Rotterdam

Waffen SS General Felix Steiner’s WWII Legacy

“Where is Steiner?” Adolf Hitler demanded as his Thousand Year Reich crumbled around him in April 1945. “Is he attacking yet?” Read more

Rotterdam

German Intelligence Chief Wilhelm Franz Canaris

In most popular spy thrillers, secret agents are tall, handsome, virile, and irresistible to women. Whether their name is Dirk Pitt, Jack Ryan, or James Bond, all are hard-drinking, well-tailored ladies’ men. Read more

Rotterdam

Dutch Debacle

By John W. Osborn, Jr.

When world war engulfed Europe for the second time in a generation, the Netherlands placed its faith in the diplomatic delusion that it could remain neutral like it had during World War I. Read more

Rotterdam

Boeing Wonderland: The Fake Cities on America’s West Coast

When I was a young boy in Seattle, my father told me about a fake town that had been built on top of Boeing’s Plant 2 during the war. Read more

Rotterdam

­Battle of Nijmegen Bridge: Taking the Crossings Over the Waal

The city of Nijmegen, in the southeastern part of Holland and about six miles from the Dutch-German border, is believed to be Holland’s oldest city, going back some 2,000 years. Read more

Rotterdam

Belgium Besieged: From Blitzkrieg to Occupation

On May 9, 1940, a black Mercedes automobile drove inconspicuously away from the Reich Chancellery in Berlin and merged with the weekend traffic. Read more

Rotterdam

The French Maginot Line: Its Full History and Legacy after WWII

Like a disjointed, moss-covered, concrete serpent, the French Maginot Line snakes some 800 miles, from the Mediterranean border with Italy northward, until it disappears near the North Sea. Read more

Rotterdam

The Battle of France: Furor Teutonicus & Gallic Débâcle

The year 1939 was one of massive military parades across Europe. On April 20, the largest ever was held in Berlin to celebrate Adolf Hitler’s birthday, complete with the paratroopers, wheeled artillery, tanks, half-tracks for motorized infantry, and overhead Luftwaffe fly-bys that would mark the coming campaigns and revolutionize warfare forever. Read more

Rotterdam

Stuka Legend Hans-Ulrich Rudel

The Junkers Ju-87 Stuka dive-bomber proved itself an effective weapon of terror during the Spanish Civil War as part of Hitler’s Condor Legion. Read more