---

Hitler once had a good relationship with the Wehrmacht’s military leaders, but by the last year of the war, he tended to blame Germany’s reversals on hostile German commanders deliberately subverting him.

When the German Army created a new army group to help hold back the advancing Red Army, Hitler chose SS chief Heinrich Himmler to command it. Himmler had no qualifications for the job, other than unquestioned loyalty to the Führer.

• Listen now:

---

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Burleske
Composed in 1886 by Richard Strauss. Public domain.
Performed by the Neal O’Doan and the Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra, Nico Snel conducting, and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC-BY-SA-2.0 license. Source.

Closing War Theme

---

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

---

The Wehrmacht anticipated a Soviet offensive in January 1945, but Adolf Hitler refused to listen to their warnings. When the offensive begin, the Nazi government was slow to allow civilians to flee the approaching Red Army, despite Nazi propaganda that emphasized the cruelty of Soviet solders.

The Red Army’s treatment of German civilians in East Prussia was brutal. Hundreds of thousands died, many killed deliberately by Soviet soldiers. Hundreds of thousands of German women were raped.

• Listen now:

---

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Overture to Tannhäuser
Composed in 1845 by Richard Wagner. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Marine Band. Public domain recording.

Closing War Theme

---

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

---

Eisenhower sent the US 101st Airborne Division to the Belgian town of Bastogne with orders to hold it against the enemy offensive.

The German Fifth Panzer Army surrounded and besieged the town. When the German commander sent a surrender ultimatum, the US commander, General Anthony McAuliffe, gave a memorable reply.

• Listen now:

---

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“The Army Goes Rolling Along”
Music composed in 1917 by John Philip Sousa. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Military Academy Band. Public domain recording.

Closing War Theme

---

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

---

In December 1944, the German Army began an offensive on the Western Front in a final bid to regain the upper hand.

The above photograph was taken by a German military photographer during the Ardennes Offensive. The film was subsequently captured by US soldiers.

• Listen now:

---

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“Die Wacht am Rhein”
Composed in 1854 by Karl Wilhelm. Public domain.

Closing War Theme

---

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

---

Another episode in which I answer listener questions.

• Listen now:

Transcript.

---

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Violin Concerto in G minor, “Summer.”
Composed in 1723 by Antonio Vivaldi. Public domain.
John Harrison, violin. Recording used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 license. Source.

Closing War Theme

---

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

---

On the Western Front, the Germans rebuilt their defenses along the Siegfried Line and prepared for Hitler’s Ardennes offensive.

On the Eastern Front, the Red Army briefly took territory in East Prussia, entering pre-war Germany for the first time, before the Wehrmacht pushed them out again.

• Listen now:

---

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Symphony No. 3 in E♭ Major (“Eroica”)
Composed in 1804 by Ludwig van Beethoven. Public domain.
Performed by the Czech National Orchestra. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme

---

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

---

The Japanese Navy sent the best ships it had left in an effort to cut off American ground forces on Leyte, in the Philippines.

The Battle of Leyte Gulf was the largest naval battle of the Second World War, and the greatest Japanese defeat, measured by numbers of ships lost.

• Listen now:

---

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“Anchors Aweigh”
Composed in 1906 by Charles Zimmerman. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Navy Band. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme

---

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

---

After Japanese air defenses in the Philippines proved to be weaker than anticipated, the Americans moved up the target date for the invasion of the archipelago by two months.

On October 20, 1944, Douglas MacArthur made good on his promise as four US Army and Marine divisions assaulted the island of Leyte.

• Listen now:

---

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“Lupang Hinirang” (The Philippine National Anthem.)
Composed in 1898 by Julián Felipe. Public domain.
Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme

---

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

---

Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery devised a daring plan that offered the hope of an “end run” around the German defensive line.

The plan was risky and fell a little bit short of success.

• Listen now:

---

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Serenade for Strings
Composed in 1892 by Sir Edward Elgar. Public domain.
Performed by The United States Army Strings. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme

---

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

---

The dramatic collapse of the German Army on the Western Front in August 1944 had some speculating the war might end by Christmas.

But that didn’t happen. The Germans were able to rebuild their defensive line at the western border of Germany, along what the Germans called Westwall and the Allies called The Siegfried Line.

• Listen now:

---

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“Last Post”
Traditional. Public domain.
Performed by Sgt. Codie Lynn Williams, USMC. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme

---

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.