I love reading, watching, or seeing anything related to military history, in particular WW2. What are you reading, watching, and seen?

I have toured the following: HMCS Haida, USS Torsk, Pampanito, John Brown, Hornet.

Watching SAS Rogue Heroes now.

Reading books they turned into movies like The Great Escape and A Bridge Too Far.

I've recently read a book on the Knights Templar and re-read Stalingrad by Antony Beevor.

I watch the various graphics channels by simon whistler on youtube and the documentary series Nazi megastructures on Disney+

Nazi megastructures/megaweapons was a GREAT series, also try Secret Nazi Bases. Drain the oceans is good too. Smithsonian channel has awesome programming such as Air Warriors and WWII Battles in Color. I have the Stalingrad book, but haven't opened it up yet. Last year I read an interesting book about Hitler's limo and the journey it took from the factory to today in the Canadian War Museum. In Australia you must have lots of historical things to see and do. I read and watch a lot on the Burma Thai railway, heard about the doctor Weary Dunlop.

Can I recommend a book by Gwen Strauss called, "The Nine?"
The nine are young ladies who, in the 1940s occupied France, were active in the resistance.
Arrested, tortured, it's deeply uncomfortably reading.
They came together as a group in Germany, in a concentration camp and then a slave labour camp.
At the collapse of Nazi Germany, they escaped from a "death march" and struggled through to the American lines.
After the war, the horrors remain and their future lives are not straightforward.
Peter

If you're interested in military videos, the free streaming service Tubi ( Stand down, mods, it's legit and owned by Fox ) has a ton of stuff on offer along with the standard box office stuff. You might also want to seek out local libraries: I recently found out that my city library card was accepted at the old local military library as well, and while the hours aren't great, they have thousands of out-of-print and rare military books - it's pure cream to the hardcore enthusiast.

Sounds very interesting. But lately I have to limit how much death and destruction or as my mother says "blood and thunder" I watch or read. Can really affect you, get you into a depression or angry. I have read or heard of stories where people researching, writing, producing difficult subjects and material have to take a break or get help. The woman who wrote The Rape of Nanking eventually took her own life because it disturbed her too much. After you see and read what people went through I am surprised not more took their lives. I watched a documentary on WW1, actors reading letters and stories of people, horrible, a woman losing her husband and finally just turns on the gas stove and sticks her head in. I wanted to go put my head in the oven after seeing that.

Oooh good topic- strongly recommend Mark Felton Productions on youtube. Great presentation style that mimics the era, a lot of archival footage and photographs, and he covers a lot of the weird and random parts of wartime history.

If you like naval history I can also recommend Drachinifel. Covers naval battles, ship design and engineering, and has a pretty good sense of humour too.

Not sure if this will be taken down. Yes I know and use Tubi well. In the city or home with ample internet and WiFi streaming is easy, however going on vacation or cottage I rely on the antiquated physical media like DVDs to save my precious data. There are many legitimate apps and sites that will help you download content posted to places like Youtube. You should try the free by donation website Archive.org, tons of great books and shows you can download or view. I have watched most of the military DVDs my library has, apparently it is the largest system in NA or World, but still lacking sometimes. If all that fails I can always go to someone's house with Netflix or Prime and binge a series I am dying to see (SAS Rogue Heroes is awesome).

Yes he does, great little movies, I love the weird, odd, obscure stories from WW2. His books are pretty good, he found a lot of rare stories about POW escapes in the Pacific. Check out Tank Chats thru the Tank Museum in Bovington, very informative. World of Warships and some other producers have amazing tours of ships, tanks, museums etc which are great for thosebof us who cannot afford or like to travel as much.

The_Phantom_Major said:
Yes, you make a very fair point. I felt at times troubled reading, "The Nine". It was as if the reader is intruding. The other side of this point is; we really should know what horrors lie when truth and a free democracy break down. These horrors were not just conducted by people who were evil Nazis, they were conducted by ordinary people just like us, people whose judgment had been twisted by years of evil propaganda and the erosion of free thought. We must be aware. We must be on guard because these things can happen again.
Peter

Not just Nazis or Japanese, there are books on Allies being brutal too, the Russians I guess can be explained away, but for the West?! Basically for every invader or occupier in WW2, there wasn't a single cohesive resistance. Different factions of western or eastern resistance fighting themselves and invaders (France, Yugoslavia, China). Already happening again in Ukraine, it's like WWIII by proxy, like Lend Lease, everybody is happy to send all the latest weapons to both sides, but let Ukraine and Russia do all the dying and suffering.

Yes, I agree, war by its nature is brutal and atrocities occur on all sides. There is an important distinction, however, in that brutality, genocide, and "ethnic cleansing" were the explicit war aims of fascist Germany and Japan. Fascism delighted in war, it was a constant state of war that made a nation strong and able to dominate democracies, because freedom and democracy are, (in the eyes of fascists) inherently weak. The bombing of civilian Germany, especially in the last year of WW2, is often cited as a war crime. The primary intention, however, was to disrupt German production and transport, at a time when the outcome of the war was far from certain. The huge numbers of innocent deaths were a tragic consequence of the imperative to defeat fascism.

Well in the woke world of today we were the bad guys it seems lol. I feel more badly for all the aircrew that were lost to achieve Bomber Harris total bombing of Germany, he boasted that Bomber Command alone would end the war and make D-Day needless, that seems pretty vainglorious. No matter how superior you are in the air or sea or ground, a determined enemy can continue to wage war, it just depends how willing you are to suffer losses.

Australia has some unique history of it's own. I live near the sydney and there are former WWII era bunkers and installations up and down the coast. Done some spelunking through bunkers. Most still have the gun mounts. Others have been turned into proper museums.

I do agree with what you say about the aircrews. There is a fascinating book called, "Tail-end Charlies" by John Nichol and Tony Rennel, which gives an account of the bombing campaign from the point of view of the crews, who faced the prospect of a horrifying death often being more likely than not. They were not bad guys, they were very young men who were put to a test that seems unimaginable. The hundreds of thousands of civilians who perished were largely innocent too; I've seen one estimate that 120,000 children died in the raids. The finest tribute is surely that, once the evil of fascism had been defeated, Germany has gone to become one of the world's foremost democracies. They did not die in vain.

Yes that looks like a good book! They also wrote some about POWs, escapes, home runs, and forced marches. Yes, Google Dresden and there are a lot of horrible pictures, coupled with the fact of the more than 120,000+ aircrew of Bomber Command, there were about 55,000+ KIA alone. That stat is probably only second or third to the losses suffered by U-Boat crew (75% KIA) and the USMC/US Army in the Pacific. Too bad the world is so polarized now, no more middle ground, either too far right, or too far left.

Does being into military history count when you deal with planes in the USAF inventory that date back to the 1950s as part of your job? I transferred a few years ago but all of these things are still flying except for the KC-135E models.

It's too bad because I kind of miss the sound JT3Ds made and there isn't a lot left that still use those engines any more. The newer stuff is too quiet and boring.

Hope, I didn't know you were into military history. So am I. A few years ago, a B-25 flew into Billings and I got to take a look at it. Previously I had seen a B17 and B24 in Nashville. And I went down to Mobile where the USS Alabama is moored as a museum. They had a lot of military vehicles and planes, including a C-5.

Really interested in World War 2. Read lots of books including Hitler's 1200 page biography. Also used to collect WW2 related DVDs although I ripped them all to NAS drive and stream others nowadays. Have visited many sites around the world and always look out for military museums. Ive still not visited Auschwitz, although my father (who is just old enough to have lived during WW2 being born in 1938!) visted a couple of years ago.

I like Lions Led by Donkeys podcast and Behind the Bastards.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=J9eytvGjMos

I like studying all types of (military) history myself; at Barnes & Noble Booksellers, I went thru a special periodical about some of the USA's most decisive (and bloodiest) battles. It covered everything from Colonial America to today's War On (Islamic) Terrorism. I liked the diagram of that stealth helicopter that many modern-day US Special Forces use 4 covert operations and extraction purposes. As for World War I (which is STILL often referred to as the "Great War" 2 this very day), I am researching that Black Hand organization - that fringe cult of (mostly young) Serbian nationalists who pulled off the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife in the Balkan regions of Europe in 1914. (The gunman who actually shot the Royal Couple 2 death was no more than SEVENTEEN years old at the time when he did it!). Of course, that single event triggered a series of chain reactions that culminated into the First World War. Also, as 1 can probably tell, I like studying just about ALL manner of Ancient Civilations and Religions - as well as Underground Cults and Secret Societies - ie the Illuminati, Freemasonry, Knights Templar, etc. It just doesn't stop.

Yes l am a huge Military nerd l love to learn and study wwii, the Korean War and Vietnam war and other conflicts. I use to work at the wwii museum in New Orleans l worked there for about 7 years. And had the honor of meeting a Tuskegee Airmen. It was amazing. I miss my time there. I was also a part of the Living history reenactment. I'm an a collector or military uniforms. And equipment. My two favorite impressions are us army and USMC. Yes military history is my favorite.