History of WWII Podcast
The History of WWII Podcast is produced and narated by Ray Harris Jr. Ray has a degree in history from James Madison University. I’ve been obsessed with the events and people from WWII since I first learned of them. I’ve been waiting years for someone to do a podcast on WWII and couldn’t wait any longer.

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Episode 244: The Aleutian Campaign: The Kiska Blitz
As the Japanese grab a second Aleutian Island, the US military, though denying the Japanese advance, makes plans to...
Episode 243-The Aleutian Islands Campaign
Adm. Yamamoto wants to occupy the Midway Islands, but first needs to confuse his opponent Adm. Chester Nimitz with a...
Episode 242-Interview with Steve Snyder about his book Shot Down: The True story of Pilot Howard Snyder and the crew of the B 17 Susan Ruth
Shot Down covers the events leading up to and after the crew of the B 17 Susan Ruth is shot down over the...
Episode 241-Air Raid, Pearl Harbor. This is No Drill!
As the carrier USS Enterprise is late for its return to Pearl Harbor, Adm. Bull Halsey sends on ahead Scouting and...
Episode 240-An Interview with Dr. Jonathan Fennell about his new book, Fighting the People’s War: The British and Commonwealth Armies and The Second World War
Dr. Jonathan Fennell discusses the big battles and issues such as morale, doctrine and social change in his latest...
Episode 239-Pearl Harbor, The American Perspective, Pt 1
As the Japanese bombs and bullets begin to destroy American equipment and lives, the mostly young men are about to...
Episode 238-An Interview with Andrew Roberts about his book of Winston Churchill
This episode is a crossover from The Cold War Podcast that I co-host with Cameron Reilly. With us is historian Andrew...
Episode 237-The Thin Gray Line, the US Pacific Submarine fleet after Pearl Harbor
Back with us is Flint Whitlock as we discuss his book Depths of Courage:American Submariners at War with Japan,...
Episode 236-Claire Chennault and the Flying Tigers
Laszlo Montgomery of The China History Podcast joins me to discuss Claire Chennault and the Flying Tigers. Just after...
Introducing-Assassinations
Please checkout The Parcast Network's latest hit: Assassinations. One death can change the world. Assassinations...
Episode 235-An Interview with Flint Whitlock about his book Desperate Valour: Triumph at Anzio
With the Allies being held up in southern Italy by The Gustav Line, near the end of 1943, Gen. Mark Clark decides to...
Episode 234-Pearl Harbor Attack-The 2nd Japanese Air Strike
The 2nd Air Wave comes at Pearl Harbor to finish what the First Wave started. Yet, their target selection will be...
Episode 233-An interview with Frederic Martini about his book: Betrayed- Secrecy, Lies and Consequences
While the official government story has always been that no Allied POWs were held in German concentration camps, 168...
Episode 232-Pearl Harbor: The First Attack Wave
This episode covers the first attack wave of Japanese aircraft, from the Japanese point of view. Battleship Row is...
Episode 231-Tora, Tora, Tora, The Attack on Pearl Harbor
The first air wave of attacking Japanese warplanes reaches Oahu, on their way to Pearl Harbor. But before they reach...
Episode 230-Interview with Robin Hutton-War Animals-The Unsung Heroes of WWII
Writer Robin Hutton talks about her latest book which tells of the animals who contributed to the Allied effort of...
Episode 229-The United States’ First Shot of WWII
In the predawn darkness, the Japanese Strike Force has prepared to launch its first wave of bombers and fighters....
Episode 228-An Interview with Mary Jo McConahay about her latest book The Tango War
Writer Mary Jo McConahay comes on the show to discuss her latest book, The Tango War: The Struggle for the Hearts,...
Episode 227-This Means War
On December 7, 1941, Ambassador Nomura and Special Envoy Kurusu are about to give Secretary of State Hull and FDR...
Episode 226-The Japanese are Not Ready for Us Yet
Multiple Japanese Assault Fleets are on the move, but with so much incoming information, President Roosevelt and his...
Episode 225-Indianpolis-Interview with Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic
Attacked on 30 July 1945, the heavy cruiser was torpedoed by the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-58, and sank in 12...
Episode 224-Climb Mount Niitaka-Tojo Gets his War
Emperor Hirohito reluctantly gives his approval for the attack on Pearl Harbor. As Tojo said, "With war, if you don't...
Episode 223-Roosevelt Learns of the Coming Attack
Through MAGIC, the US's ability to read Japan's diplomatic messages, FDR learns of a final deadline and a coming...
Episode 222-The Pearl Harbor That Almost Wasn’t
Tokyo and Washington seem to be making progress in their peace talks. And yet, the Japanese 1st Air Fleet departs for...
Episode 221-War with the U.S. Seems Unavoidable
Prince Konoye's government collapses as Gen. Tojo demands war with the U.S. Emperor Hirohito then orders Tojo to form...
Episode 220-An Interview with Lyuba Vinogradova: Defending the Motherland
Dr. Vinogradova comes back to the show to discuss her latest book, Defending the Motherland: The Soviet Women Who...
Episode 219-When Diplomacy Fails
As the various issues with attacking Pearl Harbor are overcome, the Japanese Military evades telling the truth to...
Episode 218-Pearl Harbor-The Strongest Fortress in the World
Washington and Tokyo continue their diplomatic dance but neither side is willing to give in. The Americans have broken...
Episode 217-Japan-Do or Die
With Washington and Tokyo trying to bend the other to its will, President Roosevelt seeks to strangle Japan's...
Episode 216-The World Goes to War
Chiang Kai-Shek struggles to keep China in the war, knowing the Soviet-German Non Aggression Pact can not last. The...
Episode 215: Collision Course, the Road to Pearl Harbor
Having chased Chiang Kai-Shek back to Chongqing, the Japanese Empire is still unable to get him to surrender. So, on...
Episode 214-Betrayal, the Burma Road and The Battle of Nomonhan
Chiang Kai-Shek starts over, again, in Chongqing, as the Japanese military seek to deny him the east coast. First...
Episode 213-The 2nd Sino-Japanese War-The Fall of Wuhan
Chiang Kai-Shek is staking everything on his defense of Wuhan. As such, the various Japanese forces attempt to...
Episode 212-The Massacre of Nanjing
As Chiang Kai-Shek moves his capital and military Head Quarters west and Hideki Tojo becomes directly involved in the...
Episode 211-The End of the Battle of Shanghai
Chiang Kai-Shek's forces are barely holding out. But when a second enemy Expeditionary Force lands, it spells the end...
Episode 210-China’s Lost Battalion
The Japanese Expeditionary Force continues to push south to gain access to Shanghai. Meanwhile, Chiang Kai-Shek's...
Episode 209-Dark Days for Chiang Kai-Shek
The Chinese Nationalists are loosing the battle of Shanghai. Yet, Chiang has to hold on as the League of Nations will...
Episode 208-The Battle of Shanghai-Japanese Reinforcements
The Japanese Expeditionary forces set the stage for a much larger attack, once their reinforcements arrive. The plan...
Episode 207-Shanghai Becomes Chiang Kai-Shek’s Stalingrad
The Chinese Nationalist forces have pulled back from the coast, yet are determined to establish their own Maginot...
Episode 206-Interview with Dr. Lyuba Vinogradova about her book Avenging Angels: The Young Women of the Soviet Union’s WWII Sniper Corps
Dr. Lyuba Vinogradova discusses her research and the resulting book that covers the young women of Stalin's USSR, who...
Episode 205-Chiang Kai-Shek’s Pyrrhic Victory
Chiang Kai Shek and his ordinary soldiers are more determined than ever to defend Shanghai in 1937. However, the...
Episode 204-The Japanese Empire Doubles Down in Shanghai
The Japanese invasion of Shanghai, nor their desire to teach the Chinese a lesson, is moving forward fast enough for...
Episode 203-Shanghai-The Dominance of Japanese Air and Sea Power
The Japanese are unloading men and material at a frustratingly slow rate, due to the tides. Until they are ready to...
Episode 202-The Battle of Shanghai Part 2
The Japanese bring reinforcements to Shanghai as their marines are bogged down by Chiang Kai-Shek's best troops....
Episode 201-The Battle of Shanghai Part 1
Chiang Kai-Shek decides that the time has come to openly fight back against Japan. His chosen site is the port city of...
Episode 200-The Marco Polo Bridge Incident: Total War Comes to China
After the clash at the Marco Polo bridge, the Japanese Military decides to occupy northern China. Defying them are the...
Episode 199-The Pacific Theatre Prologue-Sino Japanese Relations
As we officially begin the Pacific Theatre, this episode covers the building tension between The Japanese Empire,...
Episode 198-The Beginning of the Big Three
President Roosevelt sends Harry Hopkins, again to London, to set up a meeting between himself and Churchill. The U.S....
Episode 197-The Beginning of the Final Solution
Nazi Germany launches its war against the USSR. As such, FDR hopes Germany's attention will slacken on the Atlantic....
Episode 196-Stalin: Lenins Protege
The Great War is over, but the Allies don't know what to do with Russia. So, the german troops in Russian territory...
Episode 195-The Beginnings of Pearl Harbor
As Hitler tries to lower the tension between the U.S. and Nazi Germany, the opposite is happening between the Japanese...
Episode 194-Interview with Sally Mott Freeman about her book: The Jersey Brothers
With us is Sally Mott Freeman as we discuss her book, The Jersey Brothers: A Missing Naval Officer in the Pacific and...
Episode 193-Churchill and Chiang Kai-Shek, FDR’s Warriors
President Roosevelt wins a third term, but the American people still refuse to commit to war. Meanwhile, FDR has to...
Episode 192-Hitler’s Reaction to Lend lease and FDR’s Third Term
President Franklin Roosevelt succeeds in his 3rd term attempt and with the passage of Lend Lease, Hitler knows the war...
Episode 191: Lenin’s Cruelty, Stalin’s Ambition
With the Kaiser's forces coming ever closer to Petrograd and Moscow, many Russians lose confidence in Lenin and his...
Episode 190-The Axis Powers and their New World Order
Nazi Germany is not the only threat to U.S. peace as the Empire of Japan continues its attacks against China....
Episode 189-Roosevelt’s Secret War against Hitler
As the Nazi menace grows across Europe, President Roosevelt knows that America will be threatened one day. His best...
Episode 188-The Great War, Brest-Litovsk and Lenin’s Retreat
Lenin's Bolsheviks pull Russia out of the Great with the Brest Litovsk Treaty, but the Imperial German Army keeps...
Episode 187-Interview with Scott Miller
Mr. Miller's latest book, Agent 110: An American Spymaster and the German Resistance in WWII, covers America's attempt...
Episode 186-The Battle for Norway, Vidkun Quisling and the North Sea
This episode covers the naval battles between the British Royal Navy and the Kriegsmarine just prior to the Battle of...
Churchill Mug
The famous Winston Churchill mug from the History of WWII Podcast. Help support the podcast by buying a mug, free delivery within the USA*.
*Shipping outside the USA will incur an additional $7 charge.
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