Amazing War Stories: The podcast honouring the sacrifice of veterans

Amazing War Stories is a podcast and website that sets out to honour, preserve and support military veterans, their astonishing deeds, and associated museums. In this interview, Sky HISTORY spoke to Ed Sayer, seasoned television professional and founder of the Amazing War Stories media brand. Ed explains how the project originated and why it is so important.

Where did the idea for Amazing War Stories come from?

The original idea came during lockdown. I had always wanted to make a podcast, and military history had always been a subject area that I was passionate about.

I knew Bruce [Bruce Crompton, host of the podcast, is a broadcaster and military vehicle collector] from my days at Discovery working on Combat Dealers. We decided that if we were going to do something, it would be something that was not only going to be exciting but also help the community we were passionate about - namely military museums and veterans.

It was really important for us to make content that was not only entertaining but also provided social value at the same time.

What have you learnt on the way?

The first lesson that I learnt was that making podcasts is a lot harder than people think. Coming from a TV background, I initially thought how hard can it be? But actually, as drama radio producers will already know, telling an engaging story without pictures is a skill in itself.

I think we did it successfully. Our podcast has now had over a million streams, which we’re obviously very proud of, but it’s also been helped by the use of great audio mixing from the guys at Vaudeville Sound. They’re a high-end audio company that usually works on commercials and multimillion-dollar projects, so getting them to create a 3D soundscape has definitely helped with its success.

Is there an episode of the podcast that listeners seem to be most captivated by?

What I love about all our stories is that although some of them might be well known to aficionados, each tale is really about the heroes that fought in each action. I will always have a soft spot for our very first story, The Legend of Lancaster A for Apple, which got really good press coverage at the time, but then again I also love the story of the Hitmen of Heraklion, which looks at the SAS’s first ever seaborne raid which happened on the Island of Crete in 1942.

Our listeners tend to listen to all our podcasts - so no one statistically performs better than the others - other than the one Henry Cavill [star of Man of Steel and The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare] gave a shout-out for on his Instagram. That one blew the doors off and is another great story: The Commando’s that Grinched Christmas [in this episode, Bruce Crompton is joined by SAS: Who Dares Wins’ Jason ‘Foxy’ Fox and Royal Marines Colonel Nik Cavill, who happens to be Henry’s brother].

Why are stories of conflict so important to tell?

War is devastating, of course, and I understand why some people might feel that telling these stories risks glamourising something that is deeply traumatic. But from our perspective, a perspective that’s certainly shared by many in the veteran community, is that war is, sadly, a reality of today’s world. We think that not telling these stories of the immense courage and sacrifice shown by those who’ve fought, does them a real disservice.

Remember, men and women have put their bodies, minds, and relationships on the line to fight for what their countries believe in. If we don’t tell their stories, we’re not giving them a voice. So often, we find that veterans don’t openly talk about the incredible things they’ve done on our behalf. And I think it’s vital that we recognise their sacrifices.

We try to give them a voice they might not otherwise have and to make sure their deeds are remembered for generations to come.

Why is there an enduring curiosity towards WWII, more specifically?

Not all our stories come from the Second World War, but the reason that the majority do, is that there are so many extraordinary events that happened within that conflict. Also, that war, even though it’s now 80 years past, is still within touching distance of our generation. I have met hundreds of people who fought in that war, and all of them were extraordinary individuals who lived through extraordinary times.

What’s been your proudest moment working on the project?

Two things immediately come to mind. The first, in our episode The Striker of the Somme, is that we managed to identify the resting place of Britain’s first Black British Army Officer, Walter Tull. We were incredibly fortunate to secure the services of historian Andy Robertshaw, who was the historical advisor on the film 1917. He worked with The Commonwealth War Graves Commission and worked out, through a process of elimination and probability, where the final resting place of Walter was.

Until our podcast, it was thought his body was never recovered and was still lying in a field somewhere in northern France. The second moment I felt very proud was being told that the Chelsea Pensioners loved listening to our podcast. I’ve been incredibly lucky to meet some of these amazing individuals so to get their unofficial seal of approval is very satisfying.