Max Hastings on the Secret Mission to Defeat Hitler

Historian Max Hastings talks World War II and the secret mission to defeat Hitler called Operation Biting.
The full version of this event is available to watch on intelligencesquaredplus.com for Full Members and above.
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February 1942. RAF intelligence is baffled by a newly-identified radar network on the coast of Nazi-occupied Europe. Several radar installations are identified from aerial photographs but the purpose and the nature of the installations are not known. Some British scientists believe that these stations are connected with successful German downings of RAF bombers conducting raids in occupied Europe, resulting in severe losses of pilots and bombers. British scientists request that one of these installations be raided and the technology it possesses be studied and, if possible, extracted and brought back to Britain for further examination.
With the approval of Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Chief of Operations Lord Mountbatten of Burma an extraordinary operation known as Operation Biting is launched with an ambitious goal: dismantle Hitler’s radar systems and help Britain win the war.
In May 2024 Max Hastings came to the Intelligence Squared stage to recount the remarkable story of Operation Biting and what it tells us about the crucial role of intelligence and special forces in great power conflict. Drawing from his new book Operation Biting: The 1942 Assault to Capture Hitler’s Radar he explored how this almost forgotten operation helped turn the tide of the war and how modern intelligence and special forces continue to shape the conflicts and wars we see in the world today.
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[@rustykilt]

Max Hastings, probably the best author and authority for Military books and matters in my view.

Just heard that the price of icecream dropped 7 pence at Sainsbury's😂

Dickie Mountbatten was called the MASTER OF DISASTER😂

[@macilree]

Note that this raid took place just two weeks after the British disaster in Singapore.

[@chrissempek3952]

Max's point on the HQ trying to micromanage is spot on. I got into a spot of trouble by calling higher, " combat voyeurs"...in Iraq. Great talk!

The dropping of paratroopers in Sicily 1943 was also a disaster of epic proportions. But all this looks SO glamorous.

[@andrewwrobel2255]

5:27 MH is quite wrong to say that the Mediterranean and the desert war did not matter much. If the Germans and the Italians had managed to take Alexandria and the Suez canal, a vital transport route of the Empire would have been cut, and the enemy might have gained access to the Middle East. The man is unfortunately prone to exaggeration.

[@brianaustin8989]

Yes he did not put that forward, when he wrote Operation Pedestal, as to the importance of Malta. The Suez Canal and the oilfields in the Middle East were at stake.

[@colder5465]

North Africa was somewhat toy theater of war simply because military contingents there had to be necessarily very small - simply because of logistical difficulties. So under no circumstances Hitler wasn't able to send Rommel really more troops.

[@colder5465]

And there is one more thing. Hitlers capabilities were inexorably less and less as he went to war in Russia. 1941, Operation Barbarossa: the undisputable high point in German might. Th Wehrmacht went in offensive on three strategic directions simultaneously. Ok, the defeat by Moscow. 1942, Germany may concentrate only on one strategic direction, Operation Blue (Fall Blau). The Stalingrad debacle. 1943. Now a grand scale operation even on one strategic direction is impossible, no large penetrations. The goal is to cut off the Kursk salient - yes, with great benefits and thwarting the Soviets any strategic initiative, but no grand goals like taking Moscow or taking Caucasus or Baku oil fields. Again outright failure. Modern Western historians may talk at length that by Prokhorovka SS Panzer Divisions made a death blow to Soviet tanks but the net result is clear: by the end of August Germans lost many vital Ukrainian cities including an ill-famous Kharkov - and this time for good. More to that, the were forced to withdraw to the Dnepr River. So, for Hitler North Afrika was the least of troubles. One may even say that if not the hapless Italian Duche Mussolini Hitler would never send his troups to Africa. Sending Rommel there he and his OKW didn't set him large scale goals altogether. He had instructions only to prevent defeat. Why Rommel? Simply enough. Rommel was a Prima Donna, he didn't get along with his neighbours on the front. And he was a bad team player. But in North Africa Rommel was exactly where he should be. He had under his command troops of a corps size - well under his abilities. He acted alone, he had no annoying superiors or neighbours. It was exactly a war theater for him. And being brilliantly personality he refused to sit still and began active - and initially very successful- actions. But with time it turned out that there are no wonders in this world.

[@andrewwrobel2255]

@@colder5465 Of course the armies in the desert war were relatively small, but that does not at all mean that that theatre did not matter much. It was of strategic importance.

[@jbuckley2546]

He could parachute behind enemy lines on that hanky.

[@dustyfairview9062]

Ooooh McMillan too. Awesome

[@Steve-gx9ot]

This guy is Stuffy and znot as smart as these 2 think

[@wildcolonialman]

Fabulous.

[@Steve-gx9ot]

I need an Introductio. As have not seen him before

[@SelfieKumarJi]

CFR approved means not good. Read David Irving instead.

Now, with AI we will win all wars😂😂😂

[@PSMCR69]

These persons are Unknowingly Defying HISTER

[@arturschlegel-ky2wt]

Unfortunately rather hilarious than serious.

The price of glory😂😂

My heroes Lord Lovat and John Frost❤❤

[@titilna4657]

Si do politika me akuza cdo dey

[@MrDavidht]

Seems to me with this armchair general, success was just a matter of luck and failure was due to incompetence.

[@avatarofenlightenment386]

Interesting author. Bit of a gasbag, alas. Better in writing than in speech.

[@rickyreeves1785]

Who was Allen Turing

[@ragtopdlxzl1]

An amazing code breaker that movies are made of!

[@berserker6950]

He worked at Bletchley Park during ww2 as a code breaker. He helped break the German enigma codes by building a 'thinking machine' which is credited as laying the ground work for the earliest computers. He was chemically castrated for being gay later in life and he committed suicide.

[@Sorlendingen82]

David Irving best modern historian. 👍

Grown-up men like to PLAY AT SOLDIERS😂

[@torquemaddertorquemadder2080]

In case you didn't know *'Hitler' is a Fictional Character*

[@trevorclarke3963]

Not according to "big brother".