I was reading the British Journal for Military History and an article caught my eye titled The Psychological Impact of Airborne Warfare & the British Response to the Airborne Threat by Dr Tim Jenkins.
In 1940 the Germans achieved stunning successes with the use of airborne troops, the Fallschirmjäger. The first recorded attack by parachutists was in Denmark against the fortress at Masnedø. The reputed impregnable fortress at Eben Emael in Belgium would surrender to just 78 German airborne troops who had landed on top in Gliders.
Traditionally Britain was safe beyond the English Channel, protected by the Royal Navy, this new threat from the air caught the public imagination. There was a clamour in the press, questions were raised in Parliament... What to do?
The result would be thousands of sign posts removed to confuse enemy parachutists, golf course would be ploughed up to prevent glider landings and of course the Home Guard would be formed.
It’s a brilliant article and I suggest you give it a read, you can find it here. Tim agreed to come on the podcast and have a chat.
226 - D-Day and the Great Deception
225 - Hill 107 and the Battle of Crete
224 - The Theory and Practice of Command in the British and German Armies
223 - Landing Craft Infantry
222 - The D-Day Scientists Who Changed Special Operations
221 - Training the Indian Army
220 - The Archer: Reversing to Victory
219 - D-Day Tourism
218 - Target Hong Kong
217 - How the Luftwaffe Lost the skies over Germany
216 - The Latvian Legion
215 - The Power of Japanese Propaganda
214 - Stan Hollis VC and the Green Howards on D-Day
213 - The British Empire and Commonwealth’s War Against Imperial Japan
212 - Invisible Generals
211 - HG-76: Taking the Fight to Hitler's U-boats
210 - The Battle for Italy, 1943
209 - Hospital Trains of WWII
208 - 2SAS and Bill Sterling
207 - Tank Warfare in North Africa, 1942-43
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