Hear me talk about the Halbe Pocket & the end of the war in Germany
A few weeks ago I had the immense honour to be interviewed by Scott Bury from the excellent Beyond Barbarossa podcast!
In our chat, we covered everything from the story of the Halbe Pocket, the drama of the breakout attempts and the escape of the 9th & 12th armies over the river Elbe at TangermĂĽnde, the insanity of the German military machine the differences between the Wehrmacht generals (and how their personalities impacted the outcome of the fighting), and of course, the awful suffering of the civilians who got caught up in the middle of everything.
We even got into a bit of post-war topics, such as how the war is taught in Germany, and how the spectre of the Second World War still looms over German politics today.
It was my first-ever interview for something like this so I’m just over-the-moon on how it turned out!
I loved chewing the cud about Halbe with Scott, and if you like what you hear, then you’ll be glad to know that I have a few interviews lined-up for the near future which I will also be sharing into the main feed of the Europe at War podcast as bonus episodes.
First up, Scott himself will feature in an episode coming out in the next few weeks, where he talks about his Beyond Barbarossa podcast, and his overall interest and passion for the Eastern Front.
So stay tuned!
Heard about your podcast while listening to Beyond Barbarosa. I actually like this podcast a little better than BB in that you just get to the point and deliver the info without a lot of unnecessary music, sound affects, and social commentary which I don’t particularly go for on the BB podcast. It’s particularly interesting when you include the quotes of people who lived through what was going on. Just finished the Encircled Halbe portion and am looking forward to the rest of the Europe at War podcast. My dad was a US Army veteran of the fight against Nazi Germany and after they were defeated, his outfit was put on a boat headed to invade Japan, which they were told would be a suicide mission. Luckily the USA dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki while they were enroute and Japan surrendered. His boat was diverted to the Philipines where they awaited return to the USA. So, if it weren’t for the bomb, ironically, I might not be here!
Hello Patrick, thank you ever so much for your feedback about the podcast, and for your kind words!
It’s fascinating to hear about your father’s experience during the war, would you mind sharing which unit he was in?
I hope you enjoy the rest of the Europe At War podcast – my most recent series focusses on the US assault on Leipzig actually so I’m sure that will be interesting for you 🙂
All the best,
David