II", to look at Hap Arnold, the rise of American air power and the extraordinary story of the B-29 Superfortress.
Today we're going to Warsaw, a city caught between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, and a city whose people endured occupation, persecution, resistance and ultimately almost total destruction. From the invasion of 1939, through the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, we'll explore what happened to the city and its inhabitants during the Second World War. To tell that story, I'm joined by historians Prit Buttar and Lottie Taylor, authors of 'Warsaw: A City at War, 1939–45'. Warsaw: A City at War, 1939–45 is also available on Audible and Spotify.
In 1938, Europe was once again facing the prospect of a major war. The immediate crisis centred on Czechoslovakia, a new state created at the end of the First World War. It was a country with a substantial industrial base, a significant arms industry and, importantly, a heavily fortified frontier with Germany. Hitler was determined to destroy Czechoslovakia. The German military had drawn up an invasion plan known as Fall Grün, or Case Green. But there was a problem. The German armed forces were not yet ready for the kind of major European war that Hitler seemed to be risking. So what exactly was Case Green? How did the Germans intend to defeat Czechoslovakia, how good were the Czech defences, and how did Hitler's ideas differ from those of his own generals? And perhaps most importantly, what might actually have happened if Britain and France had refused to compromise and Germany had gone to war? Today I'm joined by Robert Forczyk, whose book 'Case Green: The Birth of the Wehrmacht' examines the German plans for the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1938. Case Green is also available on Audible and Spotify.
In this episode, we're going to look at one of the most recognisable American generals of the Second World War: George S. Patton. Patton has become almost a character in his own right. The aggressive general with the famous speeches, the polished boots and the determination to keep his tanks moving. His reputation as one of America's great battlefield commanders has only grown since his death. But how much of that reputation is actually deserved? Was Patton really the military genius his reputation suggests, or a talented but flawed commander whose legend has outgrown his achievements? To help me answer that question, I'm joined by James Ellman, author of Patton Reconsidered.
In February 1942, as Japanese forces closed in on Singapore, Alexandra Hospital found itself caught in the final days of the British defence of the island. The hospital was still treating wounded soldiers and civilians when Japanese troops entered the grounds. What followed was a massacre in which patients, medical staff and others were killed, despite the hospital being clearly marked with the Red Cross. The events at Alexandra were among the most shocking episodes during the fall of Singapore, yet they remain relatively little known. In this episode, I'm joined by Stuart Lloyd, author of A Bleeding Slaughterhouse, to tell the story of what happened at Alexandra Hospital, the events that led up to the massacre, and what happened afterwards as the survivors and investigators sought to establish who was responsible.