WW2TV - Battlefield Livestreams and Interviews - 3 ª Season

Part of Build up to DDay Week. Alex Burnham is one half of the amazing History Tellers who are well known for performing live shows, like miniature plays, about some of the most interesting people and events in history. Within the RAF, the use of unarmed fighters to take aerial photos goes back to 1939. They proposed the use of Spitfires with their armament and radios removed and replaced with extra fuel and cameras. These PR Spitfires proved to be extremely successful in their reconnaissance role and there were many variants built specifically for that purpose. They served initially with what later became No. 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit (PRU). Later in the war other aircraft such as the Mosquito, the P-38 Lightning and P-51 Mustang were adapted for photo-reconnaissance. Such craft were stripped of weaponry, painted in sky camouflage colours to make them difficult to spot in the air, and often had engines modified for higher performance at very high altitudes. Based at RAF Medmenham, the collection and interpretation of such photographs became a considerable enterprise and especially in the planning of Operation Overlord. The British, at their peak, flew over 100 reconnaissance flights a day, yielding 50,000 images per day to interpret.

Part of Build up to DDay Week. Our guest today is frequent WW2TV contributor Ben Mayne, a battlefield guide and military historian who is currently undertaking a Masters degree in Second World War studies. In today's show we examine the training for DDay across the UK in early 1944. We will use contemporary photos and brand new exclusive HD footage. Thank you to Jim Roche for the footage of Sheriffmuir, the Atlantic Wall practice site in Scotland and Nick Lewis for the footage of similar positions at Hankley Common in Surrey.

Part of Build up to DDay Week. Intelligence, MI9 and prisoners of war: How a secret branch of British intelligence prepared the Allies for D-Day. Our guest today is Dr Helen Fry. Helen has written and edited over 25 books. Her works cover the social history of the Second World War: including British Intelligence and the secret war; spies and espionage; and MI9 escape and evasion. She is the leading expert on the 'secret listeners' at special eavesdropping sites by British intelligence in WWII. She has been at the forefront of widespread media coverage and in-depth research of the greatest intelligence deception of the war: the bugging of Hitler's generals at Trent Park in North London, and thousands of prisoners of war at Latimer House and Wilton Park in Buckinghamshire.

Part of Build up to DDay Week. "It can be said without fear of contradiction that minesweeping was the keystone in the arch of this operation. All of the waters were suitable for mining, and plans of unprecedented complexity were required. The performance of the minesweepers can only be described as magnificent." Rear Admiral Alan Kirk USN Our guest today is Nick Stanley who retired after a 40 year career in the Royal Navy in 2017. Nick qualified as a Mine Warfare and Clearance Diving Officer in 1981 and served in MCMVs of the 'Ton', 'Hunt' and 'Sandown' classes (commanding HMS WALNEY of the latter type). He also Commanded the Type 23 Frigate HMS GRAFTON. Quite simply he is exactly the right person to talk about the vital role of clearing the mines ahead of and during DDay. The sea mining of the waters chosen for Operation Neptune was potentially both a lethal and most disruptive weapon available for the German forces. The Neptune routing plan devised involved directing amphibious forces from a large number of ports in southern Britain into Area 'Z' before turning southwards through the 'Spout' and into what would be initially ten channels leading to the lowering positions in the beach assault areas. Nick will explain how this was organised and undertaken and we are thrilled to dedicate a show to this important and overlooked operation.

Part of Build up to DDay Week. Frequent WW2TV guest Matt Bone joins us to talk about the role of the 2nd Tactical Airforce in neutralising the threat of German radar ahead of Operation Overlord. For example RAF Typhoon fighter-bombers of No. 98 and No. 609 Squadrons attacked and destroyed the enemy radar station at Dieppe/Caudecotein. This installation would have given the Germans advance warning of the Allied invasion fleet.