86 Mighty Eighth podcast preview USAAF WW2 V2

Mike Parker, left, and Johann Tusker

Fighting Through Podcast WW2 Episode 86 - Featuring the mighty 8th podcast

More great unpublished history!

Hello again and another exciting WW2 welcome to the Fighting Through second world war podcast.

I’m Paul Cheall, son of Bill Cheall whose WWII memoirs have been published by Pen and Sword – in FTFDTH. 

The aim of this podcast is to read family stories, memoirs, and interviews with veterans in all the countries and all the forces. I dare you to listen!

And I am so chuffed with the material I’ve got lined up for you in the coming weeks. Firstly after a lot of work, I’ve finished narrating the audio book Save the Last Bullet. Next episode, I’m going to be giving you a sneak preview of it, based on the now published book about the German boy soldier you first heard about in episode 69.

And today, I’m bringing you a preview of a brand new podcast all about the United States Air Force in the guise of the mighty eighth - and their role in Britain during the war. And as a prelude I’m going to chat with Johann, one of the hosts. So in the same way as I’ve done on other occasions, I’m guesting episode one of the Mighty Eighth directly on the FT feed. And I thank regular contributor to the show, Derek Whittle from Manchester for bringing this excellent podcast to my attention.

I’m also working on an episode on a Green Howards memoir I’ve stumbled upon. With insights into Sicily and more from soldier Alf Blackburn. More on that soon.

Episode 1 The Mighty Eighth podcast

For now, over to The ‘Mighty Eighth’ Podcast which tells the story of People, Planes and Places of the United States 8th Army Air Force during World War Two.
Arriving in England in 1942, the USAAF 8th Army Air Force was the biggest air armada of all time, capable of sending thousands of planes on a single mission.
Co-hosted by UK-based journalist Johann Tasker and military historian Mike Peters, who both live in Suffolk, UK, this podcast tells the story of the Mighty Eighth.

Interview

Here’s host Johann Tasker to talk to me. And I offer him a warm FT WW2 welcome. I started by asking Johann about his background and how the pod got started.

Episode 1 The Bomb Run

In this first episode, hosts Mike and Johann visit Grafton Underwood in England – where B-17 bombers took to the skies for the very first America-led mission over occupied Europe.

It’s a long intro but my what a great scene setter and a bit of history thrown about what was the very first mission of the eighth, to bomb railway marshalling yards at Rouen in France - enjoy

Next Mighty Eighth episode

Anatomy of a Mission
Just how do you put hundreds of B17 Flying Fortresses into the sky, send them on a bombing mission over occupied Europe – and then bring them home again? I’ve already listened to it and it’s a cracker and I cannot wait to hear the rest of the series.

There’s a link to the Mighty 8th web site in the show notes. And you can hear the pod there or in any listening app. I for one cannot wait to hear the next installment.

Links

https://mighty8thpodcast.com/