Tag: germany

How the OSS supported Yugoslavia independence movements in WWII – Interview with Blaz Torkar

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Blaz Torkar Mission Yugoslavia OSS

How the OSS supported Yugoslavia independence movements in WWII – Interview with Blaz Torkar

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/2ZDmiwM

Interview Timeline

Blaž Torkar is an assistant professor of history at the Military Schools Centre of the Slovenian Armed forces. He researches the history of intelligence services, Allied military missions in Yugoslavia during WWII, the Yugoslav People’s Army and Territorial Defense, and the Slovenian War of Independence in 1991. He wrote a book on the OSS in Yugoslavia during WWII and we spoke about the book, the OSS, and Yugoslavian resistance movements. Mission Yugoslavia (McFarland, 2020)

K. Lyn Wurth talks about her novel about Calamity Jane https://wp.me/p7CDU9-56U

Laird Thompson talks about how he helped discover cosmic voids http://spacewalksmoneytalks.com/p/748

1:05 – Blaz talks about his interest in the OSS in Yugoslavia.

2:18 – Blaz describes the OSS and SOE.

4:12 – Blaz talks about the resistance movements in Yugoslavia.

5:56 – Blaz talks about Churchill’s ULTRA reports.

8:54 – Blaz talks about OSS support to the Yugoslavian resistance movements.

11:11 – Blaz talks about problems between the US and the movements they supported.

12:54 – Blaz talks how the OSS did some fighting in Yugoslavia.

14:06 – Blaz talks about Soviet advisors in Yugoslavia in 1944.

14:36 – Blaz talks about the physical security used for the operations

16:03 – Blaz goes into details about how operations were run.

18:15 – Blaz talks about the Yugoslavs who worked for OSS.

20:39 – Blaz talks about prisoner exchanges for OSS members.

22:10 – Blaz talks about Americans captured by the Germans.

23:22 – Blaz talks about partisans who killed Americans.

23:52 – Blaz talks about the resistance in Serbian areas. [Note: Blaz noted later that he accidentally neglected to mention the first Serbian resistance at the start of the country and region’s occupation.  He states by email that at the beginning of the occupation of Serbia in 1941 the resistance largely spread but it it was brutally suppressed by the Germans.  Then resistance continued in Serbia in 1944.]

25:18 – Blaz talks about the impact the OSS had.

27:18 – Blaz talks about the archives he used.

28:38 – Blaz talks about speaking with OSS and SOE veterans.

29:39 – Blaz talks about the airfields used to fly OSS and Soe into Yugoslavia.

30:26 – Blaz talks about how the partisans kept these airfields secret.

34:56 – Blaz talks about the Americans picked for these missions.

35:24 – Blaz talks about some of the exceptions to whom the OSS recruited.

36:00 – Blaz talks about how OSS and MI-6 were treated in Yugoslavia.

36:55 – Blaz talks about how many missions were working in Yugoslavia but they refused to send troops there.

39:55 – Blaz talks about the OSS sending people into the wrong areas of Yugoslavia.

41:23 – Blaz talks about German spies among the partisans.

42:42 – Blaz talks about how he focused on northern Yugoslavia missions.

43:41 – Blaz talks about the strongly preserved memory of this fighting even today.

45:49 – Blaz talks about the memorials to US and British soldiers.

46:42 – Blaz talks about Yugoslav preservation of allied memorials.

48:28 – Blaz talks about the discussions of the Yugoslavia post-war regimes.

49:30 – Blaz talks about Yugoslav history books highlighted Soviet help.

51:24 – Blaz talks about the so called betrayal of Churchill by Tito.

54:13 – Blaz talks about the recruited Yugoslavs and what they did after the war.

59:26 – Blaz is currently working on a book on WWI in Slovenia and Italy.

1:02:08 – Blaz be found on Amazon and McFarland.

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/2ZDmiwM

https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/mission-yugoslavia/

K. Lyn Wurth talks about her novel about Calamity Jane https://wp.me/p7CDU9-56U

Laird Thompson talks about how he helped discover cosmic voids http://spacewalksmoneytalks.com/p/748

Contact Information

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me at www.warscholar.org, on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar and on Instagram @crisalvarezwarscholar. Or subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify Please see historyrabbithole.com for a list of my dozen or so blogs and podcasts. You’re sure to find something you like.

Guests: Blaz Torkar

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: Books, audio interviews, author, academic, podcast, McFarland, Espionage, WWII, United States, Germany, Russia, Britain,

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/2ZDmiwM

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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What was life like with the US cavalry and the Buffalo soldiers with John Langellier

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John Langellier Scouting with the Buffalo Soldiers

What was life like with the US cavalry and the Buffalo soldiers with John Langellier

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/3p3NvU3

Interview Timeline

John P. Langellier has written numerous studies of the technical aspects of the US Army in the Old West. He recently wrote a book on the personal history of a US cavalry Buffalo Soldier officer Powhatan Clarke titled Scouting with the Buffalo Soldiers. We spoke about Lt Clarke, the Buffalo Soldiers, the German military, West Point, Frederic Remington, Apache scouts, and numerous other Old West topics. Scouting with the Buffalo Soldiers (University of North Texas Press, 2020)

1:02 – John explains why he wrote about Powhatan Clarke and the Tenth Cavalry.

2:46 – John talks about how expansive this biography was.

4:43 – John talks about Clarke’s charm and bravado.

6:14 – John talks about how Clarke went into the cavalry.

7:50 – John talks about how well Clarke served with black soldiers.

8:24 – John talks about Clarke serving with Apache scouts and having created special strike forces.

11:55 – John goes into details about how Clarke joined Apache Scouts and Buffalo soldiers.

14:23 – John talks about Clarke’s day to day duty at the forts he was stationed at.

17:57 – John talks about Clarke’s trying to use connections to get stationed in France as an observer. Instead he was sent to Germany.

21:28 – John talks about Clarke’s writings on the German military.

23:52 – John talks about Clarke’s involvement in the Indian Wars.

27:58 – John talks about Clarke’s financial position.

30:22 – John talks about Clarke’s “striker”.

34:26 – John talks about how Clarke changed the use of horses in his command.

37:57 – John talks about Clarke’s connection with Frederic Remington.

40:19 – John talks about Frederic Remington’s response to Clarke’s death.

43:53 – John talks about the documents he found for his research.

47:31 – John goes into more detail about Clarke’s letters and the Missouri Historical Museum and finding images.

49:37 – John talks about the book’s images.

51:05 – John talks about being surprised by Clarke’s use of special units for recon work.

52:48 – John talks about wanting Clarke’s German reports and wishing he could find his wife’s letters.

58:09 – John talks about going to Clarke’s grave.

1:00:20 – John talks about the various readers who might like this book.

1:03:25 – John is writing a book on enlisted Buffalo soldiers.

1:05:12 – More information on the book can be found at the University of North Texas Press website unt.edu.

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/3p3NvU3

https://untpress.unt.edu/catalog/3904

Contact Information

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me at www.warscholar.org, on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezwarscholar. Or subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify Please see historyrabbithole.com for a list of my dozen or so blogs and podcasts. You’re sure to find something you like.

Guests: John P. Langellier

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: Books, audio interviews, author, podcast, University of North Texas Press, American history, Early American Wars, 19th century war, United States, Germany, native american, indigenous peoples,

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/3p3NvU3

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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How badly did the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943 go with James Holland

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James Holland Sicily 43

How badly did the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943 go with James Holland

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/33ouDGU

Interview Timeline

James Holland has written numerous books on WWII and has also appeared on shows and radio to discuss WWII. He recently published a book on the 1943 invasion of Sicily. We spoke about the book, his research, and his writing. Sicily ’43 (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2020)

0:42 – James explains why he wrote a book on the assault on Sicily.

3:25 – James goes into detail about what he covers in the book.

5:38 – James talks about the importance of Malta in the operation.

8:34 – James talks about the Axis air forces in this campaign and how the Allies dealt with them.

12:47 – James talks about Axis losses in the Mediterranean theater.

13:56 – James talks about the poor relationship between Italy and Germany.

19:35 – James talks about the Sicilian landscape, weather, and Allied command and control between the various nations involved.

23:30 – James talks about how well the coalition cooperated in the operation.

29:32 – James talks about the individuals who helped make all the Allied countries and services work together well.

36:28 – James compares the assault on Sicily with the assault on Normandy.

38:51 – James talks about glider operations.

40:51 – James talks about the Tuskegee 99th fighter squadron.

42:20 – James talks about how the Mafia is part of his story

46:20 – James talks about the massacre at Biscari airfield.

48:19 – James talks about how he did his research.

49:41 – James talks about what he enjoyed in the research.

51:19 – James talks about surprises in his research.

52:35 – James talks more about the mafia research.

55:30 – James talks about the German situation.

58:27 – James is at griffonmerlin.com and has a podcast We Have Ways of Making You Talk and on twitter @james1940

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/33ouDGU

https://groveatlantic.com/book/sicily-43-2/

https://www.griffonmerlin.com/

https://twitter.com/James1940

https://wehavewayspod.com/

Contact Information

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me at www.warscholar.org, on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezwarscholar. Or subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify Please see historyrabbithole.com for a list of my dozen or so blogs and podcasts. You’re sure to find something you like.

Guests: James Holland

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: Books, audio interviews, author, podcast, Atlantic Monthly Press, WWII, United States, Germany, Britain,

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/33ouDGU

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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