The War Office Podcast

Nuclear Close Call - The Second Taiwan Strait Crisis

4.4K views · 6d ago · 1:01:10

Guest: Nuclear Close Call

In 1958, the 2nd Taiwan Strait Crisis broke out between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC). Cold War tensions had increased an already tense situation between the PRC, based on the Chinese mainland, and the ROC, in Taiwan. As the Communists gained the upper hand in the Chinese Civil War, the Chinese Nationalists, often called the Kuomintang, retreated to the island of Taiwan in late-1949.

The Hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 181

3.8K views · 1w ago · 1:01:27

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.

📚 Book mentioned: Showdown Against RAF Terror: Helmut Schmidt

The Munich Olympics Hostage Crisis

3.9K views · 2w ago · 54:17

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.

📚 Books mentioned: Still Lives: Jewish Photography in Nazi Germany · Munich 1972: Tragedy, Terror, and Triumph at the Olympic Games

Operation Overlord - Did the Germans Know?

6.7K views · 3w ago · 57:45

Guest: Operation Overlord

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.

How The Allies Planned Operation Overlord

5.2K views · 1mo ago · 56:28

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?

The September 11th Attacks from the Pentagon's Perspective - Part 2

5.3K views · 1mo ago · 53:33

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.

The September 11th Attacks from the Pentagon's Perspective - Part 1

7.5K views · 1mo ago · 49:41

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.