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🎙NEW EPISODE AVAILABLE NOW!🎙 THE LAST ASSAULT: OPERATION VARSITY, MARCH 1945.... We are joined by historian and author Mike "Chalky" Peters. Available now on Spotify, Podbean, YouTube, Amazon Music and Audible.... @mikehistorian.bsky.social

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

Following on after our Op Tidal Wave episode. Here's how the raid was viewed in the days that followed...

submitted 16 days ago • 0 comments

Thank you to everyone who downloaded our Operation Tidal Wave podcast. We have received some very positive listener feedback. It really was a daring plan carried out with bravery and skill. We hope our podcast is a fitting tribute to the B24 crews that flew from Benghazi.

submitted 19 days ago • 1 comment

Our latest podcast - Operation Tidal Wave - is live on all Podcast platforms. This is the story of the daring low-level raid on the Ploesti oilfields of Romania. open.spotify.com/show/2KJ0uts...

submitted 20 days ago • 0 comments

Getting ready to record one of two Operation "Varsity" episodes for next month. The first of which is with Mike Peters, to say we are looking forward to this is a huge understatement! 🍻👍🏻👍🏻 #hamandjampodcast #operationvarsity @mikehistorian.bsky.social @gliderpilot44.bsky.social

submitted 25 days ago • 0 comments

More great work from Stuart Bertie!

submitted 28 days ago • 0 comments

I'm really pleased to announce that I have been invited to give a talk at the Victory Services Club marking the 80th anniversary of Operation Varsity. Details are attached below. Come along & Bounce The Rhine! www.vsc.co.uk/news/op_vars...

submitted 28 days ago • 2 comments

So, I had a long car journey to Liverpool and back last week. I listened to the audio book "I Flew For The Fuhrer". It was a real pleasure to get reacquainted with this unvarnished and insightful memoir. It really does give the view from the other side of Air battle. Highly recommended...

submitted 28 days ago • 0 comments

The busiest heliport in Europe! Bessbrook Mill on a quiet day - but does anyone remember this photograph? We are looking for the original to include it in Ops Normal Volume 2. Let us know if you remember, please... MP & JG

submitted 32 days ago • 1 comment

I am really enjoying my current research thread on early WWII glider operations. Cross referencing multiple sources on the Coup de Main operations on Eben Emael and the Albert Canal bridges. Fascinating subject...

submitted 34 days ago • 0 comments

What a great addition to the 93rd BG Museum collection. On arrival in Libya before Op Tidal Wave, USAAF personnel were issued British desert clothing. Here is a BD tunic worn by a 93rd BG Airman. It was amazing to see it up close while we recorded our Ploesti podcast.

submitted 36 days ago • 0 comments

Never underestimate the importance of mail in cementing morale. Even in today's cyber connected world. Great piece from Matt.

submitted 37 days ago • 1 comment

A couple of people have asked about the early days of the Glider Pilot Regiment this week. If you are interested in learning more, here is a programme that I recorded with Woody on @WW2TV www.youtube.com/live/KnDxxoe...

submitted 37 days ago • 0 comments

We are just back from recording our first podcast of 2025. Thanks to the team at the 93rd BG Airfield Museum at Hardwick for their hospitality today. We shared a great day talking about the 4 Liberator Bomb Groups involved in Operation Tidal Wave on 1 August 1943.

submitted 38 days ago • 0 comments

I am really enjoying my current project researching the early days of the Airspeed Aircraft Company. Appropriately, they began by building a handful of sport gliders, the Airspeed Tern. Ironically, the Tern was tested by a German pilot.

submitted 41 days ago • 0 comments

We are back online recording an exciting series of new podcasts for 2025. We are starting off with Operation Tidal Wave, the dramatic low-level mission to knock out the Ploesti oilfields in Romania. Watch this space for updates...

submitted 52 days ago • 0 comments

A well-balanced dose of common sense in the @spectator. Medals are awarded (or not) at the time. This would set an unmanageable precedent. Where exactly would any line be drawn, especially in these days when the bar for hero status is so low. www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-...

submitted 57 days ago • 0 comments

It's always an informative thread from Steve Hunnisett...blitzwalker

submitted 57 days ago • 0 comments

This was my Mighty Eighth read over Christmas. It's a comprehensive history of VIII Fighter Command during WWII. Superbly written, it gives so much detail and, most importantly, wider context. Thoroughly recommended.

submitted 60 days ago • 4 comments

It was great fun talking to @Aviationxtended about: ‘Ops Normal Vol1, The Authorised Operational History of the Army Air Corps, 1957-2017’ @opsnormal1957 @Persistive @Mighty8thPod @Helionbooks @armyflying @ArmyAirCorps open.spotify.com/episode/2xy0...

submitted 63 days ago • 0 comments

New Year's Day 1945 - Operation Bodenplatte. Originally conceived as a component of the Ardennes offensive, a futile and phyric attempt to eliminate Allied tactical Air Forces on the ground. Squandering pilots, fuel, and fighters - The final death throes of the Luftwaffe.

submitted 67 days ago • 1 comment

If you would like to know more about Ops Normal, John Greenacre and I have recorded a podcast with Johann Tasker. We explain the origins of what is the only authorised operational history of the Army Air Corps. Available here on Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/7uqu...

submitted 82 days ago • 0 comments

It's almost time for some festive film watching. I really enjoy this version of Frederick Forsyth's lovely seasonal story.

submitted 83 days ago • 4 comments

80 years ago today. A USAAF Noorduyn UC-64A Norseman departed RAF Twinwood Farm, Bedfordshire, and disappeared in bad weather while flying over the English Channel. On board was American Big Band musician, Glenn Miller, who was going to play for US troops in Paris.

submitted 84 days ago • 0 comments

It's 80 years since Hitler's last ditch offensive erupted in the Ardennes. This podcast discusses the events surrounding the maximum effort response by the Mighty Eighth. Christmas Eve 1944... open.spotify.com/episode/35WP...

submitted 86 days ago • 0 comments

I am really pleased to see this very positive review of Ops Normal in this month's Soldier Magazine. Thank you to Jon Baker, Curator at the Airborne Assault Museum, for taking the time to write the review. We are in good company alongside Al Murray's Arnhem Black Tuesday.

submitted 88 days ago • 0 comments

I have been enjoying this book over the past 2 weeks. It is a well-researched and well-written account of Gen Frank Andrews' life. Full review to follow. A real insight into the birth,development, and delivery of the USAAFs, US precision bombing doctrine & his championing of the B17 Flying Fortress

submitted 91 days ago • 1 comment

I love speaking at historic locations it adds an extra dimension to the event. So, I am really looking forward to talking about the Glider Pilot Regiment and its role in Op Varsity at the Battle of Britain Bunker. I will be highlighting the RAF Glider Pilots. Book a seat online for 22 Mar 2025.

submitted 94 days ago • 1 comment

News of a new and exciting project launching in 2025. Information attached on the American Library's Silver Wings Programme... theforumnorwich.co.uk/about-us/new...

submitted 95 days ago • 0 comments

I have recently reviewed Frantic 7 on LinkedIn. Its an interesting account of the hazardous daylight resupply mission carried out by the 13th Bombardment Wing to resupply the Polish Home Army during the Warsaw uprising. Published by @casematepub www.linkedin.com/posts/mike-p...

submitted 102 days ago • 2 comments

Fellow Afghanistan veterans out there, here is an opportunity to share your experience of Op Herrick. Nobody is interested at the moment, but the time will come. Contribute if you can and ensure that there is a legacy for those who did not return, or bear the scars today.

submitted 103 days ago • 3 comments

We had a busy afternoon today. We had a great time recording an Ops Normal interview with journalist Johann Tasker. The interview about Volume 1 will be released as a special podcast on the Mighty Eighth Podcast Channel soon...

submitted 109 days ago • 0 comments

We are working on our next podcast, the daring low-level raid on the ploiești oilfields. We will be telling the story of the B24 Liberator Squadrons tasked with disrupting Hitler's oil supply. It was an amazing raid in the same summer as the RAF Dams mission.

submitted 112 days ago • 0 comments

Heads up! Gliders incoming... 24 March 2025 is the 80th anniversary of Operation Varsity. The major Allied Airborne Operation was mounted to secure a bridgehead over the Rhine. I will be speaking about varsity at 3 locations in March 25. @armyflying @BofBBunker @EssexRecordOffice

submitted 115 days ago • 0 comments

An unsavoury aspect of US Military History during WWII is the enforced segregation of black troops. We will be taking a closer look at this in East Anglia before Christmas. www.edp24.co.uk/lifestyle/21...

submitted 115 days ago • 0 comments

Lovely day interviewing an AAC Op Telic veteran for Ops Normal Vol II. He shared some great insights into the events of 2003. It's always informative to view events from as many perspectives as possible. I'm really looking forward to seeing the Iraq chapters completed.

submitted 116 days ago • 0 comments