WW2
Two veterans honoured for role in liberating France
The Legion of Honour is going to Flying Officer Donald Ivey, who flew in the Mosquitoes of Squadron 487 during the D-Day landings. The same squadron carried out the daring raid to bomb a Gestapo… Audio
Author John Nichol: former RAF lieutenant and prisoner of war
The recent death of the last remaining dam buster, New Zealander Les Munro, highlighted the role the legendary squadron had on helping end World War Two. Les Munro flew in 21 bombing missions with… Audio
Feature interview - Simon Goodman
Simon Goodman's Father never talked about the war. Bernard Goodman dressed the part of a quintessential British gentleman but he actually was part of prominent German banking family with a vast art… Audio
Tributes paid to WWII pilot Les Munro
Charles Foster is a Dambuster blogger and author, and nephew of the Dambuster pilot David Maltby. He joins us from Ireland. Audio
Tributes paid to Dambusters pilot Les Munro
New Zealander Les Munro - the last surviving pilot from the famed World War Two Dambusters raid - has died aged 96. Audio
Communists in Caves
Times were tough for the New Zealand Communist Party at the start of the Second World War. They opposed the fight against Adolf Hitler and as a result, their newspaper, People's Voice, was suppressed… Audio
Randol Schoenberg and recovering art stolen by the Nazis.
California Lawyer, Randol Schoenberg fought the Austrian government for the return of five Klimt paintings stolen by the Nazis, a story that was turned into the film The Woman in Gold, starring Helen… Audio
70th anniversary of Adolf Hitler's death
We've heard from one of our listeners today who says his cousin was one of the first officers to enter the bunker where Hitler had killed himself. Sebastian Wilberforce is on the line. Audio
Helene Leaf and Anania Wikaira
In the Far North, Captain Harding Leaf is quite legendary. He fought in the first World War at Gallipoli and on the Western Front. An athletic man who also was known for his keen sense of humour, he… Audio
The Royals, The Nazis and the big cover-up
In the archives of the German Foreign Ministry, days after the Nazi surrender in World War II, a British officer discovered a file so sensitive, only prime ministers, US presidents and a select few… Audio
Campaign for NZ museum in France to honour war dead
Auckland military historian Herb Farrant is leading the campaign for a permanent memorial museum in the northern French town of Le Quesnoy to honor New Zealanders who served in Europe during both… Audio
Amos Hausner - The Eichmann Trial
Amos Hausner's father, Gideon, was the lead prosecutor in the trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann - one of the most written about trials of the 20th century. Amos Hausner followed in his… Audio
Changi Prison Survivor
Roland de Bruyne is an elderly Malaysian Aucklander and a survivor of the infamous Changi Prison during the Japanese occupation of Singapore during WW2. Last year his children discovered letters and… Audio
Sarah Helm
Fifty miles north of Berlin, there is a Nazi concentration camp that is on the margins of the story of Nazi genocide. Ravensbruck held 130 thousand women, 50 thousand were murdered. On the East German… Audio
Wellington war veteran is awarded highest French honour
A Wellington man has been bestowed with France's highest honour in recognition of his service in the Second World War. Audio
World War II veteran 'gobsmacked' at getting French Legion of Honour
Penwill Moore from Wellington, who's about to be presented with France's highest decoration says he was 'gobsmacked' when he found out about it. Audio
New Hokkaido
Wellington novelist James McNaughton's first novel New Hokkaido imagines a New Zealand that was conquered by the Japanese in the Second World War. Audio
Peter Grose - A Good Place to Hide
During the Second World War a cluster of isolated French villages hid Jews in danger and sought them safe passage away from the Nazis. This little-known story is told by author and journalist Peter… Audio
Auschwitz survivors mark 70th anniversary of liberation
300 Auschwitz survivors, along with an international delegation of politicians from 50 countries, gathered overnight at Auschwitz concentration camp to lay wreathes and hear speeches to mark the 70th… Audio
Auschwitz 70 years on
Jewish holocaust survivors and children of survivors have gathered at the Holocaust Memorial in Makara, Wellington to mark 70 years since the liberation of Auschwitz Concentration Camp. Audio