85 - Alarmstart East

In January 1945, Admiral Halsey, with the third Fleet, conducted a raid into the South China Sea. This was designated Operation Gratitude. The raid was to support the landings on Luzon, in the Philippines, with the aim of destroying the Japanese navy, supply convoys and any air assets in the area.

As part of this operation, Hong Kong would be attacked.

Steven Bailey joins me.

Steven is the author of Target Hong Kong, which looks at the raid from numerous angles, including an eyewitness account from a British prison officer held in a Japanese internment camp on the island.

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Starting with small raids at the start of the war, the aerial offensive grew into a massive operation. Huge air armadas would eventually pulverise Germany, with the Mighty Eigth Airforce flying by day and the Lancasters of Bomber Command by night. This 24-hour campaign seriously damaged Germany’s ability to make war and killed hundreds of thousands.

Joining me is Jonathan Trigg, whose new book is The Air War Through German Eyes: How the Luftwaffe Lost the Skies over the Reich, which looks at the air war from the point of view of the Germans.

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'In Arctic blizzards between January and March 1945, the Latvian 15th SS Division - a core of Russian Front veterans but most raw teenage conscripts from Nazi-occupied Latvia - tried to stop the Red Army sweeping across Pomerania, now Poland. One in three died: the majority never returned home.'

In this episode, I'm joined by Vincent Hunt, and we discuss the Latvians fighting with the Germans in the Latvian 15th SS Division.

Through interviews, diaries, and never-before-utilised sources, in his book The Road of Slaughter: The Latvian 15th SS Division in Pomerania, January-March 1945, Vince has built a compelling narrative of desperate fighting as the Latvians were withdrawn from defending their own country to Poland.

For listeners of the podcast, Helion has offered us a discount code for copies of the book purchased from their website helion.co.uk. The code is VHRS10.

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This episode will look at Japanese propaganda during the imperial era. With the rise of mass production of newspapers and magazines amidst the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese population became instilled in nationalism and militarism. Despite the era of demilitarisation and democratisation after the First World War, the Japanese Empire, once again, became fixated on expansion. Harnessing film, radio and cultural institutions, the country was galvanised for total war.

Ray Matsumoto, author of Echoes of Empire: The Power of Japanese Propaganda, joined me.

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The Green Howards landed in the first wave on D-Day. With them was Company Sergeant Major Stan Hollis, who had seen action in France in 1940, being evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk. He fought in North Africa and took part in the invasion of Sicily.

It is fair to say Hollis was a seasoned soldier. He is also the only recipient of the Victoria Cross for his actions on the 6th of June 1944.

I have made a field trip to the Green Howards Regimental Museum in Richmond, Yorkshire. In this episode, Steve Erskine joins me to discuss Hollis and the Green Howards on D-Day.

The museum is hosting a special 80th D-Day anniversary event on the 6th of June, 2024. This is a unique event to be held at the museum in Richmond. Those attending will have the chance to explore items from the museum collection relating to this crucial phase of the Second World War. Hear accounts of the day itself and understand more about the impact of the events of 6 June 1944. You can find out more on the museum website greenhowards.org.uk.

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The war in Asia and the Pacific against Japan is often seen as an American affair. While the US did play a dominant role, the British and Commonwealth forces also made major contributions – on land, at sea and in the air – eventually involving over a million men and vast armadas of ships and aircraft.

Joining me to discuss Britain and the Commonwealth's war in the Far East is Brian Walter, author of  Forgotten War: The British Empire and Commonwealth’s Epic Struggle Against Imperial Japan.

Long-time listeners might recall I discussed the war in the Atlantic with Brian in episode 127, and we looked at the naval campaign in the Mediterranean in episode 173.

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When President McKinley turned down Benjamin Oliver Davis for a place at West Point due to the colour of his skin, Davis joined the army as a private. Davis soon worked his way through the ranks to receive his second lieutenant commission in 1901. It would be over 30 years before another black officer would receive his commission, and that would be Benjamin Oliver Davis's son, Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr.

In theory, black troops would be barred from combat, but Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr. would lead the first Black flying squadron, the Tuskegee Airmen, to success during WWII.

For this episode, I'm joined by Doug Melville, a direct relative of Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr. and Sr.

When George Lucas's film 'Red Tails' (2012), celebrating the Tuskegee Airmen, was released, Doug was shocked when he realised that Ben Jr.’s name had been omitted and replaced by the fictional Colonel A. J. Bullard. And Ben’s father, Benjamin O. Davis Sr., America’s first Black general who helped integrate the military, was left out too. The film inspired him to rediscover his family’s story, which spans five generations, and write Invisible Generals: Rediscovering Family Legacy, and a Quest to Honor America's First Black Generals.

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The convoy HG-76 sailed from Gibraltar to Britain in December 1941. The Royal Navy commander in charge was 'Johnnie' Walker, an anti-submarine expert who had developed new, aggressive U-boat hunting tactics. Accompanying the escorts was HMS Audacity, the Royal Navy's first escort carrier - a new type of warship purpose-built to defend convoys from enemy aircraft and U-boats.

Aware of the departure of HG-76, a wolfpack of U-boats was sent against it, and the Luftwaffe was heavily committed to, in a rare example of German inter-service cooperation. German intelligence agents in Gibraltar and Spain also knew every detail of HG-76 before it sailed, seemingly stacking the odds in favour of the Kriegsmarine.

Joining me on this episode is Angus Konstam.

Angus is a naval historian and author of The Convoy: HG-76: Taking the Fight to Hitler's U-boats

For patrons of the podcast, Osprey Publishing has given us a discount code to be used on their website, ospreypublishing.com. 

If you are not a patron of the show, you can sign up at patreon.com/ww2podcast. Patrons can get advert-free listening and extra WWII chat.

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Hot on the heels of victory in Sicily, the Allies crossed into Southern Italy in September 1943. They expected to drive the Axis forces north and be in Rome by Christmas. Although Italy surrendered, the German forces resisted fiercely, and the swift, hoped-for victory descended into one of the most brutal battles of the war.

I am joined by James Holland, author of The Savage Storm: The Battle for Italy 1943 and co-host of the We Have Ways podcast.

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From the middle of the 19th century, the railways had an integral role in warfare. Trains brought food, ammunition and essential supplies. They also transported troops into the combat zone, and then trains would be used to bring men home.

Hospital trains were not a new concept in WWII, but their development moved the carriages away from being ambulances for evacuating the wounded to mobile hospital units with operating theatres.

Joining me is Alexandra Kitty, author of A Different Track: Hospital Trains of the Second World War.

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