WWII
The Piaggio P-108 Bombardiere was a promising aircraft. Its four powerful engines and substantial 7,700-pound bomb payload gave it strategic capabilities, the only bomber produced in wartime Italy that could make that claim. Read more
WWII
The Allied decision to invade North Africa, codenamed Operation Torch, was reached in the summer of 1942 after lengthy—and sometimes bitter—arguments between interested parties. Read more
WWII
King Victor Emmanuel III waited impatiently at the Villa Savoia in Rome on the afternoon of July 25, 1943. Read more
WWII
Whenever I look at names on a war memorial, I can’t help but wonder about who those people were, what they looked like, what kinds of lives they led, and the circumstances of their deaths. Read more
WWII
by Flint Whitlock
One of the great things about being a military historian is that you get to go places and meet people you might not ordinarily get to see and meet. Read more
WWII
Allied victory in North Africa and the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, meant only one thing for the Fascist government of Benito Mussolini. Read more
WWII
One of the great things about being a military historian is that you get to go places and meet people you might not ordinarily get to see and meet. Read more
WWII
On April 18, 1942, scarcely five months after the devastating Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and other American military installations on the island of Oahu, the U.S. Read more
WWII
As with many historical figures whose lives may be studied and contemplated, Eva Braun is an enigma. She was young, pretty, and athletic. Read more
WWII
After assuming dictatorial powers in Italy, Benito Mussolini remained a popular figure with the Italian people – for a time. Read more
WWII
When news of Benito Mussolini’s removal from power in Italy reached Adolf Hitler in far-off Berlin, the Nazi Fuhrer flew into a rage. Read more
WWII
In 1936, Adolf Hitler gave his mistress Eva Braun a 16mm movie camera. Fascinated with the gift and already an accomplished photographer, Eva filmed hours of footage during the next five years. Read more
WWII
The USS Franklin was not a lucky ship. In March 1945, off the Japanese mainland, the Essex-class aircraft carrier was hit by two 550-pound bombs that struck her flight deck and penetrated into the hangar deck. Read more
WWII
The ghosts of World War II continue to surface in remote corners of the globe.
Decades after the war in North Africa ended, another reminder of the early and uncertain days in that theater came to the attention of the media and excited historians with a snapshot of a pilot’s ordeal in the unforgiving Egyptian desert where he was forced to land a crippled fighter plane. Read more
WWII
With his dream of Nazi domination of the world shattered, Adolf Hitler went underground in April 1945. Beneath the smoldering ruins of the Nazi capital city of Berlin, he lived out his last delusional days in the Führerbunker, a somber subterranean prison of steel and concrete. Read more
WWII
Reclusive 80-year-old Cornelius Gurlitt kept his secret for nearly 70 years. Apparently, in February 2012, a treasure trove of paintings confiscated or stolen by the Nazis was recovered in the old man’s Munich apartment. Read more
WWII
Eva Braun was only 17 when she met Adolf Hilter in 1929, and 33 when she joined her husband of only a few hours on the sofa in a sitting room of the Führerbunker, deep beneath the war-torn streets of Berlin. Read more
WWII
The small craft from the British destroyer HMS Bulldog launched into the choppy, frigid waters of the North Atlantic. Read more
WWII
While Eva Braun craved the attention of her beloved Adolf Hitler, Führer of Nazi Germany, it can hardly be said that he demonstrated much concern for her—even in the company of others. Read more
WWII
When Eva Braun met Adolf Hitler for the first time, he was introduced to her as “Herr Wolff.” Read more
