World War II’s Most Daring U-boat Attack

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MacArthur’s Battle to Liberate Manila Amid Murder & Mayhem

By James M. Scott

On the early evening of March 11, 1942, General Douglas MacArthur, his wife Jean, and the couple’s four-year-old son Arthur walked out onto Corregidor’s north dock in preparation to escape the battered Philippine island. Read more

Robert the Bruce’s Quest for the Throne of Scotland

Robert the Bruce, the newly crowned king of Scotland, reined his horse in front of the gates of Perth on the bank of the Tay River in central Scotland on June 18, 1306. Read more

The 28th Infantry Division’s Heroic Defense during the Battle of the Bulge

The Battle of the Bulge lasted from December 16, 1944, until January 25, 1945, and stands as one of the classic stories of true grit and defiance against a strong and determined enemy. Read more

Tyler Kent: U.S. Spy for Nazi Germany

Kent was seated at the breakfast table. Knight informed him that they had come to conduct a search of his residence. Read more

The Sea Awaits With Demanding Naval Strategy, and History Mingles With Alternate Possibilities

There are plenty of ground and air combat-based World War II games, so it always catches our attention when a new one arrives that focuses its combat on the open seas. Read more

Cavalry Clash at Kelly’s Ford

With freshly honed sabers, more than 2,000 Union cavalrymen rode toward the Confederate-held Rappahannock River crossing of Kelly’s Ford in March 1863 with orders to attack and rout or destroy Maj. Read more

Bombing Burma’s Bridges

Thirty-five Boeing B-17C Flying Fortress bombers of the 7th Bomb Group happened to be on their way to Asia the morning the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Read more

101st Airborne fight for Hamburger Hill

Lieutenant Frank Boccia could hear the platoon ahead moving forward, reconnoitering by fire, spraying the trail and the jungle alongside it with M16 and M60 fire. Read more

The M42A1 Duster’s Crucial Role in the Vietnam War

U.S. Army First Lieutenant Bruce Geiger participated in the protracted siege of Khe Sanh during the Vietnam War. Read more

Capturing U-505 was a staggering blow against the ravaging Wolfpacks.

By June 1943, when a U.S. Navy task group under the command of Captain Daniel Gallery captured the Nazi submarine U-505 on the high seas—the first such seizure of the an enemy warship by the American navy since the War of 1812—Allied forces were obviously wresting the initiative in the Battle of the Atlantic from the rampaging Wolfpacks of the Kriegsmarine directed by Admiral Karl Dönitz. Read more

Doolittle’s Raiders: The Men Who Shaped the Pearl Harbor Payback

By Nathan N. Prefer

In the months that led up to Doolittle’s raiders assembling to strike back at Tokyo, President Franklin D. Read more

Eleanor Roosevelt and Admiral Halsey

Prim, proper, and lacking any trace of braggadocio, the first lady of the United States, Eleanor Roosevelt, preferred placid pastimes and exchanging letters with close friends. Read more