WWII
Fatal Pride at Peleliu
By John McManusInside the shabby tent that served as his command post on Peleliu, a despondent Maj. Gen. William Rupertus sat on his bunk, slumped over with his head in his hands. Read more
WWII
WWII
Off to War in a Plywood Box: Glidermen of WWII
By Robert Barr SmithOn 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 JohnsonThe 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 HymelBritish 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
WWII
The Real “Great Escape”
By Jeffrey A. DenmanIn early 1942, the air war over Germany was taking its toll on the Royal Air Force. Read more
WWII
Bedford’s Valiant Boys
By Don HainesWhen 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 VannoyBefore 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 VarangisWarfare 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 BellIt 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 BlumbergWhen 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. BellStephen 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 TaylorLike 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
WWII
U.S. Divisions of World War II
By Colonel James W. HammondThe 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. HullHe 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
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. HullAfter 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 McGowanJimmy 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 VannoyOn 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
