For this episode of the podcast, we are doing something a little different. Rather than focusing on a single subject, we open the floor to your questions.

Over the past few weeks, podcast patrons were invited to submit questions they had always wanted to ask about the Second World War. These range from strategy and leadership to memory, myth and the smaller details that continue to provoke curiosity today.

To help answer those questions, I am joined by two returning guests.

John McManus is a military historian specialising in the United States Army in the Second World War. He is the author of numerous books and is known for combining operational history with the lived experience of soldiers on the ground.

Also joining the discussion is Kevin Hymel. Kevin is a historian and biographer of General George S Patton, with the third volume of his trilogy due for publication in 2026. He is also an experienced battlefield tour guide.

John and Kevin are the hosts of the podcast WW2 Live, which features a regular segment called 'Stump the Chumps' in which listeners submit challenging or unusual questions. That format inspired this episode.

Together they take on a wide range of listener questions, offering thoughtful and often surprising insights into how the Second World War was fought, remembered and understood.

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Charles de Gaulle remains one of the most distinctive figures to emerge from the Second World War. Soldier, writer, leader in exile, and later the creator of the Fifth Republic, he played a central role in reshaping modern France. His relationship with Winston Churchill, their shared struggle during the war, and the influence both men continued to wield long after the fighting ended make him a fascinating subject.

In this episode, I speak with historian Richard Vinen, author of Last of the Titans: Churchill and de Gaulle. His book explores the lives of de Gaulle and Churchill and sets their wartime partnership within a wider story of national identity, political power, and the long shadow of past greatness. Richard guides us through de Gaulle's early years, his outlook as a soldier, his time in London, and the reasons he became such a commanding presence in French public life.

Last of the Titans: Churchill and de Gaulle is also available as an audiobook on Audible.

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The fighting in Burma during the Second World War was among the most demanding of the entire conflict. Soldiers faced dense jungle, monsoon rains, disease, and a determined enemy — conditions that made the campaign both brutal and complex.

Yet for decades, Burma remained one of the least remembered theatres of the war. The men who fought there — British, Indian, African, and Burmese — became known as the "Forgotten Armies."

A new exhibition at the National Army Museum in London, Beyond Burma: Forgotten Armies, seeks to change that. It explores not only the campaign itself but also the wider human and political stories that emerged from the fighting in Southeast Asia.

In this episode of the WW2 Podcast, I visit the museum to speak with Dr Alan Jeffreys, Head of Equipment and lead curator of Beyond Burma. We discuss the exhibition, its themes, and the challenge of bringing this complex history to life.

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