The first military operation of WW2 was probably in 1937 when the Japanese invaded China. The very short Home Service item this morning re: historical aspects of the BoB left more questions unanswered than it resolved, but then we could not allow an over run into Desert Island Discs, oh no. Probably available on the BBC website, 0830 hrs onwards.
For most under 40's, WW1 and WW2 are irrelevant, and yet both conflicts and the results of the conflicts continue to shape the lives of most Europeans (language, relative freedoms, dominance of the US etc).