Pete & Gary's Military History · Peter Hart

SPECIAL: South Notts Hussars - NW Europe (Part 1)

·54 min·3 clips

Reagan changed the rules, and the golden age of cartoons began.

Pete and Gary begin the story of the South Notts Hussars in Northwest Europe. They set it up as the first part of a longer account, with the fighting still moving and the job still unfinished. The discussion quickly turns to the effort to close the gap the Germans are trying to use for an escape. Pete keeps pressing for clarity while Gary lays out the battlefield picture in plain language and then compares it to layers in a Neapolitan ice cream tub. That comic shorthand keeps the map work from going stiff. The date shifts to 16 August, when the fighting becomes a pursuit. At that point the Canadians need close support, and the regiment is trying to get the guns as far forward as possible. The show keeps stressing that these are medium guns, not some abstract idea of fire support. On 18 August, the mood changes. Colonel Oswald, the regiment's posh commander already mentioned earlier, goes out to look for forward gun positions near Lamesnel after the area is supposed to have been cleared. He is given a tank and a second tank for cover, which sounds safer than it is. He drives straight into a strongly held enemy position. The tank is bazookaed and put out of action. Oswald gets out, is shot, and is taken by the Germans. The Canadians are not pleased, and Pete is the one who has to go and tell them what happened. That moment gives the episode its rough human edge. The conversation never loses sight of the larger operational picture, but it keeps circling back to the awkward, dangerous business of moving artillery across ground that is not as clear as it looked on the map. The tone stays loose and quick, with corrections, digressions, and dry asides threaded through the battlefield detail. The result is a steady, talkative account of a regiment learning the hard way how fast a forward move can go wrong.

As heard by us

A compact regimental story that makes battlefield movement feel immediate and plain.

Pete and Gary keep the focus tight, following the South Notts Hussars into Northwest Europe and the practical work of getting guns forward while the line is still moving.

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Why you'd press play

If you want the South Notts Hussars starting the fight in Northwest Europe, start here.

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