WW2 Archives

German spies in South Africa during WWII – The enemy within

by History Guild | Mar 29, 2023 | Military History, Political and Economic History | 0

Reading time: 5 minutes
The story of the intelligence war in South Africa during the Second World War is one of suspense, drama and dogged persistence. South Africa officially joined the war on 6 September 1939 by siding with Britain and the Allies and declaring war on Nazi Germany.

South African historians have largely overlooked the intelligence war, partly because of the apparent paucity of reference sources on it. This lack of attention prompted me to investigate the matter further. The result was my book Hitler’s Spies: Secret Agents and the Intelligence War in South Africa.

The role of Australian industrial power in the defeat of Japan in World War II

by History Guild | Mar 15, 2023 | Military History | 0

Reading time: 7 minutes
Questions remain about what stopped the Japanese from invading Australia, and how it was that many of our personnel came home alive and unwounded despite the dreadful conditions they faced.

The answers largely define an achievement of Australia’s World War II generation.

100 Years on, a New German Putsch?

by History Guild | Jan 6, 2023 | Political and Economic History | 0

Reading time: 9 minutes
On December 7, 2022, German federal police arrested 25 people who were allegedly plotting to violently overthrow the German government. This planned coup resurrected the spectre of a failed coup attempt 100 years before, when Adolf Hitler and his then still nascent Nazi party tried something similar. But is there a link between this modern coup and the one of 1923? Does the history of these events rhyme?

Women in the Second World War: Military service in East Africa

by History Guild | Dec 8, 2022 | Military History | 0

Reading time: 8 minutes
Hundreds of women served with the British Army in East Africa, and their role in the conflict goes largely untold.

Reg Saunders, Australia’s first Aboriginal commissioned officer – Podcast

by History Guild | Dec 7, 2022 | Military History | 0

A skilled and determined soldier, Reg Saunders rose through the ranks to become Australia’s first Aboriginal commissioned officer. This podcast tells his story.

From the bookshelf: ‘The Scrap Iron Flotilla’

by History Guild | Nov 30, 2022 | Military History | 0

Reading time: 4 minutes
Mike Carlton has emerged as a gifted historian of Australia’s outstanding naval contributions in two world wars. He polishes this reputation in his new book, The Scrap Iron Flotilla: five valiant destroyers and the Australian war in the Mediterranean. Carlton has always been persuasive in print. His earlier books, Cruiser on the wartime record of HMAS Perth, and First victory 1914, detailing HMAS Sydney’s destruction of the German raider Emden, suggested both the enthusiasm for and appreciation of Australian naval history which the author has in abundance.

The Battle of the Beachheads – Podcast – Part 3 Added

by History Guild | Nov 17, 2022 | Military History | 0

By late 1942, the Allies had pushed the Japanese forces back along the Kokoda Track and were now down on the coastal plains of northern New Guinea. The Japanese may have been retreating, but they intended to hold the vital beachheads from Gona down through Sanananda to Buna. The fight to take the beachheads would be bloody and brutal, but first the Australians and their American comrades had to get there.

The UN’s Greatest Peacekeeper, Lieutenant General Robert Harold Nimmo CBE – Podcast

by History Guild | Nov 8, 2022 | Military History | 0

Robert Nimmo was the first Australian to lead a UN Peacekeeping mission, in India and Pakistan, as well as serving his country for over 50 years. This podcast tells his story.

Battle of Stonne, France 1940

by History Guild | Nov 2, 2022 | Military History | 0

Reading time: 5 minutes
The battle for France in 1940 is often portrayed as a rout: the German Wehrmacht simply trounced the French forces within a few weeks, crushing them with military might and tactical ingenuity. However, a few episodes debunk this image and the Battle of Stonne, where a small town in the Ardennes changed hands 17 times in three days, is one of the most prominent.

The Scrap Iron Captain: Hector Waller DSO and Bar – Podcast

by History Guild | Oct 28, 2022 | Military History | 0

While serving within the Royal Australian Navy as a Signals Officer, Captain Hector MacDonald Laws Waller served with distinction aboard several warships of the Royal Australian Navy and Royal Navy during both the First World War and the Second World War. Having graduated from the fledgling Royal Australian Naval College during the First World War, his posting would be to the Royal Navy Battleship HMS Agincourt, and would predominately perform escort duties for the duration of the war.

Japan’s Pacific War – Podcast

by History Guild | Oct 2, 2022 | Military History | 0

This podcast episode was commissioned by History Guild as part of our support of THE BLOODY BEACHHEADS: THE BATTLES OF GONA, BUNA AND SANANANDA – ONE DAY CONFERENCE. Angus Wallace, creator of the fantastic WW2 Podcast is joined by Peter Williams, author of Japan’s Pacific War: Personal Accounts of the Emperor’s Warriors.

The Australians who Captured Rommel’s Intelligence Unit, Company 621

by History Guild | Sep 28, 2022 | Military History | 0

Reading time: 5 minutes
Though the North African campaigns of World War 2 have a reputation for mainly being fought by tanks, both sides relied as much on spying as they did on cold, hard steel. When the 9th Australian Division captured the German signals intelligence unit, company 621, right before the first battle of El Alamein, they dealt Field Marshal Erwin Rommel a fatal blow.

Tag: WW2