
WWII
Operation Eiche: Benito Mussolini & The Gran Sasso Raid
by Michael HaskewWhen 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
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
WWII
On April 21 1945, the Polish 2nd Corps captured the Italian city of Bologna and from the city’s highest tower flew the flag of Poland. Read more
WWII
The Japanese torpedo bombers came in dangerously low to launch their torpedoes at the battleships on the east side of Ford Island at 8 AM on the morning of December 7, 1941. Read more
WWII
The legend of 1940, “their finest hour,” has become almost considered fact in Britain. Many felt, as they saw it at the time, the Germans merely had to turn up on her shores for Britain’s defeat. Read more
WWII
In May 1945—70 years ago—the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) sent out a terse, unemotional, 15-word communiqué: “The mission of this Allied force was fulfilled at 0241 local time, May 7, 1945.” Read more
WWII
Many times in war otherwise obscure individuals are called upon to take extreme risks in service to their country, and more often than any casual observer may ever know, the heroic deeds of these individuals remain in the shadows, forgotten footnotes or even totally lost due to the passage of time and the continuing sweep of history. Read more
WWII
Without doubt, the fall of France was an unmitigated disaster for the Allied cause. However, for all its failures in command, strategy, and tactics, it could have been much worse. Read more
WWII
Prior to American entrance into World War II, the USS Washington battleship’s initial assignment was escorting supply ships between England and Russia in support of the Lend Lease Act. Read more
WWII
Mention spies and most people will think of James Bond or Ethan Hunt from Mission Impossible, but most people would struggle to name some notable female spies—apart perhaps from Mata Hari—yet they have always existed. Read more
WWII
Today, billionaire Paul Allen has claimed to have found the Musashi, flagship of the Japanese Combined Fleet, sunk during one of the largest naval engagements in history. Read more
WWII
Until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, America had maintained a popular non-interventionist position with World War 2. Read more