WWII Archives

The Glider Regiment took part in some of the most hazardous operations of World War II.

WWII

Off to War in a Plywood Box: Glidermen of WWII

By Robert Barr Smith

On June 22, 1940, the British prime minister, the formidable Winston Churchill, directed that an airborne force of at least 5,000 men was to be formed. Read more

WWII

Withdrawal from Guadalcanal: Abandoning the Island of Death

By David Alan Johnson

The first Japanese general officer to suggest abandoning Guadalcanal to the Americans was probably Maj. Gen. Kenryo Sato, the War Ministry’s chief of its Military Affairs Bureau. Read more

WWII

Romania’s Disaster at Stalingrad

By Tom W. Murrey, Jr.

World War II involved some of the most complex alliance systems in the history of warfare. Read more

WWII

Underwater Training for Operation Overlord

By Kevin M Hymel

British frogmen were the first ground fighters to engage the enemy on D-Day—and they did it without weapons. Read more

WWII

Remembering the Winter War

By Christopher Miskimon

“You can run, but you will only die tired!” Lt. Col. Aaro Pajari gave his battalion this dire warning on December 8, 1939, as the invasion of his homeland raged. Read more

During the “Great Escape” a group of Allied prisoners from Stalag Luft III paid a terrible price.

WWII

The Real “Great Escape”

By Jeffrey A. Denman

In early 1942, the air war over Germany was taking its toll on the Royal Air Force. Read more

Robert Capa’s famous blurry image of the 1st Infantry Division’s amphibious landings at the Easy Red/Fox Green sectors of Omaha Beach indelibly captures the fear and chaos of the D-Day invasion. Four rolls of Capa’s film were rushed back to LIFE magazine’s London office, where a darkroom mistake ruined all but 11 images.

WWII

When twin brothers Roy and Ray Stevens of Bedford, Virginia, joined Company A, First Battalion, 116th Infantry of the 29th Infantry Division in 1938, they could not know that their decision would completely destroy their dream of one day owning a farm together. Read more

WWII

Defending the USS Lexington: Action Off Bougainville

By Allyn Vannoy

Before there was an air-sea battle at Midway or in the Coral Sea, American aircraft carriers were launching operations against Japanese bases in the South Pacific, with the Japanese fighting to defend their gains. Read more

WWII

Behind the Scenes on Hacksaw Ridge: An Interview With Producer Terry Benedict

By Nicholas Varangis

Warfare History Network sat down with Terry Benedict, one of the Producers of the new Mel Gibson film Hacksaw Ridge to ask some questions about the film and its subject, Desmond Doss. Read more

WWII

Wake Island: Alamo in the Pacific

By Kelly Bell

It was already December 8, 1941, on Wake Island’s side of the international date line. The Americans on the tiny specks of land in the western Pacific Ocean roused themselves at 6 am. Read more

WWII

D-Day +12: Assault on Cherbourg

By Arnold Blumberg

When plans were drawn up for the Allied invasion of France in 1944, one important consideration was securing a deep-water port to allow reinforcements and supplies to be brought in directly from Great Britain and the United States. Read more

WWII

A Civilian in MacArthur’s Air Force

By Raymond E. Bell

Stephen Pierce Duggan, Jr., wanted to be a United States Marine. When the United States entered World War II, Steve was all set to do his part. Read more

WWII

Grand Mufti al-Husseini: Britain’s Deadliest Enemy?

By Blaine Taylor

Like all Palestinians and most Arabs, Haj Amin al-Hussaini not only looked forward to an Axis Pact victory in World War II but also saw it as a means of defeating what he believed was a joint British-Jewish conspiracy to foist an Israelite homeland on the Middle East that would be to the detriment of his own people. Read more

Combat divisions fielded by the U.S. Army and Marine Corps comprised regulars, recruits, and draftees.

WWII

U.S. Divisions of World War II

By Colonel James W. Hammond

The definitive combat unit of comparable strength among the forces of the world during the 20th century was the division. Read more

WWII

Confident Carrier Admiral Marc “Pete” Mitscher

By Michael D. Hull

He was a seagoing J.E.B. Stuart who hid beneath weather fronts to make his attacks, and he fought more naval engagements than John Paul Jones and David Farragut combined. Read more

The Red Ball Express kept the Allies rolling during the arduous campaign in Western Europe.

WWII

Red Ball Express: The Legendary Lifeline

By Michael D. Hull

August 1944 saw a rosy mood of optimism and self-deception sweep through the Allied high command in France as a result of the sudden, dramatic end to the campaign in Normandy. Read more

WWII

Leclerc and Liberation

By Michael D. Hull

After the humiliating fall of France in June 1940, two impassioned patriots—a general and an infantry captain—refused to accept defeat and determined, against all odds, to exact retribution from the German invaders. Read more

WWII

Jimmy Stewart’s rise from Private to Colonel

By Sam McGowan

Jimmy Stewart is arguably the only prewar American actor of superstar magnitude to have served in a sustained combat role during World War II, and the only one to have served in a position of command. Read more

WWII

Saving Operation Grandslam

By Allyn Vannoy

On January 23-24, 1945, Allied forces initiated Operation Grandslam against the Colmar Pocket, a German salient that bulged west from the Rhine, south of Strasbourg, France. Read more