The great city of Aachen was of key strategic importance during the Second World War. The seat of the Holy Roman Emperor Charlamagne is a wonderfully beautiful baroque city of stunning architecture, best exemplified by its cathedral. However early on in the war the RAF began a bombing campaign that had devastating consequences, not only for the civilian population, but also for US troops who would endure fighting reminiscent of Stalingrad at the end of 1944.

Friend of the show Philip Blood joins to discuss a fascinating episode in the last year of the war as he talks about his book War Comes to Aachen.

Episode Links

War Comes to Aachen: The Nazis, Churchill and the ‘Stalingrad of the West’

Putin’s War, Russian Genocide, Edited by Philip W. Blood

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