August 2018

Volume 17, No. 5

Cover: A German motorcyclist, wounded and captured near the Seine River, is given first aid by his American captors.
Photo: National Archives

Disabled automobiles lie abandoned in the street of a French village south of the major port city of Cherbourg. In this image soldiers of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division move cautiously through the area.

WWII History

Cherbourg’s Bloody Toll

By Pat McTaggart

It was June 1944. Two generals, one American and one German, faced each other with diametrically opposed missions. Read more

Trailing a tank destroyer down a road, an American soldier raises his M-1 rifle to fire at a German sniper. These soldiers are en route to the Seine River bridge north of Fontainebleau.

WWII History

Breakout Across the Seine

By Arnold Blumberg

On August 14, 1944, Lt. Gen. George S. Patton, Jr., paused after his daily staff conference to offer a short speech about the accomplishments of his Third Army. Read more

German soldiers storm ashore in Norway during a combined operations invasion of the Scandinavian country. The heavy cruiser Blücher was sunk by Norwegian shore batteries during the assault.

WWII History

Kriegsmarine Blooded

By Bob Cashner

Norway had been able to avoid the massive bloodletting of World War I entirely and fervently hoped to steer clear of World War II as well through a policy of strict neutrality. Read more

WWII History

Putting the Cork in the Bottle at Los Negros

By Patrick J. Chaisson

General Douglas MacArthur gripped the rail of the light cruiser USS Phoenix as the warship bombarded shore positions on the Japanese-held island of Los Negros. Read more

WWII History, Editorial

Rediscoveries of World War II Shipwrecks Bring History to Life for This Generation.

Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft Corporation, continues to deliver on his most recent investment of time and money. His expeditions aboard the Research Vessel (R/V) Petrel have yielded startling rediscoveries and ghostly images of the U.S. Read more

WWII History, Ordnance

WWII Tanks: Italy’s Failed Iterations

By Arnold Blumberg

Although it suffered, like all combatants, from the costly stalemate and horrendous casualties of trench warfare during World War I, Italy never used tanks during that conflict. Read more

WWII History, Profiles

Soldiers: A Forgotten Hero

By Nathan N. Prefer

He led the American drive up the New Guinea coast, took his troops ashore on Leyte and Luzon in the Philippines, and was designated by the Allied supreme commander in the Pacific, General Douglas MacArthur, to lead the planned invasion of Japan itself. Read more

Under heavy fire from Japanese defenders, Marines move quickly through the rubble of Garapan, principal city on the island of Saipan. The battle for Garapan in July 1944 was the first experience of street fighting for American Marines in the Pacific.

WWII History, Insight

To Die in the Marianas

By Robert A. Rosenthal

The tranquility of early dawn on June 15, 1944, was interrupted by the sounds of powerful naval guns and the roar of amtraks churning the water. Read more

WWII History, Top Secret

Top Secret: An Intelligence Jackpot

By Patrick J. Chaisson

Nothing seemed to work. The Allied codebreakers tried every possible trick and combination, but these new ciphers defied all attempts at decryption. Read more

WWII History, Books

Western Airlift to Poland

By Christopher Miskimon

It was two hours before noon on September 18, 1944, when Polish freedom fighters inside Warsaw received word an airdrop was coming. Read more

WWII History, Simulation Gaming

Review – Air Combat Pilot: WW2 Pacific

By Joseph Luster

If you hop on the Google Play or Apple Store and search for any variation of “air combat,” you’re going to end up with a deluge of middling results. Read more

August 2018

From Around the Network

The Hood Has Blown Up!

Henry Kissinger’s World War II

Greene’s Gamble at Hobkirk’s Hill

Briton Warrior Queen Boudicca