Hello, my name is Matt, host of the Pirate History podcast.

Pirates rank among the most mythologized and romanticized of all historical figures.

It can become easy to forget that pirates were real people that had real world concerns.

If you like tales of high seas adventure, daring do, and also want to learn more about

who Blackbeard supported to be king, you can learn more about all of that at the Pirate History

Podcast. Hello, everyone. My name is Wesley Levisay from the History of the Second World War

podcast. Join me on a journey to the most destructive

conflict in human history, a journey that will take us not just through the famous campaigns

and cataclysmic battles, but also to the lesser well-known corners of the war that touched

millions all over the world, as we try and answer not just the questions of what and where,

but how and why. You can find

History of the Second World War on all major podcast platforms or at History of the Second

World War.com.

Hello, and thank you for listening to the history of World War II podcast,

Episode 600, the first Quebec conference.

Last time, while slow progress was made against the Germans' outer defensive line,

thanks to the likes of Tweedy, Major John Buckin,

second Baron Tweedsmere, who helped take the towns of Leon Forte and Osoro. The Americans

were still pushing north just west of this line that curved around Mount Etna. But given that

Mussolini had fallen from power and holding Sicily was

untenable, Hitler decided to evacuate his German troops from the island. Now the race was on.

Could the Allies shut down Messina before the Axis used the port city to make good their escape?

...