The War Office

On 13 October 1977, Lufthansa Flight 181, heading from Majorca in Spain to Frankfurt, West Germany was hijacked by four militants from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, or PFLP. In response to the hijacking, the West German government dispatched GSG-9, Grenzschutzgruppe 9 or Border Guard Group 9 in English, which was created following the tragedy at the 1972 Munich Olympics. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine was a Marxist organization and an offshoot of the better-known Palestinian Liberation Organization. The PFLP was also connected to the Red Army Faction, a far-left militant group which had launched kidnappings and guerilla attacks in West Germany. The hijackers of Flight 181 are led by Zohair Akache, who went by the pseudonym Captain Martyr Mahmoud. Once they take control of the aircraft, the militants demand the release of Red Army Faction members held in West Germany. The hijacked aircraft first flew to Rome and then Larnaca Airport in Cyprus followed by a refueling…

On 5 September 5th 1972, eight militants of Black September, a Palestinian militant group with ties to the Fatah faction of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, burst into one of the apartments of the Israeli delegation to the 1972 Munich Olympics. At gunpoint they take many Israeli hostages. One of the hostages was able to escape and two were killed in the apartment building after attempting to fight back against the militants. The militants demand the release of 328 imprisoned Arabs and non-Arabs, including members of the German Red Army Faction, or they will begin shooting hostages. The West German police fail to rescue the hostages or to reach an agreement with the Black September militants to release the hostages in the Olympic Village. As a result, the militants and the remaining nine hostages were taken by helicopters to Fürstenfeldbruck Airfield, a remote Luftwaffe base about 12 miles west of Munich. Shortly after the arrival at the airfield, a shootout breaks out.It ends with all nine remaining…

Operation Overlord was one of the pivotal events of the Second World War. The Germans had been preparing for an Allied landing in Europe for many years. One of their attempts to keep the Allies out was the Atlantic Wall. This was a series of concrete emplacements, guns, barbed wire, and other obstacles located from the Arctic Circle in Norway to the Franco-Spanish border. Pas-de-Calais was heavily defended where as Normandy had less defences. This was a critical element in choosing the location of landings. German commanders had a large influence on what unfolded when the Allies landed. Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt and General Erwin Rommel had different opinions on the best strategy to defeat the Allied landings. Rommel wanted German armour close to the coast to quickly defeat the Allies on the beaches while Rundstedt wanted the armour to defeat them inland. Hitler could not decide between the two approaches so a comprise was reached that didn't work out well for the Germans. The largest question related…

By the end of June 6, 1944, D-Day, thousands of Allied troops had landed in Normandy, France. They were supported by tanks, artillery, and thousands of tons of supplies. How did the Allies pull off one of the largest military operations in history? In this podcast, we explore how the Allies came together to plan Operation Overlord. The Transportation Plan, in which the bombers of the US Eighth Air Force and British Bomber Command attacked railways and bridges across France, limiting the Germans’ ability to reinforce Normandy once the landings had begun. Despite disagreement on the best course of action, the plan led to one of the most successful bombings campaigns in history. Also, the French resistance provided crucial support for the landings with the gathering of intelligence and the sabotaging of German defences and logistics. Finally we explore why the Allies chose June 6, 1944 as the date to launch Operation Overlord and the role the volatile weather of the English Channel played in this decision.…

In this podcast, we pick up from where The September 11th Attacks from the Pentagon's Perspective - Part 1 left off. The North and South Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City have been hit by American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 respectively. The Pentagon, outside Washington DC, was stuck by American Airlines Flight 77 and is on fire. In Part 2, we begin amongst chaos and confusion about whether or not further attacks will happen when United Flight 93 begins to act erratically on radar and turns toward Washington DC. Military and government officials, including President George W Bush aboard Air Force One, still do not have the full picture of what is happening. The shocking details are slowly revealed as the day goes on including who is responsible for the attacks. The deadly terrorist attacks on September 11 2001 will be largest in American history. Thanks to: Rick Findley is a retired general of the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was Director of Combat Operations for NORAD,…

On September 11, 2001, the United States suffered one of the worst terrorist attacks in history. Terrorists hijacked four commercial airlines and targeted the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and were going to attack, it is suspected, other government buildings in Washington DC, potentially the White House or the US Capitol. In Part 1, we follow the stories of the key decision makers, such as members of the United States Armed Forces, NORAD, the Federal Aviation Administration, Congress, and President George W Bush, as they grappled with the horrific and confusing events of 9/11. Eyewitness testimony and first accounts are used to show the many events of the first part of 9/11 with the realization that multiple aircraft had been hijacked, the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and how the various people and organizations tried to prevent further attacks that day. Thanks to: Rick Findley is a retired general of the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was Director of Combat Operations for NORAD,…

By May 1944, Operation U-Go, the Japanese invasion of India, had run out of steam. The units of the British 14 Army were either stopping Japanese attacks cold or pushing Japanese units back all along the front. At Kohima, the Japanese are pushed off the tennis court by a combined infantry-tank attack down the terraces of Garrison Hill. The fighting at the tennis court has been called one of most brutal and fierce battles against the Japanese in the Burma Campaign and even the entirety of the Pacific War of the Second World War At Scraggy Hill, part of the Shenam Saddle, Yamamoto Force suffered heavy casualties in human wave attacks and is stopped from advancing closer to Imphal. A last ditch Japanese armoured counterattack at Bishenpur was also stopped by the use of PIAT anti tank weapons. Rifleman Ganju Lama twice attacks Japanese tanks and was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions. By the middle of June 1944, Japanese troops were facing starvation and diseases as their supplies ran out and there was…

The fierce fighting at Imphal and Kohima continued into April 1944, as units of the British 14th Army fell back to these strategic locations in hopes of defeating the Japanese invasion of India. The troops of the Japanese 15th Army began to face supply issues as the plan to capture Allied supplies to sustain their campaign began to fail. In contrast, the Allied units continued to receive lots of supplies and reinforcements via aircraft landings at airfields throughout the Imphal plain. The Battles of Imphal & Kohima - Part 2 covers the actions of Jemader Abdul Hafiz, of the Indian Army, who was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions at what will become known as Runaway Hill, the desperate fighting on Kohima Ridge that sees the Japanese capture the infamous tennis court, and many others. Thanks to: Robert Lyman, retired British Army officer, historian, and author of Japan’s Last Bid for Victory: The Invasion of India, 1944; and Kohima 1944: The battle that saved India. He is the co-host, along with Jack…

In March 1944, the Japanese 15th Army invades British controlled India during Operation U-Go. Japanese commander General Renya Mutaguchi was initially against such an invasion but comes to see it as not only a way in which Japan could win the Second World War but a chance for him to win personal glory on the battlefield. For the Japanese to control the area near the Indian-Burmese border, they need to capture crucial Allied supply hubs in northeast India to sustain their advance as they have limited supplies. The Allied forces must hold important hubs such as Imphal and Kohima to stop the Japanese advance into India. If the Japanese take these supply hubs, it could have massive strategic consequences for not only the Second World War but for British control of India itself. The fighting will be fierce as British, Indian, and Gurkha units face off against the Japanese at places that will become famous such as the Tennis Court, the Bungalow, and Scraggy Hill. Thanks to: Robert Lyman, retired British Army…

In May of 1941, the Bismarck, a brand-new German battleship, leaves port to begin Operation Rheinübung. Along with the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, Bismarck is sent to prey on Allied shipping in the north Atlantic in hopes of crippling Britain in the Second World War by cutting off this vital supply route. The British command is rightly alarmed by the risk that this battleship presents to their war effort and launches a massive effort to stop it. Once out to sea, Bismarck clashes with the mighty Hood, the pride of the Royal Navy and British Empire. The massive German battleship also faced off against Swordfish aircraft, a seemingly outdated fabric-covered biplane torpedo bomber, launched from aircraft carriers amid the harsh conditions of the north Atlantic. One of the greatest pursuits in naval history ends when the Bismarck is sunk by a combined effort of British destroyers, aircraft, cruisers, and battleships. Thanks to: Alex Pocklington, creator of the naval history YouTube channel, Drachinifel. He also…

In September 1980, border clashes between Iran and Iraq escalated into war. Tensions had been simmering between the two countries for decades. Disputes over control of the Shatt al-Arab river, and thus access to the Persian Gulf for Iraq, had long been a source of contention. Political upheaval in both countries created the conditions for war. Years of back and forth negotiations between the governments of the Iranian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and the military controlled government of Iraq had done little to calm tensions. The rise of Saddam Hussein in Iraq and the 1979 Iranian Revolution led to a more hostile relations especially since foreign influence in the region had decreased. Saddam Hussein had hoped that the upheavals of the Iranian revolution had weakened his neighbour and that a war with limited objectives would be over quickly. Despite early Iraqi success, the Iran–Iraq War devolved into one of the longest and most destructive conflicts of the late 20th century. Thanks to: Professor Annie Tracy…

The Battle of Hamburger Hill is one of the most controversial battles in American military history. The hill itself is known as Dong Ap Bia, mountain of the crouching beast, to the Katuic people and as Hill 937 to the Americans during the fighting. It became known as Hamburger Hill after the fighting had ended. The paratroopers of the 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division launched attack after attack at positions held by the troops of the the 7th and 8th Battalions of the 29th NVA Regiment along the various ridges and the summit of the mountain. It took multiple attacks from multiple regiments of the 101st to finally capture the mountain. The cost of the battle and the reaction to it was used as justification for the shift in American policy towards Vietnamization, where the primary responsibility for the fighting will be handed over to the South Vietnamese as American forces withdrew from Vietnam. Thanks to: Dr. James H. Willbanks Professor Emeritus of Military History at the…

On 3rd October 1993, amid the ongoing Somali Civil War, American forces of Task Force Ranger received a tipoff on the location of a meeting of Mohamed Farrah Aidid’s Somali National Alliance in Mogadishu, Somalia. The Americans hoped to capture two of Aidid's advisors to get closer to capturing Aidid himself. Due to an earlier attack on and rescue of US Marines in another part of Mogadishu, Aidid's forces are put on alert and they were prepared to protect the meeting with small arms and RPGs. The shooting begins as soon as the US helicopters arrived outside the building where the meeting was taking place. Things quickly go wrong for the troops of Task Force Ranger and these American forces engaged in their largest sustained firefight they have fought in since the Vietnam War. Thanks to: Dr. Jonathan Carroll, Associate Professor of Military History and Modern War Studies at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and the author of Beyond Black Hawk Down: Intervention, Nation-building and Insurgency in Somalia,…

On the 7th of August 2008, Georgian military forces moved into breakaway region of South Ossetia, hoping to capture its capital of Tskhinvali. Under the orders of President Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia launches an offensive to reclaim what it believes is its rightful sovereign territory. They will have to go through South Ossetia’s small military but a larger threat looms to the north: Russia. The ensuing Russian counterattack in South Ossetia and into Georgia itself will lead to Europe’s first large-scale conflict of the 21st Century and the dawn of a new age of Russian expansionism. Thanks to: Professor Stephen Jones the founding director of the Program on Georgian Studies at Harvard University and the author of ‘Georgia: A Political History Since Independence Professor Ronald Grigor Suny, Professor Emeritus of History and Political Science at the Universities of Michigan and Chicago and author of ‘Forging the Nation: The Making and Faking of Nationalisms’. You can listen to The War Office on Spotify,…

The Korean War saw significant changes in military aviation in a short period. In June 1950, the aerial war began with piston-driven aircraft of the Second World War such as the Yak-11 and IL-10s battling F-82 Twin Mustangs and F-80 Shooting Star jet fighters over Kimpo Air Base near Seoul. By April 1951, MiG-15s were dueling with F-86 Sabres as B-29s were bombing railways connecting North Korea with China in an effort to slow the Chinese offensive overrunning United Nations forces. In December 1951 Australian Gloster Meteors are heavily outclassed by MiG-15s forcing changes in UN aerial tactics. The lessons learned in these battles will shape the next half-century of aerial warfare from Vietnam to the Persian Gulf and beyond. Thanks to: Dr. Conrad Crane, military historian, retired United States Army officer, former professor at the United States Army War College and at West Point and the author of American Airpower Strategy in Korea, 1950-1953 Dr. Andrew Wackerfuss, historian at the United States Air Force…

In March 1941, Operation Claymore, the first large-scale commando raid on Nazi occupied-Europe, was launched against the Lofoten Islands in Norway. The raid was successful and led to further raids, Operation Archery and Operation Anklet, in Norway in December 1941. The raids convinced Adolf Hitler that the Allies would try a large scale landing in Norway and he sends more German troops to defend the Norwegian coastline. This reinforcement left 300,000 German troops in Norway, doing nothing, at the end of the war in May 1945. Thanks to: William Hakvaag, the founder of the Lofoten War Remembrance Museum in Svolvær, Norway Jane Gulliford-Lowes, author, military historian, producer and co-host of the Bomber Command podcast, @nevermind the dambusters Never Mind The Dambusters and who is currently writing a book on the 1941 Lofoten raids. You can listen to The War Office on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or The War Office Podcast YouTube Channel. New episodes will be released every Tuesday morning. If you…

On 27 December 1979, Soviet Spetsnaz commandos backed up by operatives from the KGB’s counterterror units Zenit and Grom attacked the Tajbeg Palace, the residence of Afghan President Hafizullah Amin. After a protracted battle with troops of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and Amin's personal bodyguards, Amin was killed. The exact details of his death are unclear but what is clear is that the attack led to increase Soviet control over Afghanistan's government and a long war saw the deaths of many Afghans and Soviets. Thanks to: Sir Rodric Braithwaite former British diplomat who served as the British ambassador to Russia from 1988 to 1992 and author of 'Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979–89' Dr Tor Bukkvoll political scientist and a senior research fellow at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment and author of 'Spetsnaz: A History of the Soviet and Russian Special Forces.' You can listen to The War Office on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or The War Office Podcast YouTube Channel.…

The Battle of Peleliu grinds on as the Marines of the 1st Marine Division continue to fight the Japanese garrison dug into Bloody Nose Ridge. The fight also extends to Ngesebus Island, where Eugene Sledge fights and later chronicles the clearing of a Japanese bunker in the one of the better known engagements during the battle. The US Army's 81st Wildcat Division takes over from the 1st Marine Division and brings the bloody fight on Peleliu to a close. Thanks to: Henry Sledge, the author of ‘The Old Breed... the Complete Story Revealed: A Father, a Son, and How WWII in the Pacific Shaped Their Lives:’ Joseph Wheelan, author of 'Bitter Peleliu: The Forgotten Struggle on the Pacific War's Worst Battlefield' Professor John McManus, co-host of the World War II Live podcast and author of ‘Island Infernos: The US Army's Pacific War Odyssey, 1944’. You can listen to The War Office on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or The War Office Podcast YouTube Channel. New episodes will be released every Tuesday morning.…

The Battle of Peleliu enters a new deadlier phase as US Marines cross the airfield and fight into the Urmurbrogol Mountain to take the island of Peleliu. The dash across the airfield is met with fierce Japanese fire that takes its tolls on the Marines. Once the airfield is taken, the fighting mostly shifts to taking the Urmurbrogol Mountain, or as the Marines come to call it, Bloody Nose Ridge. Major General William Rupertus orders frontal attack after attack into the Urmurbrogol with devastating results, especially for Chesty Puller's 1st Marine Regiment. Thanks to: Henry Sledge, the author of ‘The Old Breed... the Complete Story Revealed: A Father, a Son, and How WWII in the Pacific Shaped Their Lives:’ Joseph Wheelan, author of 'Bitter Peleliu: The Forgotten Struggle on the Pacific War's Worst Battlefield' Professor John McManus, co-host of the World War II Live podcast and author of ‘Island Infernos: The US Army's Pacific War Odyssey, 1944’. You can listen to The War Office on Spotify, Apple Podcasts,…

In the early hours of 15 September 1944, the guns of an armada of United States Navy warships open fire on a tan, craggy-looking island in the Pacific. This bombardment is followed by waves of carrier based aircraft dropping napalm and firing rockets on enemy positions. The warships open fire again until the US Marines of the 1st Division, nicknamed the Old Breed, begin their assault on the island of Peleliu. The landings do not go to plan as the Japanese defenders open fire on the landing craft and the Marines struggle to establish a beachhead on the first day of the brutal Battle of Peleliu, one of the US Marine Corps' most bitter of the Second World War. Thanks to: Henry Sledge, the author of ‘The Old Breed... the Complete Story Revealed: A Father, a Son, and How WWII in the Pacific Shaped Their Lives:’ Joseph Wheelan, author of 'Bitter Peleliu: The Forgotten Struggle on the Pacific War's Worst Battlefield' Professor John McManus, co-host of the World War II Live podcast and author of ‘Island Infernos:…

On 27 February 2014, armed and masked men with no insignia or identification begin to appear in Simferopol, the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in Ukraine. These “little green men,” as they will soon become better known, occupy key intersections and set perimeters around government buildings in the city. This is the official beginning of Russia’s invasion of Crimea, the first action in Russia’s quest to expand its territories into Ukraine. Thanks to: Professor Mark Galeotti, author of ‘Putin Takes Crimea 2014: Grey-zone Warfare Opens the Russia-Ukraine Conflict' Jesse Driscoll, Professor of Political Science in the School of Global Policy and Strategy at the University of California San Diego and co-author of ‘Ukraine's Unnamed War: Before the Russian Invasion of 2022’ with Dominique Arel, Chair of Ukrainian studies at the University of Ottawa. You can listen to The War Office on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or The War Office Podcast YouTube Channel. New episodes will be released every…

After defeats at the Battle of Gazala and the fall of Tobruk, the British 8th Army is in full retreat into Egypt at the end of June 1942. Defensive positions are hastily prepared at the tiny railway station of El Alamein to stop Britain’s nemesis in the desert, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. The British 8th Army is now the only thing in the way of the Axis conquest of Egypt. Thanks to: Dr. Niall Barr - Author of 'Pendulum of War: The Three Battles of El Alamein' Richard Doherty - Military historian and author of 'El Alamein 1942: Turning Point in the Desert' Dr David Brock Katz - Research fellow at Stellenbosch University and author of 'South Africans versus Rommel: The Untold Story of the Desert War in World War II' You can listen to The War Office on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or The War Office Podcast YouTube Channel. New episodes will be released every Tuesday morning. If you enjoy the episodes, please help us grow the podcast by subscribing, liking, sharing, commenting, and listening to future…

On 10th May 1972 and the United States launches Operation Linebacker. The first day of the operation will be conducted against targets in the North Vietnamese port of Haiphong and its capital Hanoi. The response of the Vietnam People's Air Force will lead to the largest air battle of the Vietnam War. Thanks to: Dr. Brian D. Laslie - Author of 'Air Power's Lost Cause: The American Air Wars of Vietnam' Marshall L. Michel III - Author of 'Operation Linebacker I 1972' Phil Mentesana - F-4 pilot during Operation Linebacker and volunteer at the Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum The Behind the Wings Podcast You can listen to The War Office on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or The War Office Podcast YouTube Channel. New episodes will be released every Tuesday morning. If you enjoy the episodes, please help us grow the podcast by subscribing, liking, sharing, commenting, and listening to future releases. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the early hours of May 2nd, 2011, US Navy SEALS are en route for Pakistan are hoping to bring a 10-year search to its conclusion. Their target is just one man; Osama bin Laden. This episode covers the manhunt for Bin Laden, and the final operation to kill or capture him - Operation Neptune Spear. Thanks to: Joby Warrick - Two-time Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and best-selling author of 'The Triple Agent: The Al-Qaeda Mole who Infiltrated the CIA' Adam M. McMahon - Associate Professor of Political Science at Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. His article 'Obama, Operation Neptune Spear, and the Specter of Failure', was published by the journal Congress & the Presidency in 2024. He is writing a forthcoming book entitled American Extremist that traces the development of the Department of Homeland Security from September 11th, 2001 to January 6th, 2021. He can be reached at amcmahon@rider.edu You can listen to The War Office on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or The War Office Podcast…

From the team behind The Operations Room comes The War Office Podcast. Each episode deep dives into the most important military history events, battles, and people from the Second World War to the present day. Each episode features dramatic storytelling, expert guest historians, and atmospheric soundscapes. This is frontline detail like you’ve never heard before. You can listen to The War Office on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or The War Office Podcast YouTube Channel. New episodes will be released every Tuesday morning. If you enjoy the episodes, please help us grow the podcast by subscribing, liking, sharing, commenting, and listening to future releases. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.