Dan Snow's History Hit History Hit

Please note, this episode contains discussion of suicide.
In 1945, after lengthy delays, the Royal Navy sent a powerful fleet into the Pacific. After the disastrous Japanese invasions in Southeast Asia, Churchill was desperate to reassert British military might in the region. Aboard the carriers of these fleets were elite British and Commonwealth pilots, tasked with combating one of Japan's most fearsome weapons - the kamikaze.
In the second episode of our three-part series on the kamikaze, Dan is joined by Will Iredale, author of 'The Kamikaze Hunters: Fighting for the Pacific, 1945'. Will tells us all about the 'Forgotten Fleet', and the escapades of naval aviators like Chris Cartledge and his fellow 'kamikaze hunters'.
Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Patmore.
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Please note, this episode contains discussion of suicide. 
By October 1944, the Japanese were in real trouble. The Allies had made great strides in their Pacific island-hopping campaign and were advancing on the Japanese home islands. In a desperate attempt to stem the tide, Japan created the 'Special Attack Units', which included the kamikaze - young pilots tasked with launching suicidal missions against Allied forces.
For the first episode in our three-part series on the kamikaze, Dan is joined by Christopher Harding, a cultural historian of India and Japan and author of 'The Light of Asia'. Chris explains the ideological and tactical messages of the kamikaze, and raises an important question - were these pilots enthusiastic zealots or terrified young men with nothing to lose?
Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Patmore.
Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code DANSNOW sign up at https://historyhit/subscription/
We'd love to hear from you- what do you want to hear an episode on? You can email the podcast at ds.hh@historyhit.com.
You can take part in our listener survey here.

Warning: This episode contains some upsetting descriptions of human suffering.
The Rwandan Genocide is a dark and pivotal moment in modern history; the catastrophic consequence of ethnic division and global inaction. Over 100 days in 1994, it's estimated around 800,000 predominantly Tutsi people were killed by the Hutu government and civilian militiamen. The groundwork for the atrocities had been laid decades earlier by the colonial Belgian powers that controlled Rwanda and sowed the seeds of division into the fabric of the country.
Dan is joined by Dr Scott Straus, a professor of Political Science at UC Berkeley who unpacks the events and years that led up to the genocide as well as the inaction from the international community during it. Dan also hears from survivor Beatha Uwazaninka who was just a teenager when her entire family were killed and describes how neighbours turned on neighbours as she struggled to evade capture herself. Together they explain how and why the genocide happened and what lessons we should learn from it.
Produced by Mariana Des Forges and edited by Dougal Patmore.
Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code DANSNOW sign up at https://historyhit/subscription/
We'd love to hear from you- what do you want to hear an episode on? You can email the podcast at ds.hh@historyhit.com.
You can take part in our listener survey here.