He wore a bowler hat, carried an umbrella into battle, and somehow used it to stop a tank.

In this episode, Johnny Vaughan and Gavin “The Woodman” Woods take on Major Digby Tatham-Warter - the wildly eccentric British officer who became one of the most unforgettable heroes of the Second World War. From Arnhem to Operation Pegasus, his story is full of courage, chaos and levels of Britishness that should be impossible.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

  • ☂️ The officer with the umbrella – why Digby Tatham-Warter carried a brolly into war, and how it became one of the strangest practical decisions in military history
  • 🪖 Arnhem and Operation Market Garden – how he led his men through some of the fiercest fighting of the war
  • 🚓 The tank incident – the extraordinary moment Digby charged a German tank and used his umbrella in a way nobody could have predicted
  • 🚲 Escape, disguise and resistance – how he escaped capture, posed as a Dutch civilian, and helped organise the rescue of stranded Allied soldiers behind enemy lines


If you love World War 2 stories, British war heroes, military legends and unbelievable true stories, this episode of Bloomin’ Legends is for you.

Got a legend you want us to cover?

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Bloomin’ Legends is a Global production

Produced by Ben Fairclough

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