The Tim Heale Podcast
Welcome to The Tim Heale Podcast, where history comes alive through the people who lived it, and every story is grounded in real experience.
I'm Tim Heale, a British Army veteran, broadcaster, military historian and author of The Parallel Six series, with 44 years of service in the British Army, serving in Germany during the Cold War, Northern Ireland, the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Each episode brings together real military stories, forgotten history, travel, interviews, and personal experiences from over fifty years of adventure. From battlefields and memorials to regimental traditions, motorcycle journeys across Europe, and life behind the microphone, you'll hear the stories that rarely make it into the history books.
Whether we're exploring Waterloo, Arnhem, Berlin, Normandy, Kosovo or the mountains of Morocco, every programme is built on careful research, first-hand experience, and a genuine passion for keeping history alive.
Along the way you'll also discover stories from the world of rugby, skiing, motorcycling, broadcasting, and the remarkable people I've met throughout my military and civilian life.
If you enjoy military history, true stories, travel, and authentic conversation, you're in the right place.
Subscribe and join a growing community of veterans, families, historians, and enthusiasts who believe the past should never be forgotten.
Real history. Real people. Real stories.
Military Historian • Author • Broadcaster
https://timheale.uk
The Tim Heale Podcast
Colditz: The Books, the Escapes and the BBC Television Series
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Colditz Castle was intended to hold Allied officers who had repeatedly attempted to escape. Instead, it brought together some of the most determined and inventive prisoners of war in Europe.
In this episode of Stories Behind the Pages, I explore two remarkable firsthand accounts:
📚 The Colditz Story by P. R. Reid
📚 They Have Their Exits by Airey Neave
I also look back at the classic BBC television series Colditz, starring Jack Hedley, Edward Hardwicke, Robert Wagner, David McCallum, Bernard Hepton and Anthony Valentine.
This story has a personal connection for me. I have visited Colditz on three occasions: first with my old friend Dave not long after the Berlin Wall came down, again many years later, and most recently when I stayed inside the castle itself, part of which is now a youth hostel.
Across those visits, I watched Colditz change enormously. Its museum today is outstanding and brings the ingenuity, courage and audacity of the prisoners’ escape attempts vividly to life.
Colditz also became part of the story in my own novel series, The Parallel Six.
Join me as we go behind the castle walls, the ingenious disguises and tunnels, Airey Neave’s extraordinary journey to freedom, the legendary Colditz glider and the television drama that introduced the story to a generation.
Have you read either of these books or watched the BBC series? Perhaps you have visited Colditz yourself. Let me know in the comments.
Find my books and more from Stories Behind the Pages at:
https://timheale.uk
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#Colditz #MilitaryHistory #WW2History #StoriesBehindThePages #AireyNeave #PatReid #PrisonerOfWar #BookReview
Discover The Parallel Six series, Letters from Afghanistan and The Empty Return at https://timheale.uk.
Discover Tim Heale’s books—including The Parallel Six series, Letters from Afghanistan and The Empty Return—along with his films and broadcasts. Visit https://timheale.uk and join Tim’s Despatch to keep in touch.https://timheale.uk
