WWII

The U.S. 22nd Infantry Regiment and many other units suffered heavily in the grim, bloody Battle of Hürtgen Forest during World War II.

WWII

Bloodletting in the Hürtgen Forest

By Nathan N. Prefer

At first, no one cared much about the forest. The objective of the First U.S. Army was the Siegfried Line, the much vaunted defensive line that protected Germany from invasion from the west. Read more

WWII

One in a Thousand Chance

By Christopher Miskimon

The year 1942 was one of crisis for the Allied cause in the Pacific. Until May, almost everything had gone in favor of Imperial Japan. Read more

The USS Wolverine and USS Sable never saw battle, but provided training sites for many American Navy and Marine Corps aviators during World War II.

WWII

The USS Wolverine and Sable in World War II

by Robert Haymes

In August 1942, the U.S. Navy acquired the 1913 USS Seeandbee (using the initials of its parent company, the Cleveland and Buffalo Transit Company), the world’s largest side-wheel passenger steamer, and began converting it into a training carrier. Read more

WWII

Overrunning Norway

By Mark Simmons

“U-64 was seen on the surface at the top of Herjansfjord near Bjrekvik. I selected the two anti-submarine bombs and put the Swordfish in a dive and released the bombs at 200 feet. Read more

At long last, in late 1943 the “Big Three”—Winston Churchill, Frankin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin—would meet together to shape the world after the war.

WWII

Nazi U-Boats At America’s Doorsteps

After refueling in the mid-Atlantic and suffering bow damage from being rammed by a tanker, a 769-ton Nazi U-Boat reached its destination, the American East Coast, early on Monday, May 4, 1942. Read more

WWII

Guadalcanal: Victory in the Pacific Theater

by Mike Haskew

On August 7, 1942, American Marines landed unopposed on the island of Guadalcanal in the Solomons chain. The island was the key to future offensive operations in the South Pacific for either side, and the Marines were determined to defeat the Japanese in their first significant ground assault of the Pacific War. Read more

WWII

World War II Summary and Synopsis

by Mike Haskew

World War II spanned six long years from 1939 to 1945. The Allied powers, principally The United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union, defeated the Axis powers, led by Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Fascist Italy. Read more

The Battle of the Bulge, Adolf Hitler’s Ardennes Offensive, was conceived to drive west, split two Allied army groups, and capture the vital Belgian port city of Antwerp.

WWII

World War II’s Famous Battle of the Bulge

by Mike Haskew

On December 16, 1944, Hitler launched Operation Wacht am Rhein, or Watch on the Rhine. Popularly known as the Battle of the Bulge, the ensuing offensive was a desperate effort to win a major victory in the West. Read more

WWII

Erwin Rommel & Heinz Schmidt at Sidi Rezegh

By Thomas Haymes

On the afternoon of November 23, known as Totensonntag to the Germans, General Ludwig Crüwell, commander of the Afrika Korps, decided to launch both of his armored divisions at the box being defended by the 2nd South African Brigade which had laagered just south of the contested airfield at Sidi Rezegh. Read more

Because it lacked many of the modern technological systems supporting other navies, the Imperial Japanese Navy developed unique tactics to use against its enemies.

WWII

The Japanese Imperial Navy in World War II

by Eric Hammel

The Japanese Imperial Navy was an elite and elitist organization. As prone at the administrative levels as any large bureaucracy to becoming bogged down in paperwork, careerism, politics, and minutia, the Imperial Navy nevertheless enjoyed a unique dynamic. Read more

Anyone interested in reading military history sooner or later comes around to The Longest Day and Cornelius Ryan, known to his friends as Connie.

WWII

The Longest Day and Other Books by Cornelius “Connie” Ryan

Brooke Stoddard

Throughout his career, Cornelius “Connie” Ryan wrote a number of stunning books on World War II: The Last Battle, about the struggle for Berlin; A Bridge Too Far, about the ill-fated race to cross the Rhine bridge at Arnhem in 1944; and, of course, the book with which his fame will always be linked, The Longest Day. Read more

Soviet Premier Josef Stalin, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met in the Iranian capital of Tehran in late 1943. Among the topics of discussion was the opening of a second front in Western Europe.

WWII

Big Three in Tehran

By Michael D. Hull

World War II made a disparate trio of allies —British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Soviet Marshal Josef Stalin, and American President Franklin D. Read more

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