May 1940 is one of the critical months in British history. As the Nazis tore across Europe and Winston Churchill became Prime Minister, our guest Sinclair McKay explains that this was also the month in which the Home Guard was founded.

Originally known as the Local Defence Volunteers (LDV) and affectionately recalled in the BBC sitcom as 'Dad's Army', the Home Guard was a colourful military force that was compounded by individuals from the local community.

In this episode McKay takes us back to the first year of this colourful organisation's existence. He describes how Churchill was involved in the development of the Home Guard's identity and how an inspiring woman, Edith Summerskill, sought to shape it.

Find out more about Sinclair McKay's Dad's Army: The Glorious True Story of the Home Guard.

Scene One: May 1940 – Anthony Eden’s radio announcement calling for Local Defence Volunteers, as across the Channel, France falls.

Scene Two: July 1940 Churchill renames it the Home Guard as – on the south downs – JB Priestley espies the true poetry of the moment.

Scene Three: November 1940 Dr Edith Summerskill (MP for Fulham) begins her long campaign to have women join the Home Guard.

Memento: A dummy grenade.

Presenter: Peter Moore

Guest: Sinclair McKay

Producer: Maria Nolan

Theme music: Firelight by Minka

Partner: ACE Cultural Tours.

On today's episode Don Hollway takes us back to see 'the Viking's Viking', King Olaf I, in the year when his dramatic story reached its mysterious climax.

Olaf is a heavyweight figure in Norse history. Rising out of obscurity, he travelled widely before experiencing a profound Christian rebirth on the Isles of Scilly. From thereon one of his central motives in life was the conversion of the Norse people to the Christian faith.

There were many battles, of course, along the way. In this episode Hollway looks at the fateful one that took place late in the year 1000. It was at the Battle of Svolder that Olaf vanished, presumed dead.

Find out more about Don Hollway's Hammer of the Gods: King Olaf's Viking Conquest. Read his article about Olaf at Unseen Histories.

Scene One: Early 1000. Olaf marries his third wife.

Scene Two: 1000. The building of Olaf's great dragon ship, the Long Serpent.

Scene Three: 1000. The Battle of Svolder.

Memento: The Long Serpent.

Presenter: Peter Moore

Guest: Don Hollway

Producer: Maria Nolan

Theme music: Firelight by Minka

Partner: ACE Cultural Tours.

Ranking only behind Churchill in the pantheon of Britain's WW2 heroes is Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery or 'Monty'. In this episode the biographer Gary Mead takes us back to 1914 to catch a glimpse of Monty as a young soldier at the start of his first war.

Montgomery, Mead explains, was a complicated character. While admired by his men and celebrated for his great victory at El Alamein in 1942, he was nonetheless loathed by many of those who worked with him. In later years he went to great efforts to distort his personal story, often restorting to brazen falsehoods. Why he did this, Mead elaborates, remains a mystery.

One constant throughout his life was Monty's love of a battle. After a childhood spent in British public schools and distant parts of the Empire, in 1914 his chance for some fighting arrived. Like many in that fateful summer of 1914, he dashed across the Channel to confront the Germans.

Find out more about Gary Mead's Montgomery: Unbeatable, Unbearable.

Scene One: August 1914. Great Scotland Yard Recruiting Office, London.

Scene Two: 23 August 1914. The Battle of Mons.

Scene Three: Christmas Day 1914. The Truce at Neuve Chapelle.

Memento: A brass button from a German uniform.

Presenter: Peter Moore

Guest: Gary Mead

Producer: Maria Nolan

Theme music: Firelight by Minka

Partner: ACE Cultural Tours.