The history of the 20th century will always be dominated by a single cataclysmic event: World War Two. An estimated 50 million people lost their lives during the period 1 September 1939 to 2 September 1945. The conflict raged in all parts of the globe, from the invasion of the arctic waste of northern Norway, to commerce raiding and mine laying naval missions in the southern oceans of New Zealand, to close-in fighting in the maleria infested jungles of Burma.
Most major scientific, technical and political factors operating today had their genesis in this war. The jet engine, radar, synthetic rubber, computers, the ICBM, nuclear weapons and even ISO quality control standards had their genesis in this conflict. The political legacy of World War Two was the splitting of the globe into East and West, and the Cold War, from which we are only now emerging.

This war is special for another reason. Students of history sit in a similar orientation to this conflict that Herodotus did with the Persian Invasion of Greece, which he detailed in his book 'Historia', the first recorded work of military history, and from which we get the word itself. Like Herodotus, we sit about 60 years after the conflict, able to interview many of the combatants, and with the passage of time able to reflect on the causes and consequences of the war. However, as time passes, more and more of the veterans of this conflict pass on, and opportunities to interview them diminish.