Month: April 2024

364: The Man with the Iron Heart

Mark Podcast

The Mercedes convertible in which Reinhard Heydrich was riding, after the assassination attempt.

On the Eastern Front, Hitler and the Wehrmacht planned their 1942 offensive. The Wehrmacht was battered after the hard winter, while the Red Army was stronger than ever.

Unhappy with the unrest in Bohemia and Moravia, Hitler assigned Reinhard Heydrich to pacify the region.

  • Listen now:

Transcript.

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Violin Sonata
Composed in 1914 by Leoš Janáček. Public domain.
Performed by Jean-Claude Féret and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-NC 3.0 DEED. Source.

Closing War Theme

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

363: Midway

Mark Podcast

Pilots of a squadron of US Navy torpedo bombers pose on the deck of their carrier, USS Hornet, a few weeks before the Battle of Midway. Only one of these pilots survived the battle.

In the first week of June, 1942, the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked the Aleutian Islands and Midway. The latter action was also meant to ambush and destroy the US Navy’s carriers.

The Aleutian landings were successful, but the Battle of Midway ended disastrously for Japan, with the sinking of all four of the Japanese carriers involved.

  • Listen now:

Transcript.

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

With the Sea
Composed and performed by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com).
Used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license.

Closing War Theme

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

362: Scratch One Flattop!

Mark Podcast

The Japanese light carrier Shōhō as an American bomb explodes on its flight deck. Shōhō sank moments later.

The US Navy sent two aircraft carriers to the Southwest Pacific to harry the Japanese Navy as it moved into the Solomon Islands. The Imperial Japanese Navy sent two of its own carriers to counter them.

The four carriers clashed at the Battle of the Coral Sea. This was the first battle in naval history in which the opposing fleets never came within sight of each other.

  • Listen now:

Transcript.

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Pacific Waters

Closing War Theme

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

361: I Could Never Be So Lucky Again

Mark Podcast

Col. Doolittle takes off in a B-25 bomber from the flight deck of USS Hornet, on his way to bomb Tokyo.

President Roosevelt wanted the US military to find a way to strike back at the Japanese Home Islands, in revenge for Pearl Harbor.

It was a tall order, but the US Army and Navy found a way.

  • Listen now:

Transcript.

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

String Quartet No. 19 in C Major
Composed in 1785 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Public domain.
Performed by the Musopen String Quartet. 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, and 2024 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.