WWII Archives

WWII

Bringing Them Home: Operation Magic Carpet

by Michael Haskew

When World War II in Europe came to an end, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary Force, published a victory message to the troops. Read more

WWII

A Dangerous Mission for General Maxwell Taylor of 82nd Airborne

By Eric Niderost

At 8:30 on the evening of September 7, 1943, an Italian military ambulance entered Rome carrying two American prisoners of war. Read more

WWII

Guerrilla War on Luzon During World War II

By Sam McGowan

If there is a group of men whose mention evokes thoughts of heroism, it is those who were surrendered to the Japanese on Bataan and subsequently became part of the “Death March” up that peninsula in the Philippines to POW camps in central Luzon. Read more

Flying high above sun-tinged clouds, a formation of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses streaks away from a target in Germany after dropping its cargo of destruction. The U.S. Eighth Air Force bombed German cities by day, while the British Royal Air Force kept up the round-the-clock air offensive at night.

WWII

390th Bomb Group’s Risky Run Over Merseburg

By Milton J. Elliott III

When the call came that morning, it was not unlike the 25 times previously when they had flown, or all those other times when weather intervened and postponement was ordered. Read more

Controversial 'Bomber' Harris shaped the British strategic air offensive against Nazi Germany as head of the Royal Air Force Bomber Command.

WWII

“Bomber” Harris and His Royal Air Force Bomber Command

By Michael D. Hull

Racing his Bentley at breakneck speed between his High Wycombe headquarters and the Air Ministry during World War II, Air Marshal Arthur Travers Harris was the bane of motorcycle policemen on the London road. Read more

On September 6, 1940, the destroyer USS Buchanan exits Boston Harbor en route to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and new Lend-Lease duties with the British Royal Navy. Buchanan was renamed HMS Campbeltown and gained everlasting fame during the commando raid on St. Nazaire in 1942.

WWII

Trade of 50 American Destroyers for British Bases in World War II

By William H. Langenberg

In early September 1940, the world was in turmoil. The battle of Britain was nearing its climax, and elsewhere global tensions ran high. Read more

Grenades and small arms at the ready, Italian partisans discuss an operation against the Germans. The various resistance factions later fought among themselves.

WWII

The Mysterious Death of Major William Holohan

By Peter Kross

In the latter part of 1944, the OSS, the Office of Strategic Services, mounted a plan called Operation Chrysler in Italy to “act as a liaison with partisan commanders, attempt to guide and control developments in northern Italy, and create a unified partisan command under the direction of the supreme allied commander.” Read more

WWII

World War II’s Deadly Rapido River Crossing

By Richard A. Beranty

The attempted crossing of the Rapido River in Italy by two infantry regiments of the U.S. 36th Division in January 1944 was one of the costliest failed attacks made by American forces during World War II. Read more

WWII

U.S. Marine legend Lewis ‘Chesty’ Puller

By Michael D. Hull

Crouched in their foxholes along Edson’s Ridge on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, the Marines formed a critical but thin defense line between strategic Henderson Field and seasoned Japanese infantry lurking in the jungle. Read more

German panzergrenadiers move past an idled Ferdinand self-propelled assault gun on a roadside near the Italian town of Nettuno in March 1944.

WWII

Ferdinand Porsche’s ‘Elefant’ Tank Destroyer Could Have Excelled

By Jonathan F. Keiler

World War II tanks usually had aggressive- or ferocious-sounding names, such as Hellcat, Panther, or Tiger. Yet the tendency was not universal, as with British Cruisers or the American M-3 Honey. Read more

Following his conduct during the battle at Gazala, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel earned his laurels as the 'Desert Fox.'

WWII

Erwin Rommel’s Victory at Gazala: Becoming the ‘Desert Fox’

By Eric Niderost

On April 15, 1942, Generaloberst (Colonel General) Erwin Rommel summoned his subordinate commanders of the Panzerarmee Afrika to a conference to outline his plans for the coming offensive against the British Eighth Army. Read more

Armored fighting vehicles gain prominence in World War II’s fight for North Africa.

WWII

Armor vs. Armor in the Desert

by Eric Niderost

The North African campaign has been aptly described as a “tactician’s paradise and quartermaster’s hell.” The contested area was large, stretching some 1,400 miles from Tripoli in the west to Alexandria in the east, a vast expanse of waterless desert wastes. Read more

Cargo handlers load a plane with supplies to be dropped to Chindits operating in Burma.

WWII

Orde Wingate And His Chindits Pioneered Guerrilla Warfare

By Michael D. Hull

Short, wiry, and with baleful blue eyes and an Old Testament beard, Maj. Gen. Orde Charles Wingate was unorthodox in thought and action. Read more

Sterling Hayden played tough characters in films such as 'Dr. Strangelove' and 'The Godfather,' but he also went to war.

WWII

Sterling Hayden, From Dr. Strangelove To The Godfather

by Al Hemingway

He stood six foot five in his leather jumping boots and weighed close to two hundred and thirty pounds,” wrote the actor Sterling Hayden in his 1963 autobiography Wanderer. Read more

On the armored flight deck of the HMS Formidable crewmen fold the wings of a fighter plane that has just landed.

WWII

The HMS Illustrious & Other Armored British Carriers Left Their Mark

By Sam McGowan

When one thinks of carrier warfare in World War II, the Japanese and U.S. navies usually come to mind. Read more

The Eastern Front exacted a terrible toll on the German Army and Hitler’s refusal to abandon the Crimea needlessly cost Germany countless troops.

WWII

The Eastern Front: Germany’s Futile Battle For Crimea

By Pat McTaggart

On July 4, 1942, the men of newly promoted Field Marshal Erich von Manstein’s Eleventh Army celebrated the capture of the last Soviet bastion in the Crimea. Read more

The Battle of Buna during the defense of Australia in New Guinea saw both sides battle stubborn resistance, harsh jungle, and treacherous mountains.

WWII

The Battle Of Buna: Costly For Both Allies and Japanese

By Glenn Barnett

In March 1942, General Douglas MacArthur was ordered out of the doomed Philippines by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to organize the defense of Australia. Read more

President Franklin D. Roosevelt boards the battleship HMS Prince of Wales to attend his first meeting with Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

WWII

Winston Churchill And Franklin Roosevelt’s Arcadia Conference

By Michael D. Hull

Still stunned by the sneak Japanese onslaught on the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, American families tried to summon up their Christmas spirit in December 1941. Read more

General George C. Kenney utilized his gifts of innovation and keen eye for leadership to great success during the Pacific War.

WWII

George Kenney’s Air Force During The Pacific War

By Sam McGowan

Although the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was the event that served to galvanize America to fight World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt and his military advisers had pervasively decided that defeating the Japanese would be secondary to destroying the Nazi war machine in Europe. Read more

Using modified B-25 bombers to develop skip-bombing, the U.S. Air Force found it to be an effective technique against Japanese shipping.

WWII

Modified B-25 Bombers Pioneered The Skip-Bombing Tactic

by Sam McGowan

One of the successful strategies used by airmen in the Southwest Pacific Area of Operations was skip- bombing, a method of aerial attack in which a bomber approached an enemy ship at wave-top height, then released a bomb with a delayed-action fuse from some distance away. Read more

WWII

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Operation Bagration: Soviet Triumph in the East

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