WWII

WWII

A Flawed and Brilliant WWII Combat Leader

General George S. Patton, Jr., entered his first World War II battlefield on the morning of November 8, 1942. Read more

WWII

The Wayward Helmet Liner

First Lieutenant William Parks of the 101st Airborne Division left a snow-camouflaged helmet liner behind when the storied Screaming Eagles moved out following the American victory in the Battle of the Bulge in January 1945. Read more

WWII

Pegasus Bridge: D-Day’s Textbook Mission

Late on the night of June 5, 1944, while American paratroopers were on their way to drop behind Utah Beach, another, smaller air armada carrying 170 British airborne troops was also dashing headlong into battle like an aerial cavalry charge towards the far eastern flank of the Normandy invasion site. Read more

WWII

After Kursk, Soviets Favored Broad-Front Offensives to Retake Territory

“The big defeat at the Kursk bulge was the beginning of a fatal crisis for the German army,” said Marshal Aleksandr Vasilevsky, the Soviet Chief of the General Staff. Read more

WWII

Iceberg in the Pacific

The curious coincidence was obvious to everyone. April 1, 1945, was both Easter Sunday and April Fool’s Day. Read more

WWII

Two World War II Outings Prepare To Take The Fight To Additional Platforms

Back in July, publisher Team 17 and developer Black Matter Party unleashed Hell Let Loose, a 50-on-50 World War II strategic squad-based first-person shooter, on PC. Read more

WWII

Panzer Strike at Kasserine Pass

Ignoring the swirling sands stirred up by the fierce winds of the Sahara Desert in the early morning hours of February 14, 1943, Generalleutnant Heinz Ziegler ordered his panzer columns forward to attack the American forces deployed in central Tunisia. Read more

WWII

Japan’s Kamikaze Pilots Hit Hundreds of Ships

The nation of Japan was hopeless before the invading force. They were outnumbered, and the enemy was about to land on the shores of the Imperial Home Islands. Read more

WWII

American Women Answered the Call of Duty

On December 7, 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. The next day, the United States declared war on the Empire of Japan, and the following day President Franklin D. Read more

WWII

The Allied Liberation of Paris

At dusk on August 24, 1944, south of Paris, about half a mile from Croix de Berny crossroads, stood a tall, lanky man tapping a malacca cane. Read more

WWII

The Essex Regiment’s Frontal Assault on Monte Cassino

It was March 14, 1944, and Private Albert “Albie” Duddy of D Company, 1st/4th Battalion Essex Regiment, was staring up at the monastery on top of the hill at Monte Cassino from a location north of the town of Cassino, Italy. Read more

WWII

The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress was Outdated When WWII Began

In the minds of many military enthusiasts, there was only one bomber in the United States inventory during World War II. Read more

WWII

Solving the D-Day Mystery at “Dead Man’s Corner”

“Dead Man’s Corner,”at a road junction south of Saint-Côme-du-Mont, has become one of Normandy’s most famous landmarks. Read more

WWII

The Battle for Brittany Tested America’s Tactical Doctrine

In Eisenhower’s Lieutenants, eminent historian Stanley Weintraub wrote that communications in the 1800s between America’s scattered frontier garrisons were slow, which encouraged a tradition of individual initiative in the American army. Read more

WWII

Americans Returning from German POW Camps Suffered from PTSD

By Duane Schultz

The men who were prisoners of war during World War II paid a terrible price in the form of PTSD—post-traumatic stress disorder. Read more

WWII

The Japanese Surrender at Tokyo Bay

After six years of global destruction, suffering, and death, World War II was almost over in the Spring of 1945. Read more

WWII

17th Airborne Division Crosses the Rhine

In the autumn of 1944, even before the failure of Operation Market Garden, the eyes of Allied commanders were on the great Rhine River, and when the time came to cross the last major natural barrier on the German frontier, American airborne troops would play a key role, while also participating in other operations during the last days of World War II. Read more

WWII

Was Hitler’s Ardennes Offensive Brilliant or Delusional?

By Patrick J. Chaisson

The chief shuffled to his seat in the underground conference room. He sat down heavily, eyes unfocused and dreamy, while a litany of woes was read to him. Read more

WWII

British Army’s Battle for Sword Beach

The easternmost Allied landing beach of the Normandy invasion of June 6, 1944, was code-named Sword. It was the responsibility of British Maj. Read more

WWII

Savage Fight for Hill 700 on Bougainville

The campaign to reduce the importance of the major Japanese base at Rabaul on the island of New Britain—begun more than a year earlier at Guadalcanal and Buna, New Guinea—was finally in its last stages by November 1943, as U.S. Read more