Articles Archive

Germany’s Versatille 88mm Gun

By Phil Zimmer

The November 21, 1944, daylight flight of Teddy’s Rough Riders was anything but routine for American pilot Werner G. Read more

The African Kaiser

By Christopher Miskimon

A motley flotilla of British ships arrived on November 2, 1914, in the port of Tanga in German East Africa. Read more

Stirring Accounts of the Albigensian Crusade

The three contemporary narrative accounts of the 13th-century Albigensian Crusade are gripping, chilling, and enlightening. They offer rich insight into the period when the Languedoc region of modern-day southwestern France was tied more closely to the Kingdom of Aragon than the fledgling Kingdom of France. Read more

John Steinbeck in World War II

By Robert E. Cray, Jr.

A fuming John Steinbeck vented his frustration over World War II to a friend on March 15, 1943. Read more

General George S. Patton’s vehicle was hit by an Army truck on December 9, 1945. Investigators considered the accident trivial, but Patton later died from his injuries, fueling conspiracy theories.

Was General Patton Murdered? New Light on an Old Conspiracy

by Peter Cross

When one thinks about the major conspiracy theories of the post-World War II era, one is drawn to the assassinations of President John F. Read more

The USS Houston and the Battle of Sunda Strait

By A.B. Feuer

The heavy cruiser USS Houston ventured into the Sunda Strait off the coast of Java on the dark night of February 28, 1942, and was never heard from again. Read more

German Military’s Emissary for Peace

By Jon Diamond

Many accounts have been written about the peace mission flight of Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess and his parachute landing in a farm field in Scotland in May 1941 to discuss with the Duke of Hamilton a proposal to end hostilities. Read more

Rolling across a muddy field in France, the Sherman tank of Sergeant Harvey Woodward and his crew heads for the front. Shortly after this photograph was taken, the tank was hit by enemy fire and the entire crew killed.

Patton’s Panthers: The Story of the 761st Tank Battalion

By Charles W. Sasser

In the Academy Award-winning film Patton, the setting was all wrong when actor George C. Scott delivered General George S. Read more

Battle of Meximieux: American Infantry & French Resistance

By Flint Whitlock

Nineteen-year-old Private First Class Peter Gaidosh of East Rochester, NY, was enjoying that rarest of wartime treats—a hot breakfast of fresh eggs, coffee, and pancakes—on the front lines. Read more

Military Vehicles: German Motorcycles in WWII

by G. Paul Garson

After September 1, 1939, and Germany’s invasion of Poland, a trickle of so-called “death cards” began appearing in homes across the Third Reich. Read more

Lt. Col. Joachim Peiper’s Grisly Death After the Battle of the Bulge

By Major General Michael Reynolds

One of the foremost German characters in the Battle of the Bulge was Obersturmbannführer (Lieutenant Colonel) Joachim Peiper, the notorious Waffen-SS commander of the strongest armored Kampfgruppe (KG) of the 1st SS Panzer Division, Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH). Read more

Daring PT Boat Rescue

By Christopher Miskimon

On February 22, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered general Douglas MacArthur, commanding American and Filipino forces resisting the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, to leave the islands for the relative safety of Australia. Read more

October 2017 War Games

By Joseph Luster

Following up on releases in other European territories, War Wings recently made its debut in the UK, bringing it one step closer to its eventual North American release. Read more

An ISU-152 heavy assault gun of the First Polish Division crosses the Oder. The Soviet self-propelled howitzer fired high-explosive rounds that could destroy reinforced bunkers, and also could blow the turret off of a German tank.

A Masterful German Defense at the Battle of Seelow Heights

By William E. Welsh

The officers huddled in a candlelit cellar in an abandoned farmhouse midway between the Oder River and Berlin. Read more

VP-16 and Operation Forager

By Bruce Petty

A great deal has been written about the Battle for Saipan, including the Battle of the Philippine Sea, remembered today as having included “The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot.” Read more

A Submariner’s Letter From World War II

By Robert Schultz with James Shell

By Christmas 1941, Robert Hunt, torpedoman on the submarine USS Tambor, had witnessed the Japanese bombing of Wake Island, had slept in the Tambor’s forward torpedo room on the way back to Pearl with a bomb-induced leak bubbling in the corner, and had stood on his sub’s bow and seen the devastation of Battleship Row as debris in the oil-slicked harbor bumped against the hull. Read more