Untold Stories of WW2
In-depth accounts of the people, operations, and events that history forgot — or never knew about in the first place.
Wojtek the Soldier Bear: Private, Polish Army
A Syrian brown bear was found as an orphaned cub in Iran, enlisted as a private in the Polish Army, learned to carry artillery shells, and fought at Monte Cassino.
The Radio War: Lord Haw-Haw, Axis Sally, and the Battle for Soldiers' Minds
How both sides waged psychological warfare through radio broadcasts designed to demoralize enemy troops — and what actually happened when soldiers tuned in.
The Channel Dash: Germany's Audacious Humiliation of the Royal Navy
In February 1942, three major German warships sailed from Brest through the English Channel in broad daylight — past British coastlines, past the RAF, past the Royal Navy — and reached Germany virtually unscathed.
Irena Sendler's Jars: 2,500 Names Under an Apple Tree
A Polish social worker smuggled 2,500 Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto in toolboxes, coffins, and ambulances — and buried their real names in jars under an apple tree.
Marian Rejewski and the First Crack in Enigma
Long before Alan Turing, a young Polish mathematician defeated the Enigma machine through pure mathematical genius — then had his achievement ignored by history for decades.
The Battle of Castle Itter: When Americans and Germans Fought Together
On May 5, 1945, in a medieval Austrian castle, American soldiers and Wehrmacht troops fought side by side against the SS to protect French VIP prisoners — possibly the strangest battle of the entire war.
The Bat Bombs of New Mexico: America's Strangest Weapon
The classified wartime project that trained bats to carry tiny incendiary bombs across the Pacific — and accidentally burned down an American military base.
Operation Gunnerside: The Most Important Sabotage of the War
Nine Norwegian resistance fighters on skis, a freezing mountain plateau, and the decision that may have saved the world from a Nazi atomic bomb.
Unsinkable Sam: The Cat Who Outlasted Three Ships
The improbable true story of a ship's cat who survived the sinkings of the Bismarck, HMS Cossack, and HMS Ark Royal.