WWII Archives

WWII

Talking Code with the Navajo

By Peter Suciu

There is an old saying that the pen is mightier is the sword, but try telling that to anyone under fire and they will likely disagree. Read more

Traversing the rugged terrain of the interior of Burma, tanks of the 19th Indian “Dagger” Division roll down a dirt path while infantrymen pause to glance at the armored vehicles. General William Slim, commander of the British 14th Army, led his forces from the brink of total defeat to victory over the Japanese in the China-Burma-India Theater.

WWII

Out of Defeat, a Hard-Won Triumph

By Michael D. Hull

One ominous day in mid-May 1942, Lt. Gen. William J. Slim stood on the Imphal Plain, high in the Assam hills of northeastern India, and watched columns of tattered, malaria-ridden British, Indian, and Burmese soldiers straggle across the frontier from Burma. Read more

Fire streams from an engine and wing of a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber as a rocket-powered Messerschmitt Me-163 fighter aircraft streaks past. Painting by artist Jack Fellows.

WWII

Me-163: The Devil’s Broomstick

By David H. Lippman

The Germans called it the “Komet” and the “Devil’s Broomstick,” for the incredible speed with which it reached its altitude of 30,000 feet, achieving 0.84 Mach while doing so. Read more

WWII

American Airborne In Operation Torch

By Michael E. Haskew

Only two years after the U.S. Army officially sanctioned the formation of an airborne arm, American paratroopers were committed to a vast offensive against Axis forces on the coast of French North Africa. Read more

Dauntlesses dive bombers and Wildcat fighters from the USS Ranger attack German shipping in Bodo harbor in northern Norway in a painting by Mark Postlethwaite.

WWII

Carrier Strike in Norway

By Christopher Miskimon

The morning sun arose late in the North Atlantic Ocean on October 4, 1943. In the far northern latitudes 100 miles off the coast of Norway, the aircraft carrier USS Ranger (CV-4) slid smoothly through the icy waters, turning into the wind to launch its aircraft. Read more

The Soviet Union’s two primary antitank rifles saw wide use in World War II despite the limitations of their small calibers.

WWII

Russian Antitank Rifles

By Christopher Miskimon

The German panzers approached the Russian artillery column as it moved to a new position. As the troops trudged toward their new firing point, six panzers appeared, rampaging into the Russian rear area, no doubt searching for vulnerable targets to destroy. Read more

GIs fire a water-cooled M1917 Browning machine gun from the window of a house during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944. The 3rd Battalion, 110th Infantry Regiment, delayed the Germans for a critical 36 hours at Hosingen, Luxembourg.

WWII

Furious Delaying Action at Hosingen

By Leo Barron

A voice crackled over the radio. “Hosingen is falling slowly. They are out of ammo and the tanks cannot hold them. Read more

U.S. troops storm ashore during an amphibious landing on Japanese-held Saipan. Navy combat artist William Draper painted the image and titled it The Landing.

WWII

The Battle of Saipan

By Al Hemingway

Peering through his binoculars, Vice Adm. Chuichi Nagumo was in awe of the nearly 800 ships from Vice Adm. Read more

Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers of the U.S. Fifteenth Air Force fly through thick enemy flak during bombing runs against the oil refinery complex at Ploesti, Romania. These bombers executed one of the most hazardous missions of World War II, and accurate weather information decrypted from German sources facilitated such air operations.

WWII

Department G Code Breaker

By Glenn Barnett

Throughout World War II the center of cryptography among the Allies was at the top-secret location at Bletchley Park outside London. Read more

WWII

The National Pigeon Service: Our Fine Feathered Friends

By Flint Whitlock

Not long ago, I came across an article about the remains of a carrier pigeon that had been discovered lodged in the chimney of a 17th-century home in the village of Bletchingley, Surrey, some 18 miles due south of London. Read more

A column of Waffen SS soldiers slogs through snow during the Operation Spring Awakening advance in Hungary. The German offensive was hampered by snow, rain, and deep mud, which bogged down tanks and other vehicles, requiring foot soldiers to undertake much of the fighting with limited mechanized support.

WWII

Desperate Offensive for Oil

By Martin Dougherty

The winter of 1944-45 saw Nazi Germany in a grim position. The Allies were well established in Europe and advancing quickly. Read more

This painting of the nocturnal Battle of the Java Sea shows the torpedoed Dutch light cruiser De Ruyter burning as the cruiser HMAS Perth turns to avoid a collision on February 27, 1942. One night later, the Perth, along with the USS Houston would go down in the Battle of the Sunda Strait.

WWII

Slaughter in the Sunda Strait

By David H. Lippman

It was nearly over. Since Singapore had fallen to the Japanese on February 14, 1942, the Allied forces defending the Dutch East Indies had battled against a Japanese pincer-like movement, which consisted of aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, aircraft, and well-trained “Special Naval Landing Forces”—Japan’s version of American and British Marines. Read more

WWII

The Plot Against Einstein

By Eric Niderost

When Albert Einstein arrived in Pasadena, California, in early 1933, he was to take up his duties as visiting professor at the California Institute of Technology for about three months. Read more

From their position inside a ruined house, two solders from the 4th Infantry Division’s 22nd Infantry Regiment fire on a German tank with a 3.5-inch rocket launcher, commonly called a “bazooka,” during the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944.

WWII

The Cold Shoulder

By Allyn Vannoy

Army commanders understand that the key to dealing with an enemy breakthrough is to slow the enemy’s advance and prevent the breach from widening—that is, “holding the shoulders.” Read more

WWII

U.S. VIII Bomber Command: From Savannah to Glory

By Sam McGowan

When World War II in Europe came to an end, the Eighth Air Force was the most famous unit in the U.S. Read more

A panther tank and panzer grenadiers of the 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking help to break the encirclement of the Russian town of Kowel in the strategically important area of the Pripet Marshes.

WWII

Waffen SS General Felix Steiner’s WWII Legacy

By Pat McTaggart

“Where is Steiner?” Adolf Hitler demanded as his Thousand Year Reich crumbled around him in April 1945. “Is he attacking yet?” Read more

WWII

Chase’s Flying Columns

By Ed Miller

Santo Tòmas University, Manila, Philippines, about 9:00 p.m., February 3, 1945: Louis G. Hubele, a 45-year-old civilian internee of the Japanese, heard more than the usual amount of vehicle traffic on España Street. Read more

WWII

Assault on Oslo: The Naval Disaster in the Drøbak Strait

By Henrick O. Lunde

The second week in April 1940 was a stormy period in the North and Norwegian Seas. The weather deteriorated during April 7, with low cloud cover and fog. Read more

WWII

Fateful Decision: The Dropping of the Atomic Bomb

By Flint Whitlock

On August 7, 1945, the day after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, President Harry S. Truman announced, “The force from which the sun draws its power has been loosed against those who brought war to the Far East. Read more