Stay ConnectedSeason two of the largest Combined, Joint, Multinational Military History effort focuses on American and Allied Forces in Europe and the Pacific through 1944.
The 1943 series ended up with 108 episodes with contributions from across all US services, as well as contributions from our British and Canadian friends, and more.
Copyright: © 474917
Trigger Warning: This episode discusses the Nazis and, although not graphic, we do talk about some of the violence and crimes the Nazis committed during the war. You will notice that the episode music is different from the typical episodes to this point.
Pixel Warning: Pixel decided to join us a couple of times throughout the episode and I left one or two of them in the final cut mostly because cutting the audio at that point would have required recording edited clips and it just didn't seem necessary. (Pixel's opinions are also his own and do not reflect any official stances of the US Army, the Combined Arms Center, the Department of Defense, etc. lol)
In this episode I am joined by Dr. Philip Blood, an independent historian and author of "Hitler's Bandit Hunters: The SS and the Nazi Occupation of Europe" and "Birds of Prey: Hitler's Luftwaffe, Ordinary Soldiers and the Holocaust in Poland" -- I will include links below.
Dr. Blood and I recorded for a handful of hours the Saturday before last and so this is one episode from that recording session. I will release a second episode that talks about the Luftwaffe in Poland in 1943 as soon as I finish editing it.
Links
Dr. Philip W. Blood, Historian (website)
Dr. Blood on WW2TV: Birds of Prey and SS Leadership in Hitler's War
Books:
Birds of Prey (https://amzn.to/3ZYiHqD) <-- Amazon Affiliate Link
Hitler's Bandit Hunters (https://amzn.to/3LscTkG) <-- Amazon Affiliate Link
Dr. Sarah Myers joins me to talk about these amazing women pilots, fighting for their right to serve during WWII and then their struggle to be recognized as veterans for decades after the war.
Dr. Myers has a book on the WASP coming out in September!
Link
Earning Their Wings: The WASPs of World War II and the Fight for Veteran Recognition (Amazon https://amzn.to/3QvsW3N)
http://www.motheroftanks.com/ads-sponsors-and-affiliate-links/
In this first episode on the Pacific Theater of Operations (PTO), I'm joined by Kater Miller, a Marine Corps veteran and curator with the National Museum of the United States Marine Corps. Kater shares the story of Guadalcanal, which requires a little bit of back history since the battle lasted about six months and began in mid-1942. The episode is a couple weeks late but in February we had the 80th anniversary of the end of this Campaign (7 AUG 1942 to 9 FEB 1943), which did end in an Allied victory and had marked the beginning of Allied offensive operations in the PTO.
Links to things mentioned in the episode:
Marine Corps Museum: https://www.usmcmuseum.com/
Krulak Center: https://www.usmcu.edu/Academic-Programs/Brute-Krulak-Center-for-Innovation-and-Creativity/
Iron Bottom Sound: https://pacificwrecks.com/provinces/solomons/guadalcanal/maps/map-iron-bottom-sound-shipwrecks.html
Naval History and Heritage Command: https://www.history.navy.mil/research/archives.html
Marine Corps History Publications:
https://www.usmcu.edu/Outreach/Publishing/History-Division-Publications/Books-by-topic/WWII/
https://www.usmcu.edu/Outreach/Publishing/History-Division-Publications/Books-by-topic/
For more information about this series, as well as links to all the other content, check out www.motheroftanks.com
Dr. William Nance joins me in this episode to talk about the "growing up" we had to do following the losses in February 1943. If you haven't already listened to it, I recommend listening to Episode 3 first, that one is on the German Offensive, Sidi Bou Zid, and Kasserine Pass with Dr. Mark Calhoun. Bill references that episode several times.
You can find Bill's books here:
Sabers Through the Reich
https://www.kentuckypress.com/9780813177533/sabers-through-the-reich/
Commanding Professionalism
https://www.kentuckypress.com/9780813198231/commanding-professionalism/
(or Amazon Associates Links for "Sabers Through the Reich" https://amzn.to/3ECi9xS and "Commanding Professionalism" https://amzn.to/3kuouop if anyone wishes to use them. For info on these, check out http://www.motheroftanks.com/ads-sponsors-and-affiliate-links/)
Dr. Angela Riotto joins me to provide a good overview of the creation and challenges of the Tuskegee Airmen and when they will finally deploy in 1943. There are a couple of books mentioned in the episode so I will provide some links below.
Red Tail Captured, Red Tail Free: Memoirs of a Tuskegee Airmen and POW by Alexander Jefferson (https://amzn.to/3SeZNsn
Brotherhood in Combat: How African Americans Found Equality in Korea and Vietnam by Dr. Jeremy P. Maxwell https://www.oupress.com/9780806161150/brotherhood-in-combat/ (https://amzn.to/3YGzSMK
For more information about this series, as well as links to all the content and other details, check outwww.motheroftanks.com
In this episode I'm joined by Dr. Mark Calhoun, a military historian with the Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy at the WWII Museum, to discuss the German Offensive that began on 14 FEB 1943, the battle at Sidi Bou Zid, and Kasserine Pass.
Tuesday's thread on the Battle of Sidi Bou Zid provides visuals and some introductory information to help the audience get the most out of this episode: https://twitter.com/Mother_of_Tanks/status/1625539987763609612
Mark is also the author of the book General Leslie J. McNair: Unsung Architect of the US Army, a book which I used a lot in my first series, Building an American Army, back in 2021. You can find the book here https://kansaspress.ku.edu/9780700620708/ and here https://amzn.to/3IaGiwu (this one is an Amazon Affiliate link).
The earlier paper discussed is entitled "Defeat at Kasserine: American Armor Doctrine, Training, and Battle Command in Northwest Africa, World War II" and can be found here: https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p4013coll2/id/31/rec/14
Recently Mark published this article for the WWII Museum, which, as discussed in this episode, demonstrates the changes in his analysis of the situation in Tunisia in February 1943 since the earlier paper, written in 2002: https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/kasserine-pass-german-offensive-american-victory
For more information about this series, as well as links to all the content and other details, check outwww.motheroftanks.com
Joining me is MAJ Benjamin Griffin, the Chief of the Military History Division at the US Military Academy (West Point). Ben shares the story of the 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442d Infantry Regiment, which were Japanese-American units organized in 1942 and 1943, respectively, to allow these Americans to serve their country in the war. Since this year's series is only just beginning, we will have to continue the incredible story of this Regiment in later episodes, but the 442d becomes the most decorated unit in our history.
MAJ Griffin also has a book, Reagan's War Stories, which can be found here: https://www.usni.org/press/books/reagans-war-stories or here https://amzn.to/3JUqBfA (Amazon Affiliate Link)
For more information about this series, as well as links to all the content and other details, check outwww.motheroftanks.com
In this first episode of the Why We Fight ~ 1943 podcast, Paul Sparrow joins me to talk about FDR, Churchill, and the Casablanca Conference.
Paul Sparrow is a very successful documentarian and TV producer who, among other things, served as the Director of the FDR Library and Museum.
You can read Paul's article on the Casablanca Conference and other fascinating stories on the FDR Library website.
https://fdr.blogs.archives.gov/2017/01/10/the-casablanca-conference-unconditional-surrender/
For more information about this series, as well as links to all the content and other details, check out www.motheroftanks.com
This is the Why We Fight ~ 1943 series podcast which features historians, experts, Army leaders, and other special guests as we present select stories to expand the written content of the series. In this introductory episode, Sasha ("Mother of Tanks") provides details on this new line of effort for the Why We Fight series, as well as other changes to the series structure for this year (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, changes to the Twitter content, podcast...)
For more information about this series, as well as links to all the content and other details, check out www.motheroftanks.com
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