From the end of 1941 to 1945 a pivotal but often overlooked conflict was being fought in the South-East Asian Theatre of World War 2
- the Burma Campaign. In 1941 the Allies fought in a disastrous retreat across Burma against the Japanese
- an enemy more prepared, better organised & more powerful than anyone had imagined. Yet in 1944, following key battles at Kohima & Imphal, & daring operations behind enemy lines by the Chindits, the Commonwealth army were back, retaking lost ground one bloody battle at a time. Fighting in dense jungle & open paddy field, this brutal campaign was the longest fought by the British Commonwealth in the Second World War. But the troops taking part were a forgotten army, & the story of their remarkable feats & their courage remains largely untold to this day. The Fourteenth Army in Burma became one of the largest & most diverse armies of the Second World War. British, West African, Ghurkha & Indian regiments fought alongside one another & became comrades. In Forgotten Voices of Burma
- a remarkable new oral history taken from Imperial War Museum's Sound Archive
- soldiers from both sides tell their stories of this epic conflict.



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6 June 1944: the day Allied forces crossed the Channel & began fighting their way into Nazi-occupied Northwest Europe. Initiated by airborne units & covered by air & naval bombardment, the Normandy landings were the most ambitious combined airborne & amphibious assault ever attempted. Their success marked the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany. Drawing on thousands of hours of eyewitness testimony recorded by the Imperial War Museum, Forgotten Voices of D-Day tells the compelling story of this turning point in World War 2. Hearing from paratroopers & commandos, glider pilots & landing craft crewmen, airmen & naval personnel, we learn first-hand what it was like as men waited to go in, as they neared the beaches & drop zones, & as they landed & met the enemy. Accounts range from memories of the daring capture of ' Pegasus' bridge by British glider-bourn troops to recollections of brutal fighting as the assault forces stormed the beaches. Featuring a mass of previously unpublished material, Forgotten Voices of D-Day is a powerful & important new record of a defining moment in modern history. ...

It could have been the biggest military disaster suffered by the British in the Second World War, but against all odds the British Army was successfully evacuated, & ' Dunkirk spirit' became synonymous with the strength of the British people in adversity. On the same day that Winston Churchill became Prime Minister, Nazi troops invaded Holl&, Luxembourg & Belgium. The eight-month period of calm that had existed since the declaration of war was over. But the defences constructed by the Allies in preparation failed to repel a German army with superior tactics. The British Expeditionary Force soon found themselves in an increasingly chaotic retreat. By the end of May 1940, over 400, 000 Allied troops were trapped in & around the port of Dunkirk without shelter or supplies. Hitler's army was just ten miles away. On 26 May, the British Admiralty launched Operation Dynamo. This famous rescue mission sent every available vessel
- from navy destroyers & troopships to pleasure cruisers & fishing boats
- over the Channel to Dunkirk. Of the 850 ' Little Ships' that sailed to Dunkirk, 235 were sunk by German aircraft or mines, but over this nine day period 338, 000 British & French troops were safely evacuated. Drawing on the wealth of material from the Imperial War Museum Sound Archive, Forgotten Voices of Dunkirk presents in the words of both rescued & rescuers in an intimate & dramatic account of what Winston Churchill described as a 'miracle of deliverance'.

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Drawing material from the Imperial War Museum's extensive aural archive, Joshua Levine brings together voices from both sides of the Blitz & the Battle of Britain to give us a unique, complete & compelling picture of this turbulent time. In June 1940, British citizens prepared for an imminent German onslaught. Hitler's troops had overrun Holl&, Belgium & France in quick succession, & the British people anticipated an invasion would soon be upon them. From July to October, they watched the Battle of Britain play out in the skies above them, aware that the result would decide their fate. Over the next nine months, the Blitz killed more than 43, 000 civilians. For a year, the citizens of Britain were effectively front-line soldiers in a battle which united the country against a hated enemy. We hear from the soldiers, airmen, fire-fighters, air-raid wardens & civilians, people in the air & on the ground, on both sides of the battle, giving us a thrilling account of Britain under siege. With first-hand testimonies from those involved in Dunkirk & the Battle of Britain, Black Saturday on 7th September 1940 when the Luftwaffe began the Blitz, to its climax on the 10th May 1941, this is the definitive oral history of a period when Britain came closer to being overwhelmed by the enemy than at any other time in modern history. ...

In April 1982, Argentina surprised the world by invading the Falkland Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. The tiny islands had long been the subject of a fierce territorial dispute between Argentina & the UK, & the occupation quickly escalated into a terrifying full-blown conflict between the two countries.

Part Two
- Fighting for the Falklands

Overcoming the difficulties of conducting a war at the most enormous distance from home & during the Antarctic winter, British troops successfully landed on the Falklands; the Argentine response led to growing casualties on both sides. At sea, losses included HMS Sheffield & Coventry, & the Argentinian cruiser General Belgrano.

Drawing upon the vast resources of the Imperial War Museum's Sound Archive, Forgotten Voices of the Falklands presents the first complete oral history of the Falklands War. This audio book is a unique & essential chronicle of the conflict from all sides & perspectives, told in the participants' own voices.

Read by: Sean Barrett

Runtime: 3 hours
Discs: 3











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In 1972 a team of academics & archivists from the Imperial War Museum set about the momentous task of tracing ordinary men & women who had lived through one of the most harrowing periods of modern history, the First World War. Veterans from Britain, Germany, America, Australia & Canada were interviewed in detail about their day-to-day experiences on & off the front. The archive has grown to be one of the most important of its kind in the world & provides a unique account of life during the Great War. These tapes, some of which have rested unheard for decades, contain the forgotten voices of a generation no longer with us. Now over thirty years on, after hundreds of hours in the archive, author Max Arthur has created this remarkable, landmark history of the First World War. ...

Following the publication of the remarkable Forgotten Voices of the Great War, Max Arthur has once again gone deep into the Imperial War museum sound archive to create this landmark oral history of the most devastating conflict the world has ever seen, the Second World War. The Sound Archive – the most important of its kind in the world – holds a vast quantity of interviews with soldiers, sailors, airmen & civilians recorded over the last thirty years. After months of detailed research & having listened to hundreds of hours of interviews, he has pulled together the story of the war through these powerful & moving testimonies. Here, in the raw, are the personal experiences of ordinary men & women from around the world, including British, Irish, French, German, American, Japanese, Australian & New Zealand accounts. Between them, their individual voices make up an immediate & vivid narrative of the Second World War. With many of the interviews published for the first time, Forgotten Voices of the Second World War is a unique & stunning history. ...

' The Gestapo kept me three days in this interrogation house. They especially wanted to know what I did after my escape, & precise things on the organisation of the SOE. & just for fun I suspect, because I had really not much to tell them, they pulled one of my toenails out...'
- Robert Sheppard, SOE agent The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British organisation created early in World War 2 to encourage resistance & carry out sabotage behind enemy lines: in Winston Churchill's famous phrase, to 'set Europe ablaze'. Drawing on the vast resources of the Imperial War Museum Sound Archive & featuring a mass of previously unpublished personal testimonies, Forgotten Voices of the Secret War tells the stories of SOE agents, HQ staff, diplomats, aircrew & naval personnel in their own words. As the war unfolds, we learn of parachute drops into enemy territory, torture by the Gestapo & nerve-wracking sabotage missions in far-flung climes. Forgotten Voices of the Secret War is both an incredible account of espionage during World War 2 & a fitting testament to the efforts & sacrifices of a dedicated group of courageous men & women.
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1916. The Somme. With over a million casualties, it was the most brutal battle of the First World War. It is a clash that even now, over 90 years later, remains seared into the national consciousness, conjuring up images of muddy trenches & young lives tragically wasted. Its first day, July 1st 1916
- on which the British suffered 57, 470 casualties, including 19, 240 dead
- is the bloodiest day in the history of the British armed forces to date. On the German side, an officer famously described it as 'the muddy grave of the German field army'. By the end of the battle, the British had learned many lessons in modern warfare while the Germans had suffered irreplaceable losses, ultimately laying the foundations for the Allies' final victory on the Western Front. Drawing on a wealth of material from the vast Imperial War Museum Sound Archive, Forgotten Voices of the Somme presents an intimate, poignant, sometimes even bleakly funny insight into life on the front line: from the day-to-day struggle of extraordinary circumstances to the white heat of battle & the constant threat of injury or death. Featuring contributions from soldiers of both sides & of differing backgrounds, ranks & roles, many of them previously unpublished, this is the definitive oral history of this unique & terrible conflict.

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Details: The Victoria Cross is one of the world's most famous medals. It was introduced by Queen Victoria in 1856 for
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