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Reviews for the World at War
"The World At War was one of the greatest television series of all time. It demonstrated the potential power of history on television and inspired a generation - it certainly inspired me to make series like Nazis and Auschwitz. It is tremendously exciting that the complete interviews with the participants from The World at War are now published here for the first time. Most of the people who were interviewed for the series are now dead, but their vital history - thanks to this book - still lives" - Laurence Rees, author of Auschwitz
"Holmes has a sharp, knowing eye for anecdote and detail" - Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday
"What sets Richard Holmes apart is the sheer quality of his writing and his empathy with his subjects" - Independent
THE WORLD AT WAR BOOK
Previously unpublished interviews pulled together by historian Richard Holmes
Aitken, Sir John 'Max' (1910-85), wartime RAF fighter ace, son and heir of Lord Beaverbrook, proprietor of the Daily Express. He became a Conservative MP, and disclaimed his father's barony as soon as he inherited it.
Alex, Private George 101st US Airborne Division, Normandy.
Ambrose, Professor Stephen (1936-2002), prolific and influential US historian: author, amongst other works, of Band of Brothers.
Antonov, General Aleksei (1896-1962), Soviet staff officer in the war, Red Army Chief of Staff 1945-46, Chief of Staff to Warsaw Pact Forces 1955-62.
Aviel, Avraham survived the Radun ghetto massacre in Poland, witness at the trial of Adolf Eichmann in 1961.
Axtell, Marine C.S. Iwo Jima
Ball, George (1909-94), wartime lawyer for the Lend-Lease programme and Director of the Strategic Bombing Survey. Under-Secretary of State for Economic Affairs and UN Ambassador under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, he left office in opposition to the Vietnam War.
Beaufre, General André (1902-75), captain on the French General Staff in 1940, post-war strategic theorist, exponent of the French independent nuclear deterrent: author, amongst other books, of The Fall of France and Deterrence and Strategy.
Beatson-Hird, Lieutenant Denis 51st Highland Division, Rhine crossing 1945.
Beckett, Sergeant Bill Sherwood Foresters group interview, Nottingham.
Beese, Hertha Berlin housewife and Social Democrat
Behrendt, Captain Hans-Otto Rommel's Intelligence Staff, author of Rommel's Intelligence in the Desert Campaign.
Belchem, Major General Ronald (1911-81), 7th Armoured Division in North Africa, 21st
Army Group Staff for the Normandy landings.
Bernhard, Prince of Lippe-Biesterfeld (1911-2004), German consort to Queen Juliana of the Netherlands who fought against the Nazi occupation and became a rallying figure for the Dutch Resistance.
Bielenberg, Christabel (1909-2003), Englishwoman married to an anti-Nazi German lawyer, author of The Past is Myself.
'Bill' Betteshangar coal mine striker
Boas-Koupmann, Rita Dutch-Jewish teenager survivor of Auschwitz.
Bock, SS Lance Corporal Richard guard at Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Boenhoeffer, Emmy sister-in-law of German Resistance martyr Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Bohlen, Charles (1904-74), US diplomat and Soviet expert.
Boller, Major W.S. Ordnance Corps, Burma.
Bokiewicz, Z.T. Polish Home Army, Warsaw rising.
Bolzano, Private Italian Army, North Africa.
Boothby, Robert Lord (1900-86), British Conservative politician, confidant of Churchill and RAF officer. Ennobled in 1958. His colourful private life led Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother to describe him as 'a bounder but not a cad.'
Bosnik, Private Anton Russian defender of Stalingrad.
Bottomley, Arthur Lord (1907-95), trade union leader, Mayor of Walthamstow, Labour MP, held ministerial posts 1945-50 and 1964-67, ennobled in 1984.
Broher, Thérèse French civilian in Normandy.
Broth, Private Henry US serviceman in the Battle of the Bulge, 1944.
Brown, Guardsman Glasgow pub group interview.
Brown, Private Leonard The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment, Burma.
Buckthorpe, Private Fourteenth Army, Burma.
Bundy, McGeorge (1919-96), US wartime official in the Facts and Figures Department, later National Security Adviser to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson during the Vietnam War, later Professor of History at New York University.
Bunt, Gwen Plymouth housewife whose children were killed in the Blitz.
Bush, Lewis pre-war English teacher in Tokyo, later prisoner-of-war.
Bush, Professor Vannevar (1890-1974), Chairman of the US National Defense Research Committee 1940, Director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development 1941-46.
Butler, Mr. London Air Raid Warden during the Blitz.
Butler, Seaman Edward Royal Navy escort ship crewman.
Butler, Richard Lord (known as 'Rab' from his initials) (1902-82), British Conservative politician, leading pre-war appeaser, author of the 1944 Education Act, Chancellor 1951-55, Home Secretary 1957-63, Foreign Secretary 1963-64, ennobled in 1965.
Calvert, Brigadier Mike (1913-98), British irregular warfare expert who led a column in the first Chindit operation in Burma and a brigade in the second. CO of the Special Air Service Brigade until it was disbanded in 1945. Dismissed from the army after a questionable court-martial for homosexuality in 1951.
Chandos see Lyttelton.
Chantrain, Frau Cologne Red Cross.
Chistyakov, General-Colonel Ivan (1900-79), Soviet anti-tank specialist (158th Guards Artillery) at the Battle of Kursk 1943, Commander-in-Chief Manchurian Front 1945-47.
Christiani, Eddi orchestra leader in occupied Holland.
Clark, General Mark (1896-1984), Deputy commander Operation Torch, commander US Fifth Army, Allied Forces in Italy, UN Forces in Korea.
Clark, William Merchant Seaman.
Cochrane, Air Gunner John Eighth Air Force, USAAF.
Colacicchi, Lieutenant Paolo Italian Tenth Army, author of L'ultimo fronte d'Africa.
Coleman, Marine Richard Iwo Jima.
Collins, General J. Lawton (1896-1987), US Army divisional commander on Guadalcanal, at Normandy and across Europe. US Army Chief of Staff during the Korean War.
Colville, Sir John (1915-87), British official, Assistant Private Secretary to Chamberlain 1939-40, Churchill 1940-41 and Atleee 1945. Pilot in the RAF Volunteer Reserve 1941-44.
Combs, Gunner's Mate Tom on board USS New Orleans at Pearl Harbor.
Cooke, Sergeant Wilson US Marine at Iwo Jima.
Corwin, Norman (b. 1910), American broadcaster and radio playwright: his radio series An American in England is especially noteworthy.
Cremer, Lieutenant Commander Peter-Erich 'Ali' (1911-92), U-boat commander, skipper of U-333 and latterly U-2519.
Cruickshank, Private William prisoner of the Japanese.
Daniel, Lieutenant Hugh Eighth Army Dispatch Rider.
Doi, Staff Officer Akio Japanese Army General Staff
Doolittle, General Jimmy (1896-1993), American aviation pioneer who led the first raid on Tokyo and commanded the Fifteenth and Eighth Air Forces in the Mediterranean and England.
Dönitz, Grand Admiral Karl (1891-1980), German Navy, U-boat officer in WW1, Commander U-boats 1939-43, Commander-in-Chief of German Navy 1943-45, Head of State 1945, tried as a war criminal, imprisoned 1946-56.
Driberg, Tom Lord (1905-76), Member of Parliament 1942-74, Chairman of the Labour Party, promiscuous homosexual and Soviet spy, ennobled 1976.
Donnell, Lieutenant Patrick Royal Marine Commando at Gold Beach, Normandy.
Duffin, Guardsman Glasgow pub group interview
Durrell, Lawrence (1912-90), British novelist (author of the 'Alexandria Quartet'), wartime Press Officer, Cairo. Brother of the zoologist Gerald Durell.
Eaker, General Ira (1896-1987), first Commander of Eighth Air Force, USAAF, then of the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces 1943-45, one of the dominant influences in the founding of the USAF, retired as Chief of the Air Staff in 1948.
Easton, Marine Lieutenant Clayton Iwo Jima.
Eldering, Petronella member of the Dutch Resistance.
Elliott, Private George (1917-2003), radar operator on the day of the Pearl Harbor attack.
Eyton-Jones, Captain William Merchant Navy, skipper of SS Ben Vrachie sunk 1941.
Faithfull, Lucy English child evacuee organiser.
Feldheim, Willy member of Hitler Youth, defence of Berlin.
Finch, Captain Thomas Merchant Navy, skipper of SS San Emiliano, sunk 1940.
Finke, Colonel John Company Commander at Omaha Beach, Normandy.
Fiske, Marine Richard on USS West Virginia at Pearl Harbor.
Fitzpatrick, Private Tom Australian 9th Division, Eighth Army, North Africa.
Frankland, Dr. Noble Bomber Command navigator, co-author of the excellent but controversial 1961 Official History of strategic bombing. Director of the Imperial War Museum 1964-82, Chief Historical Adviser to the World at War series.
Fry, Private Ronald British POW on the Death Railway, Burma.
Foot, Sir Dingle (1905-78), Liberal MP and wartime Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Economic Warfare. Lost his seat in the 1945 election and subsequently joined the Labour party: Solicitor-General 1964-67. Brother of Michael Foot.
Foot, Michael (b. 1913), left-wing journalist (Tribune, Daily Herald), anti-appeaser in 1940, Labour Party Leader 1980-83.
Fry, Private Ronald prisoner of the Japanese 1941-45.
Fuchida, Captain Mitsuo (1902-76), Japanese naval airman who lead the attack on Pearl Harbor and became an Evangelical Christian post-war.
Galbraith, Professor John Kenneth (1908-2006), Canadian-American, influential Keynesian economist and official under Presidents Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy and Johnson.
Galland, General Adolf (1912-96), German fighter ace with 104 air to air victories, commander of JG-26 by the end of 1940, commander of Germany's fighter force 1941-45.
Gardiner, Private Noel New Zealand 2nd divisionEighth Army, North Africa.
Garieppe, Sergeant Leo Canadian tank commander, Juno Beach, Normandy.
Gary, Commander Donald (1901-77), won the Congressional Medal of Honor during the near-sinking of the aircraft carrier USS Franklin on 19 March 1945.
Gawalewicz, Dr. Adolf Polish Jewish lawyer and Auschwitz survivor.
Genda, Major General Minoru (1904-89), Japanese naval airman who planned the Pearl Harbor attack and played a prominent role in the post-war Japanese Self Defence Force
Good, Chief Steward Bertie Channel ferry Royal Daffodil at Dunkirk.
Gray, Dr. J. Glenn (1913-77), US Army, served in Italy, France and Germany, author of The Warriors: Reflections on Men in Battle
Gray, Ursula Wartime resident of Dresden, later wife of Dr. Gray
Greene, Sir Hugh Carleton (1910-87), Daily Telegraph correspondent in Berlin in the 1930s, head of German service, BBC, 1940, Director-General of the BBC 1960-68.
Greenfield, Lieutenant George British Army Officer at Tehran Conference.
Greet, Marine John Iwo Jima.
Gretton, Vice-Admiral Sir Peter (1912-92), wartime Escort Group commander and author of Convoy Escort Commander and Former Naval Person: Churchill and the Navy
Gudgeon, Private Denis captured by the Japanese during the first Chindit operation.
Guingand, Major General Sir Francis de (1900-79), Chief of Staff to Field Marshal Montgomery 1942-45.
Hammersley, Private Joe Fourteenth Army, Burma.
Harriman, Ambassador W. Averell (1891-1986), US diplomat and politician, Special Envoy to Europe 1940, Ambassador to Moscow 1943-46, Secretary of Commerce 1946-48, Governor of New York 1954-58, chief US negotiator at Paris peace talks with North Vietnam 1968-69.
Harris, Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur (1892-1984), Joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1915, Commander in Chief of Bomber Command 1942-45, retired 1945.
Hart, Captain Raymond (1913-99), Escort Group Commander.
Herget, Major Wilhelm German ace with 58 night kills.
Hiejenk, Commissioner Amsterdam police officer.
Hilse, Willi German railwayman at Auschwitz.
Hinrichs, General Hans - German engineer officer in France, Russia and North Africa.
Hiss, Alger (1904-96), Senior US diplomat and foreign policy adviser to President Roosevelt at Yalta, convicted of perjury in 1950 in relation to his activities as a Soviet spy.
Hodgkinson, George (1893-1986), Labour Party agent and Coventry Town Councillor.
Hoffman, Private Wilhelm diarist, German Sixth Army, Stalingrad.
Hogan, Captain Neville Burma Rifles, survived the retreat from Burma and took part in the Chindit expeditions in February 1943 and March 1944.
Holmes, Flight Lieutenant Ray (1914-2005), RAF fighter pilot who rammed a German bomber over London on 15 September 1940.
Honda, Lieutenant Ukikuro Japanese Army in Burma.
Horrocks, Lieutenant General Sir Brian (1895-1985), Middlesex Regiment in WW1, commanded XIII Corps in North Africa and XXX Corps in Western Europe. Often wounded, he was invalided out of the Army in 1949. An extraordinarily successful presenter of military history on television.
Hoshino, Naoki Japanese Fascist ideologist.
Höttl, Dr. Wilhem (1915-99), SS official who worked with Adolf Eichmann in the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA) and was the original source for the figure of six million Jewish Holocaust victims.
Howard, Private John Fourteenth Army, Burma.
Hruska, Marine Joe 2nd Marine Division, Tarawa.
Iwanska, Professor Alicja - Participant in the Warsaw Uprising who emigrated to the USA, author of Polish Intelligentsia in Nazi Concentration Camps and American Exile.
James, Brigadier William (1895-?), 100th Indian Brigade, Burma.
John, Dr. Otto (1909-97), member of the German Resistance involved in the prosecution of war criminals at Nuremberg, later Head of the West German Security Service (BfV) who defected to East Germany in 1954 then returned to be imprisoned for treason 1955-58.
Johnson, General Leon (1904-97), won the Congressional Medal of Honor leading 44th Bomb Group USAAF in the bombing attack on the Ploesti oilfields in August 1943.
Jong, Dr. Louis de announcer on Radio Orange.
Kase, Ambassador Toshikazu (1903-2004), Principal Secretary to two war-time Japanese Foreign Ministers, present at the surrender ceremony on USS Missouri, later Japan's first Ambassador to the United Nations.
Kehrl, Hans (1900-84), Nazi industrialist, Chief of Planning Office in the Armaments Ministry. Sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in 1949, released in 1951.
Kempner, Dr. Robert (1899-1993), Chief Legal Advisor to the Prussian police until fired following the Nazi take-over in 1933. Expelled from Germany he returned as part of the US prosecition team at Nuremberg.
Kido, Marquis Koichii (1889-1977), Japanese Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal 1940-45, sentenced to life imprisonment 1946 released 1953 for health reasons.
Kii, Tsuyako Tokyo housewife.
King, Cecil Harmsworth (1901-87), hugely influential left-wing proprietor of the Daily Mirror, at time of interview the biggest-selling newspaper in the world. As chairman of the postwar International Publishing Corporation he headed what was then the world's largest publishing group.
Kleist-Schmenzin, Lieutenant Ewald-Heinrich (b.1922), German officer, July 1944 Bomb Plot conspirator; his father Count Ewald was hanged.
Koch, Private Robert Omaha Beach, Normandy.
Kochavi, Avraham survivor of Lodz ghetto and Auschwitz.
Kodama, Yoshio (1911-84), Japanese Nationalist politician, drug smuggling millionaire and post-war power broker.
Kretschmer, Rear Admiral Otto (1913-98), U-boat ace (U-99) who sank 46 ships. Joined the Bundesmarine in 1955, retiring as a rear-admiral in 1970.
LeMay, General Curtis (1906-90), developed the defensive 'box' used by USAAF bombers over Europe and the strategic bombing campaign against Japan. Post-war he directed the Berlin Airlift, built up the Strategic Air Command and was an aggressive Air Force Chief of Staff.
Levi, Primo (1919-87), Italian Jewish chemist sent to Auschwitz in February 1944. First published Se questo è un huomo in 1947, which became a best-seller in translation as Survival in Auschwitz. Overcome by survivor guilt, he took his own life.
Levin, Private Arnold Omaha Beach, Normandy.
Lindsay, Lieutenant Colonel Sir Martin - regular army officer turned arctic explorer. Took part in the 1940 Norwegian Expedition, wrote So Few Got Through, an atmospheric account on 2nd Gordon Highlanders in 1944-45. Postwar Conservative MP, baronet 1962.
Lomov, General Nikolai (1899-1990), Deputy Head of Red Army Operations 1944-46, then Head of the Red Army General Staff's Far East Department who co-ordinated the invasion of South Korea by Kim Il Sung in 1950.
Looks, Lieutenant Commander Hartwig (b. 1917) U-boat commander.
Loveless, Private John US serviceman in the Battle of the Bulge, 1944.
Lynn, Dame Vera (b.1917), sang with the Ambrose Orchestra 1937-40, had her own radio show 1941-7. Famous for such wartime songs as 'We'll meet again', 'White Cliffs of Dover' and 'It's a lovely day tomorrow.' Known as the 'Forces Sweetheart' because she travelled as far as Burma to sing for troops in the field.
Lyttelton, Oliver, Viscount Chandos (1893-1972), Conservative MP, President of the Board of Trade 1940-41 and 1945, Minister for the Middle East 1941-42, of Production 1942-45, for the Colonies 1951-54, ennobled 1954.
Lomov, General-Colonel Nikolai - Head of the Soviet General Staff's Far East Department during the Korean War, later in charge of the Chief Operative Directorate and for many years Head of the Department of Strategy at the General Staff's Military Academy.
Luft, Friedrich Berlin civilian.
Mahaddie, Group Captain Thomas Gilbert 'Hamish' (1911-97), flew many bombing missions until rested as an instructor in July 1940. He returned as a Pathfinder from August 1942 until March 1943. Post-war he was the aviation consultant on the films 633 Squadron and The Battle of Britain.
Manson, Seaman Frank crewman on USS Laffey, hit by five Kamikazes in 1945.
Manteuffel, General Hasso-Eccard Freiherr von (1897-1978), German Army, served in France, Eastern Front and North Africa, commander of 5th Panzer Army in the Ardennes offensive and latterly Third Panzer Army in the East. Free Democrat representative in the Bundestag 1953-57.
Marshal, David Malayan member of the Straits Settlement Volunteer Corps.
Mash, Sapper Bob Engineer, Eighth Army.
Matsukawa, Kishi Hiroshima housewife.
Mauldin, Bill (1921-2003), American cartoonist who created the archetypical GIs 'Willie and Joe' for Stars and Stripes, the Forces' newspaper, wounded at Anzio, later won two Pulitzer prizes as an editorial cartoonist
Maurer, Dr. Ekkehard (1918-2002), infantry captain on the Eastern Front, later a leading West German industrialist.
McBeath, Lieutenant Commander John captain of HMS Venomous at Dunkirk.
McCloy, John (1895-1989), US corporate lawyer, Assistant Secretary of War 1941-45.
McGee, Private John Infantry, Eighth Army.
Meyer, Major General John (d. 1975), 352nd Fighter Group USAAF, who flew 200 combat missions with 24 confirmed kills. Eighth Air Force's top-scoring ace, three times awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
Middleton, Drew (1913-90), American journalist, foreign correspondent and military correspondent for the New York Times.
Miller, Harry British civilian in Singapore.
Miner, Vernon Merchant seaman.
Minogue, Joe (1923-96), Royal Engineer who landed at Gold Beach on D-Day, later Foreign Editor of the Guardian newspaper.
Mitchell, Harry stretcher-bearer, 50th Division, Eighth Army, North Africa.
Morgen, Dr. Konrad (1910-76), lawyer and SS investigating magistrate 1943-44, dealt with 800 cases of corruption and murder, resulting in 200 sentences, many on the so-called 'camp aristocracy.'
Mountbatten, Admiral of the Fleet Lord Louis, Earl Mountbatten of Burma (1900-79), British Chief of Combined Operations 1941-43, Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia 1943-46, Viceroy of India 1946-47. Murdered, along with two children, by the IRA.
Murray, Lieutenant Ken Staff Officer, US Pacific Fleet
Mutsu, Ian (1907-2002), Japanese-English journalist.
Nakajima, Captain Tadashi Commander Mabalacat Base, the Philippines, organizer of first Special Attack Unit (Kamikaze), co-author of The Divine Wind.
Nakamoto, Michiko Hiroshima schoolgirl.
Nance, Lieutenant Ray Omaha Beach, Normandy.
Nehring, General Walter (1892-1983), commanded 18th Panzer Division in 1940, the Afrika Korps in 1942 and Panzer armies on the Eastern Front in 1943 and 1945.
New, Private Wally Fourteenth Army, Burma.
Noguchi, Isamu (1904-88), Japanese-American artist and landscape architect.
Oakley, Private H.R. British POW on the death railway, Burma
O'Connor, General Sir Richard (1889-1981), Commander Western Desert Force 1940-41, captured, later commanded VIII Corps in North Europe: subsequently served in India and on the Army Board, resigning on a point of principle.
Okada, Lieutenant Teruo Intelligence Officer, Japanese Army in Burma.
Osterholz, SS Colonel Wilhelm Battalion commander, Sixth SS Panzer Army 1944-45.
Oulton, Air Vice Marshal Wilfrid (1910-97), RAF Coastal Command pilot and post-war air traffic control pioneer.
Overlander, Mr. Canning Town resident during the Blitz.
Owen, Corporal Eddy 2nd Marine Division, Tarawa.
Owens, Lieutenant J.K. Staff Officer, Fourteenth Army, Burma.
Paerl, Jetje singer on Radio Orange.
Paisikowic, Dov Russian Jewish survivor of Auschwitz.
Pederson, Marine 2nd Marine Division, Tarawa.
Pene, Private Ruhi Maori member of the New Zealand 2nd Division in North Africa.
Pheffer, Herman disabled US serviceman.
Pier, Lieutenant Donald commander of anti-submarine sloop HMCS Restigouche.
Priestley, J.B. (1894-1984), served in the infantry in WW1, prolific British novelist, playwright and war-time broadcaster.
Pullini, Lieutenant Emilio Italian Folgore (Lightning) Parachute Division, North Africa.
Pusch, Werner pre-war German Social Democrat who joined the SS.
Putterman, Lieutenant Felix Jewish-American US Army Civilian Affairs officer.
Rabeck, Marine Corpsman Iwo Jima.
Reed, Private Robert 2nd New Zealand Division, Eighth Army, North Africa.
Rees, Goronwy (1909-79), Marxist intellectual, officer in the Planning Staff for D-Day, journalist, author and briefly a Soviet spy.
Reeves, Private Bert Fourteenth Army, Burma.
Reid, Flight Lieutenant William (1921-2001), Bomber Command pilot who won the VC on his eighth mission in November 1943, later flew with 617 Squadron until his aircraft was hit by a falling bomb in July 1944, from which he barely escaped to end the war as a POW.
Reiner, Lieutenant Fourth Panzer Army at Stalingrad.
Remer, Heipke member of the League of German Maidens.
Remer, Major General Otto-Ernst (1912-97), commanded Guard Regiment in Berlin during the July 20 Bomb Plot and was instrumental in crushing the revolt.
Rheinheimer, Heinz German civilian living in Darmstadt.
Roberts, Captain Gilbert Director, Western Approaches Tactical Units, Liverpool, developed anti-submarine techniques. His characteristic phrase 'the cruel sea' became the title of a book by Nicholas Monsarrat, a wartime naval officer.
Robertson, Private William US Army, met Russians at Torgau.
Rogan, Air Navigator John Eighth Air Force, USAAF.
Ronke, Christa Berlin schoogirl.
Russell, Sir John British Minister in Moscow 1940-41.
Rybakova, Olga Leningrad housewife.
Sakai, Lieutenant Saburo (1916-2000), Japanese naval airman and fighter ace.
Sakomizu, Hisatsune (1902-77), Chief Cabinet Secretary to Prime Minister Kantari Suzuki 1945.
Samuelson, Dr. Paul (b. 1915), Member of the US War Production Board, Nobel Prize-winning Professor of Economics at M.I.T.
Sanematsu, Commander Yuzuru Naval Attaché at Japanese Embassy in Washngton 1941.
Schimpf, Private Albrecht German Army on the Eastern Front.
Schmidt-Schmiedebach, Lieutenant Heinrich German artillery officer, Eastern Front.
Schroer, Major Werner (1918-85), German fighter pilot who shot down 117 Allied aircraft, 59 over North Africa, 22 over Italy and the rest over Germany.
Schulze-Kossens, SS Lieutenant Colonel Richard (1914-88), Adjutant to Hitler in the 1930s.
Schwerin-Krosigk, Lieutenant General Gerhard Graf von - Divisional Commander who tried to yield Aachen to the Allies in 1944 and was only relieved of command, although his cousin Ulrich von Schwerin-Schwanenfeld had been hanged for treason only a month before. Had a major influence on the post-war Bundeswehr.
Senator, André Mayor of Asnelles, Normandy 1944.
Seney, Private John - US paratrooper, Northern Europe.
Shawcross, Hartley Lord (1902-2003), Labour MP, Chief British Prosecutor at Nuremberg, Chief British Delegate to the UN and Attorney-General, ennobled 1959.
Shearer, Guardsman Glasgow pub group interview.
Sherrod, Robert American war correspondent who reported on the battles for Tarawa and Iwo Jima.
Sherwood, Lieutenant Robert commanded anti-submarine corvette HMS Bluebell and frigate HMS Tay.
Shinwell, Emanuel 'Manny' Lord (1884-1986), left-wing trade unionist and Labour politician, refused to serve in the wartime government, held several post-war ministerial posts, ennobled 1970.
Shkavravski, Dr. Faust Soviet pathologist, performed autopsy on Hitler.
Shoup, General David (1904-83), CO of 2nd Marine Regiment at Tarawa, where he won the Congressional Medal of Honor, later Commandant of the Marine Corps.
iSlberstein, Yaacov - Jewish teenager at Buchenwald and Auschwitz.
Sijes, B.J. member of the Dutch Resistance.
Sink, Colonel James Omaha Beach, Normandy.
Slattery, Marine George Iwo Jima.
Slot, Dr. Bruins member of the Dutch Christian Resistance.
Smith, Seaman George flight deck crew on USS White Plains, Battle of Leyte Gulf.
Smyth, Brigadier Sir John (1893-1983), Indian Army, won the VC in France 1915, the MC in Waziristan 1919, and commanded 17th Division in Burma 1941-42. Relieved of his command after the Sittang battle, baronet 1955.
Solarczyk, Stefan Polish resident in the town of Auschwitz.
Spears, Major General Sir Edward (1886-1974), Distinguished WW1 career as a liaison officer with the French (Liason 1914 is important and atmospheric) Conservative MP and Winston Churchill's representative in France in 1940 and with later with General Charles De Gaulle, baronet 1953.
Speer, Albert (1905-81), Hitler's chief architect, coming to his attention through the 1932 design for a Nazi Party HQ in Berlin; minister of armaments 1942-45. When tried at Nuremberg was the only defendant to admit complicity in Nazi crimes, imprisoned 1946-66.
Stagg, Group Captain James (1900-75), Chief Meteorological Officer to General Eisenhower, gave crucial advice prior to D-Day.
Stearn, Marine Jack Iwo Jima.
Stewart, Brigadier General James M 'Jimmy' (1908-97), pre- and post-war Hollywood star who volunteered for the Air Force and flew 20 combat missions in B-24s, rising to the rank of colonel and Chief of Staff of the 2nd Bombardment Wing of the Eighth Air Force. Became a post-war USAF reserve brigadier general.
Stone, Captain Rodney Merchant Navy, skipper of SS Gharinda sunk 5 May 1943.
Strong, Major General Sir Kenneth (1900-82), Chief Intelligence Officer to General Eisenhower. His 1969 book Intelligence at the Top characteristically made no mention of Ultra.
Sugita, General Ichii Japanese Army, present at fall of Singapore.
Suzuki, General Teiichi (1899-1999), Japanese Army Minister condemned to life imprisonment for war crimes 1948, released and pardoned 1955.
Sweeney, Brigadier General Charles (1919-2004), pilot of the instrumentation support plane for the atom bombing of Hiroshima and the primary in Bocks Car at Nagasaki.
Tanimoto, Kiyoshi Christian Hiroshima resident.
Thomas, Emily Plymouth housewife whose children were killed in the Blitz.
Thomas, Jimmy Merchant seaman.
Tibbets, Brigadier General Paul (b.1915), commander of the 509th Composite Bomb Group and pilot of the Enola Gay - named after his mother - for the atom bombing of Hiroshima.
Tokaty, Dr. Grigori (1909-2003), Ossetian aeronautical engineer, defected to Britain 1947, Professor of Aeronautical and Space Technology at City University, London, 1967-75.
Tokugawa, Yoshihiro (1906-96), Chamberlain to Emperor Hirohito from 1936, saved the recording of the Emperor's surrender broadcast from rebel Army officers.
Tregaskis, Richard (1916-73), war correspondent who covered the Doolittle Raid on Japan, went ashore with the Marines at Guadalcanal and stayed for six weeks. His Guadalcanal Diary is regarded as a classic of war reporting.
Uno, Edison teenaged Japanese-American internee and Nisei civil rights activist.
Ushiba, Tomohiko Private Secretary to pre-war Japanese Prime Minister Prince Konoye.
Valavielle, Michel de French farmer, Normandy 1944.
Van der Boogard, Mr. Dutch factory worker.
Van der Veen, Mr. member of Dutch Christian Resistance.
Van Hall, Mr. Dutch banker who ran an illegal welfare organization to help victims of the Occupation.
Vaughan-Thomas, Wynford (1908-87), BBC Radio journalist, reported on a bombing mission to Berlin, the invasion of Southern France and Belsen extermination camp. Had a distinguished postwar broadcasting career, published an eyewitness account of Anzio in 1968.
Voris, Captain Roy 'Butch' (1919-2005), US Navy fighter ace in the Pacific War, later founder of the Blue Angels precision flying team.
Vrba, Rudolf (1924-2006), Jewish Slovak who was one of only five men to escape from Auschwitz-Birkenau and whose testimony cracked the carapace of disbelief among the Western Allies about the full extent of the Nazi 'Final Solution'.
Wagenaar, Gebern member of Dutch Communist Resistance.
Waterfield, Gordon (1903-87), British journalist and broadcaster,
Warlimont, General Walther (1894-1976), artillery officer 1914, Wehrmacht (OKW) Deputy Chief of Operations under Alfred Jodl 1939-44, prison 1945-57, published Inside Hitler's Headquarters 1964..
Wedermeyer, General Albert (1897-1989), the first US officer to study at the Kriegsakademie since WW1, author of the US Army's 'Germany First' strategic plan, later Chief-of-Staff to Mountbatten and then commander in chief of the Chinese portion of Stillwell's former command.
Weltlinger, Sigmund Member of the Berlin Jewish Council set up by the Nazis
Westphal, General Siegfried (1902-82), Operations Officer to Rommel in North Africa, then Chief of Staff in Italy and Northern Europe.
Whitmore, Private Sherwood Foresters group interview, Nottingham.
Witter, Ben Hamburg journalist.
Witzendorff, Lieutenant Commander Ernst von (b.1916), U-boat skipper, commander of U-121, U-46, U-101, U-650, U-267, U-2524 and U-1007, 1942-45.
Woudenberg, Dick teenaged son of a prominent Dutch Nazi.
Wozenski, Brigadier General Edward (1915-88), company commander on Omaha Beach.
Wright, Wing Commander Robert Personal Assistant to Air Chief Marshal Dowding during the Battle of Britain and later his biographer.
Wolff, Waffen SS Colonel General Karl (1900-84), Chief of Staff to Himmler, Governor of North Italy 1943-45, helped arrange German surrender in Italy and was a prosecution witness at Nuremberg. After publishing his memoirs in 1961 was tried and imprisoned by a German court for the mass deportation of Jews to Treblinka concentration camp.
Yonaha, Momoko Okinawan girl conscripted into medical service with the Japanese Army.
Rivka Yoselevska survived the Hansovic ghetto massacre in Poland, witness at the trial of Adolf Eichmann in 1961.
Yoshikawa, Takeo (1914-93), Japanese naval officer and spy at Pearl Harbor 1941.
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