John Kelly, who had left rural County Kilkenny in 1935 to join the British army, found himself sitting in a bar in newly-liberated Tunis is 1943, having a drink with some American conscript soldiers. Upon hearing his accent, the Americans said "Say, you guys are neutral, you're not in the war at all!" John explained he was a pre-war volunteer, causing the Americans to exclaim "Are you god damn mad or something?" It was a fair question. Why did John, and tens of thousands of other Irish men and women, voluntarily leave the safety of neutral Ireland and risk death or injury to fight in the Second World War? Dur: 31mins File: .mp3

The Lancaster Bomber was one of the finest heavy bombers in the service of any nation during the second world war. It was the plane which the dambusters flew with the bouncing bomb, the plane which bombed the Tirpitz and the plane which night after night pounded Germany, delivering two-thirds of all the bombs dropped. Dur: 24 mins File: .mp3

In the usual wide ranging discussion Jasper, Michael, Lindsay and special guest Jesse Obert look at the Roman Navy. Questioning the received view of the fleets being used in anti piracy duties, and were the fleets even standing forces or more of an adhoc thing brought together when needs must?

And the fleets what kind of shipping did they comprise of, and how did they make war?

Vimy ridge is an escarpment in France close to the Belgium border, gently rising on one side and somewhat steeper on the reverse, it has clear views for miles around from its crest. During the first months of the first world war it was seized by the Germans, who for nearly three years, tenaciously held on it to it against French assaults. At the end of 1916 the Canadians took responsibility for that part of the front line... Dur: 22mins File: .mp3

VTOL stands for Vertical Take off and Landing. While helicopters clearly fit a description of vertical take off and landing, the terms VTOL V/STOL STOVL and the like are reserved for aircraft who also fly conventionally using forward thrust to create the necessary lift to remain airbourne. Dur: 33mins File: .mp3

In 1208, Pope Innocent III called forth a crusade to destroy enemies of the Catholic Church. This crusade was not to fight Muslim armies in the Middle East or Spain, but rather to fight fellow Christians in southern France. Soldiers from northern France, under the leadership of the French crown, marched south to destroy the Cathar heresy infesting the land. Dur: 39mins File: .mp3

Jasper, Lindsay and Michael are joined by Mark Schwartz.

World War II began in the early hours of the 1st September 1939 when the elderly German battleship Schleswig-Holstein opened fire on the Polish garrison at Westerplatte. Over 2000 German aircraft, mainly dive-bombers attacked, targeting Polish airfields with the aim of destroying the Polish air force on the ground, but the Poles had scattered their aircraft to satellite airfields. 60 divisions of German infantry, supported by Slovakian collaborators, almost three thousand panzers and artillery pieces flooded across the border. Dur 35mins File: .mp3

Lieutenant General Sir Henry George Wakelyn Smith, 1st Baronet of Aliwal was one of the most incredible soldiers of the British Empire making his name during the Napoleonic Peninsular Campaign, where he would rescue his future Spanish born wife, before volunteering to service in America where he witnessed the burning of Washington. Dur: 32mins File: .mp3