Night of the Intruders
From The Mighty Eighth Podcast by Johann Tasker & Mike Peters
April 28, 2024 · 48 min · Season 1 · Episode 10
About this episode
This episode recounts the tragic events of the Night of the Intruders during World War II, focusing on a specific bombing mission and its consequences.
In this episode, we tell the story of the Night of the Intruders, when Luftwaffe fighters followed a stream of American B-24 Liberator bombers back to England and shot them out of the sky as they tried to land. It was a disastrous end to Mission 311, which took place on 22 April, 1944, less than two months before D-Day. The raid saw 824 Mighty Eighth bombers target the nerve centre of the Third Reich's railway system at Hamm, in Germany's north-east Ruhr. We experience the mission through the eyes of George Glevanik, of the 448th Bomb Group, stationed at Seething, south-east of Norwich. We visit Seething Church of St Margaret & St Remigius, which includes a memorial to the 448th BG; and Seething Control Tower Museum , which includes artefacts from the Night of the Intruders. We examine what went right – and what went wrong – and why the Mighty Eighth attacked Hamm in the evening, rather than sticking to its tried-and-tested strategy of bombing in broad daylight. Our special podcast guest is author, historian and aviation archaeologist Ian McLachlan, whose book ' Night of the Intruders ' is published by Pen & Sword. Please like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts…
People in this episode
Hosts: Johann Tasker, Mike Peters
Guest: Ian McLachlan
Topics covered
- World War II
- Aviation history
- Military strategy
- Luftwaffe
- B-24 Liberator
- Mighty Eighth
- Historical analysis
Keywords
- Night of the Intruders
- Luftwaffe
- B-24 Liberator
- Mission 311
- George Glevanik
- aviation archaeology
- Hamm
- Seething
- World War II
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Pen & Sword
Books & works: Night of the Intruders
Places: Seething, Hamm
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- Eagle Squadrons: American Pilots in Britain’s War · July 18, 2025 · 56 min
- Operation Tidal Wave: Bombing Hitler's oil supply · February 17, 2025 · 48 min
- Bonus Episode: Ops Normal - Britain's Army Air Corps · December 17, 2024 · 52 min
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