Exhausted Caravan
By Tim MillerDuring the afternoon of May 16, 1940, flames rose from the block of Foreign Office buildings on the Quai d’Orsay in Paris. Read more
Is London Burning?
By David Alan JohnsonThe bombers seemed to arrive overhead with much less warning than on any past air raid. Olive Bayliss, who lived with her family over at London Wall, in London’s City District, was certain that the Luftwaffe came in faster than usual tonight, catching everyone by surprise. Read more
Dark Days of Spring
By Mark SimmonsIn the early hours of May 14, 1940, General Alphonse Georges, the French commander of the northeast front, received bad news at his headquarters, the small but elegant 18th-century Chateau des Bondons, an hour’s drive east of Paris near the River Marne. Read more
Battling for Bougainville
By Jon DiamondKey Allied victories in the Pacific have been singled out as seminal turning points against the Japanese. The American Navy’s sinking of four enemy carriers at Midway crippled future Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) initiatives on the scale mounted during the war’s initial six months. Read more
Rangers Led the Way at Zerf
By Nathan PreferWithout a doubt, the U.S. Army’s Ranger battalions were considered among the elite formations of World War II. Read more
The Mosquito
By Phil ZimmerPrecise timing was crucial. More than 700 prisoners were being held in the Amiens prison, many of whom were being tortured by the Gestapo and were soon to be executed, according to reports that reached London. Read more
The P-39 Airacobra
By Phil ZimmerThe P-39 Airacobra was a bit like Rodney Dangerfield—it “couldn’t get no respect,” especially from those who never piloted the “Flying Cannon” built by the Buffalo, New York-based Bell Aircraft Corp. Read more
The Heroic Death of the HMS Jervis Bay
By Chuck LyonsAble Seaman John Jeffcott, 27, of the HMS Jervis Bay was apprehensive in October 1940 as his ship sailed from Hailfax, Nova Scotia. Read more
The Buna Front: A Ghastly Nightmare
By Jon DiamondAsk anyone who was there and they will tell you that Papua New Guinea, especially along the northern coast, was a tropical hell. Read more
“Butch” O’Hare: the Original Top Gun
By Patrick ReynoldsEdward Henry “Butch” O’Hare rocketed to fame in February 1942 by singlehandedly taking on eight Japanese torpedo bombers bent on destroying the aircraft carrier USS Lexington and shooting down several of them. Read more
Zhukov Strikes Back
By Jeff ChrismanSmolensk Russia, Headquarters, German Army Group Center (AGC), December 3, 1941; Army Group commander, 61-year-old Generalfeldmarschall Fedor von Bock is a troubled man. Read more
Warriors on Water
By John W. Osborn Jr.“We were to be terrorists. Our job was to terrorize the Germans,” one former member said dramatically. Read more
How the Second Battle of Sedan Led to the Fall of France
By Christopher MiskimonThe attack was beginning despite the widespread lack of artillery support, engineers, or armor. Normally this would be a recipe for disaster. Read more
Every man an Emperor
By Patrick J. ChaissonSergeant William R. Kelly crashed through the treetops, slamming to a stop when his parachute canopy caught on some branches. Read more
Australia’s Owen Gun
By Jon DiamondA casual observer of World War II photographs after 1943 will often notice slouch hat- or beret-wearing Australian “diggers,” or armed Melanesian natives in the Australian Constabulary battalions, slogging through the muck and jungle of New Guinea, Bougainville, New Britain, and Borneo carrying a rather odd-looking weapon with a vertical top-mounting magazine. Read more
D-Day Drama at the Klondike Aid Station
By Bill WarnockShellfire rocked the aid station. A ceiling beam cracked, raining down plaster. One explosion obliterated a window, hurling stone, wood, and glass shards into the room. Read more
The Greatest Disaster
By David H. LippmanAmid rain, lightning, and dark, the British admiral and American general picked their way through choppy seas to the transport USS McCawley, off the coast of Guadalcanal. Read more
A Hit or Miss Affair
By Patrick J. ChaissonLucian Truscott needed a cigarette. The 47-year-old brigadier general was having the worst night of his life. Read more
JFK’s First Brush with Death
By John DomagalskiActivity at Japanese air bases in the northern Solomon Islands reached a fever pitch as the South Pacific sun rose on the morning of April 7, 1943. Read more
Steel Typhoon at Okinawa
By Blaine TaylorAs one island or island group in the Pacific was fought over by American and Japanese forces, it became clear that Japan’s days as a combatant in World War II were numbered. Read more
