WWII Archives

WWII

The Last Days Of General Patton

By Michael D. Hull

Fearless, demanding, and inspirational, General George Smith Patton, JR., was generally recognized as the U.S. Army’s outstanding field commander by the end of World War II. Read more

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the cruiser USS Pensacola was caught up in the confusion of the early days of American involvement in World War II while escorting troops and materiel to the Philippines. In this photo a convoy of ships assembles for a hazardous wartime voyage.

WWII

Alone at Sea

By Glenn Barnett

The American military presence in China, which stretched back to the 1850s, came to an abrupt end in November 1941. Read more

WWII

Konstantin Rokossovsky: Marshal of Two Historic Enemies

By Blaine Taylor

The year was 1944, and the embattled Soviet Union’s top-level field commanders were meeting in conclave to discuss Operation Bagration, an upcoming offensive against the retreating German Army. Read more

WWII

The End of Nazi Germany

By David H. Lippman

“Who are these men? What do they want?” snapped the imperious Field Marshal Sir Bernard Law Montgomery to the four German officers drawn up in front of his caravan, saluting him under a Union Jack. Read more

During the invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940, German pioneers complete the construction of a pontoon bridge over a waterway near the city of Maastricht. OPPOSITE: Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands was active in the Dutch government and led it during exile through the years of World War II.

WWII

Allied Royals & The War Effort

By Eric Niderost

Most people are aware of the contributions of King George VI and his consort Queen Elizabeth (later Queen Mother) to the British war effort. Read more

WWII

Hijacking Hungary: The 1944 Nazi Coup in Budapest

By Mark Simmons

“If you want to join the banquet, you’ll have to help first in the kitchen,” Hitler cynically told the leader of Hungary after signing an alliance with him. Read more

WWII

The Largest Kamikaze: The Battleship Yamato At Okinawa

By Nathan N. Prefer

It was the largest warship ever built up to that time. It carried larger guns than any warship before it. Read more

Two million joyful people fill Times Square in New York City to celebrate the defeat of Nazi Germany.

WWII

“It’s All Over, Over Here”

By Flint Whitlock

On Tuesday, May 8, 1945, a strange sound was heard across all of Europe—the sound of silence. It was as if someone had suddenly flipped the war switch to “Off.” Read more

WWII

This Month Marks the Anniversary of ‘If Day.’

The Defending soldiers surrendered at 9:30 am and marched with their hands up to a central point in the city. Nazi soldiers frisked them and made certain that they were unarmed. Read more

WWII

A Flawed and Brilliant WWII Combat Leader

By Christopher Miskimon

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

WWII

Pegasus Bridge: D-Day’s Textbook Mission

By Flint Whitlock

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

Russian infantry advance behind T-34 tanks during the counterattack that began on July 12, one day before Hitler called off the attack. From that point on, the strategic initiative shifted irreversibly to the Soviet Union, and by the end of the year they had liberated the Ukrainian capital of Kiev.

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

A Marine with a 3.5-inch rocket launcher ("bazooka”) sights a target as his fellow Marines prepare to assault a Japanese position north of Naha, May 1945.

WWII

Iceberg in the Pacific

By Michael E. Haskew

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

By Joseph Luster

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

Short-barreled Panzer IVs advance through the mountains of northern Tunisia. At Kasserine Pass, German panzer columns blasted American tanks and then encircled isolated U.S. infantry units.

WWII

Panzer Strike at Kasserine Pass

By Mike Phifer

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

A kamikaze pilot salutes as he receives his orders for a “divine wind” mission. It is estimated that over 1,200 pilots (out of 2,314) lost their lives on such missions.

WWII

Japan’s Kamikaze Pilots Hit Hundreds of Ships

By Nathan N. Prefer

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

By Susan Zimmerman

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

By John E. Spindler

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

By Alan Davidge

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