In this episode, I talk with Erik Kreps about a remarkable family mystery. Erik's grandfather, Colonel Kenneth Ray Kreps, served in the Second World War, and after returning home, he sealed his wartime belongings in a chest with the instruction that it was not to be opened until after his death. For decades, the chest remained closed, and no one in the family knew what it contained.

After Colonel Kreps died, the chest was put into storage and almost forgotten. At one point, it was nearly auctioned off, which could have meant the contents were lost forever. Instead, it was saved, and when it was eventually opened, it revealed letters, photographs, medals, and documents that reshaped Erik's understanding of his grandfather and the life he lived during the war.

You can find Erik on X at @Veiled_Valor where he shares updates about the discoveries along with occasional posts about others connected to the story. Here is a link to a set of slides featuring images of the chest contents and further material on Colonel Kreps.

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RAF Liberator bombing operations in India, Burma, and Thailand remain one of the least explored air campaigns of the Second World War. Flying long-range missions from Bengal, RAF crews attacked Japanese targets across Southeast Asia, including the infamous Thailand-Burma Railway, under demanding and often dangerous conditions.

In this episode of the WW2 Podcast, I am talking to historian Matt Poole, author of Far East RAF Liberators: Attacking the Japanese: Roy Andrews and 215 Squadron. Together, we explore this campaign through the experiences of Roy Andrews, a Royal Australian Air Force wireless operator and air gunner who flew with RAF 215 Squadron on B-24 Liberator bombers during the final months of the war.

Between October 1944 and April 1945, Roy Andrews flew bombing, strafing, and air-sea rescue missions over Burma and Thailand. By viewing the wider RAF air war through the lens of one airman, this episode examines long-range Liberator operations, low-level attacks, and daily life on a forward airfield in India, offering a personal perspective on an often overlooked chapter of the Second World War.

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For this episode of the podcast, we are doing something a little different. Rather than focusing on a single subject, we open the floor to your questions.

Over the past few weeks, podcast patrons were invited to submit questions they had always wanted to ask about the Second World War. These range from strategy and leadership to memory, myth and the smaller details that continue to provoke curiosity today.

To help answer those questions, I am joined by two returning guests.

John McManus is a military historian specialising in the United States Army in the Second World War. He is the author of numerous books and is known for combining operational history with the lived experience of soldiers on the ground.

Also joining the discussion is Kevin Hymel. Kevin is a historian and biographer of General George S Patton, with the third volume of his trilogy due for publication in 2026. He is also an experienced battlefield tour guide.

John and Kevin are the hosts of the podcast WW2 Live, which features a regular segment called 'Stump the Chumps' in which listeners submit challenging or unusual questions. That format inspired this episode.

Together they take on a wide range of listener questions, offering thoughtful and often surprising insights into how the Second World War was fought, remembered and understood.

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Charles de Gaulle remains one of the most distinctive figures to emerge from the Second World War. Soldier, writer, leader in exile, and later the creator of the Fifth Republic, he played a central role in reshaping modern France. His relationship with Winston Churchill, their shared struggle during the war, and the influence both men continued to wield long after the fighting ended make him a fascinating subject.

In this episode, I speak with historian Richard Vinen, author of Last of the Titans: Churchill and de Gaulle. His book explores the lives of de Gaulle and Churchill and sets their wartime partnership within a wider story of national identity, political power, and the long shadow of past greatness. Richard guides us through de Gaulle's early years, his outlook as a soldier, his time in London, and the reasons he became such a commanding presence in French public life.

Last of the Titans: Churchill and de Gaulle is also available as an audiobook on Audible.

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The fighting in Burma during the Second World War was among the most demanding of the entire conflict. Soldiers faced dense jungle, monsoon rains, disease, and a determined enemy — conditions that made the campaign both brutal and complex.

Yet for decades, Burma remained one of the least remembered theatres of the war. The men who fought there — British, Indian, African, and Burmese — became known as the "Forgotten Armies."

A new exhibition at the National Army Museum in London, Beyond Burma: Forgotten Armies, seeks to change that. It explores not only the campaign itself but also the wider human and political stories that emerged from the fighting in Southeast Asia.

In this episode of the WW2 Podcast, I visit the museum to speak with Dr Alan Jeffreys, Head of Equipment and lead curator of Beyond Burma. We discuss the exhibition, its themes, and the challenge of bringing this complex history to life.

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By late 1942, after the success of Operation Torch, the Allies had finally gained a foothold in North Africa. What followed was a hard-fought and often overlooked campaign in Tunisia. For six months, British, American, and French forces battled determined Axis troops for control of the last corner of Africa held by Germany and Italy.

It was a campaign marked by tough lessons, uneasy cooperation, and moments of heroism — one that would shape how the Allies fought together for the rest of the war.

In this episode, I'm joined by historian and author Saul David to discuss his latest book, 'Tunisgrad: How the Allies Won North Africa and Set the Stage for D-Day'. Saul brings to life the soldiers, commanders, and decisions that defined the Tunisia campaign and paved the way for the Allied invasion of Europe.

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By the autumn of 1944, the Allies had driven across France and Belgium and reached the borders of Germany. Ahead of them lay the Rhine — a vast natural barrier and the last line of defence protecting the heart of the Reich.

What followed was some of the most intense and costly fighting of the war in Western Europe. From the bitter battles around Aachen and the Hürtgen Forest, through the crossing operations of Plunder and Varsity, to the dramatic capture of the bridge at Remagen, the campaign for the Rhineland was brutal, chaotic, and often overshadowed by the more famous Battle of the Bulge.

Yet it was here, on both sides of the Rhine, that the final collapse of Nazi Germany truly began.

To help tell that story, I'm joined by military historian Anthony Tucker-Jones, author of Rhineland, which charts the campaign from the German border battles of late 1944 through to the end of the war in 1945.

Rhineland is also available on Audible and Spotify.

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In the aftermath of the Second World War, the Allies brought twenty-four of Hitler's most senior figures to justice at Nuremberg. Among them was Hermann Göring — once Hitler's designated heir and still a commanding presence, even in defeat.

Before the trial began, the U.S. Army assigned a young psychiatrist, Captain Douglas Kelley, to assess whether these men were mentally fit to stand trial. For Kelley, it was the professional opportunity of a lifetime: a chance to explore the minds of the Nazi elite and discover what made them capable of such atrocities.

What he found was far more complex and unsettling than expected. Kelley's professional curiosity evolved into a disturbing psychological duel, especially with Hermann Göring — a man both monstrous and magnetic, whose personality thrived even in captivity.

In this episode, I speak with Jack El-Hai, author of The Nazi and the Psychiatrist: Hermann Göring, Dr. Douglas Kelley, and a Fatal Meeting of Minds at the End of WWII. Jack draws on Kelley's long-hidden papers and medical records to tell this extraordinary story, which has also inspired the upcoming 2025 film Nuremberg.

Please note that this episode includes a discussion of suicide, which some listeners may find distressing.

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