WWII

WWII

Hard-Won Combat Laurels

By Christopher Miskimon

Iron Bottom Sound was full of transport ships unloading supplies in the early afternoon sun on November 12, 1942. Read more

WWII

Taking Down a German Fighter By Hand at the Battle of the Bulge

By Kevin Hymel

Private Harry Cruse and the men of the 83th Armored Field Artillery Battalion were waiting for a march order in the snow-swept town of Langlire when they heard an approaching German fighter plane. Read more

WWII

George Preddy, Jr.: The USAAF’s Greatest P-51 Ace

By Kelly Bell

Darwin, Australia, was hot even though it was mid-winter. On the afternoon of July 12, 1942, four newly deployed pilots of the U.S. Read more

WWII

What Made The Bren Gun One of the Most Iconic British WWII Weapons

By Arnold Blumberg

While all the combatant nations engaged in World War I fielded machine guns during the conflict, the British Army’s Vickers was arguably the best medium machine gun of the war, while their Lewis gun—an American design but perfected by the English—was the most effective light machine gun. Read more

WWII

The Battle Of Midway: Turning the Tide in the South Pacific

By John Wukovits

Rarely in the history of warfare had one nation absorbed such numbing losses in so rapid a time as did the United States in the Pacific War’s first five months. Read more

WWII

Sherman Tanks vs. Tiger Tanks: Which Was Best at the Bulge?

by Michael D. Hull

When American soldiers landed in France in June 1944 as part of the great Allied crusade to liberate Europe, they were well trained, fully equipped, and brimming with confidence. Read more

WWII

Marine Stand on Guadalcanal

By David Alan Johnson

At about 2:30 on the morning of August 21, 1942, U.S. Marine units east of Henderson Field on the embattled island of Guadalcanal were awakened by several bursts of machinegun fire. Read more

WWII

Miracle at Dunkirk

By Jon Diamond

Following the 76th anniversary of the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) from the beaches and harbor of Dunkirk, one is amazed at the number of articles and volumes written about the subject. Read more

WWII

The Greco-Italian War: One of Benito Mussolini’s Biggest Failures

by Roy Morris, Jr.

Twenty-four hours earlier, Grazzi had hosted a gala reception for Metaxas and Greece’s figurehead king, George II, at the Italian consulate following a performance of Giacomo Puccini’s opera, Madame Butterfly. Read more

WWII

The Supermarine Spitfire and the Battle of Britain

by William F. Floyd Jr.

On March 5, 1936, the new Supermarine Type 300 took off from Southampton, England. The plane would soon be called the Spitfire, and along with the Hawker Hurricane it would become Great Britain’s first line of defense. Read more

WWII

American Athletes and Spectator Sports During World War II

By Flint Whitlock

In the 1940s, war disrupted the lives of millions of people around the globe: fuel rationing, food rationing, shortages of all kinds, and, of course, the death and destruction that was visited on cities, nations, and whole populations. Read more

WWII

Hero to the End: Airman William “Ed” Dyess on the Philippines

By Sam McGowan

Lieutenant Colonel William Edwin Dyess, a U.S. Army Air Corps pilot and squadron commander, was considered a hero by men who served under him in the Philippines and who felt they owed their own lives to Ed’s sacrifice. Read more

WWII

Fort Driant: General George S. Patton Jr’s Only Lost Battle

By Duane E. Shaffer

The road to Fort Driant began for the United States Third Army when it landed on Utah Beach at 3 pm on August 5, 1944. Read more

WWII

Battle of Po Valley: The 10th Mountain Division in WWII Italy

By Flint Whitlock

It was early in 1945 when the Battle of Po Valley officially began: from their hiding places in the valley below, the soldiers looked up at the wall of shale looming more than 3,000 feet above them. Read more

WWII

Germany’s Versatille 88mm Gun

By Phil Zimmer

The November 21, 1944, daylight flight of Teddy’s Rough Riders was anything but routine for American pilot Werner G. Read more

WWII

WWII Vehicles: The British Universal (or “Bren Gun”) Carrier

by Arnold Blumberg

The origins of the Universal Bren Gun Carrier can be traced to the Ford T-powered Carden-Loyd machines developed in Great Britain in the mid-1920s, specifically the Mark VI model of 1927. Read more

WWII

John Steinbeck in World War II

By Robert E. Cray, Jr.

A fuming John Steinbeck vented his frustration over World War II to a friend on March 15, 1943. Read more

WWII

Was General Patton Murdered? New Light on an Old Conspiracy

by Peter Cross

When one thinks about the major conspiracy theories of the post-World War II era, one is drawn to the assassinations of President John F. Read more

WWII

The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, or the Consolidated B-24 Liberator?

By Sam McGowan

One of the most frequently discussed arguments to come out of World War II is which was the “better” bomber, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress or the Consolidated B-24 Liberator? Read more

WWII

U.S. Involvement in WWII: How (and How Much) the Military Grew

By Allyn Vannoy

U.S. involvement in WWII grew to be about 16,000,000 military personnel by the war’s end: approximately 11,200,000 in the Army, 4,200,000 in the Navy, and 660,000 in the Marine Corps. Read more