The Great War’s Eastern Front
By Chris MiskimonRussia was imploding in October 1917. The war combined with the numerous internal stresses of the nation, culminating in a civil war and Russia’s withdrawal from the greater war. Read more
Heavy infantry comes of age in the Swiss Confederacy.
The ambush of Duke King Leopold I’s army by Swiss foot soldiers on the mountain road at Morgarten in 1315 ushered in a roughly 200-year period where the hard-hitting Swiss maintained a reputation as elite foot soldiers. Read more
The Killing of Il Duce
By Blaine TaylorAt 3 am on Sunday, April 29, 1945, a yellow furniture truck stopped at the Piazzale Loreto, a vast, open traffic roundabout where five roads intersected in the northern Italian city of Milan. Read more
Dueling Aces in Sevastopol
By Christer Bergström and Andrey MikhailovIn June 1942, the Black Sea port of Sevastopol on the Crimea was the scene of some of the fiercest fighting of World War II. Read more
December 2017 World War II Games
By Joseph LusterDeveloper Kite Games’ Sudden Strike 4 recently made its way to consoles with a release on PlayStation 4, offering one of the rare opportunities to enjoy real-time World War II strategy on the system. Read more
Facing Reality in First Strike: Final Hour
By Joseph LusterBlindflug Studios’ First Strike: Final Hour seems especially topical right now, what with the looming tensions of nuclear war ever on the horizon. Read more
We Hit the Open Seas in the Whimsical, Battleship-like Sailcraft
By Joseph LusterHey, you sunk my battleship! If you grew up on board games, you definitely recall uttering that phrase, or at least hearing it over and over again on TV. Read more
The French Foreign Legion at Tuyen Quang
By Christopher MiskimonThe Chinese were coming, and the French Foreign Legion WAS preparing to meet them. In January 1885, 390 Legionnaires, backed by a handful of sailors, locally recruited troops, and eight sappers, busily fortified the old Chinese fort at Tuyen Quang. Read more
Holly Springs was Van Dorn’s ticket to fame.
The horsemen charged into the town from the northeast guns blazing and screaming the hair-raising Rebel yell. Yankees wearing their sleepwear struggled to get out of their tents in the dawn attack and then ran for their lives. Read more
Queen of the Desert: The Infantry ‘Matilda’ Tank
By Jon DiamondThe origins of the Matilda Tank or “I” Tank date back to 1934, when Maj. Gen. Percy C.S. Read more
Prelude to Iwo Jima: The Japanese Assault On B-29 Base On Marianas
By Michael P. SlaterFrom an altitude of 30,000 feet, the swift Japanese reconnaissance aircraft flew high over Saipan and Tinian, photographing the brisk and extensive engineering effort under way on the American airfields far below. Read more
The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) Graduates Who Shaped WWII
By Phil GioiaWatching his forces prepare to attack the Union Army at the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863, Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson commented to an aide, “The Institute will be heard from today.” Read more
The Legend of Lightning Joe Farinholt, the Four-Time Silver Star Recipient
By Don HainesNot all of the 68 infantry divisions available to the U.S. Army during World War II were made up of draftees and enlistees. Read more
Rommel’s Ghost Division
By Dr. Michael RinellaThe appointment of Erwin Rommel as commander of the 7th Panzer Division (nicknamed the “Ghost Division”) in February 1940 seems, in the light of his many triumphs in France and North Africa, an unremarkable and perfectly natural choice. Read more
Hard-Won Combat Laurels
By Christopher MiskimonIron Bottom Sound was full of transport ships unloading supplies in the early afternoon sun on November 12, 1942. Read more
George Preddy, Jr.: The USAAF’s Greatest P-51 Ace
By Kelly BellDarwin, Australia, was hot even though it was mid-winter. On the afternoon of July 12, 1942, four newly deployed pilots of the U.S. Read more
The Battle Of Midway: Turning the Tide in the South Pacific
By John WukovitsRarely in the history of warfare had one nation absorbed such numbing losses in so rapid a time as did the United States in the Pacific War’s first five months. Read more
Colonel George S. Patton, Sr.: Civil War Veteran
By James M. PowlesThe famed general of World War II, George S. Patton III, often spoke with pride of the military deeds of his forefathers. Read more
Miracle at Dunkirk
By Jon DiamondFollowing the 76th anniversary of the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) from the beaches and harbor of Dunkirk, one is amazed at the number of articles and volumes written about the subject. Read more
Hero to the End: Airman William “Ed” Dyess on the Philippines
By Sam McGowanLieutenant Colonel William Edwin Dyess, a U.S. Army Air Corps pilot and squadron commander, was considered a hero by men who served under him in the Philippines and who felt they owed their own lives to Ed’s sacrifice. Read more
