The Second World War

In this episode, I speak with Jason Bell, author of Cracking the Nazi Code. This book tells the true story of Winthrop Bell, a Canadian philosopher who worked for MI6 between WWI and WWII as a spy, providing important intelligence.

One of the major turning points of the war was Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. This had long been Hitler's plan and now it was time to put those plans into action. The first few weeks included tremendous German success. But could they maintain that momentum?

When we think of areas of operations during the Second World War, we often do not think of the Middle East. But in the summer of 1941, there was indeed some significant combat in Syria and Lebanon. Unfortunately, it was between Britain and her Dominions and Vichy France.

In this first chapter of the Battle of the Atlantic, we catch up with what was happening in the Atlantic Ocean. Germany was trying to cut off Britain from all outside support by targeting shipping lanes. The Allies struggled to get the convoys to their destination from German ships, planes, and especially the dreaded U-Boats. This chapter takes us from the beginning of the war to late 1941.

On the same day that the Germans invaded Yugoslavia, they also invaded Greece. Even with Allied support, the Germans pushed through all defences. In this episode, we look at the invasion of the mainland and Crete.