WW2 Pod: We Have Ways of Making You Talk
Episodes
Maquis Madness, Polish 'Liberation' and MacArthur's Plan
30 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How much do you know about the disastrous Maquis plan to protect the Vercors Massif during July 1944 - ending in the deaths of over 650 resistance fig...
Terrain of Terror: Battleground Normandy (Live)
25 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Al, Jim and the brilliant John Buckley take a look at the nature of the fighting in Normandy, the challenges for both sides and the different approach...
Germany's Last Stand: The Battle of the Bulge (Live)
22 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It’s one of the most iconic battles of the war and it’s a salivating prospect to have two master historians discussing a subject they have both wr...
The Plot To Kill Hitler: After The Bomb (Part 2)
18 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Picking up seconds after the clam shell bomb detonates - Al Murray, James Holland and Roger Moorhouse detail the aftermath of the courageous July bom...
The Plot To Kill Hilter: The Assassin (Part 1)
16 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
July 20th. 1944. Wolf's Lair. Claus von Stauffenberg sets in motion a plot to assassinate Hitler and overthrow the Nazi high command. What were the...
USA: The War in Saipan
11 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As war raged on land in Western Europe in June 1944, the island of Saipan witnessed a naval bombardment never seen before. John McManus leads James H...
Normandy: The Final Chapter
09 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As Al Murray and James Holland return on English shores, they look back at their Normandy podcast series - the way we think about war, and the foolish...
Hill 192: Capturing Kraut Corner
04 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Al Murray and James Holland delve into the Battle of Hill 192 - a crucial fight between the 2nd Infantry Division and German 3rd Fallschirmjäger Divi...
The Battle of Hill 112: The Hill is Secured (Part 2)
02 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Securing the high ground was key to victory in Normandy. Al Murray and James Holland continue their journey in the footsteps of Allied soldiers from 8...
The Battle of Hill 112: The Barrage Begins (Part 1)
28 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Battle for Normandy didn’t end with D-Day. James Holland is re-united with Al Murray to retrace the steps of the Allied Operation EPSOM - 80 yea...
D-Day: A Warning From History?
25 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Will we lose a tangible connection to WW2 once the final veteran dies? Is Europe sleepwalking into another monumental war? Continuing our on-the-groun...
The Sherwood Rangers in Normandy: The Noireau (Episode 2)
20 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Stan Perry is given an almost impossible task; in the dead of night - find a suitable crossing of the Noireau. His success is legendary, but the days ...
The Sherwood Rangers in Normandy: BLUECOAT (Episode 1)
18 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Through the tiny villages and fortress-like roads of Normandy, James Holland retraces the steps of Stanley Christopherson’s tank crew as they edge t...
The Greatest War Fiction
13 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We spend a lot of time speaking about non-fiction, but what are the greatest works of historical fiction? Al Murray interviews James Holland about his...
The REAL Band Of Brothers
11 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We're on the ground in Normandy as part of the D-Day 80 celebrations and our first stop is a parachute drop by the Band Of Brothers cast. James Hollan...
D-Day: Victory In Normandy? (Episode 10)
06 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
After over a month on the ground fighting through fields and villages, the Allies have forced a retreat by Nazi High Command. The fightback has begun ...
D-Day: COBRA and GOODWOOD (Episode 9)
04 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Allied Air superiority has left German forces in a mire, and the death of Rommel only makes the situation worse. After four long years of fighting, th...
D-Day: Bocage Busting (Episode 8)
30 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In an expertly researched episode, Al Murray and James Holland investigate the myths surrounding Operation OVERLORD penned by historians in the last 8...
D-Day: The Normandy Bridgehead (Episode 7)
27 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The beaches have been successfully invaded, but the race is on. In the hours and days after D-Day, the Allies faced some of the toughest fighting grou...
BONUS: Spitfire vs Messerschmitt
23 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
**THE D-DAY SERIES WILL RETURN ON TUESDAY** Al Murray and James Holland are back again with warbird legend Richard Grace at his Northampton hangar ful...
D-Day: Bloody Omaha? (Episode 6)
21 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Do the facts of the 6th June really live up to the myth of ‘Bloody Omaha’? Al Murray and James Holland are joined by US historian John McManus to ...
D-Day: The Beaches (Episode 5)
16 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It was the single most day in the entire Allied campaign during WW2, the storming of the beaches of Normandy on the 6th June 1944. Al Murray and James...
D-Day: Minelaying & The Airborne Drop (Episode 4)
14 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Al Murray and James Holland continue to narrate the story of D-Day in stunning detail. In today’s episode they spend time focusing on an often untol...
D-Day: 24 Hours To Go (Episode 3)
09 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
With only a few hours to go before Landing Craft are due to hit the beaches of Normandy, the Allies plan for Operation OVERLORD hangs finely in the ba...
D-Day: The Master Plan (Episode 2)
07 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Allied plan for OVERLORD is a masterclass in logistics. Al Murray and James Holland detail the roles of US and British forces in planning the larg...
D-Day: The German Side (Episode 1)
01 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
May 1944, it is clear to Erwin Rommel that the Allied counter attack is just a few weeks away. The answer is simple - defend the Atlantic Wall. But Na...
USA: War Is Hell - A Soldier’s Story
30 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In a follow up to our superb episode in which John McManus opened up the archives to a glut of post-war surveys of US soldiers, the boys really dig in...
USA: The Forgotten Island - Operation RECKLESS
25 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
June 1944 was a month of allied invasion, both in Europe and the Pacific. James Holland and John McManus discuss Operation RECKLESS, the invasion of H...
The World's Greatest Spitfire Pilot
23 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Is the Spitfire the perfect plane? Al Murray and James Holland speak to Matt Jones - possibly the most experienced Spitfire pilot in the world. Matt e...
Cassino '44 - Rome Falls (Part 8)
18 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the final episode of our epic Italy series, Al Murray and James Holland follow OPERATION DIADEM to completion. The Germans have been pushed back pa...
Cassino ‘44 - OPERATION DIADEM (Part 7)
16 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Cassino is cleared, and the Allies are planning one final push to take Rome and end the war in Italy, once and for all. Ira Akers presents OPERATION S...
Cassino '44 - Cassino Town (Part 6)
11 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The capturing of Monte Cassino and Cassino town was crucial to the Allied victory in Italy, so why did it take so long to break through the stubborn G...
Cassino '44 - OPERATION FISCHFANG (Part 5)
09 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Nazis have assembled over 90,000 troops to counterattack under General von Mackensen’s troops, they’re beginning to amass at the Anzio beach h...
Cassino ’44 - Capturing Cassino (Part 4)
04 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As the battle heats up in Italy, Al Murray and James Holland detail of the most iconic moments in WW2 history - the Battle of Monte Cassino in Februar...
Cassino '44 - OPERATION SHINGLE (Part 3)
02 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the early hours of the 22nd January 1944, US Fifth Army swarmed the beaches of Anzio largely unopposed. The Nazis’ response was swift, sending th...
Cassino '44 - The Gustav Line (Part 2)
28 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As the launch of OPERATION SHINGLE nears, Al Murray and James Holland dig deeper into the mountains, mud and mayhem that categorised the fighting in I...
Cassino '44 - The Plan Is Set (Part 1)
26 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
January 1944. The Allies have failed to reach Rome by Christmas, the ‘soft underbelly’ of Europe is reaching crisis point. To break through the Na...
Horror in Hungary and Merril's Marauders
21 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Nazi occupation of Hungary led to the mass transportation and murder of over 400,000 Jews in 1944 and 1945. Why had Hungary's leadership sided wit...
USA: We Have Ways - Tuskegee Airmen
19 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Al Murray, James Holland and John McManus delve into the remarkable and often overlooked history of the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African American p...
USA: We Have Ways - Fear and Loathing on the Frontline
14 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
One of the most gruelling and horrifying roles in all military history was being a grunt during the Second World War. It was so terrifying, that at le...
Charlie Lawson - Coronation Street Legend's Incredible WW2 Connection
12 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Charlie Lawson, famous for playing Jim McDonald in Coronation Street shares with Al Murray and James Holland his family's history in the Second World ...
WHW USA - America First, Culture Clashes and Hispanic Troops
07 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Throughout the 20th and 21st century, America's foreign policy has swung violently from isolationist to interventionist - how did the Second World War...
Paddy Mayne's VC Snub, Axis on Malta and the Best Operation Names
05 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Why did Paddy Mayne earn four Distinguished Service Orders during World War 2 but no VC? Al Murray and James Holland answer your questions, including ...
USA: We Have Ways - Mark Clark vs Fred Walker: Crossing The Rapido
29 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Al Murray, James Holland and John McManus discuss the controversial Rapido river crossing by the 36th Texan Division in January 1944. Why did General ...
Nazi Scientists, B17 vs Mosquito and Arnhem Air Support
27 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If the Mosquito could hold the same bomb load and had a smaller crew, why did the Americans use the bulky B17 to bomb Germany? Al Murray and James Hol...
Enemy Aliens
22 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As the Nazis waged war on Europe, Britain had to take extreme measures to protect its shores. German and Italian nationals were imprisoned across the ...
Prisoners Of War
20 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Over 150,000 British and Commonwealth troops were imprisoned by the Germans or Japanese during the Second World War. What were their lives like, what ...
MIGHTY 8TH - D-DAY TO VICTORY (Part 7)
15 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“In the end it is only people that count, all the people in the whole world. Any land is beautiful to someone. Any land is worth fighting for to som...
MIGHTY 8TH - OVERLORD (Part 6)
13 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“We couldn’t tell 109s from P-51s or Focke-Wulfs. We couldn’t tell which side was winning or what kind went down. They looked like they were p...
MIGHTY 8TH - BIG WEEK (Part 5)
08 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“I wonder if you’ve got the guts to lead a big air force. If you haven’t I’ll get someone who has.” Al Murray and James Holland have reached...
MIGHTY 8TH - ALL CHANGE (Part 4)
06 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“I believe we did a good job today on this target. The flak was scattered and only accurate at one point. Sweated it out a little but we came out un...
MIGHTY 8TH - CRISIS (Part 3)
01 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“We love fighting. Fighting is a grand sport.” For so much of the war, the vicious fighter planes that we obsess over to this day were being mis-...
MIGHTY 8TH - BAPTISM OF FIRE (Part 2)
31 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“Day bombing is the bold, the aggressive, the offensive thing to do. “It is the method and the practice which will put the greatest pressure on G...
MIGHTY 8TH - THE ROAD TO POINTBLANK (Part 1)
30 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“Your friends and comrades that have been lost and that will be lost today are depending on you. Their sacrifice must not be in vain. “Good luc...
INTRODUCING THE MIGHTY 8TH
29 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
JOIN ON APPLE PODCASTS: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/channel/we-have-ways/id6475583516 JOIN ON PATREON: patreon.com/wehaveways On Tuesday, we're laun...
Masters Of The Air
25 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In a special preview of the landmark new Apple TV series 'Masters Of The Air', Al Murray and James Holland speak to the show's co-executive producer a...
THE BATTLE OF THE NORTH CAPE: SCHARNHORST - SUNK
23 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the final episode of Al Murray and James Holland's naval odyssey, they document the final hours of the mighty Scharnhorst. Was it British Naval exc...
USA - We Have Ways: Supply and Demand and the Global War Machine
18 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What was more significant for America in the 20th century - the crushing of Nazism in Europe, or their multiple campaigns for democracy across Asia? A...
BATTLE OF THE NORTH CAPE: The Trap Is Set
16 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Christmas Eve 1943, Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser and the men of Convoy JW55B are in a tense holding pattern up against the Nazi U-boats. Al Murray and Jam...
BATTLE OF THE NORTH CAPE: The Convoy Assembles
11 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
One of the most dramatic naval battles of the Second World War - high in the Arctic Circle on Boxing Day, 1943. Al Murray and James Holland set sail ...
USA: We Have Ways - Pacific 44
09 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
James Holland and John McManus review the war in the Pacific 1944 - the year in which the US truly becomes the most powerful nation in the world. Joh...
Italian Hell: San Pietro, Monte Sammucro and Night Fighting
04 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Al Murray, James Holland and John McManus discuss the Allies' experience of fighting in the mountains of Italy in the brutal winter of 1943’ - espec...
Mark Clark's Total War
02 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Al Murray and James Holland discuss the beauty of naval acronyms, the fine details of the Eureka signal and the myth of Kesselring's fine war record. ...
Skinning The Cat: How to Write History
28 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Al Murray and James Holland are joined by academic and author Jonathan Fennell at St Edmund Hall bar to talk about their writing processes. From opera...
Sophie Scholl and The White Rose
26 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How did the White Rose group become the defining figures of Nazi resistance after the Second World War? Al Murray and James Holland speak to Oxford's...
The Mosquito, Operation Carthage and Super Spies
21 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Al Murray and James Holland are joined by friend of the show, historian Rowland White, to talk about the most legendary aircraft of the Second World W...
Convoys! (Part 4)
19 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The final chapter of our Convoys series sees Al Murray and James Holland recount the final days of Convoy HX231 and the harrowing stories of those tha...
USA: We Have Ways - Battlefield Medicine
14 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
From using cod psychology to predict battle fatigue to the enormous blood drives in 1945 - Al Murray, James Holland and John McManus discuss the ways ...
Convoys! (Part 3)
12 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The horror of the Atlantic convoy comes into razor sharp focus when Convoy HX231 comes into contact with the Nazi Wolfpack. In the ultimate game of ca...
USA: We Have Ways - How To Win A War
07 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How does a Sherman tank get from the US to a battlefield in Western Europe, and who decides how many get sent? James Holland and John McManus get dee...
Convoys! (Part 2)
05 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s the 31st of March 1943 and Convoy HX231 sets off from New York. Sir Charles Ramsey is the commodore of the convoy but he is low on ships for pr...
USA: We Have Ways - The Black Military Experience
30 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The existence of African-American soldiers has all but been erased from the popular narrative of the Second World War. James Holland and John McManus...
Convoy! (Part 1)
28 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the first of a three part series, Al Murray and James Holland discuss the journey of Convoy HX231. Today, they chat about the build up to its launc...
USA: We Have Ways - Tarawa 1943
23 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Al Murray, James Holland and John McManus discuss the deadly battle on Tarawa. A close quarters and bloody fight for a small atoll in the central Paci...
The Birth Of The UN, Prisoners in the Isle Of Man and the Cairo Conference
21 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Al Murray and James Holland catch up on their latest research and after some revelatory peering down rabbit holes look back to this week in 1943 to ex...
Eddie Izzard: My Second World War Obsession
16 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Al Murray and James Holland speak to actress, comedian and political campaigner Suzy Eddie Izzard about their lifelong love for the Second World War. ...
Life On A Destroyer
14 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Tribal Class Destroyers, what was life like serving on them - and what is a Destroyer? Al Murray and James Holland go into detail into the staffing, r...
USA: We Have Ways - The Marine Corps
09 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Al Murray and James Holland speak to decorated Marine Corps officer and former United States senator Jim Webb. They discuss the evolution of the US Ma...
How to Win in Arnhem
07 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Al Murray and James Holland read Second World War manuals produced by the British and American Army. They detail the unbelievable difficulty that XXX ...
War Music
02 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded at We Have Ways Fest 2023, Al Murray sits down with music journalist David Hepworth for a chat about 1940s pop music, the spirit of the natio...
A Philosopher Goes To War
31 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Al Murray chats to Dr Waitman Wade Beorn about one of the most fascinating ruminations on fighting during the Second World War - Warriors by J. Glenn ...
Italy's Morale Crisis
26 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Italy proved a nightmare place to fight, no matter what side you were on: the endless mountains, the innumerable rivers, the narrowness of roads, the ...
Landing Craft, Sappers and the Tyranny of Overlord
24 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In another wide ranging discussion, Al Murray tells James Holland about his evening at the Royal Engineers Museum alongside Jools Holland and Sir Tom ...
The Great Escaper
23 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Al Murray and James Holland speak to the writer and director of 'The Great Escaper', a new film starring Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson about the he...
USA: We Have Ways - Vinegar Joe's China
19 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Al Murray, James Holland and John McManus discuss the life of Joseph Stilwell - the United States Army general best known for his service in the China...
Operation Frankton
17 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In December 1942, Herbert 'Blondie' Hasler's men were aiming for the occupied port of Bordeaux - with just canoes, mines and grenades. Operation FRANK...
Surviving The Bloody 100th: Lucky Luckadoo
13 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
John 'Lucky' Luckadoo was born in 1922, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He is the last surviving pilot of the US Eighth Air Force 100th Bomb Group - nickna...
USA : We Have Ways - Eisenhower & the Influence of the American Civil War
12 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What did the US Army and West Point learn from the Civil War, and how did this impact leadership throughout the Second World War? James Holland and Jo...
Black Thursday 1943 and Crossing The Volturno
10 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Al Murray and James Holland turn back the clocks to investigate two seismic events of the Second World War that happened 80 years ago this week. They ...
USA: We Have Ways - 11th Airborne Division
05 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Former US Paratrooper and now historian, James Fenelon joins Jim and John McManus to discuss the extraordinary and little-known exploits of the 11th A...
Slaughter in Sicily, Glider Failures and the Cruelty of German Medicine
03 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Did German doctors unfairly euthanise their own troops if they got shot in the stomach? Were any lessons learnt by the Nazis after Salerno? And is it ...
USA - We Have Ways: D-Day Ohio (Part 2)
29 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In a bonus USA episode, James Holland recounts an incredible trip to James recounts an incredible trip to D-Day Ohio - one of the world's biggest re-e...
'Hitler's Pope', Enemies Of The People and The Difference Between Hitler and Trump
28 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Al Murray and James Holland are joined by the lawyer and writer Philippe Sands to discuss revelatory documents that strongly suggest Pope Pius XII had...
USA: We Have Ways - The 7th Infantry Regiment in Italy
26 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
James Holland and John McManus discuss the history of the only American fighting division that can be traced back to the war of 1812 - The 7th Infantr...
USA - We Have Ways: D-Day Ohio (Part 1)
22 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In a bonus USA episode, James recounts an incredible trip to D-Day Ohio - one of the world's biggest re-enactor festivals. A Goalhanger Production P...
The Savage Storm (Extract)
21 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
From the bestselling author of Brothers in Arms comes the story of the most pivotal Allies campaign of World War II. With the invasion of France th...
Jean Moulin and the Maths of Market Garden
19 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Who killed Jean Moulin, and did they get him to talk? Al Murray and James Holland discuss the final days of the resistance hero's life, and how his de...
Dermot O’Leary & James May - The Afflicted
14 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Why are we obsessed with the Second World War? Dermot O’Leary and James May join Al and James on stage at We Have Ways Fest to look into why we’re...
Heritage Heroes: Rabbi Rob's Tanks and War Stories
12 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the next installment of our Heritage Heroes series James joins former naval corpsman Rabbi Rob Thomas in Ohio to discuss his remarkably diverse col...
USA- We Have Ways: The Life Of Patton
07 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In another classic USA episode, the boys are joined by American historian Kevin Hymel. Kevin has spent his career writing the quintessential biograph...