On the latest episode of The Rum Ration, Rejoy and Colin tackle one of military history’s most irresistible “what ifs”: what if Erwin Rommel had direct control of the German Panzer reserves on D-Day?

Rather than drifting into fantasy, they ground the discussion in the hard realities of June 6, 1944: a fractured German command system, delayed decision-making, Allied air superiority, and the brutal geography of Normandy. The episode zeroes in on the British and Canadian sector around Caen and Juno, arguing that this was the likeliest place where an earlier, sharper German armoured response could have created a genuine crisis.

Still, this is no cheap revisionism. Rejoy and Colin weigh Rommel’s instincts against the enormous strength and redundancy built into Overlord, and against the stubborn resistance of Allied troops already ashore. The conclusion is both sober and compelling: Rommel probably could not have repulsed the invasion, but he might have made Normandy even bloodier and more dangerous than it already was.

In this episode of The Rum Ration, Rejoy and Colin explore one of the darkest and least understood chapters of Canada’s First World War: the 25 Canadian soldiers executed by their own side, “shot at dawn.” Through the story of Private Fortunat Auger of The Royal Montreal Regiment, we examine the brutal logic of military discipline in trench warfare and the impossible strain placed on ordinary volunteers.

Auger was not a simple victim, nor a villain. He was a Montreal architect, an early volunteer, and a man who endured the horrors of Ypres and Festubert before repeatedly deserting the line. His execution in March 1916 became a warning to others, meant to preserve discipline in a citizen army under unbearable pressure.

This episode looks beyond easy judgments to ask harder questions about fear, duty, morale, and how armies chose to enforce obedience. It is a sobering reminder that the war claimed lives in more ways than one.

On this episode of The Rum Ration, Rejoy and Colin take listeners into the life and legend of Billy Bishop, Canada’s most famous and most controversial First World War air ace. Beginning with his dramatic final patrol over the Western Front on 19 June 1918, the episode explores both the astonishing exploits that made Bishop a national hero and the lingering questions that still surround his record.

From his unruly youth in Owen Sound and his gift for marksmanship to his rise in the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force, Bishop emerges as a bold, complex, and deeply individualistic figure. The episode also examines the machines and tactics that shaped aerial combat, especially Bishop’s “lone wolf” style of flying, which brought spectacular success but also fuels debate among historians.

Rather than offering simple hero worship or easy dismissal, Rejoy and Colin tackle the harder question: how should we understand Billy Bishop today?