Articles Archive

Last Days of PT-34

By John Domagalski

The bleak opening days of World War II in the Pacific found the American territory of the Philippines under attack from the Japanese. Read more

Searchlights pierce the early morning of February 25, 1942, as a Coast Artillery Brigade fires more than 1,400 antiaircraft shells at a rumored Japanese attack on Los Angeles. Coming two days after a Japanese sub shelled an oilfield near Santa Barbara and less than three months after Pearl Harbor, the incident showed the nervous state of the nation.

Shortly after noon on Tuesday, December 9, 1941, in the wake of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, hostile warplanes were reported 200 miles off the Virginia coast and heading for New York City. Read more

These two Matilda Mk.IIs of the 7th Royal Tank Regiment were part of the 74 tanks of the British “Frankforce,” that counterattacked the German spearhead at Arras in May 1940. Cutting through the woods to avoid Junkers Ju 87 attacks, these tanks got stuck in mud and were set on fire by their crews.

Counterattack at Arras

By David H. Lippman

The orders he received didn’t make much sense to Lord Gort, but he was going to obey them. Read more

World War II Book Reviews for Winter 2024

By Christopher Miskimon Full Reviews

To Besiege a City: Leningrad 1941-42 (Prit Buttar, Osprey Publishing, Oxford UK, 2023, 464 pp., maps, photographs, notes, bibliography, index, $40, hardcover)

Death and Life in the Big Red One: A Soldier’s World War II Journey from North Africa to Germany (Joseph P. Read more

Under the relentless onslaught of Japanese Mitsubishi A6 Zero fighter planes, the Douglas TBD Devastator torpedo bombers of the USS Hornet’s Torpedo Squadron 8 are massacred as they attempt to attack Japanese aircraft carriers during the Battle of Midway in this dramatic painting by artist John Hamilton titled “Destruction of a Torpedo Bomber.”

Remembering Torpedo 8 of Midway

By Mark Carlson

In 1982, Captain Bert Earnest and Commander Harry Ferrier were present at an event to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the Battle of Midway. Read more

Strategic Mind: Spirit of Liberty

By Joseph Luster

The events that occurred during the Winter War and the Continuation War that followed were truly monumental, and a new game aims to harness those stories to great effect. Read more

Company of Heroes Collection

By Joseph Luster

Relic Entertainment’s Company of Heroes first brought its real-time strategizing to PC back in 2006 before eventually being ported to iOS and Android devices. Read more

After sustaining damage during the Battle of the River Plate, the Graf Spee sought temporary shelter in the harbor of Montevideo, Uruguay. Local authorities insisted that the Germans abide by the rules of the Hague Convention but eventually extended the ship’s time in port to 72 hours.

Troubling History

By Michael Haskew

The pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee was conceived as a commerce raider. Along with the other panzerschiffe, literally “armored ships,” of the Kriegsmarine, Graf Spee was heavily armed with 11-inch main guns. Read more

The Blue Ridge Division in Europe

By Andy Adkins & Madeline Hanson

The 80th Infantry Division’s lineage goes back to the First World War. It was first organized at Camp Lee, Virginia, on August 5, 1917. Read more

Eleventh-Hour Peril: The U.S. Naval Escape from China

by Eric Niderost

On November 11, 1941, the U.S. Navy gunboats USS Luzon and Oahu were ordered to “make quietly all preparations within the ship for a cruise at sea.” Read more

German soldiers in winter camouflage defend their lines against oncoming Russians.

Furious Fight in a Frozen Hell

By Pat McTaggart

It was the third winter in Russia for the men of Field Marshal Erich von Manstein’s Army Group South, and things were going from bad to worse. Read more

Shortly after a surrender to U.S. forces, German officers hand out rations of bread to hungry soldiers.

The German 11th Panzer Division: Giving Up the Ghost

By Brig. Gen. Raymond E. Bell Jr.

It was an impressive sight. Upon the reviewing stand as honored guest was General Dwight D. Read more

Frederic John Walker & the German U-Boat

by Robert Barr Smith

On this writer’s desk sits a small, pewter mug, dented and somewhat bat-tered. It is neatly engraved, and the lettering reads: “Wardroom H.M.S. Read more

Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, the Woman who Received the Medal of Honor

By Kevin Seabrooke

Born to progressive parents in Oswego, New York, Mary Edwards Walker and her six siblings were raised as “Free Thinkers” and taught to question everything. Read more

Using a machine gun and carbine rifles, infantrymen sight up enemy positions during an attack on Cape Gloucester.

Operation Cartwheel: Seizing the Solomons and Beyond

by Douglas Sterling

On the island of New Britain, at the north end of the Solomon chain, lay a major base that provided Japanese forces with the naval power, supplies, and reinforcements to control the sea lanes of the Southwest Pacific. Read more

In this painting by Jack Fellows, P-39s flown by Major George Greene, Jr., (foreground) and “Buzz” Wagner take on Japanese Zeros over the Salamaua Peninsula.

WWII Planes: The Bell P-39 Airacobra “Peashooter”

by Sam McGowan

If there is an American combat airplane that has achieved an ill-deserved reputation, no doubt it would be the much-maligned Bell P-39 Airacobra, a tricycle landing gear single-engine fighter whose reputation was greatly overshadowed by the more famous, and of more recent design, Lockheed P-38 Lightning, Curtiss P-40 Tomahawk, Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, and North American P-51 Mustang. Read more