Articles Archive

In this romanticized painting by a German war artist, a German E-boat cuts through the waters of the English Channel on patrol against coastal raids launched from Britain.

The Mystery of Slapton Sands: Operation Tiger

By Charles Whiting

In the early 1970s, a former British Royal Air Force policeman–turned-hairdresser, Ken Small, visited South Devon on England’s Channel coast. Read more

Russian Invasion

By Christopher Miskimon

A t 4:15 a.m. on February 24, 2022, a pre-recorded television segment played in which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “Special Military Operation” against neighboring Ukraine. Read more

Daniel Murphy’s ‘Horse Soldiers at Gettysburg’

By Christopher Miskimon

On the evening of June 30, 1863, Union General John Buford’s 1st Division of cavalry prepared to meet advancing Confederate troops, the next day. Read more

Amir Bega’s ‘Undercurrent’

By Christopher Miskimon

As Amir Bega prepared to go on leave for the Yom Kippur holiday, Egypt and Syria attacked Israel, plunging him into war before his training was finished. Read more

North Vietnamese MiG-21 pilots approached U.S. formations cautiously. They preferred to conduct hit-and-run attacks in which they flew at Mach 1, fired their missiles, and continued through the U.S. formation.

The MiG-21 served as the primary fighter of the Soviet Bloc during the 1960s. During the Vietnam War the Soviet Union distributed this inexpensive, durable interceptor to North Vietnam and trained hundreds of its pilots. Read more

Michael G. Vickers’ ‘By All Means Available’

By Christopher Miskimon

Michael Vickers served his country during the Cold War in a variety of roles. He began as a non-commissioned officer in the US Army’s Special Forces, enlisting in June 1973. Read more

David A. Smith’s ‘A New Force at Sea’

By Christopher Miskimon

George Dewey proved one of the most important naval officers of the last half of the 19th Century. Read more

Explosions rock Malta during an enemy air raid. Due to Malta’s location along German and Italian supply routes, its airfields and dockyards were subject to many bombing runs.

The Siege of Malta in WWII: Holding on to the Island Fortress

By John Brown

When World War II began in September 1939, just nine months before the Siege of Malta, its three small islands in the central Mediterranean were still considered part of the British Commonwealth. Read more

Major Burton and officers of the 5th Dragoon Guards.

Roger Fenton, Crimean War Photographer

By Peter Harrington

In the annals of war photography, Roger Fenton stands with Mathew Brady, Alexander Gardener, and James Robertson as one of the pioneering spirits. Read more

British soldiers put their backs into moving pieces of a Bailey Bridge built on pontoons over the Weser River in Germany, 1945.

The British Bailey Bridge

By Mike McLaughlin

I was always fascinated by the mastery of water,” Sir Donald Coleman Bailey reflected, long after the end of World War II. Read more

Turks storm Constantinople from the water side in this encompassing, if fanciful, 16th-century rendering by Tintoretto. The besieged were greatly outnumbered and fought with determination.

Death of an Empire: The Fall of Constantinople

By Jonathan North

Early in the morning of Tuesday, May 29, 1453, they came swarming like hungry wolves over the plain between the Turkish palisades and the battered walls of Byzantium. Read more

Smoke billows from the German freighter Drachenfels after sustaining damage during a raid by the British.

The Daring Calcutta Light Horse Raid

By Robert Barr Smith

Freighter Ehrenfels’ siren shrieked through the muggy night across the harbor. As the captain pulled down hard on the alarm cord, the alarm howled out over the steaming darkness, screaming that British raiders were in the harbor, alerting Ehrenfels’ crew and calling for help from ashore. Read more