Special Forces In World War 2 Podcast

Avsnitt

• Assault on the Merville Battery, Part 1. 11.06.2026 1h 35min

  Improved 2 part episode of the Merville assault. In the early hours of June 6th, 1944, the men of the 9th Parachute Battalion will jump into the darkness over Normandy. Their objective is the Merville Battery, four guns in reinforced concrete, behind wire, mines, and a garrison of one hundred and sixty men. From its emplacements the battery commands the approaches to Sword Beach, where the British infantry will come ashore at dawn. It must be silenced before the landings begin.This is part one of the Merville Battery. We follow Lieutenant-Colonel Terence Otway and his battalion from the intelligence picture in the spring of 1944, through the plan, the rehearsals on a full-scale replica of the position, the glider pilots and their compressed Rebecca-Eureka course, and the final days in the transit camp. We follow them to the airfields on the evening of June 5th. We follow them across the Channel into a storm of flak, and down into the fields and floodwaters of Normandy. Part one ends as the last men jump from their Dakotas into the night sky over France.In part two, the assault itself.This episode draws on the work of Neil Barber, Carl Shilleto, Jon Cooksey, Stephen Wright, Kevin Shannon and the official war diaries of the 6th Airborne Division. Full sources at worldwar2-sof.com.#DDay #WW2 #WW2History #MervilleBattery #9thParachuteBattalion #OperationTonga #6thAirborneDivision #BritishAirborne #Normandy1944 #SwordBeach #WW2Podcast #MilitaryHistory #SpecialForces #Paratroopers #June61944 🔗 Stay connected with us:Website: https://worldwar2-sof.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ww2.sofFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOFFacebook Support Group: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOF/subscribe/Threads: https://www.threads.net/@ww2.sofSpotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/worldwar2sof
• Coup de Main. The D-Day Assault on the Pegasus and Horsa Bridge. Part 2 07.06.2026 1h 4min

  In the thrilling conclusion of our series on the Coup de Main, we take you to the night of June 6, 1944. Join us as we follow Staff Sergeant Jim Wallwork, Major John Howard, and the men of the 2nd Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in their daring glider assault on the Pegasus and Horsa bridges. Experience the tension, bravery, and chaos as these soldiers fight to secure these vital crossings against formidable German defenses. From the precise crash landings to the intense firefights, witness the extraordinary courage and determination that ensured the success of this pivotal mission in the Normandy invasion.Don't miss this action-packed episode as we bring history to life!#WWII #HistoryPodcast #PegasusBridge #DDay #CoupDeMain #SpecialForces #MilitaryHistory #OxAndBucks #NormandyInvasion #MajorJohnHoward #PodcastSeries #HistoricalEvents #WarStories #HeroicMissionsListen now on Spotify and relive the incredible story of the Coup de Main and the heroes who made history.🔗 Stay connected with us:Website: https://worldwar2-sof.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ww2.sofFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOFThreads: https://www.threads.net/@ww2.sofPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/SpecialForcesinWorldWar2Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/worldwar2sof
• Coup de Main. The Preperations for the D-Day Assault on the Pegasus and Horsa Bridge. Part 1 07.06.2026 50min

  In this gripping first episode of our series on the Coup de Main, we dive into the meticulous preparations led by Major John Howard and the 2nd Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. Discover how Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery's strategic decisions set the stage for one of World War II's most daring missions. Follow the intense training, strategic planning, and rigorous exercises that transformed ordinary soldiers into a formidable force. Learn about the importance of capturing the Pegasus and Horsa bridges to secure the left flank of the Normandy beachhead. This episode sets the stage for the thrilling assault to come.Listen now and uncover the extraordinary efforts behind this critical mission!#WWII #HistoryPodcast #PegasusBridge #DDay #CoupDeMain #SpecialForces #MilitaryHistory #OxAndBucks #NormandyInvasion #MajorJohnHoward #PodcastSeries #HistoricalEvents #WarStoriesTune in on Spotify and stay tuned for the next episode, where we delve into the actual assault and the incredible bravery displayed during the capture of the bridges.🔗 Stay connected with us:Website: https://worldwar2-sof.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ww2.sofFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOFThreads: https://www.threads.net/@ww2.sofPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/SpecialForcesinWorldWar2Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/worldwar2sof
• Landing Craft Infantry, (Large) 21.05.2026 1h 37min

  She is forty-eight metres long, flat-bottomed, and built without a keel. She crosses the Atlantic under her own power, carrying two hundred infantry to defended beaches her smaller cousins cannot reach. Her side ramps earn the grim nickname of "bullet magnets" from the soldiers who descend them under fire. Without the Landing Craft, Infantry, Large, there is no Sicily, no Salerno, no Anzio, no Normandy, no Iwo Jima, and no Okinawa at the scale the Allies achieve.This episode of The Special Forces in World War II Podcast, tells the story of the seagoing infantry landing craft that fills the gap between the davit-launched assault craft and the great Landing Ship, Tank. From the desperate summer of 1940, when the British Army stands on the wrong side of the Channel without the means to return, the Royal Navy and the United States Bureau of Ships develop the vessel together. The first contracts are signed on June 3rd, 1942. The first hull is afloat by September of the same year. Ten American shipyards, from George Lawley and Son in Massachusetts to Albina Engine and Machine in Oregon, build nine hundred and twenty-three of them in less than three years.We follow the L-C-I-L through her three principal design types, her transfer to the Royal Navy and the Soviet Navy under Lend-Lease, and her conversion into gunboat, mortar boat, rocket ship, flotilla flagship, and minesweeper. We follow her into combat in two theatres of war. We watch Lieutenant Alec Guinness, the future actor, land troops near Cape Passero lighthouse at Sicily. We watch the Coast Guard-manned LCI(L)-85, LCI(L)-91, LCI(L)-92, and LCI(L)-93 destroyed on Easy Red at Omaha Beach. We watch the Royal Canadian Navy's 262nd Flotilla charge through the beach obstacles at Bernières-sur-Mer at thirty kilometres per hour. We watch Group Eight at Iwo Jima, where Lieutenant junior grade Rufus Herring's LCI(G)-449 wins the Medal of Honor and ten Navy Crosses are awarded to her sister ships.This is the story of the unglamorous, slab-sided, flat-bottomed troop carrier that helps put the Allied infantry ashore on every contested beach from Licata to Okinawa. From the Channel to the Mekong, from Bethlehem Hingham to Subic Bay, this is the operational biography of one of the most-produced and least-celebrated Allied vessels of the Second World War.For maps, photographs, original documents, and the full source base behind this episode, visit www.worldwar2-sof.com.#WW2 #WorldWarII #MilitaryHistory #SpecialForces #LCI #LandingCraftInfantry #LCIL #DDay #Normandy #PacificWar #Anzio #Salerno #Sicily #IwoJima #Okinawa #Walcheren #Dragoon #OperationNeptune #USCoastGuard #USNavy #RoyalNavy #RoyalCanadianNavy #History #Podcast #WW2Podcast #NavalHistory #Amphibious #WW2History #SecondWorldWar #AlliedForces #Mountbatten #BuShips #RufusHerring #AlecGuinness #BeachAssault🔗 Stay connected with us:Website: https://worldwar2-sof.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ww2.sofFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOFFacebook Support Group: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOF/subscribe/Threads: https://www.threads.net/@ww2.sofSpotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/worldwar2sof
• Operation Archway, Special Air Service, Part 2 20.05.2026 1h 1min

  April to May 1945. As the German front collapses, 1 and 2 Special Air Service race ahead of the British Army to secure key towns, hunt down Nazi officials, and liberate Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. From Celle to the Elbe, and finally to Lübeck and Kiel, the Special Air Service plays a decisive role in the war’s final days. This episode follows their operations in the north German plain as the Third Reich disintegrates.Part One covers the Rhine crossing and the Special Air Service actions in March 1945.#SAS #WWII #OperationArchway #SpecialForces #HistoryPodcast #Belsen #VEday #Frankforce #WorldWar2🔗 Stay connected with us:Website: https://worldwar2-sof.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ww2.sofFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOFThreads: https://www.threads.net/@ww2.sofPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/SpecialForcesinWorldWar2Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/worldwar2sof
• Operation Archway, Special Air Service, Part 1 20.05.2026 53min

  March 1945. As the Allies cross the Rhine, 1 and 2 Special Air Service launch their final campaign in northwest Europe. Operating in fast-moving jeep columns, they strike deep behind enemy lines, linking with airborne forces, sabotaging German movements, and disrupting retreating units ahead of the main advance. This episode follows their actions across the Rhine and into Germany during the opening phase of Operation Archway.Part Two will continue the story into April and May 1945, through the liberation of Bergen-Belsen and the final push to the Elbe.#SAS #WWII #OperationArchway #SpecialForces #HistoryPodcast #RhineCrossing #DDay #Frankforce #WorldWar2🔗 Stay connected with us:Website: https://worldwar2-sof.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ww2.sofFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOFThreads: https://www.threads.net/@ww2.sofPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/SpecialForcesinWorldWar2Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/worldwar2sof
• Landing Ship, Tank 14.05.2026 1h 27min

  She has no name. She carries only a number on her bow. She is slow, flat-bottomed, and unglamorous. Sailors call her a Large Slow Target. Yet without the Landing Ship, Tank, there is no Operation Torch, no Husky, no Avalanche, no Shingle, no Overlord, no Dragoon, no Iwo Jima, and no Okinawa.In this episode of The Special Forces in World War II Podcast, host Michael Weyers tells the story of the vessel that solved a problem the Royal Navy had carried unsolved since the beaches of Gallipoli in 1915. How do you put a thirty-tonne tank ashore on a hostile coast where no port exists, no crane stands ready, and no pier reaches into the surf?The answer arrives, improbably, on the back of an envelope in a Washington office in November 1941. John C. Niedermair sketches the design in a couple of hours. From that sketch flows a programme that builds more than 1,051 ships in inland yards beside the Ohio and Illinois Rivers. The cornfield shipyards employ firms with no prior shipbuilding experience. Reservist crews learn their craft under fire, driving their bows onto hostile beaches in defiance of every instinct trained into a naval officer.This episode follows the L.S.T. from Churchill's first memorandum on July 6th, 1940, through the Maracaibo conversions, the Anglo-American design meetings, the production miracle, the disaster of Exercise Tiger, the cross-Channel shuttle to Normandy, and the kamikaze storms of the Pacific. Twenty-six L.S.T.'s are lost to enemy action. Hundreds of crewmen die by torpedo, mine, and kamikaze. Their story deserves to be told.#WW2 #WorldWarII #MilitaryHistory #SpecialForces #LST #LandingShipTank #DDay #Normandy #PacificWar #Anzio #Salerno #Sicily #IwoJima #Okinawa #Gallipoli #Churchill #History #Podcast #WW2Podcast #NavalHistory #Amphibious #WW2History #SecondWorldWar #AlliedForces #RoyalNavy #USNavy #Niedermair #ExerciseTiger #OperationOverlord #OperationDragoon🔗 Stay connected with us:Website: https://worldwar2-sof.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ww2.sofFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOFFacebook Support Group: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOF/subscribe/Threads: https://www.threads.net/@ww2.sofSpotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/worldwar2sof
• Unternehmen Danzig, Sturmgruppe Granit, The Assault on Fort Eben Emael, Part 3 30.04.2026 1h 38min

  On the morning of May 10th, 1940, sixty-two Fallschirmjäger of Sturmgruppe Granit hold the roof of the most modern fortress in Europe. Below them, around twelve hundred Belgian soldiers of Fort Eben Emael are sealed in the tunnels under steel doors and sandbags. Between them, in the stairwells and ascent shafts, a silent division of the battlefield is in place. Their commander, Oberleutnant Rudolf Witzig, is still trying to reach his fort.In this final episode of our series on Unternehmen Danzig, we close the story of Sturmgruppe Granit and the assault on Fort Eben Emael. At 08:30 a glider circles over the fort, and the long contest for the fortress begins in earnest. We follow the afternoon on the superstructure under hollow-charge attack, the air resupply by Heinkel He 111, and the Belgian counterattacks that move out from the tunnels into the woods and onto the slopes. We descend into the fort with Chaplain Meesen, Major Van der Auwera, and the wounded. We follow Feldwebel Portsteffen and the 51. Pionier-Bataillon as they fight west to the Albert Canal under fire from Casemate 17, and we wait with them on the dark bank for a chance to cross.What happens in the tunnels, on the canal, and at the gate of Fort Eben Emael in the hours that follow brings the operation, and the series, to its close.For maps, photographs, original documents, and the full source base behind this series, visit www.worldwar2-sof.com.#WorldWarII #SpecialForces #Fallschirmjäger #Airborne #AlbertCanal #FortEbenEmael #FallGelb #SturmgruppeKoch #SturmgruppeGranit #BelgiumCampaign #1940 #MilitaryHistory #WWIIPodcast #GermanAirborne #UnternehmenDanzig #Paratroopers #SpecialOperations #WWII #WarHistory #MilitaryPodcast #DFS230 #HollowCharge #RudolfWitzig #Jottrand #KölnOstheim🔗 Stay connected with us:Website: https://worldwar2-sof.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ww2.sofFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOFFacebook Support Group: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOF/subscribe/Threads: https://www.threads.net/@ww2.sofSpotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/worldwar2sof
• Unternehmen Danzig, Sturmgruppe Granit, The Assault on Fort Eben Emael, Part 2 23.04.2026 1h 25min

  On the morning of May 10th, 1940, as German armour rolls west, DFS 230 assault gliders descend on the roof of Fort Eben Emael, the most modern fortress in Europe. Ten Gruppen of Sturmgruppe Granit, under Oberleutnant Rudolf Witzig, set down on the grass of the superstructure with hollow charges of up to fifty kilograms, flamethrowers, MP 38s and grenades. Their objectives are the heavy artillery cupolas, the machine-gun blocs, the anti-aircraft position and the observation posts of a fortress designed to break any attack coming from the ground.In this second part of our coverage of Sturmabteilung Koch, we follow each Gruppe across the superstructure. We watch Feldwebel Niedermeier and Leutnant Delica at Maastricht 2, Feldwebel Arent at Maastricht 1, Feldwebel Wenzel at Mi Nord, Feldwebel Haug at the anti-aircraft position and later at Cupola 120, Oberjäger Unger at Cupola Nord, Oberjäger Neuhaus at Mi Sud, Feldwebel Harlos and Feldwebel Heinemann at the northern turrets, and the reserve under Feldwebel Hübel. We follow the missing Gruppe 2 under Walter Meier, forced down inside Germany, as it tries to reach the fort overland. And we follow Oberleutnant Witzig himself, whose tow rope parts over the Rhine and who sets out by bicycle and requisitioned staff car to get back to his battle.We see the fight from inside the fort as well, through the eyes of Major Jean Fritz Lucien Jottrand, Sergent Joris at Cupola Nord, Sergent Cremer at Cupola 120, Sergent Poncelet at Maastricht 2 and Sergent Gigon at Maastricht 1, as Belgian gunners confront a new kind of warfare they have never trained to fight. Junker 87 dive bombers wait on call overhead. Belgian guns from Forts Pontisse and Barchon turn on their own fortress. And in the tunnels below the surface, a garrison of twelve hundred men has to decide how to hold a fort under attack from its own roof.For maps, photographs, original documents and the full source base behind this series, visit www.worldwar2-sof.com.#WorldWarII #SpecialForces #Fallschirmjäger #Airborne #AlbertCanal #FortEbenEmael #SturmabteilungKoch #SturmgruppeGranit #Witzig #FallGelb #BelgiumCampaign #1940 #MilitaryHistory #WWIIPodcast #GermanAirborne #UnternehmenDanzig #Paratroopers #SpecialOperations #WWII #WarHistory #MilitaryPodcast #DFS230 #Cupola120 #Maastricht #KölnOstheim #Liège🔗 Stay connected with us:Website: https://worldwar2-sof.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ww2.sofFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOFFacebook Support Group: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOF/subscribe/Threads: https://www.threads.net/@ww2.sofSpotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/worldwar2sof
• Unternehmen Danzig, Sturmgruppe Granit, The assault on Fort Eben Emael, Part 1 16.04.2026 50min

  On May 10th, 1940, 86 Fallschirmjäger combat engineers of Sturmgruppe Granit board eleven DFS 230 assault gliders at Köln-Ostheim and turn west toward the most powerful fortress in Belgium. Their target is Fort Eben-Emael, a self-contained underground city of 1,200 men whose guns dominate every Albert Canal crossing from Maastricht to the south. Without the fort, Fall Gelb stalls. Without the bridges, the fort cannot be bypassed. Unternehmen Danzig must achieve both objectives simultaneously, in darkness, and in complete surprise.This episode covers the full story of part one. It begins with the fort itself, its construction, its garrison, its command structure, and the serious deficiencies that its commanders know about but cannot correct in time. It then moves to Hildesheim in the autumn of 1939, where General der Flieger Kurt Student and Hauptmann Walter Koch begin assembling Sturmabteilung Koch under conditions of absolute secrecy. It covers the formation of all four Sturmgruppen, the extreme security measures, the months of rehearsal on Czech fortifications, the two secret weapons at the heart of the assault, and the alert issued on the afternoon of May 9th, 1940. It then follows the gliders from Köln-Ostheim into the pre-dawn darkness, through the tow rope failure that strands Oberleutnant Witzig six kilometres outside Cologne, and on to the moment the first DFS 230 begins its landing run on the roof of Eben-Emael.For more on Fort Eben-Emael, the Albert Canal crossings, and the full source base behind this series, visit www.worldwar2-sof.com.#FortEbenEmael #SturmgruppeGranit #UnternehmenDanzig #SturmabteilungKoch #Fallschirmjäger #AlbertCanal #FallGelb #DFS230 #GliderAssault #RudolfWitzig #WalterKoch #BelgianCampaign1940 #AirborneWarfare #May1940 #SpecialForces #WorldWarII #WWII #MilitaryHistory #WW2Podcast #SpecialForcesWW2 #GermanAirborne #Belgium1940 #Blitzkrieg #Hollowcharge #Pioniertruppe🔗 Stay connected with us:Website: https://worldwar2-sof.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ww2.sofFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOFFacebook Support Group: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOF/subscribe/Threads: https://www.threads.net/@ww2.sofSpotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/worldwar2sof
• Unternehmen Danzig, Sturmgruppe Eisen, Part 2 09.04.2026 1h 3min

  In part two of our coverage of the battle for the bridge at Kanne, the fighting moves to the Opkanne heights, where the men of Sturmgruppe Eisen and the 2e Régiment de Grenadiers fight a brutal, fragmented battle across twelve strongpoints. The bridge is already gone. Leutnant Schächter is wounded within the first hour. The parachute reinforcement under Oberjäger Nollau is destroyed in the air above North Hill before it can fire a single shot. And Lieutenant Berlaimont's machine guns hold the canal crossing against everything Pionier-Bataillon 51 and Infanterie-Regiment 151 can bring to bear. This episode follows the strongpoint-by-strongpoint collapse of the Belgian defence, the personal account of Sergent Pirenne's capture near the destroyed bridge, and the final casualty count that places Kanne as the costliest of the three Albert Canal crossings for both sides.For more on Fort Eben-Emael, the Albert Canal crossings, and the full source base behind this series, visit www.worldwar2-sof.com.#FallGelb #FortEbenEmael #AlbertCanal #Fallschirmjäger #SturmgruppeKoch #SturmgruppeEisen #Kanne #BelgianCampaign1940 #Blitzkrieg #AirborneWarfare #WorldWarII #SpecialForces #May1940 #GermanAirborne #OperationYellow #WWII #MilitaryHistory #WW2Podcast #SpecialForcesWW2 #2eRegimentdeGrenadiers🔗 Stay connected with us:Website: https://worldwar2-sof.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ww2.sofFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOFFacebook Support Group: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOF/subscribe/Threads: https://www.threads.net/@ww2.sofSpotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/worldwar2sof
• Unternehmen Danzig, Sturmgruppe Eisen, Part 1 02.04.2026 40min

  In the third of Sturmgruppe Koch's Albert Canal objectives, Gruppe Eisen and its eighty-nine Fallschirmjäger under Leutnant Martin Schächter face a very different fight from the one at Veldwezelt and Vroenhoven. The bridge at Kanne sits in broken terrain on the edge of Fort Eben-Emael's defensive perimeter. The western bank offers no suitable landing ground. The Belgian garrison is alert. And the fifteen minutes lost during the glider approach will cost Gruppe Eisen everything.This episode covers the bridge and its defences, the order of battle of the 2e Régiment de Grenadiers, the detailed assault plan, the Belgian response to the general alarm, and the opening minutes of the battle in which the bridge is destroyed before a single Fallschirmjäger reaches it. For more on Fort Eben-Emael, the Albert Canal crossings, and the full source base behind this series, visit www.worldwar2-sof.com.#FallGelb #FortEbenEmael #AlbertCanal #Fallschirmjäger #SturmgruppeKoch #GruppeEisen #Kanne #BelgianCampaign1940 #Blitzkrieg #AirborneWarfare #WorldWarII #SpecialForces #May1940 #GermanAirborne #OperationYellow #WWII #MilitaryHistory #WW2Podcast #SpecialForcesWW2 🔗 Stay connected with us:Website: https://worldwar2-sof.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ww2.sofFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOFFacebook Support Group: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOF/subscribe/Threads: https://www.threads.net/@ww2.sofSpotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/worldwar2sof
• Unternehmen Danzig, Sturmgruppe Beton, Part 2 26.03.2026 1h 11min

  On May 10th, 1940, in the opening minutes of Fall Gelb, the German offensive in the west, a handful of Fallschirmjäger from Sturmgruppe Beton land by glider on the banks of the Albert Canal at Vroenhoven, Belgium. Their objective is the road bridge. Their window is minutes. The Belgian garrison is armed, the demolition charges are primed, and the casemate line along the canal slope is manned and ready.What follows is one of the most remarkable small-unit actions of the entire war. In this episode we follow Oberjäger Theo Schmitt and the men of Sturmgruppe Beton through the violent landing, the assault on Bunker M, the fight through the Belgian trench lines, and the race to neutralise the demolition charges before the bridge is lost. We examine the collapse of the Belgian chain of command, the failure of the casemate garrisons, and the desperate effort to hold the eastern bridgehead with just four men against a Dutch border unit of company strength. And we follow Gefreiter Stenzel into an orchard, armed with nothing but nerve and a white cloth, to negotiate the surrender of an enemy force that vastly outnumbers his own.This is part two of our coverage of the Albert Canal bridge assaults, part of the broader series on Sturmgruppe Koch and Unternehmen Danzig.For maps, photographs, original documents, and the full source base behind this series, visit www.worldwar2-sof.com.#WorldWarII #SpecialForces #Fallschirmjäger #Airborne #AlbertCanal #Vroenhoven #FallGelb #SturmgruppeKoch #SturmgruppeBeton #BelgiumCampaign #1940 #MilitaryHistory #WWIIPodcast #GermanAirborne #UnternehmenDanzig #Paratroopers #FortEbenEmael #SpecialOperations #WWII #WarHistory #MilitaryPodcast #BunkerM #TheoSchmitt #DFS230🔗 Stay connected with us:Website: https://worldwar2-sof.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ww2.sofFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOFFacebook Support Group: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOF/subscribe/Threads: https://www.threads.net/@ww2.sofSpotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/worldwar2sof
• Unternehmen Danzig, Sturmgruppe Beton, Part 1 19.03.2026 41min

  On the night of May 9th, 1940, a group of specially trained German Fallschirmjäger board DFS 230 assault gliders at Köln-Ostheim airfield and prepare for one of the most audacious airborne operations of the Second World War. Their objective is the bridge at Vroenhoven on the Albert Canal in Belgium, a reinforced concrete crossing guarded by bunkers, casemates, infantry trenches, anti-tank guns, and prepared demolition charges. If those charges detonate, the momentum of the entire German offensive in the west could stall in its opening hours.In this first part of our coverage of Sturmgruppe Beton, we examine the Vroenhoven bridge and its formidable defensive system in detail, from Bunker M and the flanking casemates to the infantry positions of 18e Régiment de Ligne and the artillery of 20e Régiment d'Artillerie. We then follow the men of Sturmgruppe Beton through their final preparations, the silent pre-dawn launch from Köln-Ostheim, and the tense flight across western Germany and the Netherlands toward the Albert Canal. A tow rope snaps and Gruppe 2 is lost before the assault even begins. Anti-aircraft fire over Maastricht alerts the Belgian defenders. Gliders crash. Landing zones are missed. And as the remaining aircraft descend toward the bridge, machine-gun fire rises from the trenches below.The assault itself is seconds away. That is where part two begins.For maps, photographs, original documents, and the full source base behind this series, visit www.worldwar2-sof.com.#WorldWarII #SpecialForces #Fallschirmjäger #Airborne #AlbertCanal #Vroenhoven #FallGelb #SturmgruppeKoch #SturmgruppeBeton #BelgiumCampaign #1940 #MilitaryHistory #WWIIPodcast #GermanAirborne #UnternehmenDanzig #Paratroopers #FortEbenEmael #SpecialOperations #WWII #WarHistory #MilitaryPodcast #DFS230 #BunkerM #MaastrichtGateway #KölnOstheim🔗 Stay connected with us:Website: https://worldwar2-sof.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ww2.sofFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOFFacebook Support Group: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOF/subscribe/Threads: https://www.threads.net/@ww2.sofSpotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/worldwar2sof
• Unternehmen Danzig, Sturmgruppe Stahl, Part 2 05.03.2026 1h 30min

  On May 10th, 1940, at 05:20, ten German DFS 230 gliders descend over the Albert Canal in Belgium. Their objective: seize the steel bridge at Veldwezelt before Belgian engineers can detonate the demolition charges.Within minutes, Fallschirmjäger of Sturmabteilung Koch are landing directly on the positions of the 2e Régiment de Carabiniers. Bunker N is assaulted. Trench systems north and south of the bridge erupt in close-quarters fighting. Demolition cables are cut. Communications fail. Conflicting reports paralyse Belgian command.Throughout the morning and afternoon, Belgian forces launch counter-attacks from the Kip van Hees and from positions west of the canal. German parachute reinforcements attempt hazardous drops under fire. Luftwaffe dive-bombers intervene repeatedly. Infantry of II. Bataillon, Schützen-Regiment 33 advance to consolidate the bridgehead.This episode reconstructs the battle for Veldwezelt sector by sector, minute by minute, one of the earliest precision airborne bridge seizures of the war, carried out four years before Pegasus Bridge.🌍 More research, maps, and documents at www.worldwar2-sof.com#WW2 #WorldWar2 #Fallschirmjäger #AlbertCanal #Airborne #FallGelb #MilitaryHistory #FortEbenEmael #Belgium1940🔗 Stay connected with us:Website: https://worldwar2-sof.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ww2.sofFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOFFacebook Support Group: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOF/subscribe/Threads: https://www.threads.net/@ww2.sofSpotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/worldwar2sof
• Unternehmen Danzig, Sturmgruppe Stahl, Part 1 26.02.2026 40min

  Most of us know the story of Pegasus Bridge on June 6, 1944. We remember the British coup de main at the Caen Canal and the Orne. We remember the 9th Parachute Battalion at Merville.But four years earlier, in the pre-dawn darkness of May 10, 1940, a similar operation unfolded over Belgium.In this episode, we examine the German airborne assault on the steel bridge at Veldwezelt — one of three Albert Canal crossings targeted in Unternehmen Danzig. Carried in DFS 230 gliders and released from Junkers 52 aircraft, Fallschirmjäger of Sturmgruppe Stahl descend silently toward their objective.Their mission is uncompromising: seize the bridge intact, neutralise Bunker N, cut the demolition cables, and establish a bridgehead before the Belgian defenders can react.Opposing them are the men of the 6e Compagnie, elements of the 2e Régiment de Carabiniers and 18e Régiment de Ligne, and the Cyclistes Frontières tasked with guarding and demolishing the crossing if required.We reconstruct the flight from Cologne, the tense hours before dawn, the confusion among the Belgian defenders, and the moment ten gliders land almost simultaneously near the bridge.This is the story of surprise, timing, command decisions, and the opening minutes of a new kind of airborne warfare.Before Pegasus Bridge… there was Veldwezelt.#WorldWar2 #Fallschirmjäger #UnternehmenDanzig #AlbertCanal #FortEbenEmael #WW2History #AirborneForces #MilitaryHistory #WW2Podcast🔗 Stay connected with us:Website: https://worldwar2-sof.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ww2.sofFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOFFacebook Support Group: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOF/subscribe/Threads: https://www.threads.net/@ww2.sofSpotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/worldwar2sof
• The Maastricht Gateway, Infanterie-Bataillon zur besonderen Verwendung 100 21.02.2026 51min

  In the early hours of May 10th, 1940, while German gliders land on Fort Eben-Emael and Fallschirmjäger seize the Albert Canal bridges at Veldwezelt, Vroenhoven, and Kanne, another race begins just to the north.This episode follows the Maastricht Gateway, the critical ground operation designed to reinforce the airborne bridgeheads. Sabotage teams infiltrate the city in civilian clothing. Sonderverband Hocke advances in disguised Dutch Marechaussee uniforms. Infanterie-Bataillon zur besonderen Verwendung 100 and 4. Panzer-Division race toward the Maas crossings. Behind them, follow-on armoured formations prepare to exploit any breakthrough.What unfolds is a tense, minute-by-minute struggle for bridges, timing, and momentum. Street fighting erupts. Roadblocks are contested. Engineers prepare emergency crossings. And commanders on both sides make decisions that will shape the opening phase of Fall Gelb.This is the story of deception, speed, resistance, and the brutal reality behind a coup de main that had to succeed.#UnternehmenDanzig #Maastricht1940 #FallGelb #FortEbenEmael #AlbertCanal #WorldWar2History #SpecialForces #WW2Podcast🔗 Stay connected with us:Website: https://worldwar2-sof.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ww2.sofFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOFFacebook Support Group: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOF/subscribe/Threads: https://www.threads.net/@ww2.sofSpotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/worldwar2sof
• DFS 230 Lastensegelflugzeug 12.02.2026 1h 3min

  In the early hours of May 10th, 1940, silent assault gliders land on the roof of Fort Eben-Emael. Within minutes, one of Europe’s most modern fortresses is neutralised, and the world witnesses a new form of warfare.In this episode of The Special Forces in World War II Podcast, we tell the full story of the DFS 230, the German assault glider that makes these precision landings possible. From its origins in secret pre-war development, to its combat debut in Belgium, its mass deployment over Crete, and its legendary role in the Gran Sasso raid, the DFS 230 becomes one of the most unusual and effective airborne weapons of the Second World War.We explore how the glider is built, how it is flown, and how it evolves under combat pressure. From braking parachutes and rocket-assisted landings to one-way supply missions on the eastern front, the dfs 230 proves both innovative and brutally expendable.A story of daring engineering, airborne doctrine, and silent shock assault—across every major theatre of the war.#SpecialForces #WorldWarII #WW2 #DFS230 #Luftwaffe #Fallschirmjäger #Airborne #GliderTroops #EbenEmael #OperationMerkur #GranSasso #MilitaryHistory #WarHistory #WW2Podcast🔗 Stay connected with us:Website: https://worldwar2-sof.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ww2.sofFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOFFacebook Support Group: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOF/subscribe/Threads: https://www.threads.net/@ww2.sofSpotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/worldwar2sof
• Preperations For Unternehmen Danzig, Glider Pilots 05.02.2026 36min

  This part three about Unternehmen Danzig. In the winter of 1939, a quiet airfield in Hildesheim, Germany became the unlikely birthplace of one of World War II’s most audacious and closely guarded military experiments.Under the misleading cover name “Propaganda-Ballonzug”, a group of handpicked glider pilots — many of them civilian champions and Olympic-caliber aviators — were assembled for a mission so secret, even the men themselves weren’t told what they were training for.Their commander: Oberleutnant Walter Kieß.Their aircraft: the fragile, unpowered DFS 230 assault glider.Their objective: unknown.In this episode, we tell the full story. not of the attack, but of the formation, the friction, and the fearless innovation behind Germany’s first airborne special operations glider unit. You’ll meet pilots like Otto Bräutigam, who broke records in sport gliding before being forced into combat. You’ll hear how tensions flared between veteran Luftwaffe personnel and young civilian pilots, and how secrecy was so tight that sand tables replaced maps, and light codes guided night flights.We’ll take you inside Braunschweig-Waggum, the glider school built in haste to train men for a mission none of them fully understood — and follow the men through bitter winter nights, forbidden contact between pilot groups, and a growing resistance to plans that many believed would cost them their lives.By dawn on May 10, 1940, their orders were finally revealed — and history would never be the same.This is not just a tale of training. It’s a story of secrecy, sacrifice, mistrust, and the relentless drive to master the air with nothing but canvas, wood, and courage#WWIIPodcast #DFS230 #AirborneOperations #EbenEmael #MilitaryHistoryPodcast🔗 Stay connected with us:Website: https://worldwar2-sof.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ww2.sofFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOFFacebook Support Group: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOF/subscribe/Threads: https://www.threads.net/@ww2.sofSpotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/worldwar2sof
• Preperations for Unternehmen Danzig, Sturmabteilung Koch 22.01.2026 1h 3min

  In this second episode of our series on Unternehmen Danzig, we turn from the battlefield to the attackers themselves.After examining the Belgian defences along the Albert Canal and Fort Eben-Emael in Episode 1, this episode follows the creation and preparation of Sturmabteilung Koch,the specially formed German airborne assault unit tasked with seizing the canal bridges at Veldwezelt, Vroenhoven, and Kanne, and neutralising Fort Eben-Emael at the opening of the 1940 campaign in the West.Built from Fallschirmjäger, engineers, glider troops, and support elements, Sturmabteilung Koch trains under extreme secrecy. New weapons such as hollow charges are introduced. Timelines are measured in minutes. Every element of the plan depends on speed, surprise, and exact coordination. Training takes place under false unit names, behind sealed hangars, and often without the men knowing their final objective.This episode explores how the assault force is organised, how its tasks are divided between bridge and fortress objectives, and how changing plans, technical limits, and operational pressure shape the final concept of the attack.By the end of this episode, the ground assault force is ready. The plan is fixed. And attention turns to the final and decisive element, the glider pilots who must carry the assault troops into battle.🔗 Explore maps, photos, original documents, and sources at www.worldwar2-sof.comHashtags#UnternehmenDanzig #SturmabteilungKoch #FortEbenEmael #AlbertCanal #Veldwezelt #Vroenhoven #Kanne #Fallschirmjäger #GermanAirborne #WW2Airborne #WorldWar2 #MilitaryHistory #SpecialForcesWW2 #WW2Podcast🔗 Stay connected with us:Website: https://worldwar2-sof.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ww2.sofFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOFFacebook Support Group: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOF/subscribe/Threads: https://www.threads.net/@ww2.sofSpotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/worldwar2sof