WWII

WWII

Princess Ecaterina Caradja: Angel of Ploesti

By Duane Schultz

Lieutenant Richard Britt, navigator aboard a Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber named Chattanooga Choo Choo, woke up to find himself trapped in the wreckage. Read more

WWII

The Nazi Aircraft Carrier Program: Erich Raeder vs. Hermann Göring

by Blaine Taylor

On June 6, 1944, as the massive Allied naval armada made its way from ports in England across the English Channel to launch the projected D-day invasion at Normandy, a German fleet sortie swept down from its home ports on the North Sea and from occupied Norway. Read more

WWII

Operation Cobra: The High-Risk Follow-Up to the D-Day Invasion

by Brian Todd Carey

On June 6, 1944 the Allies opened the Second Front against Nazi Germany. Concentrated against the beaches of Normandy, Operation Overlord landed 20 army divisions plus support troops on five beaches in anticipation of a breakout across France and toward Berlin. Read more

WWII

Victory Delayed: The Battle for Air Supremacy in World War II

By Eric Hammel

The popular conception of the struggle in the air over northern Europe during World War II is of squadrons of sleek fighters racing over the German heartland to protect contrailed streams of lumbering bombers stretching beyond sight. Read more

WWII

Operation Overlord’s Colonel Alexis von Roenne

During the early part of 1944, an event took place that would change the outcome of World War II. It seemed insignificant at the time, but would have a profound influence upon Operation Overlord, code name for the invasion of German-occupied France, as well as the resulting Battle of Normandy and the breakout that followed.;
 Read more

WWII

Locating the Altmark: An RAF Rescue Mission Beyond Compare

By Eric Niderost

On the morning of February 16, 1940, two Royal Air Force Lockheed Hudson aircraft lifted off from Thornaby Airfield in northern England. Read more

WWII

The 36th Infantry ‘Texas’ Division in WWII

by Richard A. Beranty

The U.S. 36th Infantry Division, known as the “Texas” Division, was inducted into federal service on November 25, 1940, at Camp Bowie, Tex., Read more

WWII

A Sea Drama of Epic Proportions: The Altmark, Graf Spee & Cossack

By Eric Niderost

In the early months of World War II, Altmark, Graf Spee, and HMS Cossack all had important roles in a sea drama of epic proportions. Read more

WWII

MIS-X’s Shadowy Secrets: Aiding Allied POW Escapes

By Chuck Lyons

During World War II, one American intelligence unit was so secret it was known only by its post office box number, 1142. Read more

WWII

Operation Removal: Taking the Japanese Holdouts Near Saipan

by Al Hemingway

On September 2, 1945, representatives from the Allied and Japanese governments signed the peace treaty that ended World War II. Read more

WWII

World War II: A Campaign Against Oil? A Look at Ploesti

by Sam McGowan

World War II was the first fully mechanized war in history, and oil, both crude and synthetic, was a major factor in military planning. Read more

WWII

Frederick’s Devil’s Brigade & Bringing Back the V-42 Stiletto

By Michael Haskew

The fight at Monte La Difensa on December 3, 1943, was swift but brutal as members of the First Special Service Force, a combined unit of U.S. Read more

WWII

The Repulse and Prince of Wales Battleships: How They Sunk

by Joseph M. Horodyski

During the 1920s and 1930s Great Britain built up its Far East defenses steadily if slowly, centering around Singapore as its primary naval base in the Pacific area. Read more

WWII

Exercise Tiger: Deadly D-Day Rehearsal

by Robert Heege

It was spring 1944, and the morning sun was glinting off the face of the water as the Landing Ship, Tank (LST) transports chugged their way through the choppy surf and headed in close toward shore, their destination a gravel-strewn stretch of beach on the English Channel code named “U” for Utah. Read more

WWII

The Japanese Empire’s Mitsubishi G4M Betty Bomber

By Joseph M. Horodyski

The two types of aircraft responsible for sinking the Prince Of Wales and Repulse represented the best of Japanese aviation in 1941. Read more

WWII

Joachim Peiper’s Escape from the Battle Of the Bulge

By Major General Michael Reynolds

By December 24, 1944, the commander of the Sixth Panzer Army’s strongest battlegroup, SS Obersturmbannführer (Lieutenant Colonel) Jochen Peiper, was facing the ultimate military nightmare. Read more

WWII

Erwin Rommel Frustrated By French Foreign Legion At Bir Hacheim

by Edward L. Bimberg

When Brig. Gen. Joseph-Pierre Koenig, commander of the 1st Free French Brigade, surveyed the area he had just been ordered to defend, he must have been mightily discouraged. Read more

WWII

Operation Jericho

by Joseph M. Horodyski

On the bitterly cold, windswept morning of February 18, 1944, the crews of 19 De Havilland Mosquito Mk.VI Read more

WWII

Galeazzo Ciano’s Diary: The Inside Story of Mussolini’s Government

By Blaine Taylor

On July 19, 1940, fresh from his victorious campaigns on the Western Front, German Führer and Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler delivered his “peace speech” to the Reichstag in Berlin’s Kroll Opera House. Read more

WWII

Convoy PQ 17: A Story of Unprecedented Arctic Disaster

By Keith Milton

First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Dudley Pound stopped tapping his pencil on the oaken desk and slowly leaned backward in the oversized leather chair. Read more