Twelve years have passed since the disastrous Crusader Battle of Varna and three years since the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. Europe is reeling under the relentless pressure of Ottoman advances: Serbia fell in 1455, and Sultan Mehmed II had now amassed his forces for an invasion of the Kingdom of Hungary. To launch this invasion, he first needs the fortress town of Belgrade... Dur: 20mins File: .mp3 ..read more

The Italian invasion of British Somaliland is an often-overlooked action of the Second World War. Although small and a backwater of the British empire, the region would see several significant firsts of the Second World War. The loss of the colony in mid-1940 was the first significant loss of British colonial territory during the war. The loss alongside the few casualties suffered, caused frustration and concern in London. While the unexpected collapse of Italian East Africa less than a year later represented the first significant theaterwide defeat of the Axis powers. Dur: 20mins File: .mp3 ..read more

Among the many brave acts of the Second Anglo-Afghan War (November 1878-September 1880), sixteen were awarded the Victoria Cross. Among this relatively small collection of awards, however, are several remarkable circumstances. The war saw the last Victoria Cross awarded to a civilian and the same award was the first to a clergyman (Reverend James Adams). Dur: 33mins  File: .mp3 ..read more

At the turn of the nineteenth century, Italy, a newly unified upstart Great Power, was looking to expand its political and economic influence into neighboring North Africa. Just a few years earlier, France had taken effective control of the North African coast from Tunisia to Morocco, while Egypt was a British protectorate. Just two areas of North Africa were unoccupied by Western European powers: Morocco and Ottoman Libya. Dur: 22mins  File: .mp3 ..read more

In the early stages of the Battle, aimed at capturing the high ground east and south of Ypres, the men of the New Zealand Division were tasked with capturing the village of La Basseville, southwest of the Messines Ridge (where the division had fought in June). La Basseville was situated on the Lys River (the border with France) and on the extreme right of Haig’s grand offensive. The New Zealanders' attack would act as a distraction to the German forces and, hopefully, cause them to divert troops away from the centre of Haig’s main attack. The Germans were under instructions that Warneton (an i ..read more

In AD 376 an entire nation of Goths (the Theruingi) gathered on the northern banks of the Danube and asked permission to enter and settle within the Eastern Roman Empire. The Eastern Emperor, Valens (r. 364–78), agreed and this set off a series of events which would end in the greatest disaster for Rome since Cannae in 216 BC: the battle of Adrianople, fought on August 9, AD 378. Dur: 19mins File: .mp3 ..read more

In AD 376 an entire nation of Goths (the Theruingi) gathered on the northern banks of the Danube and asked permission to enter and settle within the Eastern Roman Empire. The Eastern Emperor, Valens (r. 364–78), agreed and this set off a series of events which would end in the greatest disaster for Rome since Cannae in 216 BC. Dur: 22mins File: .mp3 ..read more

It is a rare thing that a man be awarded his country's highest award for bravery because of his actions as a Prisoner of War, but that is exactly why Air Wing Commander James Stockdale was singled out. He was the highest ranking US Prisoner of War during Vietnam from 9 September 1965 until 12 February 1973 and was awarded the Medal of Honor for his unrelenting bravery in the Hanoi Hilton. Dur: 21mins File: .mp3 ..read more

By the time of America's entry into WWI in April 1917, Eddie Rickenbacker was already famous. Always obsessed with engines, he had become a mechanic to Lee Frayer in the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup at the age of only 15. In 1910 he became a race-car driver himself, racing in the Indianapolis 500 in 1911. Dur: 20mins File: .mp3 ..read more

In late October AD 312, the fate of the future of the Roman world was decided near the Pons Milvius, the Milvian Bridge (the modern Ponte Milvio, Italy), crossing the River Tiber some 5 kilometres north of Rome on the via Flaminia. The battle was the culmination of the war between rival Roman emperors, Maxentius and Constantine, to see who would dominate the western Roman Empire. Dur: 34mins File: .mp3 ..read more