WWII Archives

WWII

‘Bat Bombs’: WWII’s Project X-Ray

By Allan T. Duffin

Imagine thousands of bats—silent, gray-furred, vigilant—huddled in the rafters of your home or office, each carrying a tiny device no larger than a thimble. Read more

Colonel Yasuyo Yamasaki did not contest the landings at Attu in May 1943; instead, he ordered his 2,300 troops to establish strong positions in the mountains from which they could fire down on the Americans. Pictured are U.S. troops at Massacre Bay.

WWII

Fog of War in the Aleutians

By Colonel James W. Hammond, Jr.

For decades Americans have been spoiled by the instant coverage of war in the media. Read more

WWII

Garand’s Wonder Weapon

By Michael D. Hull

A variety of outstanding weapons and pieces of equipment affected the course of World War II for both the Allies and the Axis powers. Read more

M-4 Sherman tanks of the 11th Armored Division await the call to advance near Eterville on June 30, 1944. Three weeks after Operation Overlord had begun, the fighting near Caen was bitter.

WWII

Operation Jupiter: The Fight for the Key to Normandy

By Jon Latimer

The Allied landings in Normandy on June 6, 1944, produced a bitter struggle for control of the invasion beachhead. Read more

WWII

Any Bonds Today?

By Herb Kugel

One of the most unusual baseball games ever played was a three- way game in New York City between the New York Yankees, the New York Giants, and the Brooklyn Dodgers. Read more

Dressed in traditional garb, a lone Chinese man seeks the protection of a sandbag barricade in the International Settlement of Shanghai on August 12, 1937. Adjacent to the civilian are a British soldier and two American Marines who have donned their helmets. (© Bettmann/CORBIS)

WWII

A Memorable Marine Mascot

By Eric Niderost

Soochow was a mongrel dog with a remarkable gift for self-preservation. A homeless stray, he attached himself to some U.S. Read more

WWII

Were P-47 Thunderbolt Aircraft Really Formidable Fighter-Bombers?

By Sam McGowan

Since the end of World War II, the aviation press has made the North American P-51 Mustang into the superstar Allied fighter of the war. Read more

WWII

Matt Urban: Infantry Legend

By Michael D. Hull

At a Washington, D.C., reunion of the 9th Infantry “Octofoil” Division, on Saturday, July 19, 1980, President Jimmy Carter presented the nation’s highest decoration for valor to Lt. Read more

The Bristol Beaufighter was a large aircraft that was capable of carrying heavy armament and an early version of airborne interception radar without affecting the aircraft’s performance in action.

WWII

Caught in the Micrometer Beam

By Mark Carlson

There is no disputing that radar played a major role in the Allied victory in World War II. Read more

American paratroopers come to earth as Douglas C-47 transport aircraft drone in the skies above. Cows are grazing peacefully in this photo, undisturbed by the early events of Operation Market-Garden.

WWII

In the midst of the ambitious Operation Market-Garden, Brigadier General James M. Gavin, 82nd Airborne Division Commander, first heard about the crisis at Mook, along the Maas River, from his chief of staff, Lt. Read more

King Boris of Bulgaria visits Adolf Hitler at Obersalzberg in Berchtesgaden on June 7, 1941. Boris would die on August 28, 1943, two weeks after a meeting with Hitler in Berlin and four days after a sudden illness.

WWII

Bulgaria Betwixt and Between

By John W. Osborn, Jr.

Though neutral for most of it, few countries had such a Passage through World War II as did Bulgaria. Read more

In this photo montage, General Arthur Percival is pictured around the time that the Japanese invaded the Malay Peninsula, leading to his surrender of the bastion of Singapore.

WWII

Percival’s Surrender: Britain’s Greatest Failure

By David H. Lippman

To those that met him, Lieutenant General Arthur Percival was uninspiring and gloomy, seeing difficulties rather than opportunities; one who was weak and hesitant when a decision was needed. Read more

The submerged “Gavutu Wildcat,” a Grumman F4F fighter plane possibly flown by Lt. James E. Swett, a U.S. Marine Corps ace, during the aerial battles in the Solomon Islands during World War II.

WWII

Searching for a Wildcat

By Bruce Petty

On November 3, 2011, at 0945, the hydrographic ship HMNZS Resolution discovered what appeared to be an aircraft in the waters near Gavutu Island in the Solomon Island group. Read more

Paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division ride aboard a transport aircraft en route to their drop zones near the Salerno beachhead during the Allied invasion of the Italian mainland September 13-14, 1943. Members of the 504th and 505th Parachute Infantry Battalions were dropped to support the push inland. Members of the509th were deployed behind enemy lines to break up German communications at Avellino.

WWII

Desperate Venture at Avellino

By Nathan N. Prefer

The Fifth U.S. Army was in trouble and dropping 600 paratroops at Avellino to disrupt the communications of the 16th Panzer Division seemed like a sound solution. Read more

WWII

World War II Books for June 2023

By Christopher Miskimon

Full Reviews

To the End of the Earth: The US Army and the Downfall of Japan, 1945 (John C. Read more

In this painting by artist Larry Selman, PT-109 streaks across the waters adjacent to the island of Guadalcanal in the Solomons. PT-109 was cut in half during a collision with the Japanese destroyer Amagiri.

WWII

John F. Kennedy and PT-109

By John J. Domagalski

The celebrated life of President John F. Kennedy has been recounted many times in the decades since he assumed the highest office in the land. Read more

On the morning of December 7, 1941, a U.S. Army Air Force B-17 bomber seeks a place to land after flying into the midst of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and other military installations on the island of Oahu. A flight of 12 B-17s—in transit from California to the Philippines—had taken off from Hamilton Field the previous evening for the 14-hour night flight.

WWII

B-17s at Pearl Harbor

By Mark Carlson

Lieutenant Commander Shigeru Itaya, sitting in his gray Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero, led two other fighters on another strafing run on the parking ramps and hangars of Hickam Army Air Base on Oahu. Read more

Major Charity Adams and Captain Abbie Campbell inspect the ranks of the 6888th Central Postal Battalion in England. The WACs of the battalion were proud of their service record in Europe.

WWII

Tyler Perry, Netflix present the story of the all-Black, all-female 6888th Postal Battalion in World War II.

Actor and filmmaker Tyler Perry knows a great story when he comes across one. And when he read Kevin Hymel’s dramatic narrative of the 6888th Central Postal Battalion in the pages of WWII History magazine, he knew it was something special. Read more

A camouflaged half-track playing the role of a tank destroyer pauses in the blistering desert heat of the American West during maneuvers. Desert training in the United States was intended to prepare American soldiers for the hardships of combat in North Africa.

WWII

Company B’s Tunisian Adventure

By Christopher Miskimon

For the United States Army, the long road to Germany began in the mountainous deserts of Tunisia in mid-November 1942. Read more

WWII

Duel in the Desert: Operation Crusade’s Battle of Bardia

By Allyn Vannoy

The desert sky lit up like a summer lightning storm on the night of December 31, 1941. The distant thunder of hundreds of guns rolled across the sandy, stony ground. Read more

WWII

From Around the Network

Sterling Hayden, Hollywood Actor, Viking Hero of the OSS

How Did Benito Mussolini Die? The Story Behind Il Duce’s Last Moments.

WWII Battles: The Battle of Los Angeles

WWII Mercenaries and Counterterrorism 2006