Battleground

In the latest instalment of our Battleground: Special Forces series, Saul David and Patrick Bishop deconstruct one of the most ambitious and ill-fated missions in modern military history: Operation Eagle Claw.

In April 1980, with 53 American diplomats held captive in the US Embassy in Tehran and President Jimmy Carter’s political future hanging by a thread, the newly formed Delta Force was called upon for its first-ever mission. The plan was a daring, multi-stage rescue involving clandestine desert airstrips, sea-stallion helicopters, and CIA agents. But between the sandstorms of the Great Salt Desert and a series of mechanical failures, the mission spiralled into a tragedy that would leave eight servicemen dead at the site known as Desert One.

As Saul notes, while the mission was a devastating blow to American prestige, it provided the hard-won lessons that would later enable the success of operations like the raid on Osama bin Laden.

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Producer: James Hodgson

X (Twitter): @PodBattleground
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In this episode of Battleground Ukraine, Saul David and Roger Moorhouse break down a week of high-stakes diplomacy and unexpected battlefield shifts as the war approaches its four-year anniversary.

The duo discusses the rapid collapse of the latest trilateral peace talks in Geneva, which ended in acrimony after just two hours as Russian negotiators refused to budge on territorial demands. Meanwhile, Kyiv sees a "gleam of sunshine" on the ground: Ukrainian forces have retaken 78 square miles of territory near Zaporizhzhia—the most significant gain in such a short window since 2023—thanks in part to a strategic communications blackout involving Starlink terminals.

Finally, we tackle the "disgraceful" Olympic disqualification of a Ukrainian athlete, Marco Rubio’s diplomatic tour of Eastern Europe, and the history of WWII German Special Forces.

If you have any thoughts or questions, you can send them to - [email protected]

Producer: James Hodgson

X (Twitter): @PodBattleground
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In this gripping episode of Battleground, Patrick Bishop and Saul David explore one of World War II's most daring commando raids: Operation Frankton, better known as the Cockleshell Heroes mission. In December 1942, twelve Royal Marines volunteers led by Major "Blondie" Hasler embarked on a near-impossible mission to paddle canoes 60 miles up the Gironde estuary to sabotage German blockade runners in the port of Bordeaux.

Against brutal Atlantic conditions, freezing temperatures, and constant threat of discovery, these men demonstrated extraordinary courage and determination. But the mission came at a devastating cost—only two of the twelve would survive. Patrick and Saul examine the meticulous planning, the catastrophic setbacks, and the ultimate question: was the strategic gain worth the human sacrifice?

If you have any thoughts or questions, you can send them to - [email protected]

Producer: James Hodgson

X (Twitter): @PodBattleground
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In our weekly round up of the latest news from Ukraine, Roger Moorhouse and Patrick Bishop examine a week of "salient moments" that may signal a turning point in the war.

They discuss the Kremlin’s risky move to throttle Telegram, the deepening recession across 21 sectors of the Russian economy, and the high-profile assassination attempt on Lieutenant-general Vladimir Alexeyev.

The duo also breaks down the latest friction in the Abu Dhabi peace talks and the mounting pressure on President Zelensky to hold wartime elections.

If you have any thoughts or questions, you can send them to - [email protected]

Producer: James Hodgson

X (Twitter): @PodBattleground
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In this episode of Battleground: Special Forces, Saul David is joined by Julius Strauss to dive into the brutal history and mixed legacy of one of Russia’s elite units: Spetsnaz.

Julius provides a unique reporter’s perspective on the ground, reflecting on his own experiences embedded with these units during some of their most controversial deployments.

The episode focuses on two of the most infamous and tragic missions in Spetsnaz history, both of which Julius was present at: the 2002 Nord-Ost theatre siege in Moscow and the 2004 Beslan school siege. Together they examine the tactics, the hardware, and the devastating human cost of these operations, asking whether the Spetsnaz's "victory at any cost" doctrine remains their greatest liability.

If you have any thoughts or questions, you can send them to - [email protected]

Producer: James Hodgson

X (Twitter): @PodBattleground
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