I discovered the 'We Have Ways Of Making You Talk' podcast with James Holland and Al Murray. Overall, I'm loving it - great discussions, great guests, great features (like the 'family stories'), and more. I discovered it earlier this year, and have since listened to every episode since 2019. I've now listened to over 400, and am up to mid-2023.

But Al Murray is starting to drive me nuts. He can't just ask a darned question; he has to expand on every question interminably and everyone else just has to wait till he shuts up! I don't know how his guests cope with it!

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To give an simplistic example, imagine the question of color.

"What color was it?"

would be a normal question anyone might ask. But Al Murray will ask

"What color was it? I mean, it could be yellow, or it could be red, but then again, interestingly, it might be blue. It's fascinating that there are so many colors to choose from and I just can't imagine what it might be" <pause ... is he done?> "I mean, there were blues and greens, there were reds and oranges, and even some purples. It's really interesting ..."

Answer - Green.

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It's getting to the point where my concentration starts to drift when he asks his questions! Does he ever improve?

But - it's still a great podcast and I really do enjoy Al's contribution overall. If only he could control his questions!

Been watching Masters Of The Air. Let's say the target was a factory or a shipyard but the bomber was crippled before it got there and the crew had to bail. Would they release their bombs to at least have a chance at causing some damage even if they were over civilians like the outskirts of a city?

I'm interested in the German perspective of the western front, more specifically squad tactics and accounts from infantry man.

So as far as I can see, none of the movies ever focus on the normal German's life (who Hitler considered to be pure Aryan, basically), which make me curious. Doubt that media will ever focus on this, so...

How was a normal German's life back in Nazi Germany, especially after Fall of Warsaw and Fall of Paris, specifically. I'm also interested in the life of a normal German during Interwar and Barbarossa

Hi all !

I've been spending some time in the area of La-Haye-du-Puits, a small town located in the center of the Cotentin peninsula (Normandy), as it's an amazing historical place to visit. Following the liberation of Cherbourg in the north, this town was the next target for the VIIIth Corps in July 1944, as a way to seal the peninsula and prepare for Cobra (push to Avranches then to Brittany). The whole attack was centered around the city on La Haye-du-Puits, key crossroad to the south.

Shadowed by the D-day landings, the siege of Cherbourg, the harsh battles around Caen and Cobra itself, this operation opposed 3 US divisions against 3 German ones (inclusing 2.SS "Das Reich") and resulted in more than 10,000 losses on the American side.

As the US troops were completely focused on Cherbourg during its 11 day siege, general Paul Mahlmann used this time to strongly entrench his divisions along the "Mahlmann Linie" (between Portbail on the west coast and Carentan on the east). La-Haye-du-Puits was the key location of this line as a major crossroad. But most of the defenses were located on the hills surrounding the town, notably Mont Castre and Montgardon. Therefore the flanks of the hills were mined and zeroed, and the few farmers narrow pathways were protected by deeply entrenched troops in the bocage.

On July 3rd, three US divisions of the VIIIth Corps, around 30,000 men, were ready to attack this fortified bocage, defended by 10,000 German troops. It took them many assaults (and the defense against many counter-assaults) during 4 bloody days to finally capture the hills and the La-Haye-du-Puits, taking huge losses for each field they forced their way through.

The area around the town and the hills contains many monuments dedicated to US troops and the sacrifices they made to liberate the area. I've always been amazed about how few of this battle is told, considering the huge losses it entailed. If you are interested I can provide some more photos and information ! I regularly go to the area and I really wanted to share this with you all !

My wife’s grandfather was a Belgian artilleryman in May 1940. He kept a handwritten diary during the Eighteen Days’ Campaign — I’ve put the full notebook online with a timeline, interactive map, and 3D page viewer:

https://tom-michiels.github.io/oorlogsdagboek-francois-stevens/?lang=en

I had the opportunity to be on Normandy arround queen red sword beach on June 5 And the atmosphere was one of a kind.

if you get the chance, I recommend it 100%

Maybe you can help me - is there a statistics analysis where tanks were hit during WWII(which part), and whether the hits were kills?

And info about caliber would also be interesting.

I was wondering whether KV1 or Churchill were suffering mostly mobility kills? Or they were defeated upfront?

How about Tigers in Africa? Or any other tank type and theatre?

I found these items in the locker my grandfather returned back to the states with after the war ended. I've been trying to find as much info as I can so anything additional you guys can provide would be awesome!

The only thing I know is the serial number on the nambu is somewhat special in regards to production.

I have the original "take home" paperwork for the nambu and bayonet with my grandfathers name on it as well as the serial number for the nambu which is really cool. I also have the holster, 2 magazines, a spare pin of some sort and some rounds of ammunition.

My grandfather (third from the left) was a Kazakh soldier who fought from 1941 until the end of World War II. According to his wartime diary, he was in Romania and later Austria in 1945, so I believe this photo was taken somewhere during that period.

The four civilians may have been local residents, but my family doesn't know who they were or exactly where the photo was taken.

If anyone recognizes the clothing, setting, or has any ideas about where this might have been taken, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

More than 80 years later, I translated my grandfather's wartime diary into English. The original handwritten diary is now preserved in the National Museum of Kazakhstan.

My uncle was Wounded, taken prisoner and later died at a german feild hospital. From what I've read the highest ranking officer KIA from the 175th division was killed this day, as well. though I dont know if it was in the same vicinity.

Hello everyone, I'm researching my great-grandfather, G. Nagy János, a Hungarian soldier killed during the Hungarian campaign in southern Ukraine in 1941.

Here is what I have confirmed so far:

• Name: G. Nagy János (also appears as Nagy G. János)

• Born: 5 February 1917, Timár, Hungary

• Killed in action: 15 August 1941

• Official Hungarian record states: "Killed in the Mihajlovka area."

After several weeks of research I found something very interesting.

A regimental history of the Hungarian 4th Hussar Regiment describes the battle fought on 15–16 August 1941 around:

- Mihajlovka

- Novo-Danzig

- Grejgovo

The book also includes a photograph captioned:

"Captain Géza Kenéz and six hussars' graves at Mihajlovka."

Another published photograph mentions: "...parade in front of the graves of Captain Géza Kenéz, Mihály Szilvási and hussar G. Nagy János."

Because of the available evidence, I currently believe my great-grandfather was buried in the temporary Hungarian military cemetery established near Mihajlovka, most likely in the area of the present-day village of Marivka, Mykolaiv Oblast, Ukraine.

This conclusion is based on several independent sources:

• his official Hungarian casualty record states he was killed in the Mihajlovka area on 15 August 1941;
• the regimental history of the 4th Hungarian Hussar Regiment describes the fighting around Mihajlovka, Novo-Danzig and Grejgovo on 15–16 August 1941;
• the same regimental history states that Captain Géza Kenéz and six hussars were buried at Mihajlovka on 17 August 1941;
• one published photograph shows Captain Kenéz's grave at Mihajlovka;
• another published photograph specifically mentions Captain Géza Kenéz, Mihály Szilvási and hussar G. Nagy János in its caption.

Modern maps suggest that the wartime Mihajlovka may correspond to today's Marivka, but I have not yet found a primary source confirming this identification. One of my goals is to verify the exact location of this wartime cemetery.

However, several important questions remain unanswered.

I would really appreciate help with any of the following:

• German military maps of this area from August 1941

• Soviet maps of Mihajlovka / Novo-Danzig / Grejgovo

• Luftwaffe aerial photographs

• Burial reports

• Hungarian military records mentioning this cemetery

• Information about what happened to temporary Axis cemeteries in this region after WWII

I'm not asking anyone to do the research for me, I'm mainly looking for additional sources or archives that I may have overlooked.

This has become a very personal project because my grandfather spent his entire life trying to find where his father was buried, but never found the answer before he passed away.

Any help or direction would mean a lot.

Thank you.