{"podcast":{"title":"The WW2 Podcast","slug":"the-ww2-podcast-745440","podcast_index_feed_id":745440,"rss_url":"https://ww2podcast.libsyn.com/rss","website_url":"http://www.ww2podcast.com","image_url":"https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/4/b/3/6/4b36af20684363b1/WW2_LOGO-2019.jpg","author":"Angus Wallace","episode_count":318,"summary":"A military history podcast that looks at all aspects of WWII. With WW2 slipping from living memory I aim to look at different historical aspects of the Second World War.","last_synced_at":"2026-08-02T04:20:32.587135+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-ww2-podcast-745440"},"episode":{"title":"308 - Mers El-Kébir: The British Attack on the French Navy","slug":"308-mers-el-k-bir-the-british-attack-on-the-french-navy","published_at":"2026-06-01T05:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-ww2-podcast-745440/308-mers-el-k-bir-the-british-attack-on-the-french-navy","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-ww2-podcast-745440","url":"https://ww2podcast.libsyn.com/308-mers-el-kbir-the-british-attack-on-the-french-navy","audio_url":"https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/ww2podcast/308a_-_Mers_El-Kebir.mp3?dest-id=260446","summary":"In the summer of 1940, Britain stood alone. France had fallen, invasion seemed possible, and Winston Churchill faced a grave question: what should be done about the powerful French fleet? Fearing it might fall under German control, Britain launched Operation Catapult. At Mers el Kébir on 3 July 1940, the Royal Navy opened fire on its former ally, killing nearly 1,300 French sailors in one of the war's most painful and controversial decisions. For this episode, I am joined by Edward Abel Smith , author of ' A Hateful Decision ', which tells the full story of this dramatic moment through new research and eyewitness accounts.","meta_description":"In the summer of 1940, Britain stood alone. France had fallen, invasion seemed possible, and Winston Churchill faced a grave question: what should be done…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2587,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-ww2-podcast-745440/episodes/308-mers-el-k-bir-the-british-attack-on-the-french-navy/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-ww2-podcast-745440/308-mers-el-k-bir-the-british-attack-on-the-french-navy.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}