The Battle of Britain was the Royal Air Force’s iconic ‘Finest Hour’, when ‘The Few’ – Fighter, Coastal, & Bomber Command airmen – rallied to defend the island from the Luftwaffe in the summer & autumn of 1940. But was the RAF truly the plucky underdog it was portrayed as? Was the Luftwaffe quite as invincible as it seemed? And what of the international airmen that evened the odds for Britain in her hour of need? Here’s an introduction to perhaps the most iconic air campaign in military history.

This episode gives an overview of what the Baedeker Raids were; how they affected the proud city of York and its people; and how the raids were perceived in both Britain and Germany. It largely tells the story through the eyes of the terrified passengers stuck on a train during an air raid; how a pioneering mayoress rose to the occasion to provide victims with financial support; and how the Nazi press crowed over the Luftwaffe's latest hitjob.

Despite Britain’s enduring compulsion to reflect upon her ‘Finest Hour’ in the Battle of Britain, there remains a largely unconsidered dimension to this notable campaign: how was the air battle reported within Germany? In what ways did Nazi propagandists stoke anti-British sentiment as invasion hung in the balance? And, ultimately, what did the campaign mean for Nazi Germany at large? This episode considers how the Luftschlacht um England (‘Air Battle for England’) played out in the Nazi press.

Few wartime tales continue to stir national pride and historical reverence in Britain like Operation CHASTISE, the famous ‘Dambusters’ raid. Because of its popularity, however, the remarkable CHASTISE story has become prone to misinformation, sanitisation and sometimes even trivialisation. This episode unpicks some of the stubborn mythology surrounding the iconic raid, considering how it became immortalised in Britain and infamous within parts of Germany - both during and after the war.

Long after the ‘Dambusters’ raid, the aeronautical engineer Barnes Wallis and his ‘bouncing bomb’ (UPKEEP) remain seared into the British psyche. Once branded as ‘tripe of the wildest description’ by “Bomber” Harris, UPKEEP enabled 617 Squadron to spectacularly breach Germany’s Möhne and Eder dams on 16/17 May 1943. This episode traces the remarkable story of Wallis & the ‘bouncing bomb’, whilst navigating the entrenched mythology that surrounds this celebrated but deadly weapon.

Kingston-upon-Hull is a city whose wartime suffering long went unrecognised. This episode outlines why Hull became such a vital target for the Germans in the Blitz; the ways in which classism got in the way of the famous ‘Blitz spirit’; how the city’s suffering was sinisterly adapted into a Nazi propaganda coup; and, finally, why the censorship of Hull’s devestation by the British press arguably did more harm than good during the Second World War.

With the Luftwaffe playing a crucial role in realising Nazi territorial ambitions, the question of how far National Socialism infiltrated & shaped the organisation cannot afford to remain neglected. This episode therefore asks: how did the Nazi regime attempt to instil the Luftwaffe with National Socialist ideology? How far was the organisation inherently susceptible to this political influence? And, ultimately, how far did National Socialism successfully permeate and shape the German air force?

Intended as a preparatory school for the main Luftwaffe, NSFK personnel delivered both theoretical and practical aeronautical training to Nazi Germany’s keen young aviators. More sinisterly, however, they also intertwined their instruction with virulent Nazi ideology and propaganda. This episode determines how the NSFK attempted to entice Germany’s youth into flying for both the Führer and the fatherland.

Around 130,000 German women and girls served as ‘Luftwaffenhelferinnen’ (‘Female Luftwaffe Assistants’) during World War II. Their presence reflected the growing demands of the German air war – but they also constituted a notable anomaly in Nazi gender roles for women. From directing German night-fighter units and firing anti-aircraft guns in flak units, to working in air signals and as air raid wardens, this episode delves into their controversial legacy as a major cog in the Nazi war machine.

This episode examines the Luftwaffe’s combat experiences in the heavily interconnected theatre of the Mediterranean, the Balkans & North Africa in 1941: outlining its greatest successes, biggest challenges & burning frustrations. As sand, heat & isolation also became the enemy, it considers how the personnel serving across the Luftwaffe’s ranks & roles perceived their war in the theatre - determining how morale fluctuated depending on the location & phase of the fighting they participated in.