Wars of The World

War Thunder is a highly detailed vehicle combat game containing over 2000 playable tanks, aircrafts and ships spanning over 100 years of development. Immerse yourself completely in dynamic battles with unparalleled realism and approachability.Support the Show.

By 1942, the war was no longer another great European conflict. It was now a firmly global affair enveloping all of the world’s great powers as the Allies squared off against the tyranny and aggression of the Axis nations. Against such colossal forces, no one country could stand alone and events that affected one combatant would ultimately have consequences for the other further down the road.To that end, while the western Allies and the Soviet Union were effectively fighting separate wars ag...

The Wounded Knee Massacre was a massacre of nearly three hundred Lakota people by soldiers of the United States Army. This is their story.Support the Show.

As the drive for equality between the sexes gathered unprecedented momentum in the 1950s and 60s, historians began to reassess the importance women have played in many of the most pivotal events. Who were some of the most important women alongside the men responsible for some of the most heinous acts recorded within the pages of the Human story? In the case of Nazi Germany, Eva Braun is often cited as being equivalent to the wives of Allied leaders and rightly so for she stood by Hitler until...

Dive into the gripping story of the Battle of Midway, a pivotal moment in World War II that changed the course of history. In this video, we'll explore the strategies, key players, and decisive moments that led to the stunning victory of the United States against the Japanese Empire. Witness how the bravery and determination of the Allied forces turned the tide of the war in the Pacific, and learn about the lasting impact of this monumental battle on the outcome of World War II. Join us here ...

It was a place few expected to be fighting in when war broke out in 1939. It was a conflict Hitler never wanted. It was a fight on terrain that at times was as hostile as the enemy. It was a battlefield that relied on chariots of steel and wings of vengeance and one that could only be won through cunning, ruthlessness and above all – an effective supply chain. For many, the battle for control of North Africa is seen as something of a side show to the war in Europe but this conceals the truth ...

It would be too simplified an explanation for the motivation of Adolf Hitler to merely state that he desired conquest and power. Nazi Germany, including the lands to which its power reached, was to be a society unlike any other. Purged of those with attributes deemed undesirable in his new order, the new German people would be pure and united in their goal of achieving their country’s destiny; to become the greatest nation on Earth. Technologically. Militarily. Scientifically. Germany was to ...

No war – won or lost – is ever waged without sacrifice. Those sacrifices can be material in the loss of equipment or infrastructure, monetary in the cost to a nation’s economy of waging a war but always it is in blood. Death is at the very nature of war and while armies going back to antiquity have sought to limit their own casualties whenever they could, the threat of death is forever present. However, death is not always a matter of the unfortunate circumstance a combatant may find themselv...

In 1916, France was a nation cut in two by a string of trenches cut into the Earth running from north to south, separating two vast opposing military forces who fielded weapons that seemed the stuff of science fiction just a generation earlier. So confident in these weapons were both sides that they expected the fighting to be a short and sharp affair, both expecting victory but, in the end, it was nothing more than bloody, senseless stalemate.Britain had gone to war in honour of a treaty it ...

The Vietnam War would see the realisation of the Vietnamese dream of a single unified, independent country taking its place in the world free of outside oppression and rule. It is the type of story that has been told throughout history and had it occurred at any other point in history then it would have likely been largely forgotten outside of the small South East Asian country as so many wars of independence are. But because of events elsewhere in the world, the battlefields of Vietnam becam...

On the morning of August 9th 1945, air raid sirens began to ring out in the Japanese city of Nagasaki. However, a short while later the sirens rang out again indicating that there was no danger and people began to climb out of their shelters to carry on about their daily business. Japanese spotters had only identified two United States Army Air Force B-29 bombers and they had previously flown to the city of Kokura without dropping any weapons so Japanese authorities presumed they were merely ...

With the onset of Spring 1942, the war in the east was ready to begin again but the problem of supplies particularly of oil was forever a worry for the German High Command and so they planned for an offensive that if successful would not only alleviate their fuel shortage but also deny the Soviets their own fuel stocks. Part of that plan involved a city on the edge of the Volga River in eastern Ukraine. This city formerly known as Volgagrad had since been bestowed with the name of the Soviet ...

In part 2 of our Battle of Britain documentary, we explored how after Germany had swept over continental Europe, Britain under Prime Minister Winston Churchill refused to give in to Hitler’s will but while the British have spirit to spare, fighters and pilots to fly them were becoming increasingly scarce and unless things changed dramatically, Fighter Command would be whittled down into defeat. It was just a matter of time. In this episode we are going to explore the climax of the Battle of B...

Fuelled by the euphoria of his successes thus far, Hitler was certain that the recently appointed British Prime Minister Winston Churchill would have no choice but to sue for peace. He was wrong. Churchill made it abundantly clear that Great Britain would never surrender to the Nazi tyranny. That Hitler’s troops were going to have to fight for every square inch of the British Isles for in Churchill’s mind and the free world itself, surrender was simply not an option. In this, the first of a t...

"The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our life-time" So remarked the British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey, as the European continent geared up for war in the summer of 1914. Although at first glance his words appear somewhat fatalistic the fact is that what would transpire over the following four years would so dramatically change the world that the consequences of which would not be fully resolved until the end of the century when all the key figur...

At 8:46am on September 11th, 2001 - the world changed forever...A hijacked airliner was flown deliberately into the north tower of the World Trade Center followed seventeen minutes later by another plane which hit the south tower. A third airliner was flown into the Pentagon from where the US directed its global military operations while a fourth was brought down by courageous passengers who wrestled for control of the aircraft with the hijackers.For decades, the US had believed that it exist...

The United States of America was born out of the yearning of the many people who had traveled there from the old world of Europe to be free of the imperial powers that had dominated them for centuries. To have democracy, liberty, justice for all and to take command of their own destiny. The birth of the American nation was a painful one, first by having to fight against the forces of the British and then against the indigenous people of North America, within and from outside of the new b...

On a sleepy Sunday morning in 1941, the Hawaiian island of Oahu couldn’t have looked anymore idyllic. Even with the fairly recent arrival of the United States Pacific Fleet which had deployed to the island from San Diego to their new main base at Pearl Harbor only seemed to harbinger nothing more than a display of US naval prestige. Arranged off Ford Island in a line were seven of America’s mightiest battleships. This part of the harbor had become known appropriately as Battleship Row and the...

On Sunday 15th August 2021, after an almost 20 year-long absence, the Taliban recaptured the Afghan capital city of Kabul. As the US-led coalition withdrew, the Taliban regrouped and began expanding outward once again. Facing little opposition from the Afghan National Army that had been trained and equipped by western forces, they only grew bolder and began an almost Blitzkrieg-style campaign to retake villages, towns, cities and then entire provinces until they were once again in near-total ...

The end of the Second World War was met with riotous jubilation at the victory over the Axis powers and with the establishment of the United Nations there was the dream of a new world order of freedom, prosperity and above all peace. Even the advent of the Atom Bomb, the decisive weapon that ended the war was celebrated for it was believed it was so powerful it would render warfare obsolete.And yet even before the guns fell silent, concerned whispers were being shared in the halls of power re...

Between 1939 and 1941, the forces of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany blazed a path of destruction, oppression and murder across the map of Europe and beyond and it seemed his ambition could never be satisfied. The world was his goal. Death was his tool. Only a badly beaten and barely holding-on Britain managed to hold back the tide long enough to guarantee that all of Europe wouldn’t be draped in a flag bearing the Swastika. And yet within three years Britain, Canada and the United States along w...

War! The Human race never seems to fail in finding reasons for which to wage war upon itself. When we look back at the history of war and try to understand why they have broken out, we tend to see some causes appear over and over again as if we as a species are determined to repeat past mistakes rather than learn from them. Resources. Religion. Ideology. Border disputes. A hunger for power and conquest or simply good old-fashioned hatred of another. These are the reasons we have come to expec...

The cost of war can be measured in many ways. Financially, materially, politically or of course in blood. However, there is a fifth cost that often gets overlooked in the history books and yet is arguably even more painful for the families back home, for it leaves them with no body to bury, no grave to visit and only questions that seem to never go answered as the world moves on. This is the cost of war for the families of those who disappear in the chaos of armed conflict. In this episode, w...

The modern supercarriers of the US Navy. More than 80,000 tons of moving American foreign policy. Each one of these incredible ships carries more firepower than most nations on Earth and are thus the ultimate expression of US military might. It is said that whenever there has been a crisis anywhere in the world in the last 80 years, the first question the sitting US President has asked is, “Where is the nearest carrier?” The first true supercarrier was the USS Kitty Hawk CV-63 commissioned in...

The battle for the skies over war torn Europe was one of, if not the most crucial theatre of the war against Nazi Germany. The strategic bombing campaign carried out by the Allies grew in strength with every passing year until literally thousands of four-engined heavy bombers like the American B-17 Flying Fortress and the B-24 Liberator blotted out the sun at day while at night an British and Canadian planes turned the black of night into an orange glow of flame as their bombs ignited b...

The story of the Lancaster actually begins with the downfall of an earlier Avro aircraft that failed to live up to the high expectations that birthed it. Even in aviation circles, the Avro Manchester is an almost forgotten aircraft, making such a relatively small impact on the war it is completely overshadowed by its younger brother’s many accomplishments. And yet without the Manchester there would have been no Lancaster and one can only speculate how differently the Allied war effort would h...

On May 11th 2020, an important historical discovery concerning the United States’ military history was announced that went largely unnoticed by the wider public because of the Covid-19 pandemic that is wreaking havoc across the globe. SEARCH Inc, the largest underwater and terrestrial archaeology firm in the United States working in collaboration with underwater robotics company Ocean Infinity, announced the discovery of the wreck of the American battleship USS Nevada BB-36 almost 72 ye...

An often overlooked part of the ME 262's story is that like many weapons from World War II, the Stormbird’s life didn’t end with the death of Hitler and the surrender of Nazi Germany on May 7th 1945. In this episode we are going to look at the Me262’s life in the post-war period and how it impacted the victorious Allies moving forward as they turned on one another in the early days of the Cold War. Welcome to Wars of the World.🎶🎶 All music from CO.AGhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcav...​Na...

Like any shooting war, a bloodless war can take on many forms and is not always declared by one side or the other. It simply comes into being as two sides with two opposing views clash often regarding territory and resources. Often, bloodless wars are seen as an alternative to actual shooting wars and are conducted as such with either side engaging in acts of vandalism or in some way inhibiting the affairs of the other short of firing weapons. Some bloodless wars are predominantly fough...

In this episode, we are going to examine just a handful of peculiar Allied prototype planes that bucked the trend of warplane design in the early 1940s and while we may not remember them in the same breath as the Spitfire, Mustang, Bf109 or the Zero, they have nonetheless carved themselves a niche place in the annals of military aviation history. Welcome to Wars of the World.🎶🎶 All music from CO.AGhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcav...​Narrated by: William EarlWritten & Researched by: T...

The famous Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands was preceded and arguably inspired by a dramatic and largely forgotten event that took place almost 20 years earlier, when the sleepy Falkland Islanders awoke to the news that armed Argentinians had landed on their islands claiming them for Buenos Aires. This is the story of the 1966 Condor Operation.Welcome to Wars of the World.🎶🎶 All music from CO.AGhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcav...​Narrated by: William EarlWritten & Researche...

Throughout the history of naval warfare, it has been common practice to absorb captured enemy vessels into one’s own fleet, bolstering numbers and replacing losses. A common occurrence in the days of great sailing vessels firing cannonballs at one another, with the invention of high explosive shells, often captured enemy vessels became too damaged during a fight to be of use to anyone however there have of course been many exceptions.In this episode, we are going to examine the story of how a...

The Soviet Union was probably the most enthusiastic of the Allies when it came to heavy tanks, not just from a tactical standpoint but from a psychological perspective also. In today’s episode, we are going to look at the tanks that bore the name of the Soviet leader Josef Stalin, known to his followers as the Man of Steel. This is the story of the Stalin heavy tanks and how they helped the Soviets blunt German armoured superiority and push the Fascists back to final defeat. Welcome to Wars o...

It has long been a tradition amongst fighter pilots to display their prowess in the air with markings on their aircraft denoting their victories over enemy planes. Often these markings have taken the form of flags representing the country of which their defeated opponent hailed from. A prime example of this would be a North American P-51D Mustang flown by 1st Lieutenant Curdes. Having served in both theatres of the war where he proved himself supremely skilled in the art of air warfare, Curde...

The conflict in Vietnam seemed to encompass all aspects of modern combat in the 1960s and 70s. From guerrilla fighting to armoured warfare. From technologically advanced air power to small four-man boats with machine guns. There seemed no end of dangerous assignments for the forces of the United States committed to repelling the communist Viet Cong insurgents from South Vietnam and their supporters in the north. However, some jobs will always stand out a little more than others when it comes ...

On July 27th 1929, many of the world’s powers signed an agreement in Geneva that dictated the treatment of enemy soldiers captured during wartime. The Geneva Convention was seen as a revolution in international law, putting the world on a more civilised path for the future in the wake of the horrors of the First World War. However, as Shakespeare put it, “The Devil can cite scripture for his purpose,” and while the promise of Humane treatment at the hands of his captors might encourage a sold...

War is a complex business. It only takes one simple error to be made for total disaster, even the killing of one’s own troops and allies. Known today as “friendly fire”, these tragic and fatal mistakes go all back to the dawn of history and despite advancements in technology still occur today. In today’s episode, we are going to examine five cases of “friendly fire” during one of the most devastating periods of history – the Second World War. Welcome to Wars of the World. 🎶🎶 All music from CO...

In today’s episode, we are going to look at three cases where US nukes have not only been declared as Broken Arrows but in part or in whole remain missing to this very day. Nuclear Weapons unaccounted for. Welcome to Wars of the World. 🎶🎶 All music from CO.AGhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcav...​Narrated by: William EarlWritten & Researched by: Tony WilkinsHistory Should Never Be Forgotten...Support the Show.

Given the immense amount of shipping sunk by submarines during the Second World War, it is incredible to remind ourselves that as of mid-2021 only three ships have been sunk in combat by a submarine since 1945. Meanwhile, numerous old vessels have been expended as targets to help hone the skills of submarine crews should they ever be called upon to wage their undersea war for real ever again. However, between the modern history training and actual combat sits an unusual event that occurred in...

The Battle of Lissa is seldom remembered outside of naval circles or even amongst the peoples of the respective combatants involved but it was an engagement that seemed to show that traditional naval warfare was being turned on its head thanks to new technologies that somewhat ironically, forced naval commanders to revert to the ancient tactic of ramming enemy ships. In this episode of Wars of the World, we will examine this influential battle and study the impact it had on warship design and...

SOE agents could expect merciless treatment if captured and thus the psychological strain of being constantly on their guard meant only the strongest and toughest of people would do. Because they needed the very best of the best, the SOE didn’t have room to discriminate based on gender. What mattered most to them was that any prospective agent was intelligent, resourceful, tenacious, courageous and above all dedicated to eradicating Nazism. In today’s episode, we are going to look at three of...

The narrative of the air campaign during World War II centres around huge formations of bombers dropping hundreds – sometimes thousands – of tons of bombs on the ground below in an effort to pummel the enemy into oblivion. Despite the best efforts of the crews involved, dropping bombs from around 15,000ft meant that a great number of them missed their intended targets meaning they were fighting and dying often for nothing. Military commanders got around this by instead targeting entire cities...

As Germany found its forces split to fight the British Commonwealth in North Africa and Greece and the vast Soviet front in 1941, the Luftwaffe found that even with its proven fighters such as the Messerschmitt Bf109 and the Focke Wulf 190, they simply didn’t have enough to meet all the requirements Hitler asked of them effectively. What they needed was a new weapon which would leap-frog German fighter technology far beyond what the Allies possessed. A weapon that was not only deadly but simp...

The 1930s and 40s were time a of great pain for the Chinese people. Exploited by nearly all of the great foreign powers for decades, its vast population were largely impoverished and with the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in 1911 which had ruled the country since the mid-17th century, political instability broke the country up into factions. Then of course came the second world war, the Japanese occupation of China saw acts of brutality against the Chinese population that would be consid...

In the 1930s, with the black clouds of war gathering over the skies of Europe once more, the Soviet Union under Josef Stalin pushed to demonstrate its technical prowess to the rest of the world, particularly in the air, where the Soviets established a number of endurance records for aircraft. To demonstrate how far the Soviet Union had come culturally, a number of these record-breaking efforts included female pilots and aircrew, and none were more famous than Marina Raskova. Often credited as...

If the trenches were the defining combat element of the First World War, then surely air power was the defining element in Second. Previously, air power primarily served to support the army and navy, but now it was of vital importance to the war effort in its own right. The battle for the skies was bloody and brutal where no quarter was ever given for to own the skies was to command the battlefield below. Between 1939 and 1945, the primary combatants built an estimated 810,000 aircraft of var...

As opposed to the fighting in North Africa or the brutal Eastern Front, prior to 1944 the German soldiers stationed in the west enjoyed good food, wine and the company of the local women. All the while they were unaware that they were often being lured in by those brave men and women who refused to submit to Hitler’s tyranny. In Holland, three young women would wage a secret war against their occupiers using their innocent and youthful looks to lower their enemy’s guard before they struck out...

Few nations in history garner as much interest as Nazi Germany. When looking at this Fascist superpower we are left asking ourselves many, many questions with the most common beginning with the word “Why?” The reality is there are still endless questions surrounding the Nazis we do not, and may never know the answers to. In today’s episode we will explore some of these Mysteries of Nazi Germany. Welcome to Wars of the World.🎶🎶 All music from CO.AGhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcav...​Narra...

When we tell the stories of the grand military campaigns throughout history, they are dominated by operations to charge through the enemy’s main lines, pushing the enemy back, and driving them to ultimate defeat. However, another form of attack has long been a staple of military campaigns, but it doesn’t seek to hold territory it captures. Instead, a raid aims to achieve an objective such as destroying vital supplies or an enemy’s headquarters before retreating back to friendly lines. A raidi...

Be they trundling through the mud of Western Europe, kicking up dust on the plains of North Africa or forging a path through the snow of the Eastern Front; the tank defined the war on land between 1939 and 1945. When the war ended and all sides began to disarm they found themselves with literally tens of thousands of now-surplus tanks in their inventories. Many of these war machines inevitably found themselves on the business end of a scrapper’s torch as they were broken up, melted down...

When the Wright Brothers made their historic first flight in 1903, they couldn’t have possibly imagined how far the aircraft would progress in the following one hundred years alone. The Wright Flyer as it was known could be cruelly described as little more than a powered kite but it would initiate a technical evolution that would shrink the world allowing global travel in hours as opposed to months by sea. It would also, of course, bring unimaginable destruction from the sky as the aircraft w...

Theirs was a land untamed. A vast wilderness rich in natural resources and wildlife but stretched out over a continent with terrain that varied from the cold, rocky climates in the north to the tempered lands further south, which ultimately gave way to dry, arid desert. This was the home of the First Americans, the Native tribes of North America. In every war there are those whose names for good or ill enjoy greater notoriety than others be it for their cunning in combat or for their exploits...

The 2007 Hollywood film ‘300’, shows off a dramatized version of the Battle of the Thermopylae. In the film, the Spartan myth is shown in all its bare-chested glory. 300 Spartan warriors, led by their defiant king, Leonidas, face off against a horde of Persians 300,000 strong. Utilising a narrow mountain path, they hold their ground for three whole days against overwhelming odds, fighting to the bitter end and leaving mountains of slain enemies before them. Such battle-trained, chiselled warr...

The German war machine of World War Two earned a terrifying reputation as a brutally efficient and devastating engine of destruction, and death. Well, you won’t see any evidence of that in this video! The Nazi designed “Wunderwaffe” literally meaning “Miracle Weapons” include some of the most bonkers, insane, stupid and ridiculous weapon designs ever put to paper. Most of these Wunderwaffe, as you are about to see, were as useless as they were nuts. Too impractical to build, let alone m...

Every nation has a story that is retold with the words – it was the darkest time in our history. For the United States, that time was the American Civil War. A conflict as much a battle for the soul of America as it was one of politics, economics and ideology, it was centred around the concept of identity, what it meant to be an American and of course all tied up in the tragic story of slavery. There are countless stories of those who fought in that monstrous conflict, and in today’s episode,...

You might have never heard of it. Be grateful for that fact. A project started by the German ministry of Aviation, the Amerikabomber was a proposed class of long-range strategic bomber then would have been capable of striking the United-States from bases in Germany. Its failure, and the failure of the German war effort generally, spared the cities of America the same destruction seen across Europe, devastation that still scars the continent to this day. In today's episode of Wars of the World...

World War 2 is probably the most studied, analysed and widely known catastrophe in human history. This is partly because of just how big the thing was, and partly due to the technology available at the time. We have photos, video, audio recordings, newsreels, newspapers, all documenting every detail, every day, every moment. However, despite these incredible tools, and years of study by the greatest historical investigative efforts in the world, there’s still plenty of mysterious things that ...

It is often said that history is more than just words on the written page. For various reasons, many parts of our past have become lost or confused over time and World War I was no different. In this episode we are going to take a look at six mysteries from the war to end all wars. Welcome to Wars of the World. 🎶🎶 All music from CO.AGhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcav...​Narrated by: William EarlWritten & Researched by: Tony WilkinsHistory Should Never Be Forgotten......

Few nations in history garner as much interest as Nazi Germany. When looking at this Fascist superpower we are left asking ourselves many, many questions with the most common beginning with the word “Why?” The reality is there are still endless questions surrounding the Nazis we do not, and may never know the answers to. In today’s episode we will explore some of these Mysteries of Nazi Germany. Welcome to Wars of the World.Support the Show.

Tanks became a vital part of every major operation in No Man's Land and the exploits of these armoured goliaths would become legend. One story in particular highlights both the great advantages of armoured warfare and the potential dangers. It is a story of heroism, dedication and sacrifice but above all it is a story of the perseverance of the Human spirit in the face of seemingly impossible odds. This is the story of one tank crew’s fight to survive as they found themselves trapped in their...

On June 8th 1991 in Washington DC, 8,000 US troops marched in triumph through the streets of their nation’s capital having returned from the Persian Gulf where they had just ousted Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi Army from Kuwait in one of the most spectacular military operations in history. Of those 8,000 men marching that day, statistically around 2,600 of them will have fallen extremely ill as a result of their time in the Persian Gulf, their lives marred by disease and pain. In this episode, we wi...

An innovative new way of fighting in the air developed in the 1930s, where fighter planes were equipped with a rotating hydraulic turret rather than front facing guns. Instead of battling to get on the tail of an enemy plane to fire your guns, these new fighters were capable of firing on an enemy aircraft behind, to the side, or even below them. On paper, these new war planes were super weapons capable of tearing apart enemy fighters and changing air warfare forever. In Part 1 we looked at th...

Sleek, agile, powerful and possessing a multitude of guns on the nose and wings – the fighters of World War II have etched themselves a position in history akin to the greatest knights of the medieval world. It is little wonder why, since the image of dogfighting a warplane with an enemy aircraft so captures our imaginations. However, less than ten years before the outbreak of WW2, a small number of aircraft appeared in Britain that offered a whole new way of engaging an enemy aircraft....

Hitler was, by any accounts, a highly unusual man. From humble backgrounds, Hitler’s dystopic visions and feverish energy catapulted him right to the top. In this position, he pushed Europe into oblivion. But what made the man tick? Some historians claim that Adolf Hitler was psychologically disturbed. The theory goes that, Hitler’s logic, or lack thereof, can be explained partially through reference to his mental health. To some, insanity is the only way to explain Hitler’s insane poli...

In this episode of Wars of the World, we are going to take a glimpse into the realm of a General on the eve of probably the single most important military operation in history. D-Day. For you are now a General. In the course of this episode, we will break down some of the factors you would have to consider on June 4th 1944, less than 48 hours before your men storm the beaches of Normandy. This is your last chance to alter any of your plans for your unit to give your troops the best chance of ...

Pirate ships could come in all shapes and sizes. There were big ones and small ones, sail ships and rowing boats. Some were bristling with cannons; others made do with scary fellas wielding cutlasses and grappling hooks. But what type of vessels were most popular among pirates, and how were they used? Let’s find out!🎶🎶 All music from CO.AGhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcav...​Narrated by: William EarlWritten & Researched by: Harry PalmerHistory Should Never Be Forgotten...Support the S...

They were a race forged in both fire and ice. Their prowess as warriors is legendary as is their brutality towards their enemies. They are remembered as raiders but they were equally capable explorers and colonists with their legacy living on until this very day. They were the Vikings and at the height of their power they were a military, political and economic superpower akin to the most powerful nations today. Yet while legend has kept their memories alive as the centuries have driven on, l...

The early morning sun is already arching its way into the sky as you step across the field in northern France which has been made damp by the morning dew, leaving your boots squeaking underfoot as you walk with your observer out to your plane. You have been assigned to fly the Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2. the mainstay of the Royal Flying Corps, the air arm of the British Army in August 1914. In today's episode of Wars of the World, we put you in the shoes of a British pilot during WW1. ...

When you think of pirates, the first place you think of probably isn’t Southern China. A region with a long a fascinating history, China’s South maintains its own unique identity, social, cultural, historical and otherwise, distinct and separate from the North. Two Southern Chinese stereotypes are their international, outward-facing attitude and the independence of their women. Perhaps in no one figure are these two ideas better symbolised then in Shih Yang, a prostitute turned pirate with a ...

When we think of other icons of the past, people who lived lives of violence and adventure, be them Medieval Knights in armour of masked and cloaked highway robbers, they are almost always men. Why the exception with pirates? Well, most of that is down to two incredible women, Anne Bonny and Mary Reed. Anne and Mary lived fascinating lives, breaking boundaries and overcoming expectations. Littered with incredible similarities, these two women’s fates aligned, joining them together across vast...

Pirate captains and their crews were violent, even ruthless. Part of this was a necessity. But some captains went beyond the normal, creating an art out of atrocity. Captain Blackbeard and Charles Vane, both household names to this day, were such captains, employing cruelty in a calculated, systematic way. Both men prospered and perished, living and dying by the jolly-roger. But who were Blackbeard and Charles Vane, and how did they end up capturing hearts and minds alongside ships and ...

This video is part two of a two part series on War Trains. If you want to get the full history of these titanic engines of war through the Civil War times to the end of World War One you can check that out in the link below. But if you don’t mind about all that stuff and you want to jump right into WW2, that’s fine too. Because this is where our story really gets explosive. This is the moment in history where the power of these armoured trains reaches super-weapon status. This is the story of...

Rail power has been the engine that built and toppled entire empires. Like so many an invention throughout history, it has been turned into a tool of warfare. In this episode, we are going to examine some of the roles that trains have played in military campaigns since the invention of the first steam powered tram locomotive pulled 10-ton loads on a stretch of track in South Wales in 1804. It is a story of humble beginnings, tragedy, terror and eventually the great war itself. This is the his...

Worryingly, the skies look set to offer terrorists even more opportunities to wage their campaigns as drone technology especially becomes increasingly inexpensive and easy to acquire. In this episode, we are going to explore the history of terrorist aviation, examine some key incidents where aircraft have served a use for terrorist groups and look at the potential threats security services may face in the coming decade. This is Terrorist Air Power. Welcome to Wars of the World.🎶🎶 All music fr...

The First World War could have happened very differently: not in 1914, but 1896. Here, an industrial war of unprecedented scale would have been fought by the British against the French. In the swamps of the Upper Nile, among the half-ruined, half-forgotten outpost known as Fashoda, a confrontation between a small group of French and British soldiers nearly engulfed Europe in flames. This momentous encounter… was the Fashoda Incident. 🎶🎶 All music from CO.AGhttps://www.youtube.com/channel...

Just 11 years after the Wright Brothers took flight in a powered aircraft for the first time, primitive aircraft were being taken to the frontlines as Europe exploded into the Great War in August 1914. Control of the skies over the battlefield went from being something of an afterthought to being of one of the highest priorities. And when the next war came, the pilots of fighter planes would at times hold the fate of their own country in their hands.🎶🎶 All music from CO.AGhttps://www.youtube....

The First World War could have happened very differently: not in 1914, but 1896. Here, an industrial war of unprecedented scale would have been fought by the British against the French. In the swamps of the Upper Nile, among the half-ruined, half-forgotten outpost known as Fashoda, a confrontation between a small group of French and British soldiers nearly engulfed Europe in flames. This momentous encounter… was the Fashoda Incident. 🎶🎶 All music from CO.AGhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCca...

The brutality of modern warfare coupled with advancements in medical science, such as the discovery of penicillin, meant more soldiers could survive life-threatening wounds. After initial recovery, many patients realised an even longer road to regaining what they had physically lost awaited them. As a result of months or even years of reconstructive surgery, many went on to salvage some of what the ‘Great War’ had taken from them. Let’s look back and appreciate the medical advancements w...

Here are three stories of bravery from soldiers of the first world war that we found particularly incredible. Each show a very different account of the war, and also bravery itself. May they act as a reminder of the folly of war, a tribute to those courageous men and women who died in the war.🎶🎶 All music from CO.AGhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcav...​Narrated by: William EarlWritten & Researched by: Harry PalmerHistory Should Never Be Forgotten...Support the Show.

On the 1st of September 1939, Nazi Germany declared war on Poland. The Second World War had begun and Adolf Hitler, leader of the Nazi Party, finally had the chance to realise his dystopian vision. But he didn’t risk demonstrating blatant aggression. Instead, an entire fake Polish attack was staged on the night of the 31st of August, complete with murdered prisoners dressed as Polish soldiers.​🎶🎶 All music from CO.AGhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcav...​Narrated by: Will EarlWritten & ...

Life at sea during the Age of Sail had its ups and downs. The steady rhythm of the sea alone was enough to reduce many men to a chronic state of seasickness. But it wasn’t just the tumultuous oceans that could make it hard to keep down food… The horrifying punishments used onboard military vessels created a sickness of another kind: one of rigid hierarchy and brutal, even tortuous discipline. Whatever the crime, punishment in the Europe’s naval forces was likely to be swift and harsh. 🎶🎶 All ...

A selection of the most feared Hungarian, Romanian & Bulgarian soldiers who took part in the second world war.​🎶🎶 All music from CO.AGhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcav...​Narrated by: William Earl Written & Researched by: Tony WilkinsHistory Should Never Be Forgotten...Support the Show.

In this episode of wars of the world, we look at the deadliest Italian and Finnish soldiers during WWII.🎶🎶 All music from CO.AGhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcav...​Narrated by: William Earl.Written & Researched by: Tony WilkinsHistory Should Never Be Forgotten...Support the Show.

As the tide turned and the Soviets recaptured lost territory, they saw what the German troops had done to their countrymen and swore revenge. To that end, there were Soviet soldiers, sailors and airmen enraged by their enemy’s conduct who used their skills to exact retribution on the Germans and their Allies becoming some of the most feared combatants on the Eastern Front. In this episode of Wars of the World’s Deadliest Combatants, we look at four Soviet fighters that instilled abject terror...

In this episode of Wars of the World Deadliest Combatants we take a look at some of the most proficient and feared warriors of the Empire of Japan. These are the Deadliest Japanese of World War II. 🎶🎶 All music from CO.AGhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcav...Narrated by: Will EarlWritten & Researched by: Tony WilkinsHistory Should Never Be Forgotten...Support the Show.

During the First World War it took four hours for the armistice to come into effect, and thenover 12 hours for troops on the Western Front to actually stop fighting. The sad result of thistardiness? Some 11,000 casualties on the Allied side alone. In history, as today, things often took a long time to happen. And war is no exception. Well while some ponderous wars were still being fought hours after they’d finished, the foot-light Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1869 managed to be started, prosecuted, ...

In August 1945, World War II was brought to its chilling climax in two brilliant, white flashes in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki but while one chapter of history ended, another began. That of the threat of nuclear-armed conflict. Nuclear weapons changed the rules of global confrontation forever. The first atomic bombs were huge weapons for the aircraft to carry being around 10,000lbs but it was not simply enough to just carry them aloft. The bomber still had to fly high enough...

In this latest instalment of Wars of the World’s Deadliest Combatants series, we are going to look at four Americans who not only went above and beyond in the service of their country but earned the respect of their comrades and the fear of their enemy. These are the four deadliest Americans of World War 2.🎶🎶 All music from CO.AGhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcav...Narrated by: Will EarlWritten & Researched by: Tony WilkinsHistory Should Never Be Forgotten...Support the Show.

As the 1980s drew on and the Cold War between east and west entered its final and perhaps most dangerous phase, the navy of the Soviet Union concocted a plan to conduct the ultimate test of their SSBNs. The launching of a full salvo of missiles. This is the story of Operation Behemoth.🎶🎶 All music from CO.AGhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcav...Narrated by: Will EarlWritten & Researched by: Tony WilkinsHistory Should Never Be Forgotten...Support the Show.

Constantinople. The City of the World’s Desire. The largest city in Christendom for nearly a thousand years. Surprisingly few remember this grand city, capital of two of history’s greatest empires: the Christian Roman Empire, and the Islamic Ottoman Empire.This is the story of Constantinople’s fall, how Europe’s richest city fell to the Turks and became known as Istanbul: the story of the Great Siege of 1453.When histories greatest fortification was stormed, and Europe’s largest cathedral was...

In the years leading up to the start of the Second World War, Britain’s empire extended to every continent on Earth. As such, British forces fought in every theatre of the conflict alongside troops raised from the nations that made up the Empire and allied powers such as the United States, France and the Soviet Union. The end of the war sparked the end of the Empire which transformed into the Commonwealth as it is known today where the British monarchy serves only a ceremonial role in the gov...

We all know the stories of the horror of trench warfare in the First World War. Waves of soldiers clambering out of their trenches into a hail of gunfire and nests of barbed wire strewn across no-man’s land. Artillery shells exploding all around them as they advanced while aeroplanes buzzed overhead firing machine guns down upon them. Often the enemy trench was only yards away yet in that time, hundreds if not thousands of men could be left dead or dying in the mud. It was a man-made hell on ...

We all know the stories of the horror of trench warfare in the First World War. Waves of soldiers clambering out of their trenches into a hail of gunfire and nests of barbed wire strewn across no-man’s land. Artillery shells exploding all around them as they advanced while aeroplanes buzzed overhead firing machine guns down upon them. Often the enemy trench was only yards away yet in that time, hundreds if not thousands of men could be left dead or dying in the mud. 🎶🎶All music from CO.AGhttp...

For much of the world in the early 1940s, the face of Adolf Hitler came to personify true evil itself. Looking into Nazi Germany from the outside perspective, it seemed as though Adolf Hitler had an almost hypnotic grip on his people in every level of German society and yet the closest he ever game to being assassinated was not part of some Allied plot but instead came from men who as serving soldiers in the German Army had pledged their unconditional support to him. This is the story of oper...

Troops of the Third Reich fought all over Europe, North Africa, the Atlantic Ocean and the Middle East during the Second World War. They earned a formidable reputation as being professional and proficient soldiers regardless of the reasons why they fought. Here we look at soldiers who fought under the swastika and whose combat effectiveness earned them the begrudging respect and of course fear of the enemies they faced. These are some of the deadliest German soldiers of World War Two...🎶🎶All ...

It comes as little surprise that the dream of many a warlord or government has been to harness disease as a weapon with which to destroy one’s enemies. If used effectively, a weaponised virus could devastate an enemy’s population by tying up resources, disrupting economic progress and of course killing off the people who would fight in any military campaign with one’s own forces. Weaponised diseases have the theoretical potential to eradicate an enemy while leaving all their riches in place f...

In Frampol, a small town in Poland, town planning created a uniquely beautiful space for its residents to live in. What its designers could never have known was that it would create chaos and destruction, consigning the entire town to destruction centuries late. With its unique grid-pattern radiating from the market square, Frampol resembled a large bullseye when viewed from the air. Though without any military value whatsoever, that alone sealed the towns fate. When The Second World War brok...

This podcast will discuss some examples of the most fearsome booby traps ever made in history of warfare. Designed to trap, maim, and kill those who stumbled into them, they represent the worst product of the human imagination turned to engineering. All of them were used in one of the bloodiest wars in modern history: The Vietnam War.🎶🎶All music from CO.AGhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcav...Narrated by: Top5sWritten & Researched by: Tony WilkinsHistory Should Never Be Forgotten...Supp...

In this episode of Wars of the World, we explore just a few terrifying weapons from the Second World War and examine their impact on the battlefield and the war as a whole.🎶🎶All music from CO.AGhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcav...Narrated by: Top5sWritten & Researched by: Tony WilkinsHistory Should Never Be Forgotten...Support the Show.