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Filling the Black Hole

By Michael D. Hull

A generally overlooked factor of World War II has been the influence, sometimes highly significant, of nations that remained neutral. Read more

The best place to be in an urban battle was next to the buildings where it was possible to find a degree of cover from enemy fire. An American machine-gun team belonging to the 26th Infantry Regiment engages the enemy in mid-October.

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Bloodbath in Aachen

By William F. Floyd Jr.

With weapons at the ready, the American squad advanced cautiously on both sides of the tree-lined boulevard toward the German strongpoint in Aachen. Read more

The Tirpitz fires her 15-inch main guns in the Baltic Sea in 1941. The British Royal Navy saw the huge battle-ship as a threat to merchant vessels and troop convoys bound for the British Isles.

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Saga of the Tirpitz

By Blaine Taylor

April 1, 1939, was a red-letter day in the history of the reborn German Kriegsmarine for two key reasons. Read more

Ottoman gunners played a central role in the siege. Their stone shot brought down whole sections of the city’s massive walls, opening large breaches.

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Medieval Bombards at the Siege of Constantinople.

The Ottoman army’s bombards played a key role in its successful conquest of Constantinople during the epic siege of 1453. In the 15th century the great powers of medieval Europe paid talented gunsmiths to build massive bombards to batter walls and shorten the length of sieges. Read more

German infantrymen march past a PzKpfw. III tank that has momentarily halted during the rapid advance of the Wehrmacht through France and the Low Countries in the spring of 1940. The German onslaught on May 10 shattered the uneasy months of peace that had been labeled the ‘Phony War.’

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Dunkirk: Debacle in the West

by Matt Broggie

Tanks—seven divisions of them concentrated at one point, the weakest position in the Western defenses—that was what did it.” Read more

F6F Hellcats, F4U Corsairs, SB2C Helldivers, and TBF Avenger torpedo bombers from carriers of Task Force 58 swarm the Yamato as it steams on its forlorn mission to assist Japanese ground forces on Okinawa. With no air cover, the Yamato and its escort ships were at the mercy of nearly 400 attack aircraft.

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The Superbattleship Yamato in Operation Ten-ichi-go

By John E. Spindler

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

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17th century Ottoman Janissary Musketeer

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

A column of Waffen SS soldiers slogs through snow during the Operation Spring Awakening advance in Hungary. The German offensive was hampered by snow, rain, and deep mud, which bogged down tanks and other vehicles, requiring foot soldiers to undertake much of the fighting with limited mechanized support.

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Desperate Offensive for Oil

By Martin Dougherty

The winter of 1944-45 saw Nazi Germany in a grim position. The Allies were well established in Europe and advancing quickly. Read more

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Two Battles at Singapore’s Bukit Timah

By Jon Diamond

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

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Eisenhower to the Front

By Kevin M. Hymel

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

Showing a pronounced list to starboard, the Coolidge progressively settles underwater in the harbor of Espiritu Santo in October 1942. Troops in the foreground wade to shore in shallow water close to the beach.

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The Sinking of SS President Coolidge

By Patrick J. Chaisson

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

Chinese and American ground crewmen service a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk of the U.S. 28th Fighter Group in China. Merian A. Cooper, famed as a Hollywood producer, served as the unit’s commander and chief of staff to General Claire Chennault in China.

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Merian Cooper: A Man of Adventure

By Sam McGowan

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

Two Marines of the 2nd Division operate a radio on the embattled islet of Betio during the assault on Tarawa Atoll in November 1942.

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Tarawa Radio Failure

By Peter McQuarrie

At dawn on November 20, 1943, U.S. Marines unleashed their first amphibious attack in the Central Pacific Theater. Read more

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Rise of the U.S. Army

By Allyn Vannoy

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

Field Marshal Erwin Rommel visits with troops of the Africa Korps while inspecting positions in the Tobruk fortress belt. Rommel is aboard his light-infantry command vehicle SdKfz. 250/3 ‘Greif.’ The vehicle is equipped with radio-communications gear; note the antenna apparatus atop the open personnel area.

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Clash of Armor at Gazala

By Eric Niderost

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

From Around the Network

  • Women install fixtures and assemblies in the fuselage section of a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber at the Douglas Aircraft Company plant in Long Beach, California. This photo is one of a series taken in 1942 by Alfred T. Palmer. With wartime industries severely impacted by the loss of male workers to the armed services, women stepped forward to fill the gaps—and forever changed American society.

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    Rosie the Riveter: The Real Women Behind the Iconic Image
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  • Mongol detachments conduct an amphibious assault at Hakata Bay in Kyushu in 1274 in a modern painting by Richard Hook. Mounted samurai supported by foot archers conduct a vigorous defense in an attempt to prevent the invaders from establishing a beachhead.

    Military History

    Divine Winds Triumphant
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  • WWII

    Confidence in leadership and military will lead to victory in a just cause.
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  • Doughboys in the 28th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division, carry M1903 Springfields near Soissons, France, in 1918.

    Military History

    An American Legend: The 1903 Springfield Rifle
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