North African Odyssey: To Hell And Back (Part 3)

Summary

WW2 Pod: We Have Ways of Making You Talk

Episode: North African Odyssey: To Hell And Back (Part 3)

Hosts: Al Murray (comedian, history enthusiast) & James Holland (historian)
Release Date: July 13, 2026
Theme:
A deep dive into the OUDNA disaster, exploring the harrowing odyssey of the British 2nd Parachute Battalion in the North African campaign of 1942. The episode combines first-hand accounts, mythic comparisons, and an honest reckoning with the failures and chaotic circumstances of early British airborne operations.

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Episode Overview

This episode concludes the series on the 2nd Parachute Battalion’s ill-fated 1942 North African operation. Al and James unpack the realities behind the mission that was meant to establish the reputation of British airborne forces—revealing it as a catastrophic misadventure characterized by poor planning, exhausted troops, and hard-won but ultimately pointless heroics.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Odyssey of 2 Para: Myth, Exhaustion, and Survival

• Literary Comparisons:

  • The hosts frequently liken the ordeal to a Homeric journey—a “maroon odyssey,” with John Frost cast as Odysseus and his bottle of whisky as Penelope (04:11–04:31).
  • “If anyone is Odysseus, it’s mustache stroking Lieutenant Cole. John Frost picking his moment, slipping away into the night.” (04:37)
  • The men’s exhaustion, hardships, and desperate escapes evoke epic adventure, with moments of absurd humor and tragedy.

• First-Person Account:

  • James reads at length from Lt. Peter Stainforth (Royal Engineers), vividly describing the battalion’s final, grueling march, marked by sleep deprivation, hunger, and despair (02:27–03:52).
  • “We again experienced the full effect of our exhaustion… we slithered along as though skating, making the sparks fly in the darkness… half dead men pitching and reeling… like drunk, incapable of steering a course.” (02:27)

The Strategic and Tactical Debacle

• Pointlessness of the Mission:

  • Both hosts are unsparingly honest about the mission’s futility:
    • “None of the airfields they're supposed to capture are airfields anymore. So the whole thing is utterly pointless, and it starts from a point of view of really bad intelligence.” – James (07:24)
    • “They do succeed in the mission, but it also doesn't achieve anything. It's awful.” – Al (07:17)

• Origins in Misapplied Lessons:

  • The British obsession with airborne warfare stemmed from trying to mimic perceived German innovations in 1940, without fully understanding their real success: communications and operational flexibility (08:04–11:45).
  • “They’re hunting for a panacea that doesn’t exist … learning the wrong lessons.” – James (10:26)
  • “You know, a soldier with no weapons isn’t a soldier, he’s a bloke.” – James (10:25)

• Failure of Communications:

  • The hosts emphasize the critical shortage of radios and the lack of relief for the isolated paratroopers—“communications and relief are the two key elements,” which were glaringly absent (12:18).
  • “If you're trying to think of one reason why France loses [in 1940], it’s that—what’s the actual edge? It's communications.” – Al (14:48)

• Institutional Naivety:

  • Both the airborne commanders and ground forces lacked understanding of how to use paratroopers; there was skepticism and operational confusion on all sides (18:16–19:32).
  • “You’re then deploying troops where neither party is happy with the deployment … in the middle are the airborne troops themselves, who are clearly not doing what they’re supposed to be doing.” – James (19:11)

The Ordeal Unfolds: Escape, Survival, and Capture

• Escape from Farmstead:

  • The paratroopers, vastly reduced in number, are constantly under attack, exhausted, hungry, and forced to make desperate night escapes as the Germans close in (21:04–23:42).
  • “The columns would suddenly keel over like a line of skittles and melt to the ground. Amazing.” – Peter Stainforth, read by James (23:37)

• Contact with First Army:

  • After days in enemy territory, a scouting party encounters British tanks—reunification is met with casual British insouciance:
    • “We’ve been wondering about you.” (32:24–32:31)
    • “Which implies they really haven’t been, doesn’t it?” – Al (32:56)

• American Rescue, Pyrrhic Relief:

  • The survivors finally meet American armored units, but are given no transport, forced to march the last miles “like zombies,” having “almost ceased to care” (37:08).
  • “On the bonnet, Jim, is a white star. Hooray, it’s the Americans. Thank God for that.” – Al (38:30)

• Shattered Battalion:

  • Out of 600, 2 Para ends up with only around 200 survivors, most of whom are exhausted or wounded; many are missing, captured, or dead (40:20–42:27).

Notable Evasion and POW Stories

• Dennis Rendell’s Escapades:

  • A highlight is the tale of Lt. Dennis Rendell, who, after his capture and escape, manages to have his photo taken at an Italian fairground rifle range—with unsuspecting German soldiers on either side (24:32–26:46).
  • “I think that is literally my favorite story ever.” – James (26:38)

• Chivalry among Enemies:

  • Paratroopers lined up to be shot as “saboteurs” are saved at the last moment by a German officer, who insists: “You are paratroopers and you put up a brave fight. You are prisoners of war and will be treated as such.” (45:47)
  • “Could be Hector.” – Al, drawing on Homeric analogy (51:47)

• Other Close Calls:

  • Several cases are described:
    • Corporal McConney kills his Italian guard with a concealed knife before hiding out with French civilians (43:25).
    • Medical officer McGavin destroys a German transport plane, then breaks both legs jumping from a train while escaping (46:28–46:54).

Reflections on Failure, Resilience, and Legacy

• Candid Assessment:

  • Both hosts underline that despite individual heroism, operationally the mission was a “complete pointless failure” and “a shaggy dog story” (47:17–47:28).
  • “They’ve been broken on the wheel of other men’s incompetence and their unfortunate eagerness to get into battle.” – Al (47:28)
  • “They do believe they've been led on a wild goose chase. They feel… the whole thing’s a travesty. And they're right to.” – Al (46:18)

• Rebuilding Against the Odds:

  • The depleted battalion must be rebuilt quickly using non-airborne replacements (“a couple of hundred gunners”), training new members as elite infantry at short notice to prepare for Sicily and further combat (47:58).

• The Myth of the Paras Begins:

  • The North African ordeal ‘seals’ the reputation of the British airborne, but as prelude to their future, more successful actions—and greater suffering to come (49:43–50:13).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On exhaustion and futility:

  • “At last we were too tired to raise foot from ground, slithered along as though skating, making the sparks fly in the darkness...half dead men pitching and reeling...like drunk, incapable of steering a course.”
    — Peter Stainforth, read by James (02:27)

• On the whole misadventure:

  • “This is a mad story.” – Al (17:36)
  • “Loss of men. Yeah, it’s careless, isn’t it? The planning of it, the operation of it.” – James (47:22)

• On lessons misunderstood:

  • “They’re hunting for a panacea that doesn’t exist… learning the wrong lessons.” – James (10:26)
  • “If you're trying to think of one reason why France loses [in 1940], it's that—what’s the actual edge? It's communications.” – Al (14:48)

• On British cool under fire:

  • “We’ve been wondering about you.” (32:24)
  • “Which implies they really haven’t been, doesn’t it?” – Al (32:56)

• On German chivalry and close shaves:

  • “You are paratroopers and you put up a brave fight. You are prisoners of war and will be treated as such.” (45:47)

• On the enduring legend:

  • “This is the Odyssey, isn’t it? These are—you could cast these people as Achilles and Hector and all that sort of thing.” – Al (51:37)
  • “And the chivalry, there’s that little grain of chivalry in it… it’s fantastic.” – Al (51:47)

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Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• 02:27–03:52 – Vivid first-hand account of final march by Lt. Peter Stainforth
• 04:06–05:09 – Mythic/Homeric analogies for the operation
• 07:17–07:40 – Honest reckoning with the pointlessness of the mission
• 10:10–12:43 – Discussion on the true roots of German military success and Allied operational failings, esp. communications
• 21:04–23:42 – Account of the farmstead escape and the men’s exhaustion
• 24:32–26:46 – The remarkable story of Dennis Rendell evading capture and getting his photo with German troops
• 37:08–38:45 – The final march and rescue by Americans, with the last ounce of the battalion’s energy exhausted
• 45:23–45:47 – Paratroopers nearly executed as irregulars, saved by a German officer’s intervention
• 47:17–47:28 – The “complete pointless failure” – total loss reckoned
• 51:37–51:47 – Summing up the mythic quality and the glimmers of chivalry amid chaos

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Episode Tone and Language

The tone maintains a balance between irreverent banter and deeply researched historical storytelling. Both hosts bring wit, empathy, and sharp critique to the events, often using dry British humour to underscore the surreal and tragic absurdities of the campaign. First-person accounts are read dramatically, lending immediacy, while larger reflections keep the episode grounded in historical analysis.

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Conclusion

This episode masterfully depicts the confusion, courage, and calamity of the 2 Para’s North African Odyssey—a microcosm of Britain’s early WWII airborne efforts. Amid tales of absurdity and heroism, Al and James strip away the mythology often associated with these operations, offering a candid, richly detailed, and occasionally darkly comic assessment of what remains one of WWII’s most cautionary tales in airborne warfare.

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For More

• Al and James tease further episodes on North Africa and encourage listeners to join their Patreon for deeper dives and primary source material, including chapters from Peter Stainforth’s memoir Wings of the Wind.

Transcript

[Al Murray]

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[Al Murray]

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[Al Murray]

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[James Holland]

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[Al Murray]

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[James Holland]

Those last few miles were perhaps the the worst part of the whole march. At first we started off singing and swinging along into good marching pace. After the last five days of great exertion and mental strain, relief buoyed this up. We had accomplished what had looked so impossible. We'd fall off the enemy in four engagements and passed right through his screen in front of Tunis with a march of 70 miles on, little food and water and hardly any sleep. Gradually, the reaction set in as the miles dragged on and on and we again experienced the full effect of our exhaustion. We felt so sure they would send over transport for us. But as each kilometer stone went by, our spirits went lower and lower. The ranks wavered and struggled out and finally lost all cohesion as they stumbled and strayed over the road. At last we were too tired to raise foot from ground, slithered along as though skating, making the sparks fly in the darkness. So at last, later that evening on 3rd of December, we came to measures at Al Bab. We passed a big concrete and steel railroad brock and tottered through the defences of a French tirailleur regiment. No doubt they looked at us in wonder, marveling at the sight of half dead men pitching and reeling from one side of the road to the other like drunk, incapable of steering a course. That of course was Lieutenant Peter Stainforth, Royal Engineers. Yeah. Wow. Well, that's an account, isn't it?

[Al Murray]

Yes, that's from his poorly named Winds of the wing. Wings of the Wind. You see, I can. Such a terrible title. I can't remember it.

[James Holland]

Bad title. Great book.

[Al Murray]

Bad title. Great book. Welcome to Way of ways of making you talk. Our third episode of what 2 Para Did Next. The OODA disaster. OODNA disaster. And this. We're in the Odysseus returns phase of John Frost's odyssey, I think, aren't we, Jim? If anyone.

[James Holland]

If anyone could be is Penelope. That's what I want to know.

[Al Murray]

Well, I think in John Frost's case, Penelope may well be a bottle of whiskey waiting for him at brigade headquarters.

[James Holland]

Who knows, Warm and cozy and welcoming him towards the comfort of bed.

[Al Murray]

Never let him down. However, if anyone is Odysseus, the wily Odysseus, it's mustache stroking Lieutenant Cole. John Frost picking his moment, slipping away into the night. Of course, this decade from what they get out of one scrape.

[James Holland]

Imperturbable, indefatigable.

[Al Murray]

Exactly. And always with a solution. They get out of one scrape into another. They either give the enemy the slip by guile or the twists of fate as the Luftwaffe's harpies swoop in and attack the Germans in the nick of time. It's. It's. I think this is. It's a maroon odyssey. That's what this is.

[James Holland]

It's Homeric. That's what it is.

[Al Murray]

Exactly. Exactly. And he has to leave his wounded behind. Some of his men are adrift. He never sees them again. You know, all this, it's. I think this is positively Homeric.

[James Holland]

You should write it as a Massive, massive poem.

[Al Murray]

I mean, it'd be interesting to see what Bill would make of that.

[James Holland]

This is our mutual publisher, a great friend, Bill. I've decided to write it as a Homeric poem. The story of John Frost. He is Odysseus. And I'm going to call it Odysseus Returns, the story of what two. It would absolutely fly off the shelves.

[Al Murray]

Sing to me, O Muse,

[James Holland]

the songs of the Sirens.

[Al Murray]

I mean, it's all there, isn't it?

[James Holland]

Think of all the kind of classical illusions you could put. Oh, God, you know, well, part Herodotus, part Homer.

[Al Murray]

He's Odysseus. He's descended from the skies, you know, upon the. Upon Pegasus, for heaven's sake. I mean, it's.

[James Holland]

Listen, you can even have Greek gods appearing to him at obviously moments, you know, so hero there in front of him on the rocky outcrop near El Bab.

[Al Murray]

It's all there, isn't it?

[James Holland]

By saying of the arms of the. And of the man. There you are. It's first line of the Ned. As our very intellectual producer, J.R. he's cleverer than us. I've always said it and I can. We'll continue to do so.

[Al Murray]

The thing is, it's, you know, it's got that element and I. And I think what's interesting, actually, I mean, before we get into this, in fact, we, you know, we need to. We need to sort of round up really, and how we ended. How they ended up getting here, because it's so weird. Is that what the parachute regiment guys do, the parachute battalions do in North Africa is the thing that absolutely seals their reputation as fighting men. But that's a bit later than this. That's when they go into the line and they're like filling in for guardsmen and filling in for different people in the line. This is like. This is something else. This is something sort of crazier.

[James Holland]

It's an outlier, isn't it?

[Al Murray]

Yeah, it is. It is. It is.

[James Holland]

It's an outlier because it. Because ultimately the. Yes, they do succeed in the mission, but they also doesn't achieve anything.

[Al Murray]

It doesn't achieve anything. It's awful.

[James Holland]

None of the airfields they're supposed to capture are airfields anymore. So the whole thing is utterly pointless. And it starts from a point of view of really bad intelligence.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[James Holland]

Which is a terrible way to begin an extremely dangerous.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[James Holland]

And risk. High risk operation deep behind enemy lines, I would argue.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And against it, at the end of our last episode, they were leaving the Farmstead at El Fedja under attack by fal. Frost had repulsed the Germans by laying low. Right. He's so short of ammunition that he's ordered his men not to fire. So the Germans think there's no one there.

[James Holland]

Yes. And we have that amazing incident with the fal. He's gone for a Sl.

[Al Murray]

That's right, yeah. Hans Tesca and what we'll do. And, and, you know, they say he sounds his hunting horn again, like Odysseus. So they, they know it's the last breakout, the pat. And we'll come back and look at that little battle because there's, there's some great accounts of it. But I think we should take a moment to reflect to how on earth we got here. How, you know, an elite force of 600 paratroopers or 550 paratroopers is now down to a couple of hundred blokes running for their lives in, in Tunisia. And it's, it's all to do with the summer of 1940, the strategic earthquake. You know, we've talked about the sort of knock ons, the macro knock ons of the strategic earthquake. You know, America realizing that it can't outsource security to Europe anymore. You know, what it means for the Japanese, the fact that the British Empire is in such trouble and the, you know, all the, and the moving parts and, and Roosevelt's response to it, and also stuff. But a big part of what happens in 1940 is because of the German success. Everyone goes, how on earth did they do that? How have they. How have they bowled us over? And rather than going, what did we do wrong? They were much, they very much try and figure out what the, what magic ingredient the Germans had in the summer of 1940. And in fact, people have been looking for that ever since, haven't they? They've really, you know, even the idea that they're all on Benzedrine or whatever, or Pervitin, rather. There's always a. There's a search for this magic ingredient. And one of them is airborne operations. And, you know, after, after the summer 1940, you know, Churchill writes his famous memo saying, we're gonna need some. We're gonna need some airborne troops. And I want commandos for, you know, butcher and bolt raids and all this sort of stink stuff and raiding the enemy coast, keeping Jerry off balance and all this sort of stuff. And then this grows into, there's going to be an airborne division and the division will fight completely self sufficiently. That's what you see at Arnhem. That's why Arnhem, you know, only half of the gliders that can carry infantrymen carry infantry. There's, there's mechanics and there's policemen and there's provosts and there's, you know, Clarks and all this sort of stuff that goes to Arnold.

[James Holland]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, but, but the fundamental problem, and this is the one that I, I just find it absolutely extraordinary, they don't get this with greater clarity, is that any soldier is only as good as the ammunition he's got in his pouch.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[James Holland]

You know what? You know, a soldier with no weapons isn't a soldier, he's a bloke. Yeah. And this is the fundamental problem, whatever. What I find that also absolutely amazing is that no one seems to twig is that the key to German success in the Blitzkrieg years is superior operational art and tactical flexibility that is achieved through communications, which is the fundamental shortcoming of the Western Front and the bogged down wars. And ditto the front on the Italian front in the Eastern Alps, for example. Yeah, it's all about that. And, you know, we're going to be getting on to the second part of the Barbarossa series. It's the same problem. The problem with that with the Soviet Union, the Red army, who have this overwhelming material superiority, is that they can't organize themselves as well as the Germans can organize themselves. He's literally the more organized team wins. Yeah. I mean, it's just as simple as that. And so what they're doing with the airborne forces is hunting for a panacea that doesn't exist in. And they're actually learning the wrong lessons. There absolutely is a role for airborne operations. You know, biting the Bruneville raid is a perfect example of that.

[Al Murray]

Well, that's John Frost's point, but Frost is absolutely right.

[James Holland]

It is limited operations, not wholesale operations. And you can do wholesale operations like Operation Varsity right at the end of the war, or like the 11th US airborne operation in the Philippines. If your comms are good and your, ultimately your operational art is good, then you can do it. And the goal is of a limited nature which is completely in keeping with the forces you're deploying. The moment you extend that, you're in big stuck.

[Al Murray]

Well, and a big part of airborne operational art is that you're relieved quickly because otherwise you are just a bloke without any ammunition and without any water. And we've looked at the two things here. You say communications and relief are the two key elements. They get one radio, they get through the first army once with Their radios. And the message is there's no relief. So there's the two things in one go.

[James Holland]

All right. But why does it take the enemies of Nazi Germany so long to work out that the key to operating is comms in a modern war?

[Al Murray]

I don't know, Jim. Because it's difficult. Because it's really, really difficult, isn't it?

[James Holland]

It is. But why isn't greater R and D research and development priority put onto that? If you can invent the cavity magnetron make, surely you can invent a half decent radio.

[Al Murray]

Well, you've spent the money on the cavity magnetron, so you're making the radio with the, with the money you've got left.

[James Holland]

You could argue, but that's what it needs. You know, I have never seen, and I, I, it may well exist, but I've just never seen it. I've never seen a document at a high level planning meeting. And I'm talking about sort of core and above to army, to army group, to, to just general headquarters where they've said what we really need to sort out is how we communicate on the battlefield and combine all odds.

[Al Murray]

But the thing is, is everyone's, you know, there's no, there's no radios below battalion level in 1940. You know, radios go to battalion headquarters in 1940 in the BEF. So they're not in radio contact with the rest of the battalion lower down. Right. So they're taking orders for brigade from division, from Corps. Right. So when they do start rolling radios through, I mean, Monty's amongst them. Who says, I'm not sure sure about this Because I'm worried that what's going to happen is my subalterns will, will ask for orders all the time. And if they don't get their orders by radio, they won't have any initiative and they won't be able to crack on and do what I need them to do.

[James Holland]

Yeah, yeah. But what you do need to do is you need to be able to communicate. You need to be able to communicate with the, with, with the component parts, you know, infantry with armor. Armor with artillery and with, with engineers and with reconnaissance troops and, and so you can exploit, so you can withdraw. Germany wins in France in 1940 because of radios.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[James Holland]

If France loses in 1940 because of a lack of radios, it is as simple as that. Yeah.

[Al Murray]

Well, there we go.

[James Holland]

If you're trying to think of one reason why France loses, it's that what's the actual edge?

[Al Murray]

It's communications.

[James Holland]

So why has Germany worked that out but no one Else, that's what I find absolutely baffling.

[Al Murray]

Well, because they're, they're, they're, they're caught in an innovation trap where they have to make things work as quickly as possible. So they're looking for solutions. The French aren't looking for solutions. You know, they're looking for a defensive war, they're looking for defensive way of doing things.

[James Holland]

I think that's why.

[Al Murray]

And then they're not. They're thinking, we don't need to innovate, we just. We just need to dig in. I think it is really interesting, though, that. So, anyway, so, you know, the airborne fall into this sort of panacea possibility, but they're completely operationally naive, as we've seen, you know, that choosing your drop zones from the door of the aircraft is, I think, is all right if there's half a dozen of you, but not when you're deploying a battalion. Right.

[James Holland]

No, it's absolutely nuts.

[Al Murray]

But what you've also got here, you know, so you've got. Volunteers are motivated, they're gung ho, they're really expensive to train because they. Because. Because they've got to learn how to parachute and you've got to figure out how. That. How to develop parachuting. And we saw in the earlier episode, you know, when they first get the Dakotas, blokes are being killed as they figure out how to jump from a new aircraft. I mean, it's, It's a bitter and expensive business in every sense. And also you've got the fact the Air Ministry are resisting fighting this thing tooth and nail all the way. So little wonder they're operationally naive, and little wonder they haven't been, you know, they're hung up on the things they see as their immediate problems, the airborne people, which is how do we get in planes, how do we get deployed? Even they're thinking about that rather than what they do once they land. I think a bit more, you know. And Frost says, we hadn't really thought about ammunition expenditure. It's because they're hung up on the parachuting bit because they're not getting the chances they want, you know. And, you know, the airborne operations have not offered proof of concept so far. Colossus is the disaster. Bruneval raid goes well, right? But. But it's much more within everyone's reach. It's on the French coast. It's just over, you know, it's just the other side of the road, so to speak. The navy can get there in a way that. In a way that, you know, deep Italy, mezzo giorno Italy isn't. Isn't quite so accessible.

[James Holland]

But. But also that everything about it leans into a. Into a rapid deployment and rapid.

[Al Murray]

Yeah. Withdrawal.

[James Holland]

Pulling out of the. Of the operation as well.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[James Holland]

It's. It's got a very obvious start, middle and end.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[James Holland]

And you're allowing those superior troops of their superior training, motivation, use of initiative and weapon. Weapon use of weapons to operate at their maximum advantage, which is what you always want them to do. Yeah. Rather than letting them kind of run out of steam, run out of everything, you know, flail around and have to kind of stop picking up their feet from one and the other and slivering along the ground.

[Al Murray]

Concentration of force. I mean, you're. You're literally not concentrating your force here. I mean, it's. It is. I mean, this is a. Exactly. This is a mad story. And so you end up with this thing with fur, you know, that through all these sort of slips. Twix cup and lit First Parachute Brigade, you know, being fed piecemeal into a North African campaign, liaising with the headquarters at first army, who could be described as skeptical at best about airborne operations, hostile at worst. You know, their attitude. Who are these unproven people who can't deliver what they claim to promise? And why do they keep canceling operations anyway? You know, you can see there's only going to be friction, but there's also a.

[James Holland]

There's also a curious lack of intellectual curiosity from the army headquarters. Yeah. If you're an army headquarters, you've got these highly motivated and highly trained troops. Why wouldn't you sit down and go, okay, this is potentially cool. This is not my world. Tell me all about it. How can we work it out? How can we use them to the best of our advantage? Because basically they might be jumping out of aircraft, but they're still applying sound. They still need to be applying sound military principles which are ageless. The new technology hasn't changed the principles behind it.

[Al Murray]

But I think first army are in the. They're in that bind where they're thinking, we just need some infantry to plug into the line here. Thanks very much. That's actually what we want them for. And the airborne people go, well, you can't do that. You absolutely can't do that. We're specialized. We have a role and all this sort of thing, and no one, because everyone's new to it, no one really knows what that role actually is.

[James Holland]

Yes. But what that means is you're then deploying troops where neither Party is happy with the deployment.

[Al Murray]

Exactly.

[James Holland]

Because. Because the airborne command isn't getting what it wants and the ground forces aren't getting what they want. And the people who caught in the middle are the actual airborne troops themselves, who are clearly not doing what they're supposed to be doing.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, but it reminds me, you remember, you remember in the Afghan war when we were in Iraq and Afghanistan, it must have been, I don't know, 20 years ago, and there was that use it or lose it moment, apparently, where the government were told, you're going to need to use your infantry battalions or you're going to have to cut them. You know, this is a use it or lose it situation. Browning has got to get some stuff done because otherwise someone will say, you know what, let's just bust these by guys back down into light infantry and let's cancel the whole project. It's only a raiding force. It's not a, it's not a division. So there's so many things that work here. Yeah, you know that now you end up with a bunch of blokes in a, you know, in a farm with cat, relying on the cactus as a, as a defensive line. I mean, it's.

[James Holland]

Yeah.

[Al Murray]

You know, they're 50 miles behind enemy lines and they. And his battalion that. And he know, you know, and he's come through as a company commander to battalion commander. You know, they're all volunteers. They've been, it's been torn apart, this battalion smashed to pieces in five days. They've been abandoned by first Army. The armored thrust that is meant to come through, that hasn't come, it's been called off. There's no planes on the airfield. And the Germans, obviously, they want a victory here. They want to round these powers up. So, I mean, it's a bit of business. So come the dawn of 3rd of December, and they landed on the 29th, Frost decides to send another party out to find First Army.

[James Holland]

This is 1942, so this is less than a month After TORCH on 8th November, Operation TORCH and the night before.

[Al Murray]

Again, it's been torrid. They've pulled off the impossible. They've disengaged the enemy while under attack, which is supposedly the most difficult thing of all. And again they, they, they've repelled the attack by waiting until the enemies got really close. And the men have been ordered not to open fire until kills were certain. And the sign that the enemy is coming is very simple. The Arab family in the farm, they pack up and leave. They just, they, they go, I'M out of here. We're out of here.

[James Holland]

Thanks. Yeah.

[Al Murray]

The first inklings of the German presence. So there's Lieutenant Dennis Rendell, who back at udna, is the fellow who rushes ahead with his platoon on the attack of the airfield. And then. And they all say, oh, he's headed off to Tunis and he has to be recovered as to come back into the company area during the night.

[James Holland]

Right.

[Al Murray]

He's gone for a dump. And he says he was quietly having a shit behind the cactus bushes when he saw motion on the skyline.

[James Holland]

It's not what you want, is it?

[Al Murray]

And he runs back to his company headquarters and he's told, well, they're getting out as soon as night falls. And he says, well, actually, he says to the company to. To IC Kevin Keith Mountford, he says, I've seen movement on the skyline. They have another look and immediately mortars start popping in. In come the mortars, foo, foo. And they come crump, crump, crump of the mortar starting up and all that

[James Holland]

machine gun as well. Yeah, there we are. And just so good at it.

[Al Murray]

And Peter Stainforth, he recalls what happened as follows. And Jim, your Peter is doing a great job for us.

[James Holland]

So open fire as soon as the enemy start to leave the broken ground ahead. Don't waste ammunition. We've got to hold them off until dark. Same drill as last night? I inquired. Yes, exactly. The colonel will blow his hunting horn as soon as it's dark enough for us to make a getaway. When you hear it, collect your section together and go like smoke for the big gate in the farmyard. I'll be waiting for you there. We have to get into the hills as fast as possible. Okay. He crawled away towards his own section. Suddenly, the hunting horn sounded. We lifted our feet and went like the wind down the cactus lined pods and into the cobbled farmyard. About 60 of us had kept together in that mad rush from the farm. David took command and led us northwestwards up a rocky goat track winding into the heart of the Jebel Mengu. All was so exhausted by now that it was necessary to move very slowly and halt every half hour. Directly, the word to halt was passed. The men sank into their tracks and were immediately asleep. It was the most incredible phenomenon. The columns would suddenly keel over like a line of skittles and melt to the ground. Amazing.

[Al Murray]

They are absolutely done, aren't they? And they're still going.

[James Holland]

It's. Yeah, it's incredible. But you're getting the sense, the frenetic sense of this, this aren't you.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're, they're, they're, they're, you know, it's the halfway between panic and, you know, narcolepsy, isn't it? They're really in trouble. And Rendell is wounded and captured in the chaos that follows in that. In that. In that battle, you know, and he's literally told, for use of Oy is over.

[James Holland]

And not that old chestnut.

[Al Murray]

That old chestnut. He's taken to Italy. And when the armistice comes in September 1943, Dennis Randle escapes and from his POW camp, goes on the run. And while he's on the run, he famously has his picture taken at a rifle range at a fun fair with German troops either side of him completely oblivious. And that. That story is absolutely amazing.

[James Holland]

So he's.

[Al Murray]

He's holed up with these guys and the Italians go, the fun fair is coming to town. And he's thinking, what. How could have you got the fuel? What do you mean there's a fun fair coming to? This is nonsense, right? And they. They sort of think, him and two other guys, they basically don't believe it, so they go on a recce and go and have a look. And there's a fun fair, you know, with. With steam engines and a rifle range and all this sort of stuff. And so they go in. They go in to the fun fair and there's a rifle range where if you hit the target, it takes your photo, right? And because. Because two Paris Musketry is really, really good, right?

[James Holland]

Polaroid just comes out.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Flash photo like that. If you hit the target. And he's a. He's a crack shot because he's. The musketry's really good in 2 para. So he. Bang, he takes a. And this. This photo and there's these two. Two lancer next to him, you know, in their slouch caps.

[James Holland]

So they still exist.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, yeah. It's out there somewhere. I mean, I'll find it. It's absolutely. It's absolutely amazing. And then the blokes with him go, I think we need to. I think we need to get out of here. I think it's a bad idea, us being around. So they bugger off. It's absolutely amazing.

[James Holland]

Absolutely amazing. And the great thing is the two Germans either side of. They're willing him to hit.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, they're going, go and hit the target, mate.

[James Holland]

Yeah, go, mate. You do it. Wow, what a story.

[Al Murray]

So the story in the obituary is, among the sideshows was a short shooting range where customers could try their Luck with an air rifle at hitting a plate 20 yards away. If they succeeded, the impact of the slug triggered an automatic flashlight photograph of the marksman. Randall and six of his fellow escapees could not resist visiting the fair. Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe servicemen were at the range, but their shooting was poor and the camera seldom flashed. Two Luftwaffe men put up such an abysmal performance that Rendell, exasperated beyond endurance, could stand no more. He grabbed the rifle, rammed a slug up the breach, aimed and fired a satisfying clang, followed by a large flash signal. A bullseye. The fugitives, rather shaken by attracting so much attention, collected the film and slipped away quickly, leaving the Germans to pay. Fantastic.

[James Holland]

I've got to say, that is. I think that is literally my favorite story ever. Just so brilliant, isn't it?

[Al Murray]

It's absolutely incredible.

[James Holland]

I wonder if there were any fwokey Dartificio. That's. That's Italian for fireworks.

[Al Murray]

Ah, is it? That's very good. And then they. They get. They. Their escape line is betrayed. Randall moves his team to Rome, decides to go to Rome. And on one occasion, Randall, whose highly proper manner master daredevil streak that erupted from time to time, approached several German senior officers at the opera house in execrable Italian. He asked one of them to sign his program. When Rendell returned to his comrades, they asked him if he'd gone off his rocker. The German officer in question was the military governor the of. Of Rome.

[James Holland]

That's just superb. Did he ever write a memoir or anything?

[Al Murray]

I don't know, but this. There are some. There's his.

[James Holland]

You need to know more.

[Al Murray]

There's his account on paradata of I was going for a crap and. And. And suddenly we saw that. I saw the Germans.

[James Holland]

He sounds absolutely amazing, this guy.

[Al Murray]

What a fellow. I mean, let's. Let. Well, let's have a little dig into Dennis. I think that's with the gun. It's such a great picture. Anyway, anyway, so I love that.

[James Holland]

I've never heard that story before, ever.

[Al Murray]

Isn't it amazing? Anyway, once they've escaped.

[James Holland]

Anyway, once the oudna back to ood.

[Al Murray]

Now, once they've escaped, Odysseus Frost has to gather his officers together to make plans for the morning. And everyone fell asleep when he stops them to talk to them, right? Because they're so tired. So he goes, all right, we need to do an O group. And everyone just falls asleep because they stop, right? And his account does read like someone who can't really remember what happened because he was so, so tired. And they're woken by how Cold it is. The thing that wakes them up is how cold it is. Incredible. And about, about three in the morning, about three in the morning, the party of sappers that Peter Stainforth had been running with links up with the rest of the two power column. And there's about 200 blokes left. And they, they spot another farm, 600 the kick out of the 600 or so who've gone in. So they spot another far. And so Frost sends Peter Stainforth ahead to investigate because he had. Frost has a real soft spot for sappers and rightly so. And Stainforth goes forward to, to this farmhouse.

[James Holland]

I pulled the heavy bell chain in the porch and the deep clanging at the back of the house seemed to make an appalling commotion. Presently one of the shuttered windows opened and somebody looked out quickly, then patted down the passage. The bolts were drawn and a middle aged lady in a dressing gown and slippers opened the door with a crack. In spite of the apparition standing on the doorstep, armed and covered in grime, she recovered her poise almost immediately and asked me politely of what service she could be. Madam, I explained as well as I could in my limited French nousom. British soldiers on our way to Medjez el Bam. We're very tired, having marched a long way. We shall be very grateful if you would let us sleep in your barns for a few hours before we continue our journey. Oui, oui monsieur, anything you wish, he replied.

[Al Murray]

This is straight out of the Odyssey. They found, they found, they found an island with this beautiful French woman and her daughters in the, you know, in the middle of nowhere. And they, they, they all, they all rest up.

[James Holland]

We turn into pigs.

[Al Murray]

Well, exactly. She serves Frost champagne, Frost drinks champagne. And in the morning the, the farmer's daughters serve the officers ham and eggs. And Stainforth can't eat. He finds the idea of food too disgusting. And Frost hasn't slept at all.

[James Holland]

He's so hungry.

[Al Murray]

He's so hungry he can't, can't cope with it. He finds it all vile. And, and he has. Frost hasn't slept, but he's had some. He's had a drink.

[James Holland]

Good.

[Al Murray]

Thank God for that. Right. He knows that they're about 20 miles now from Medjaz Al Bab, which they

[James Holland]

know you can operate again now.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, exactly. It's back, it's back. I'm back on, basically. But, but, but, but the woman, the French lady says they're in no man's land and they've never, they never know who's Coming through next. And of course, the day before, Frost had sent Charters Ewan Charteris off. And as we said in the last episode, you and Charters is killed. And anyway, Frost's moved, so how would Charteris find him? It's a sort of. It's all like he would pretty unjoined up. So he chooses Sergeant Alan Johnston, who we met in the last episode, who was the fellow from Aberdeen. He was very talked about how tired he was. And then who winked at the German lad going for a slash. And Lieutenant Slapsy Braley, who's the one, the officer in part one.

[James Holland]

Pugilist.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, exactly. Who? Chinda Drunk Private. And they set off on a pair of ponies and compare themselves to, you know, Sancho Panzer and all this sort of thing. And off they go. And the remaining contingent, which is about 100 men with frost, because remember, Frost broke the. Broke them up into company parties. Easier to travel in smaller numbers, right? And off they go, Braley and Johnson, they make good progress, heading for Medjez el Pal. They stop along the way, they ask the locals for directions, they break bread and they drink red wine. And they say, where are the British Army? And the locals say, well, they're Medjaz el Bab, of course. And after 11 hours on these ponies, they run into a pair of tanks. And obviously, given the false alarm of previous days with armor, they're a little bit wary. But the man in the commander's hatch, he's wearing a beret. So Braley shouts, Lieutenant Braley, 2nd Parachute Battalion. And the guy in the tank replies, oh, we've been wondering about you.

[James Holland]

Okay, so he is a British tankman.

[Al Murray]

He is a British tank, yeah, luckily,

[James Holland]

yes, the German wouldn't say that.

[Al Murray]

No, no, of course. So they've made it. They've made it back.

[James Holland]

God, I mean, you know, I'm sorry to interrupt here, but, but, but, you know, insouciance is, Is a studied art form, isn't it, in the British army and the Second World War?

[Al Murray]

Yeah, yeah, it really is. It really is. And it's. It's all people being cool, isn't it?

[James Holland]

Oh, I wondered about you.

[Al Murray]

Which, which implies they really haven't been, doesn't it? Implies they've not been wondering about them. Anyway, we'll. We'll take a break and then we'll. We'll. Frost will escape from Cersei's island and hopefully make it back to Medjazil, but

[James Holland]

without too many of his men transformed, turning into swine.

[Al Murray]

See, in a tick.

[James Holland]

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[Al Murray]

Every Style, Every Home. Welcome back to we have Ways of Making Talk with me. Al Murray and James Holland, Sergeant Johnston and Lieutenant Braley have made contact with First Army. Meanwhile, finally back at the farmhouse, Frost concludes that it's time to get out. There's rumor. Rumor reaches them because there's people just, you know, going backwards and forwards. Because this isn't, this is an inhabited place and there's a lot a big, you know, there's a big flap on.

[James Holland]

Well and surely, you know, nice, nice bow. It is to be sipping champagne and have ham and eggs. Yeah. You know, they've got to get on with it, haven't they?

[Al Murray]

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. There's rumor of another German armored column coming and they want to get going. And there's a hundred rounds of ammunition left between the hundred men left and they're about 20 miles from Meje Zelba. So Frost thinks, well, we can do that.

[James Holland]

And that's to the east of Medjez Elbab, right?

[Al Murray]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right.

[James Holland]

And just, just to, just to add a bit of context to this, Medjez el Bab is at the western end of the Magerda Valley.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[James Holland]

And the Majerda Valley is, you know, that's where Operation Strike takes place in May 1943. You know, the one that completely breaks the German line, the Axis barrier into Tunis. Yeah, yeah.

[Al Murray]

And off they go. And they're in this sort of. They're in this absolutely flat footed march. And again they're nervous about the locals shouting from hilltops and the barking dogs. And at noon they pause in an olive grove at a place called Cassette and they spot three armored cars. And the officers now know they don't need to tell the men to hold their fire anymore. Instincts, self preservation have reached a point where no one's interested in a crack at Jerry.

[James Holland]

No.

[Al Murray]

And the men just freeze. They go completely silent. Some go to sleep because it's because they're. If they stop, they go to sleep. And Frost says, Frost recalls, absolute silence prevailed. And they got 10 miles to go now. Wide open country, no ammunition to speak of. They let these armored cars go. They think, you know, and they see them off they go to Tunis. With the dust behind them and with the coast clear, they set off again. And those who are able keep watch as the rest drag themselves like zombies towards Medjaz Elbab. And every distant cart. Life is going on all around them. After all, you know, would cause a stampede for cover. Every donkey became a mocha to cycle patrol, every car to tank, until we reached such a pitch of alarm and false alarm that we almost ceased to care. And then two more miles passed and then suddenly there's vehicles, half tracks not more than a mile away. Then 600 yards away, half a dozen half tracks. Then the leading vehicle comes over the crest of the dip in the road 100 yards away. And on the bonnet, Jim, is a white star. Hooray, it's the Americans. Thank God for that. Gee whiz, it's Americans from the US 1st Armored Division. So Frost goes forward, waving his yellow identification triangle above his head to para Tupara. And the men whoop and cheer. And they would. They, they would. And they're saved. Although as, as, as we heard in the reading at the top, Peter Staveworth recalls, no one then sends trucks to come and get them. They then just have to carry on marching to Mechis Abap. So it's not brilliant.

[James Holland]

That's absolutely incredible, isn't it?

[Al Murray]

I mean, you know, talk about rubbing salt to the wood. So Frost then gets to 78th Battle Axe Division's headquarters, Uedzaga.

[James Holland]

Sidney Kirkman is the commander in those days.

[Al Murray]

Yeah. And he's told that plans have changed and there's a new thrust on a different axis underway. Anyway.

[James Holland]

Well, now you tell me.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, now you tell me. And while he's there, Major General Vivian Evely. I pursue.

[James Holland]

Is it Evely or Evelyn, I think. Isn't it? Yeah, Everly.

[Al Murray]

He takes Frost to one size and says, you've held the enemy up and tied up troops looking for, you know, looking for you. Well done. Bravo. Great, great effort. And he promises to send men to look for Frost chaps the next day. And it doesn't happen. They don't send anyone out.

[James Holland]

No. Because leave it all to me. I'll sort it out.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, exactly. And as they get back to Medje Zelbab, the town's on standby for an attack by Falchemieger. They think the Germans are going to go to attack. So these blokes have been going for five days and they're told to make ready to defend the town. You just think how.

[James Holland]

Oh, my God, how tired.

[Al Murray]

You'd be hallucinating. So they stand to four in the following morning to the sound of Frost's hunting horn. But the attack doesn't come. And, you know, the town's full of French colonial soldiers and Americans. And again, everywhere they go, they frost reassured that, you know, with their perambulations behind enemy lines, they've distracted the enemy from their main effort.

[James Holland]

Right.

[Al Murray]

But it's. It's difficult to say, really.

[James Holland]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Al Murray]

You know, first army launched the operation, thereafter made no attempt to find out what's going on. So it's not that much of it may have distracted the enemy, but it didn't distract first army, did it?

[James Holland]

No. I mean, not at all.

[Al Murray]

This is the thing. You've ended up with a situation where, you know, needing to use the parachutists rather than actually figuring out to do with them. The bad Relations between 1st Parachute Brigade staff 1st army staff coming up with a crappy plan. You know, they land on 29 November, return on 3 December. 2 Power has lost 16 officers and 250 other ranks.

[James Holland]

Oh, my God.

[Al Murray]

In the pursuit of aircraft that aren't there, but we're never there. And, you know, it's a wild goose chase. They've no artillery, no air support, no transport, no armor.

[James Holland]

It's a shaggy dog story.

[Al Murray]

It is.

[James Holland]

Exactly.

[Al Murray]

Exactly. And they've. They've. They've got themselves out of the grip of 1st Battalion, 5th foul ship Jaeger, 10th Panzer Division's recce Squadron and a battery of Italian artillery. That's who's been chasing around after them. Yeah, they're out the frying pan. But they as. As we will see eventually. I'm sure at some point we have ways. They find themselves in the fire pretty

[James Holland]

soon, by the way.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, go on.

[James Holland]

I was wrong. Everly is commanding 78th Division at that time. All right.

[Al Murray]

Okay.

[James Holland]

Kirkman comes later.

[Al Murray]

Right. Okay.

[James Holland]

I think he's 78 by Sicily.

[Al Murray]

Right. There we go.

[James Holland]

And I'm pretty sure everybody goes over to fifth division.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, I think he does. Yeah.

[James Holland]

Yeah.

[Al Murray]

But 2 Para, they're then sent back to a place called Slugia to sort themselves out. And a trickle of men keep coming in. So 60 men come in the next day. You know, this trickle of blokes still going.

[James Holland]

Right. And this is because they've all been spit up by, you know, in the. As they're trying to get out.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[James Holland]

Because.

[Al Murray]

Because Frost figured it would be easier rather than going on mass. There's. I mean, there's literally a handful of men left from C Company. From Jock Company. The Bruneval guys, Darth, a dozen. All the rest are in the bag or killed, gone missing.

[James Holland]

Amazing.

[Al Murray]

Survivors come from A Company, battalion headquarters, Support Company, and the sappers from 1st Parachute Squadron. Re. So Peter Stain, 4th, which is why we've got his account. No one left. Basically, from B Company. His second in command, Philip Tykeman's dead. Yeah. The adjutant Jock Shorts killed. Ewan Charteris is dead. Doug Crawley of B Company has been led all the way back to Medjaz Albab by Ronald Stark. Having been blinded, he's led him all the way with his hand on his shoulder.

[James Holland]

Amazing.

[Al Murray]

It is, isn't it? And then Captain John Ross, who was Frost 2 I see at Bruneville here, grad. He eventually reappears with sort of a handful of the C Company men.

[James Holland]

Oh, good.

[Al Murray]

Yeah. And then it's worth telling A couple of these evasion stories. So one of the men who mazes makes his way back is Corporal McConney. Now, he dislocated his shoulder on landing back at Depien. So he was taken to the schoolhouse at Depien as a. As a casualty. And remember there was a party left there to guard the parachute. So the wounded have been. Have been taken at that time, the wounded had been taken away with 2 Para. And he's left there on his own with Lt. Buchanan and the parachute guarding party. And Italian tanks and motorcycles turn up. Buchanan and his batman are hit in the. In the firefight and McConaughey's taken a prisoner by the Italians. But he succeeds in hiding a fighting knife in his trousers.

[James Holland]

Right, Excellent.

[Al Murray]

And the knife has gone undetected when they search him. And he says, as dusk approached, the sentry seemed to get more nervous. And whenever he turned his back, I loosened the knife. At last I got it out. I put it in my left hand trouser pocket. When he next presented his back to me, I whipped out the knife and struck at his back under the left shoulder. He gave a cry and fell forward on his face. I must have lost my head for. Struck again and again at the inert form.

[James Holland]

He's having a bit of a frenzy. Wasn't he there?

[Al Murray]

Yep. Yeah. Kills the guard, he gets away, goes back to the schoolhouse to retrieve the Sten gun he's hidden in the roof before he's captured.

[James Holland]

Sheep.

[Al Murray]

I mean, these have nails, some of these people.

[James Holland]

Yeah, they are all they.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, they are. Using a compass from his escape kit, he makes for Pont Dufar. And Pont Dufar, of course, is the first place they were supposed to land in, the first place that they briefed on. He falls on the mercy of a French family who feed him sausage and eggs. Then he changes course because they told him to go to Bedje's el pad. That's what he allies are. And he's alone and he's really finding it impossible to cope with the heat. And he has the good fortune to bump into the 56th Recce Regiment, who we met right back at. When they first turn up. A deputy first turn up. Then there's another man who's been taken prisoner. That's Lance Corporal Caden. Caden's a Dunkirk veteran and one of the Bruneval C Company guys, right? He's been picked up by the Italians. He's going to be handed over to the Germans. And he's handed over to the Germans. And as they're being lined up There's a whole bunch of them, as far as he can tell from that they're going to shoot them as saboteurs, that they're all yelling about the commando befell.

[James Holland]

Really?

[Al Murray]

Yeah. And Caden reassures himself, well, I'm wearing a uniform. I'm a regular soldier. You know, there's, there's, there's no trickery going on here. We're not. We're not in disguise.

[James Holland]

Yeah.

[Al Murray]

And they'll hit. Kaddan and the other prisoners are lined up against the wall. A machine gun is set up in front of them and they put their berets on and they flick V's at the machine gunner, you know, stick it up your ass, mate. And the German officer who's ordered their murder, who's ordered this, commands the machine gunner to fire.

[James Holland]

Oh, my God.

[Al Murray]

And at that moment, an armored car pulls up with Oberleutnant Walther Koch, who's the commanding officer, 5th Fauschimjager. He jumps out, the armored car kicks over the machine gun and the two German officers, Koch and this other officer, have this huge row which concludes with Koch saying to the British prisoners, you are paratroopers and you put up a brave fight. You are prisoners of war and will be treated as such.

[James Holland]

Wow. That's about as close as it gets, isn't it?

[Al Murray]

That is, yeah, it is. And that. And, you know, these close shaves of all over the place. And so the. So they also. And so the Germans now have loads of really pissed off paratroopers on their hands. There's an awful lot of them who were very, very unimpressed with the operation that had been planned and do believe they've been led on a wild goose chase. They feel completely let down, you know. They feel completely let down. They feel. They feel, you know, the whole thing's a. A travesty. And the right to.

[James Holland]

Well, you would do. You've lost. You've lost loads of your mates. You've been querying around, doing, achieving absolutely nothing, dodging the Germans, no support whatsoever. I mean, you would be pissed off, wouldn't you?

[Al Murray]

Yeah, you would, you would. But they also have to deal with men who are just in desperate to escape. So there's a medical officer, McGavin, Captain McGavin, with the Padre. McGavin's flown to Italy in a plane full of blankets and petrol. So when the plane lands, McGavin sets the blankets alight with the petrol, right? Sets fire to the plane, destroys the airplane and he's almost shot on the spot, right? And then he later Breaks both his legs jumping out of a train.

[James Holland]

Well, I can see they might be a little bit, bit peeved by that.

[Al Murray]

I think he, he, you know, he got away with that. And the padre also escapes through a toilet window. So, so he's showing.

[James Holland]

Good lad.

[Al Murray]

He's a good lad. But the thing is, though, and you know, in Frost's account and in all the accounts, it's all about the sort of daring do and the, the guts of the men. But it's a complete pointless failure.

[James Holland]

Waste of time, waste of effort. Achieve nothing.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, yeah.

[James Holland]

Loss of men. Yeah, it's. It's careless, isn't it?

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[James Holland]

The planning of it, the operation of it.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, yeah. They've been broken on the wheel of other men's incompetence and their unfortunate eagerness to get into battle. Come. What makes. I think that's a big part of it. They're desperate to go, so they say yes to something stupid. And the next problem that Frost has is because parachute training recruitment is such a prolonged and specialized business, reinforcing and rebuilding the battalion immediately is not an option. So they have to take the replacements they're given, they get a couple of hundred gunners and Frost has to turn them into infantrymen. Parachute shock troop infantrymen then and there.

[James Holland]

Well, they're good to go by Sicily, aren't they? Let's face it. Premissadi bridge and all that.

[Al Murray]

Well, but they go, they're about to go into the line is the other thing. So. So it's hard to disagree with Frost's conclusion when he says. For the fact of the matter was that the British army had no idea how or when the new airborne capabilities should be used. And our own brigade headquarters setup was woefully inadequate to ensure that really dreadful errors should not occur. And he's right, you know. Yeah, but what it's going to need, right, because Bruneval's been a success. Colossus and freshmen have failed. Battalions of airborne troops have misfired. Seriously. So you need a man of real zeal and self belief to parley these failures into something fresh. And Boy Browning, who you could argue is responsible for this mess, is such a man because he's going to be able to persuade everyone. No, no, no, it hasn't been a disaster. Look what brilliant soldiers they are.

[James Holland]

So where do, where do you sit with Boy Browning? I mean, do you think he was a twerp or do you. Are you sort of grudgingly admiring? I mean, what. Or.

[Al Murray]

I'm grudgingly admiring of the, of this Twerp who somehow pulled off something truly incredible. You wonder if how history, how different the history of being. If he'd attached himself to something else, you know, whether any of this would have happened at all.

[James Holland]

Need men of energy, that's for sure.

[Al Murray]

Exactly. And push. Amount of push. And go. And their kit is 500 miles away in Algiers. The battalion bagpipes have disappeared with a mule carrying them on the way to Sidi Bou Hojaiba. And once they're rested, Frost knows they're going to go into the line as infantry. So the ordeal in North Africa is far from over. In fact, it's about to begin. And this. This two powers odyssey really is the amuse bouche for what their first parachute brigade is about to go through. Go through in North Africa.

[James Holland]

Well, I think we need to revisit their.

[Al Murray]

I think we will through the war. I think we will. Because, you know, it's. It's not just Arnhem. And let's just keep going back to.

[James Holland]

Let's just keep going back to para.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, I think so. That's a good idea. And something you touched on, Jim, in our first episode about how the soil is red in North Africa will come into the story.

[James Holland]

He's in that bit of it.

[Al Murray]

It is in that bit of North Africa, in that part of Tunisia. We'll come into the story when we return to what Tupara get up to in North Africa because it's part of the mythos.

[James Holland]

Fantastic. That's been.

[Al Murray]

Of the red devils.

[James Holland]

Well, thanks, Al. That's been absolutely tremendous. I do remember very, very clearly driving to the cemetery, the British Commonwealth Wargrove Cemetery in Medjez el Bab. You went off the kind of off the tarmac asphalted road and down a track. This really red soil.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[James Holland]

There was this square wall with a canopy of trees and. And you went through the gates and there it was, the corner of a foreign field that was forever England. I mean, it was absolutely amazing. And of course, loads of paras in there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You've never seen anything like it. Sunny birdsong, absolutely galore. Roses, flowers, gorgeous grass. You know, really lush green grass. Whereas the grass all around is. Is more sort of prairie grass. It's kind of sort of, you know, it's that kind of sandy done color and long, you know. God, amazing. Never forget it. Anyway, but that's been a terrific series. I mean, what an eye opener.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[James Holland]

And amazing. We've managed to keep it to three.

[Al Murray]

I know, I know. Just about. Well, because it's still. It's quite a small action, actually.

[James Holland]

I've got to say, your word discipline is better than mine.

[Al Murray]

Well, and we have a new superhero, which is Dennis Rendell.

[James Holland]

What a ledge.

[Al Murray]

What a ledge. I mean, that photo is absolutely amazing, isn't it?

[James Holland]

Absolutely amazing.

[Al Murray]

I mean, this is the Odyssey, isn't it? These are. You could. You could cast these people as. Yeah, as Achilles and Hector and all that sort of thing.

[James Holland]

Yeah.

[Al Murray]

And the chivalry, there's that little grain. Grain of chivalry in it. You know, you are power troopers. You'll be treated as prisoners of war, you know, Germans fighting over machine guns. It's fantastic.

[James Holland]

Could be Hector. Yeah.

[Al Murray]

Anyway, thanks for listening, everybody. Our Barbarossa series will continue after this sidebar. In North Africa, become a Patreon. Why not go to our. We have ways of making you talk Patreon. And on the Patreon 4, 5 chapters of Wings of the Wind. Peter Stainforce memoir, great bad title, incredibly vivid prose about his ordeal in North Africa as part of two parrot. And then what they do afterwards is a little bit of what happens afterwards.

[James Holland]

Afterwards.

[Al Murray]

And he talks about one Powers Adventures under James Hill. Speedy Hill. So if you join the Patreon, that's all there. Don't forget the festival. We have ways fest the 11th, 13th September go to we havewaysfest.co.uk, buy your tickets there. We'll see you there. Thanks for listening. Cheerio.

[James Holland]

Cheerio.