2.1 – Edward Braddock Walks into a Bullet

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What is it that makes a good marksman? Is it their training? Their weapon? Maybe they’re just born that way, or raised with a rifle in their hands. In our Season Two premiere, we take a look at the shift to the modern rifle and the individuals who sometimes had the power to change the course of an entire battle with their weapon.


Music in this episode was brought to you by: Blue Dot Sessions, Podington Bear, Kai Engel, Tate Peterson, Doctor Turtle, Cooper Moore, Lobo Loco, Assif TsaharThe Trumpeteers

So What Now?

When we set out to tell the story of tanks at the beginning of last July, we didn’t have all that much of an idea about how well the idea we had on paper would look in practice, whether wee’d get stuck in the middle of it due to sources, or whether we were even capable of putting it together. To be fair, we’ve encountered some of those problems at various points throughout these months, but we’re incredibly excited to have the finale of season one launch today. From the outset we were indebted to people like yourself who supported the show through social media, reviews on iTunes, and on Patreon. It’s been the foremost factor in continuing to push us to improve the show in every way we know how and then some. We can’t wait to bring you more.

-Adin


A few requests/updates as we close out the season.

Survey

In order to make sure we keep improving where it’s most important, we’d like to continue hearing from you. On this page we’ve drawn up a set of questions that will help us get a better sense of how you’re listening to the show and where we can improve. As always, if there’s anything we’ve missed, feel free to get in touch with us via social media or contact@warstoriescast.com.

Inter-season Episodes

In the following months, we’ll be telling some one-off stories that we either couldn’t fit into this season, or ones that just really interest us. We’ll play around with the format of these episodes in order to keep them coming out at a relatively quick clip while also allowing us to start work on season two. For some of these episodes, they’ll come out as bonus episodes for supporters of the show on Patreon (so it’s a great time to sign up!). Others we’ll release through our standard channels on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever else you might listen to War Stories. We think you’ll enjoy these.

Season Two

As we near the end of summer, we’ll start up season two of the show. We’re not quite ready to announce the topic we’ll cover, but rest assured it’ll be the same great War Stories with some further refinements in how we do things.

1.8 – Where Do We Go From Here?

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Over the past seven episodes, we’ve traced the development of armored warfare through the end of traditional, horse-driven cavalry to the armored warfare of Desert Storm. But as military planners and politicians face asymmetric threats and limited conflicts around the globe, how should we look at the role of tanks?

Music in this episode was brought to you by: Blue Dot Sessions, Disinter; Jack Anderton, Gully

1.6 – Task Force Zvika

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The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) of the 1970s emphasized a number of qualities: proactive leadership, heroism, and a recognition of the young life of their country that rose in the wake of great tragedy. These qualities weren’t just given lip service, but imbued within enlisted service members and officers of all levels. So when their country was under attack in late 1973, it should come as no surprise that Zvi Greengold and the men of Task Force Zvika rode under those banners, even with a task force that was only four tanks strong.


Music in this episode was brought to you by (full track listing): Anamorphic Orchestra, Dexter Britain, Podington Bear, Broke for Free

1.5 – Tigers on the Eastern Front

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Nazi Germany fielded a military with many components designed to amaze as much as to destroy. While this philosophy meant that some designs never left the drawing board, one that did was the Tiger Tank—a relatively beastly model whose gun could rip through nearly every form of enemy armor before the ill-fated tank even had a chance to strike. The units comprised of these Tigers, heavy panzer battalions, saw some of their fiercest combat on the most treacherous of battlefields—the Eastern Front.


Music in this episode was brought to you by (full track listing): The Southernaires of Black, Blue Dot Sessions, Sergey Cheremisinov, Jon Luc Hefferman, Peter Rudenko, Anamorphic Orchestra, Kai Engel, and Podington Bear

1.4 – The Tank Destroyers of El Guettar

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The 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion, the first of its kind, was stood up in 1941. The theory governing their use had yet to be tested on the field of battle. In November of the following year, Lieutenant Colonel Hershel Baker and the men of the 601st found themselves on the Queen Mary departing for that ultimate of testing grounds. Only a few months later, they found themselves along Gabès Road in Tunisia with the 10th Panzer Division bearing down upon them.

1.3 – Seseña: The Interwar Proving Ground

T26 in Sesena

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Well before the threat of World War II entered societies’ collective minds, smaller regional conflicts gradually simmered away across Europe. One of these, the Spanish Civil War, might not have drawn much notice from leaders in the United States, but the same could not be said for those who ruled Germany and the Soviet Union. In it, they found the perfect testing ground for the future weapons that would come to define the 1940s and much of our world to this day.

Music in this episode was brought to you by (full track listing): BOPD, Blue Dot Sessions, Jason Leonard, Anamorphic Orchestra, Kai Engel, Chris Zabriskie, Lee Rosevere