1 We have a fantastic series of shows coming up looking at the rise of the Third Reich and the path to war. We will look at Germany's complicated relationships with Poland and the Soviet Union. We'll also discuss some of the pre-war politicians and even where alcohol fits in
2 On January 20th renowned historian Mark Roseman will start the series with a presentation about Wannsee on the 80th anniversary of the conference
Who was there, what was planned, and why is studying it still vitally important today?
3 Next up will be @hoyer_kat talking about the always fascinating inter-war period - the end of the Second Reich and the rise of the Third. I've been wanting an excuse to invite Katja on as a guest for some time
January 23rd
4 Edward B. Westermann will reveal how scenes involving alcohol consumption and revelry among the SS and police became a routine part of rituals of humiliation in the camps, ghettos, and killing fields of Eastern Europe.
January 24th
5 I'm delighted that @Dr_Helen_Roche will talk to us about Germany's educational institutions and how the Third Reich trained its future leaders. Thus creating a generation of Nazis imbued with a fanatical hatred.
January 25th
6 On January 26th @Roger_Moorhouse will talk about the Third Reich's ambitions in Poland and and beyond and the German invasion in 1939. Roger is another historian I've been wanting to have on as a guest for a long time
7 Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff are best known as Generals in the First World War, but also played a key role in the turbulent politics of the Weimar Republic and the rise of the Nazis. With guest historian Alexander Clifford
January 27th
8 In the final show of the series Ian Ona Johnson will talk about the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. His book "Faustian Bargain" offers a definitive exploration of a shadowy but fateful alliance
January 28th
1 If anyone is interested, here's my review of the BBC's SAS Rogue Heroes series I've just binge-watched.
Let's start with the negatives. Of course there were some niggly things like hand saluting rather than presenting arms, and some of the FS caps were not sloped enough
2 There was also Mayne's full beard when in the Officers mess and some modern boots here and there. I also spotted a postwar RIO truck and let's not even go there with the "Panzer" in episode 6. Plus, some of the German aircraft looked a bit plastic
3 I also fully realise that the raids and encounters took some big liberties with history. I always thought Stirling was captured while asleep, not in a tank ambush, but I get the need to condense and dramatise events, and this wasn't a documentary
1 Here's a complete list of my planned WW2TV theme weeks up to the end of July. This doesn't count battlefield livestreams which will start happening again once my 10km radius is lifted.
May 3rd - Resistance week. Shows on France, Crete, the Balkans and Poland
2 May 10th - Italy week. A look at both Italy's role as a participant and also battles and campaigns that took place in Italy. I'm still looking for potential guests and topics
3 May 17th - Strategic Bombing week. We will be tackling the "Final Phase" in the bombing of Germany, and I have a great show lined up about the loss of a B17F over Netherlands. Plus we will feature 617 Squadron (of course). I'd also like to cover the Far East
1 Dunkirk (2017) came up in conversation on my boys' trip to Arnhem, and I found out I was the only one of the 6 battlefield tour guides who loved the film. I know it's been discussed to death, but here are my reasons
2 To me, Dunkirk is a film that transcends being a War Film, in the vein of A Matter of Life and Death, Hiroshima Mon Amour, Kanal, Lawrence of Arabia and Apocalypse Now. Now that's not to say it is as important or philosophical as those films, but..
3 First, let me say that as a means of explaining the battle leading to the evacuation, Dunkirk fails and the original 1958 movie tops it completely. I also take on board the criticism of the gliding Spitfire and other details