Allied victory in both the European and Pacific theaters seemed inevitable by spring 1945. The German Army was fighting on its own soil, and Japanese forces were defending Okinawa, the principal island of the Ryukyu archipelago. Read more
The Ottoman janissary corps was recruited from military slaves. These slaves were either prisoners captured by Ottoman armies during the course of war or boys and young men conscripted from occupied Christian populations. Read more
The winter of 1944-45 saw Nazi Germany in a grim position. The Allies were well established in Europe and advancing quickly. Read more
Today, Bukit Timah, meaning “Tin Hill” in Malay, is a residential and business neighborhood in the center of the island of Singapore approximately seven and one-half miles northwest of Singapore City. Read more
There is no statute of limitations when it comes to the Holocaust.
In February 2021, a 95-year-old woman who was the secretary to Lt. Read more
General Dwight D. Eisenhower enjoyed visiting troops in the field. After the Battle of Normandy and the race across France, the Supreme Allied Commander toured the front in mid-November, 1944. Read more
Ensign Doran S. Weinstein, a U.S. Navy communications officer, stationed himself outside the bridge of a troop transport named SS President Coolidge as it approached the South Pacific island of Espiritu Santo on Monday morning, October 26, 1942. Read more
On March 2, 1933, only a few weeks after the inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt as President of the United States, the most spectacular event in the entertainment world premiered in New York. Read more
It was a bold prediction. “Rough but fast … We’ll be through in three days. It might only take two.” Read more
At dawn on November 20, 1943, U.S. Marines unleashed their first amphibious attack in the Central Pacific Theater. Read more
Winston Churchill described the U.S. Army during the war years as a “prodigy of organization … an achievement which soldiers of every other country will always study with admiration and envy.” Read more
By mid-December 1944, the 3rd Battalion, 33rd Armored Regiment, Third Armored Division “Spearhead” had seen plenty of action. Read more
Generaloberst Erwin Rommel, commander of the Panzerarmee Afrika, was in his element, riding in an armored car at top speed through the desiccated plains of the Libyan desert. Read more
Many historians consider the victory at Gazala the greatest in the fabled career of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. However, it was Gazala that also led to the undoing of Panzer Armee Afrika and the ultimate defeat of the Axis forces in the Desert War. Read more
As Jim Swett guided his Grumman F4F Wildcat fighter to a landing at Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, he looked forward to getting some rest. Read more
For many Americans in late 1941 and early 1942, he was the most hated—and feared—man in the world. Read more
The Germans called it the “Komet” and the “Devil’s Broomstick,” for the incredible speed with which it reached its altitude of 30,000 feet, achieving 0.84 Mach while doing so. Read more
When a friend from Wolsey, South Dakota, asked Alven Baker why he was joining the army in 1941 and not another branch of the service, he replied, “To capture Adolf Hitler.” Read more
Staff Sergeant Darrell Bush had just carried a wounded soldier on his back to the rear when five enemy bullets seemed to hit him simultaneously. Read more
Eighty years ago this month, the U.S. Navy inflicted the decisive defeat of World War II in the Pacific against the marauding Japanese. Read more
