By Blaine Taylor
The German Wehrmacht had just invaded the Soviet Union in the predawn hours of June 22, 1941, and the chief of the Soviet General Staff, General Georgi Konstantinovich Zhukov, was calling the Kremlin in Moscow to alert dictator Josef Stalin, nicknamed “The Chief. Read more
The true story of “Lili Marlene,” possibly the most famous war song ever written because of its universal themes of separation, loneliness, heartbreak, hope, fear of death, and dreaming for one’s love, is varying, contradictory, and controversial. Read more
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life and beyond the call of duty,” began the citation for the Medal of Honor awarded to then-U.S. Read more
When the men of E Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, U.S. 4th Infantry Division stepped out of a Higgins boat into waist-deep water at Utah Beach, Normandy, early on Tuesday, June 6, 1944, they were accompanied by a short, slender man with a dented nose. Read more
Dear Sir,
I have just obtained a copy of your November issue which has just found its way into my local bookshop. Read more
Fifty-nine years after the end of the most horrific conflict ever known, American veterans of World War II will have a memorial dedicated on May 29, 2004. Read more
In March and early April 1942, American and British codebreakers uncovered indications of a Japanese offensive being prepared in the Pacific against Australia. Read more
Cossacks: Back to War, from CDV for the PC, is the third in the Cossacks series of games. Read more
Kill them, Lieutenant. Don’t take any prisoners,” exhorted the bedraggled engineer officer to the new replacements, “Don’t take any prisoners!” Read more
Military commanders might nearly always be odd mixtures: using violent means for ends they consider justified. But some we can only view with consternation. Read more
American perceptions of Japan’s war with China (1937-1945) have been formed by the reports on the Nanking Massacre and similar examples of Japanese brutality. Read more
When German forces rumbled across the Polish frontier in the early hours of Friday, September 1, 1939, igniting World War II, it was the speed and mobility of the armored divisions—the Panzerwaffe—that stunned the world. Read more
Although the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was the event that served to galvanize America to fight World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt and his military advisers had pervasively decided that defeating the Japanese would be secondary to destroying the Nazi war machine in Europe. Read more
For the Western Allies, the war in Europe ended with more of a whimper than a bang. Read more
Dear Editor:
I awaited the “Dispatches” to question why C.R. Smith’s name was not acknowledged in “Anything, Anywhere, Anytime” (July 2002) about the Air Transport Command (ATC), written by Sam McGowan. Read more
The assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, the Butcher of Prague, ended the notorious career of one of the most ruthless and anti-Semitic Nazis. Read more
Dear Editor:
I certainly enjoyed A.B. Feuer’s article on the Battle of the Kokoda Track (October 2002). In the summer of 1962 I was stationed with the 1370th Photomapping Wing’s Aerial Survey Team #5 at Port Moresby, New Guinea. Read more
Translated and with comments by O’Brien Browne
This combat diary account by Robert Ritter von Greim describes the frantic attempts of the German Air Force to halt Allied attacks in the closing months of WWI. Read more
By Eric T. Baker
Uncommon Valor: Campaign for the South Pacific is new from Matrix Games. Together with legendary game designer Gary Grigsby, Joel Billings and Keith Brors of 2by3Games have created an operational campaign game of the South Pacific during World War II. Read more
Trench warfare on the Western Front during World War I was generally static, stultifying, and unimaginative. Read more
