On the 7th April 1945, 702 French members of the Special Air Service parachuted into the Netherlands to recapture Dutch canals, bridges and airfields in the fight against the occupiers. This was one of the last major airborne missions of the Second World War and, despite a multitude of difficulties, it resulted in the liberation of parts of the Netherlands and paved the way for the Canadian advance. Joël Stoppels is a battlefield guide and founder of Battlefield Tours, he takes us through the mission and its challenges, and explores some of the atrocities perpetrated throughout the war and during the German retreat, discovered by the advancing French paratroopers.
Joël’s website can be found here: https://www.battlefieldtours.nu/.
For more Warfare content, subscribe to our Warfare newsletter here: https://www.historyhit.com/sign-up-to-history-hit/?utm_source=timelinenewsletter&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=Timeline+Podcast+Campaign.
Ear Trumpets are seen as old fashioned and clumsy, mostly deployed in pop culture for comic effect as a snarky shorthand for how old and out-of-touch a person is.
But during the Enlightenment there was a wider embrace of this new technology as a means of increased participation.
This episode we...
Genghis Khan is still considered one of the most famous and most feared warrior kings in history. But his name still divides opinion. To some, he was the ruthless conqueror of great civilisations, for others a hero who united nomadic tribes and created an enlightened empire. But who was the real ...
Gaius Marius (157 BC – 86 BC) was one of the first warlords of the late Roman Republic, a general and statesman who held the office of consul an unprecedented seven times during his life.
Famed for his momentous reforms to the Roman armies - such as instituting professional soldiery and improvi...