WWII

WWII

More on Paul Allen’s Discovery of the Musashi

Paul Allen is one of the wealthiest men in the world. In fact, Forbes magazine ranks him 51st with a net worth of approximately $17.5 billion. Read more

WWII

The Battle of France: Furor Teutonicus & Gallic Débâcle

The year 1939 was one of massive military parades across Europe. On April 20, the largest ever was held in Berlin to celebrate Adolf Hitler’s birthday, complete with the paratroopers, wheeled artillery, tanks, half-tracks for motorized infantry, and overhead Luftwaffe fly-bys that would mark the coming campaigns and revolutionize warfare forever. Read more

WWII

May 1940: Allied Leadership Was On the Brink

In May and June of 1940 the attacking Germans had a supreme authority, Hitler, and an army that—if skeptical, even in places traitorous—was subdued and followed orders with astonishing competence. Read more

WWII

The U.S. Cavalry: Boots, Saddles & Tanks

On June 15, 1930, a poised cadet from the Virginia Military Institute proudly drove his dilapidated old Ford through the gates of Fort Myer, Va., Read more

WWII

Stuka Legend Hans-Ulrich Rudel

The Junkers Ju-87 Stuka dive-bomber proved itself an effective weapon of terror during the Spanish Civil War as part of Hitler’s Condor Legion. Read more

WWII

Bruno Mussolini’s Untimely Death

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

Operation Torch: The Allied Invasion of North Africa

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

Benito Mussolini Ousted: Behind His Fall From Power

King Victor Emmanuel III waited impatiently at the Villa Savoia in Rome on the afternoon of July 25, 1943. Read more

WWII

Behind the Names: The Cornell War Memorial

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

The Life of a Military Historian: Walking Through the D-Day Invasion

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

Benito Mussolini & Count Galeazzo Ciano

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

What I did last summer (and fall)

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

Remembering Edward Saylor & the Doolittle Raiders

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

Scattered Ashes: Eva Braun’s Final Resting Place

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

The Military Misadventures of Benito Mussolini

After assuming dictatorial powers in Italy, Benito Mussolini remained a popular figure with the Italian people – for a time. Read more

WWII

Operation Eiche: Benito Mussolini & The Gran Sasso Raid

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

Eva Braun’s Home Movies

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

Survival: The Story of the USS Franklin

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

From Sahara’s Heart: Unearthing A Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk

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

Eva Braun’s Final Days

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