Operation Barbarossa: The Surge (Part 6) artwork

Operation Barbarossa: The Surge (Part 6)

WW2 Pod: We Have Ways of Making You Talk

July 27, 2026

What happened to Russian resistance once German units reached the Dneiper river? Why were units like Panzer Group Guderian suffering from success? How did Nazi Germany deal with Soviet partisans and PoWs?
Speakers: Al Murray, James Holland
**Al Murray** (0:02)
Thank you for listening to We Have Ways of Making You Talk. Sign up to our Patreon to receive bonus content, live streams, and our weekly newsletter with money off books and museum visits as well. Plus early access to all live show tickets. That's patreon.com/we Have Ways.

**James Holland** (0:24)
Introducing Meta Glasses. You have questions, they've got answers.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:29)
Hey Meta, what's the capital of Peru?

**Al Murray** (0:32)
Lima.

**James Holland** (0:32)
How do you say, where's the restroom in Spanish?

**Al Murray** (0:36)
Donde esta el baño? Hey Meta, is a hot dog a sandwich?

**James Holland** (0:41)
Technically no. Spiritually, yes.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:44)
Hey Meta, what should I do with my life?

**James Holland** (0:46)
That's one of life's biggest questions.
What do you think? Ask anything with the new Meta glasses.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:54)
This episode is brought to you by Snapdragon.
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**James Holland** (1:24)
This episode is brought to you by Refund Club.

**Al Murray** (1:27)
Now, if there is one eternal lesson of history, it's that paperwork matters. The forgotten agreement, the line in the ledger, often that's where the story changes.

**James Holland** (1:35)
There's a paper trail that could rewrite your own history. If you financed a car in the UK between 2007 and 2021, with lenders like Blackhorse or Barclays, you could be owed money.

**Al Murray** (1:47)
Yep, the check takes about 60 seconds. I ran my details and a couple of old agreements popped out without needing any relic registration numbers.

**James Holland** (1:55)
And it's completely free to check. You only pay a fee if your claim is successful.

**Al Murray** (2:00)
How about that? The Financial Conduct Authority confirmed that millions of UK drivers were hit with hidden commissions. And if you financed more than one car since 2007, each could be a separate claim. With the average payout at £829 a pop. It all adds up.

**James Holland** (2:16)
If you're a driver in the UK, visit refundclub.co.uk/whw.

**Al Murray** (2:23)
That's refundclub.co.uk/whw for your free check. 15th of July. A few men stretched out on the way of the Panzer, slept for 15 minutes. We could hear firing ahead. Second Abteilung was on the move again. We set off at 1.3 hours. Scarcely had we exited the wood, then we saw on our right a burning German armored scout car. The Russians had brought up a 105mm gun somewhere nearby and were shooting directly at us.
The house in the vicinity was burning, illuminating everything with a ghostly light. All around was deepest night. We increased the distance between the Panzers and drove flat out across the danger area. All hatches were tight shut. The driver floored the gas pedal. The explosion sounded strange so close to the Panzer. To the side I saw a brief flash at each impact and shell splinters would fly against the Panzer armor. We were happy to get through it. It was simply impossible to make out where the gun was.
Soon after we came to a village still occupied by the enemy. Where you see fire from every house but nothing to various. Rifle bullets whizzled around our turret.
That was Unteroffizier, Richard von Rosen, who we've been following in his progress into Barbarossa region with the 35th Panzer Regiment.

**James Holland** (3:38)
Yeah, well, the 35th Panzer Regiment is part of the 4th Panzer Division, which is part of Panzer Group Guderian, part of that southern thrust. You remember the words? It's like the oval shaped encirclement that is going on with Panzer Group Hope to the north in the centre and Panzer Group Guderian to the south, charging through the Soviet Western Front.
And what is amazing from Von Rosen's account is he does an awful lot of tank maintenance. They're forever tweaking and tinkering and all the rest of it. But he doesn't see any action at all before the 4th of July.

**Al Murray** (4:14)
Incredible.

**James Holland** (4:16)
So that's what 12 days in. And this, of course, is because Guderian's Panzer Group is charging so fast that there simply aren't any Red Army troops, because Red Army troops have been at the crust. And the replacement ones and the reinforcement ones and the ones that haven't been encircled are trying to respond and being sent northwards and southwards and all the rest of it into an area where Panzer Group Guderian has already been and gone.

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