The History Podcast

For the first time, commanders, soldiers and pilots who served in Afghanistan tell their story of the gruelling assault on Jugroom Fort - and an astonishing rescue mission.

As people back home partied in the streets, celebrating victory in Europe in May 1945, war wasn’t over for the many thousands of soldiers and civilians on the Asian front. For those in Japanese prison camps, or fighting in distant jungles, it wasn’t always over on the day Japan announced its unconditional surrender on August 15th.Episode 3 of The Second Map traces the complex remembrance of the war on the Asian Front in Britain, India, and Japan, 80 years after it ended. We hear of the trauma of those who lived as prisoners and how they coped with life once back in Britain. And we learn how the horrors of war returned to veterans in their nightmares, and speak to descendants across Britain who are making new discoveries today about what their family members did in the war on the Asian Front. Creator, Writer and Presenter: Kavita Puri Series Producer: Ellie House Script Editor: Ant Adeane Sound Designer: James Beard Series Editor: Matt Willis Production Coordinators: Sabine Scherek, Maria Ogundele Commissioners for Radio 4 and The World Service: Dan Clarke, Jon ZilkhaOriginal music: Felix Taylor Archive Curator: Tariq Hussain Voice actor: Bhasker PatelWith thanks to Dr Diya Gupta, Dr Vikki Hawkins, Dr Peter Johnston, Professor Rana Mitter and Tejpal Singh Ralmill.

In Episode 2 of The Second Map, the war against Japan enters a new phase. Some of the most significant battles of the Second World War were fought on the Asian front - including by the 14th Army, which was known as ‘The Forgotten Army’, even at the time. It was formed after a string of defeats to Japan and was made up of nearly a million men, the majority from India and across the British empire. Their main aim: to win Burma back. Assisting them was a remarkable British woman from North London who became known as “The Jungle Queen,” and the tribal group she was living with. Their intervention would be critical. And we hear rare voices from Japanese forces, as the war shifts against them. Creator, Writer and Presenter: Kavita Puri Series Producer: Ellie House Script Editor: Ant Adeane Sound Designer: James Beard Series Editor: Matt Willis Production Coordinators: Sabine Scherek, Maria Ogundele Commissioners for Radio 4 and The World Service: Dan Clarke, Jon ZilkhaOriginal music: Felix Taylor Archive Curator: Tariq Hussain Voice actor: Dai Tabuchi Translators: Hannah Kilcoyne, Sumire HoriWith thanks to Dr Diya Gupta, Dr Vikki Hawkins, Dr Peter Johnston, Professor Rana Mitter and Tejpal Singh Ralmill.

We all know the heroic story of Britain fighting the Nazis in World War Two. But what’s less well-known in popular memory is the war on the Asian front, against Japan. Yet it touched many families across Britain. Their descendants are still uncovering stories today. On the same day as Japan’s attack on the US Naval bases at Pearl Harbor there were simultaneous strikes on British territories in South East Asia. Episode 1 of The Second Map charts the humiliating defeats that the British suffered by Japanese forces as they rapidly took key colonies in South East Asia. We hear from eyewitnesses who were in Singapore when it fell, and were then later captured and held prisoner. We hear from a 104-year-old veteran, who desperately wanted independence for India, but decided to fight alongside the British against Japan. And we explore why this part of the war is not as well known as the one against the Nazis. This is the other story of the Second World War. Creator, Writer and Presenter: Kavita Puri Series Producer: Ellie House Script Editor: Ant Adeane Sound designer: James Beard Series Editor: Matt Willis Production Coordinators: Sabine Scherek, Maria Ogundele Commissioners for Radio 4 and The World Service: Dan Clarke, Jon ZilkhaOriginal music: Felix Taylor Archive Curator: Tariq Hussain Voice actor: Dai Tabuchi Translators: Hannah Kilcoyne, Sumire HoriWith thanks to Dr Diya Gupta, Dr Vikki Hawkins, Dr Peter Johnston, Professor Rana Mitter and Tejpal Singh Ralmill.Includes archive material from ‘Singapore 1942: End of Empire’ (2012), Electric Pictures.

We may know about Pearl Harbor and how the war against Japan ended with the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But in popular memory, what happened in between is less well-known. Marking the 80th anniversary of VJ Day, we hear of how defeat turned to victory, from epic battles in jungles, to one that played out on a tennis court and saved the British Empire, through remarkable testimonies from British, Indian, and Japanese soldiers who were there, as well as former prisoners of war and civilian internees. Plus we speak to descendants across Britain who are uncovering a family member's story of heroism, imprisonment, and survival.

In this final episode, Joe follows the opening of a public memorial and engages with a private reckoning.Written and presented by Joe Dunthorne (based on his book Children of Radium: A Buried Inheritance) Produced by Eleanor McDowall Music by Jeremy Warmsley Mixing engineer, Mike Woolley Translator in Berlin: Francesca Schweiger Recordings of the memorial unveiling: Phoebe McIndoe Story consultant, Sarah Geis Executive producer, Alan Hall Commissioning editor, Daniel Clarke A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4

In Munich, Joe traces a very different side to his family history, events that were left out of his great-grandfather’s memoir.Written and presented by Joe Dunthorne Produced by Eleanor McDowall Music by Jeremy Warmsley Mixing engineer, Mike Woolley Story consultant, Sarah Geis Executive producer, Alan Hall A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4

After the war, Joe's great-grandfather attempts to build a new life in the United States where his mental health begins to deteriorate.Written and presented by Joe Dunthorne Produced by Eleanor McDowall Music by Jeremy Warmsley Mixing engineer, Mike Woolley Story consultant, Sarah Geis Executive producer, Alan Hall A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4

A letter from Joe’s great-grandfather, leads him to the east of Turkey and the story of a massacre, kept silent for many yearsWritten and presented by Joe Dunthorne Produced by Eleanor McDowall Music by Jeremy Warmsley Mixing engineer, Mike Woolley With thanks to Jaclynn Ashly and David McDowall Story consultant, Sarah Geis Executive producer, Alan Hall A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4

Joe follows in his great-grandfather's footsteps to Turkey where he was employed, it seems, making gas masks.Written and presented by Joe Dunthorne Produced by Eleanor McDowall Music by Jeremy Warmsley Mixing engineer, Mike Woolley With thanks to David McDowall Story consultant, Sarah Geis Executive producer, Alan Hall A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4