Anthony Cooper on the war correspondents on a suicide mission in 'Despatch From Berlin, 1943'

Good Reading Podcast

In December 1943, five courageous war correspondents join a British air raid on Berlin. They are Australians, Alf King from the Sydney Morning Herald and Norm Stockton from the Sydney Sun; Americans, Ed Murrow from CBS and Lowell Bennett from the International News Service; and Norwegian journalist and activist, Nordahl Grieg. Each is assigned to one of the 400 Lancaster bombers that fly into the hazardous skies over Germany on a single night. Of the five, only two return to file their stories. After parachuting out of his doomed aircraft, one reporter is taken prisoner. From there his captors take him on a remarkable tour of bombed-out German cities. In 'Despatch from Berlin, 1943', Anthony Cooper and Thorsten Perl uncover this incredible true story of life on both sides of the war. In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Anthony Cooper about the massive operation that was supposed to end the war, the rationale for undertaking one of the most ambitious air raids in history, and the five correspondents who risked their lives to support the war effort.