Articles Archive

The night before the battle, Marius posted 3,000 legionnaires in a nearby wood with orders to attack the tribesmen while they were assailing the Roman fort. The plan worked perfectly, and Marius sallied out to finish off the disorganized enemy troops.

Roman Revenge at Aquae Sextiae

By John E. Spindler

In the evening hours on a midsummer day in 102 bc, Roman Consul Gaius Marius decided that tomorrow was to be the day to confront the barbarians. Read more

Rommel’s Relentless Attack on the Gazala Line

By Joshua Shepherd

During the early morning hours of May 27, 1942, the men of the 3rd Indian Motor Brigade braced themselves for another mundane assignment in the broiling heat of the Libyan Desert. Read more

British soldiers advance through the rubble of a captured town on the road to Mandalay in 1945. Maj. Gen. T.W. Rees's 19th Division captured the old royal capital on March 21 after protracted street fighting and stubborn Japanese resistance from inside the city's ancient citadel known as Fort Dufferin.

Outfoxed in Burma

By Mike Phifer

While the soldiers and officers of the Japanese 15th Army fought fiercely to defend Mandalay in central Burma, they were alarmed to discover that British and Indian troops were dangerously close to capturing their supply depot at Meiktila, 90 miles to their rear. Read more

General Hubert Lyautey, the French Resident-General of Morocco, arrives in Marrakesh. Lyautey faced the daunting task of pacifying the country and winning over the hearts and minds of the population, and he succeeded at both.

Massacre In Morocco

By Simon Rees

In his father’s time, leopards had freely padded across the reception areas of the royal palace at Fez, inspiring awe and trepidation among visitors. Read more

On December 17, 1939, just four days after the Battle of the River Plate, the crew of the Admiral Graf Spee set off explosives they had planted aboard the ship scuttling it in the mouth of the river.

The German Cruiser Admiral Graf Spee

By Robert L. Willett

When the first shell hit in the dimly lit interior of the German ship, a subdued chorus came from the 29 ships’ officers held prisoner on board. Read more

Monty Crosses the Rhine

By Zita Ballinger Fletcher

Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery is best known for defeating Germany’s famed commander, Erwin Rommel, at the Battle of El Alamein in 1942. Read more

Captain James Lawrence was mortally wounded in the clash between frigates USS Chesapeake and HMS Shannon off Boston in June 1813. The American defeat left New Englanders, many of whom opposed the war, shocked and stunned.

Deadly Frigate Victory

By William E. Welsh

The late summer day began like many others on the Maine coast. Seagulls wheeled overhead, seals sunned on seaweed-covered ledges, and the ocean pounded rocky headlands. Read more

M18 Hellcat Tank Destroyers Failed on the Battlefield

By William F. Floyd Jr.

In 1940, existing U.S. Army tactical doctrine called for a cordon of towed antitank guns to defend against an enemy tank attack, but army planners studying the Battle of France in May of that year realized that a tactical plan of that nature was outdated and likely would not thwart a large-scale armor attack. Read more

The ashes of former Japanese Prime Minister Tojo and six other war criminals were scattered at sea.

One of the enduring questions surrounding post-World War II Tokyo war crimes trials has apparently, at long last, been answered.

In the early morning hours of December 23, 1948, former Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo and six other convicted “Class A” war criminals were executed by hanging at Sugamo Prison in Tokyo. Read more

Crewmen stand on the deck of U-47 as the submarine returns from a successful war patrol in 1939. Every member of the crew was decorated for the sinking of Royal Oak.

World War II’s Most Daring U-boat Attack

By Alexander Zakrzewski

On the evening of October 13, 1939, sailors aboard the British battleship HMS Royal Oak had no reason to believe they were in danger of anything other than cold and boredom. Read more

Controversial Allied Escort Carriers were Versatile Weapons

By Michael Hull

Ungainly, slow, and lacking armor, the escort carriers of the American and British navies were the versatile, unsung workhorses of the second half of World War II. Read more

The Men of the Iron Brigade Faced Death in a Cornfield at Antietam

By Robert L. Durham

The dense formation that constituted the Army of the Potomac’s Black Hat Brigade formed up on Joseph Poffenberger’s farm at dawn on September 17, 1862. Read more

Outnumbered Green Berets Defend Camp Nam Dong

By William E. Welsh

Special Forces Team A-726 had been out on patrol far from the unit’s camp at Nam Dong on the night of Friday, July 3, 1964, when radiomen back at the A team camp received an ominous warning from the field. Read more

Savage Struggle on the Kokoda Trail

By Christopher Miskimon

The Japanese attacked the Australians near the remote village of Kokoda in New Guinea in the middle of the night on July 29, 1942. Read more

WWI’s Massive German Spring Offensive of 1918

By Mike Phifer

German artillery officers watched as a white rocket streaked across the dark sky above the French village of St. Read more

U.S. Pilots At War

By Christopher Miskimon

Lieutenant Robert Samuel Johnson looked around for some friendly planes to fly with to get back to England. Read more

Winston Churchill’s Secret D-Day Weapon

By Alan Davidge

BACK STORY: The author has always had a soft spot for the story of the Mulberries. His mother, who was a skilled maker of wedding dresses in London, was conscripted to learn welding and sent to Jones’ Cranes, at Letchworth, just north of the capital city. Read more