War - General

3 PARA

by Patrick Bishop

read by Michael Tudor Barnes

running time 11hrs

This is an account of the six month tour of duty carried out by 3 Para in Helmand Province in 2006. Their experience was very different from what they had been led to expect and although they defeated the Taliban in the province, their success came at a price.

75 EVENTFUL YEARS

by Tony Ross (editor)

read by Barry Stamp

running time 21hrs

A tribute to the Royal Air Force 1918-1993.

THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

by John Keegan

read by John Hobday

running time 19hrs

The distinguished military historian John Keegan unpicks the geography, leadership and strategic logic of the first modern war and takes us to the heart of the conflict. His captivating work promises to be the definitive history of the American Civil War.

BAREFOOT SOLDIER

by Johnson Beharry VC

read by Damian Lynch

running time 12hrs 45mins

This is a true story of the author's time as a soldier serving in Iraq. He was almost killed twice and finally won the Victoria Cross for bravery rescuing his colleagues from danger.

CALLED UP, SENT DOWN: THE BEVIN BOYS' WAR

by Tom Hickman

read by John Hobday

running time 12hrs 30mins

In 1943 the war effort was in danger of grinding to a halt because of a lack of coal. In answer Ernest Bevin, the Minister of Labour, compulsorily sent 20,000 18-year-olds, who'd expected to fight for their country, down the mines. The author paints a picture of the arduous life below ground for the Bevin Boys and the tightly-knit communities, which in some cases welcomed them but in others treated them with hostility.

DEFENCE

by Charles Freeman

read by Althea Stewart

running time 4hrs

A look at the existing attitudes to armaments and war.

THE ELITE

by Ranulph Fiennes

read by Peter Noble

running time 13hrs 15mins

Ranulph Fiennes himself served in Britain's toughest formation, the SAS. Since his military days he has won acclaim as an extraordinary brave and resourceful Arctic adventurer. It is fitting that he now looks back across 5,000 years of military history to pinpoint and celebrate the best elite units that served and fought across the globe.

THE FALKLANDS WAR: RECORDINGS FROM THE ARCHIVE

by Miscellaneous authors

read by Miscellaneous

running time 2hrs

1982 was a historic year, a year in which the battle for a small group of islands in the South Atlantic dominated the news. From the initial broadcasts of the growing Argentine threat and Mrs Thatcher's speech to the Commons informing them that a Task Force will sail, to the battles for Goose Green and Port Stanley, the Argentine surrender and the controversial sinking of the Belgrano—all these historic moments, together with all the other important events of the Falklands War, are recorded here, in live BBC Radio News coverage.

GLIMPSES OF WAR: VOLUME 1

by Miscellaneous authors

read by John Hobday

running time 14hrs

Inspired by the first COVID lockdown, Glimpses of War describes personal experiences of wartime of the last 100 years. Stories of great valour and heroism, of tragedy and sorrow, of hardship and stoicism as well as ordinary people ‘just doing their bit’. The British Modern Military History Society has captured many aspects of war from many perspectives, told in the personal words of those who lived through these times or from their family members or historians.

HARRIER: HOW TO BE A FIGHTER PILOT

by Paul Tremelling

read by Finlay Robertson

running time 9hrs 30mins

This is the story of what it takes to make it in the dog-eat-dog arena of fighter combat. In the cockpit or crew room, the pressure is relentless, the humour merciless. It's no place for the faint-hearted. Whether landing on a pitching aircraft carrier deck in the middle of the night or screaming in to save the lives of heroes under fire in Afghanistan, there was no room for self-doubt, only honesty, confidence and do-or-die hard truth. For nearly 20 years, author Tremelling was never happier than when he was in the cockpit of the legendary British jump jet. Combining visceral action with sharp intelligence, laced with acerbic humour, Harrier pulls no punches in bringing to life the hi-octane, unforgiving world of the fighter pilot, in the air and on the ground.

IMMEDIATE ACTION

by Andy McNab

read by Richard Ratcliffe

running time 16hrs 30mins

This is a compelling, no-holds-barred account of the author's extraordinary life, from the day he was found in a carrier bag on the steps of Guy's Hospital to the day he went to fight in the Gulf War.

JUNGLE SOLDIER

by Brian Moynahan

read by John Telfer

running time 13hrs 15mins

Brought up in a vicarage, Freddy Spencer Chapman acquired a love of nature and became 'fascinated by danger' during childhood. 30 years later, as an SOE-trained guerrilla soldier, the orphan boy would prove to be one of the British army's deadliest agents.

LONELY COURAGE

by Rick Stroud

read by Sarah Borges

running time 10hrs

The Special Operations Executive (SOE), set up by Winston Churchill in 1941, saw its role in France as helping the Resistance by recruiting and training guerrilla fighters. 39 female agents were trained alongside the men. This tells their story and sheds light on what life was really like for these brave women who tumbled from the sky.

MEDIC: SAVING LIVES FROM DUNKIRK TO AFGHANISTAN

by John Nichol & Tony Rennell

read by Michael Tudor Barnes

running time 17hrs

This is the story of the men and women who put saving life above taking life and who risk their own lives on a daily basis.

NO PLACE FOR LADIES: THE UNTOLD STORY OF WOMEN IN THE CRIMEAN WAR

by Helen Rappaport

read by Eunice Roberts

running time 11hrs 54mins

On 23rd February 1854, the Scots Fusilier Guards marched past Buckingham Palace en route to the Crimea, as Queen Victoria bowed and waved proudly from the balcony. The women were left to face a bleak uncertain future although many of them were actively engaged in the war, often in the most surprising ways.

ONE HUNDRED DAYS

by Sandy Woodward

read by David Lund

running time 15hrs 45mins

Memoirs of the Falklands Battle Group Commander.

PATHFINDER: A SPECIAL FORCES MISSION BEHIND ENEMY LINES

by David Blakeley

read by Mike Duffin

running time 12hrs 30mins

When British forces were deployed to Iraq in 2003, Captain David Blakeley was given command of a reconnaissance mission of such importance that it could change the course of the war. It's the story of nine men, operating alone and unsupported, heading straight into a hornets' nest teeming with thousands of heavily armed enemy forces. This is the first account of that extraordinary mission - abandoned by coalition command, left with no option but to fight their way out of the enemy's backyard.

REVOLUTION DAY: THE REAL STORY OF THE BATTLE FOR IRAQ

by Rageh Omaar

read by Jeremy Neville

running time 10hrs 45mins

Rageh Omaar reported from Iraq for six years prior to the conflict in 2003. When war came, instead of retreating he chose to stay in Baghdad, to see first hand the country he loved crumble beneath the Allied onslaught. His shocking account is a heartbreaking testament to a people enduring deprivation and destruction.

SAS SECRET WAR: OPERATION STORM IN THE MIDDLE EAST

by Tony Jeapes

read by David Hobbs

running time 11hrs

In 1970 the SAS was called in to support the Sultan of Oman’s armed forces in their bitter struggle against a Communist-backed insurrection. The task in hand was not to obliterate the enemy, for these were the Sultan’s subjects, but to persuade the rebels to join the Omani government’s side, as well as encouraging the independently-minded peoples of the Jebel Dhofar to abandon their support for the insurgents. This is the gripping story of the part played in the conflict by the men and squadrons of the 22nd Special Air Service Regiment, the first full SAS squadron in the region.

TOPGUN: AN AMERICAN STORY

by Dan Pedersen

read by Jim Meskimen

running time 9hrs 45mins

When American fighter jets were being downed at an unprecedented rate during the Vietnam War, the U S Navy turned to a young naval aviator called Dan Pedersen. The programme he set up was called the US Navy Fighter Weapons School. It was known simply as TOPGUN. The hand-picked team of instructors - the Original Eight - were the best of the best. This is the thrilling story of how TOPGUN saw America reclaim the skies, by the man who created it.

VICTORIA CROSS HEROES

by Michael Ashcroft

read by Fred Parker

running time 11hrs

The Victoria Cross is Britain's most prestigious military honour, awarded for valour in the presence of the enemy. From the Crimean War to Iraq, it has been bestowed only 1,355 times, proving the recipients' bravery beyond all doubt. Michael Ashcroft has been fascinated by the VC and has assembled the single largest collection of VCs in the world.

WAR STORIES

by Jeremy Bowen

read by Fred Parker

running time 12hrs

As a war correspondent, Jeremy Bowen was addicted to reporting wars, until the violent death of a close colleague and the birth of his first child made him reassess his dangerous job. Now in a less hazardous role, he comes to terms with his enduring obsession in this candid memoir.