Defending their position on a battle-scarred Russian steppe, German infantrymen hurl potatomasher grenades through a pall of smoke toward the attacking Red Army.

January 2006

Volume 5, No. 1

Cover: U.S. soldiers pause for a well-deserved break in Malmedy on December 29, 1944. (Photo: National Archives)

Photo Credit: National Museum of the US Army, Army Art Collection

In a wooded area near St. Vith an American soldier takes cover and trains his Thompson submachine gun on an enemy position. Savage fighting has already occurred in the area, as evidenced by the burning vehicle and debris littering the scene.

WWII History

Stand at St. Vith

By Charles Whiting

In the early hours of Sunday morning, December 17, 1944, an American brigadier general suffering from piles was heading into the unknown. Read more

Japanese pilots smile as they listen to a comrade recount his experiences of aerial combat over Wake Island.

WWII History

Wake Island Survivor

By Eric Niderost

The siege of Wake Island lasted a relatively short time, from December 8 to December 23, 1941, yet it looms large in the annals of the Second World War. Read more

In this painting by artist Nicholas Trudgian, on New Year’s Day 1945, a pair of FW-190s swoop low over an Allied airfield in France as part of a late-war assault plan to cripple Allied air power and help turn the tide of the war in Germany’s favor.

WWII History

Death Ride of the Luftwaffe

By David H. Lippman

They were all annoyed. The directive from Jagdkorps (JK) 2 made no sense, but it was clear: all New Year’s Eve parties were cancelled. Read more

Covered with oil and soaking wet, these men head for shore. The Coolidge can be seen in the background (left).

WWII History

The Coolidge Goes Down

By Kevin Hymel

It was supposed to be a routine delivery of soldiers to the battlefields of Guadalcanal—but nothing in war is ever routine. Read more

Working quickly, a duo of sniper-wary German combat engineers lay communications wire at the front.

WWII History

Narva: The Battle of Nations

By Pat McTaggart

In the latter half of 1943, the German Wehrmacht had seen disaster follow disaster on the Eastern Front. Read more

WWII History, Editorial

The Marshall Plan

It was indeed an unprecedented effort to raise a continent from the devastation of a horrific world war, and ironically, the idea belonged to a career soldier. Read more

A U.S. SBD Dauntless dive-bomber cruises over the Solomons. The Dauntless wreaked havoc on Japanese shipping and contributed heavily to turning the tide in the Pacific.

WWII History, Dispatches

Pappy Gunn

Dear Editors,

WAAC, WAC, ANC, ARC, WASP, WAFS, WAVES, WAMS, SPARS—why don’t we ever see any articles about the brave women who served? Read more

An R-4 helicopter hovers low over an airfield in Burma during January of 1945. During future wars the helicopter was to become a mainstay of military operations.

WWII History, Ordnance

Helicopters in World War II

By Robert F. Dorr

Whirlybird and eggbeater were everyday lingo in 1943 when a few young men went to the Sikorsky factory in Stratford, Conn., Read more

WWII History, Profiles

Kurt “Panzer” Meyer was known as the fighting general of the Waffen SS.

By Richard Rule

Kurt Meyer was without doubt one of the most outstanding and highly decorated Waffen SS officers of World War II. Read more

WWII History, Top Secret

OSS Spymaster Allen Dulles

By Peter Kross

During World War II, Switzerland was one of the few neutral countries to survive unscathed amid the death and destruction that was being heaped upon the rest of Europe. Read more

WWII History, Insight

U.S. Navy Captain Forrest Biard

By Hervie Haufler

“For several months after the outbreak of the war with Japan the very fate of our nation rested in the hands of a small group of very dedicated and highly devoted men working in the basement under the Administration Building in Pearl Harbor.” Read more

WWII History, Books

The Handbook of the Eastern Front

By Lt. Col. Harold E. Raugh, Jr., Ph.D., U.S. Army (Ret.)

The magnitude and geographical scale of the battles and campaigns on the Eastern Front during World War II and the number of soldiers involved in these operations are almost beyond the understanding of Americans. Read more

WWII History, Simulation Gaming

Combat Mission: Afrika Korps, Codename: Panzers–Phase II, and Squad Assault: Second Wave

By Eric Baker

Combat Mission: Afrika Korps is new game for PCs from Battlefront. As the name implies, the setting is the Mediterranean Theater of World War II including North Africa, Italy, Sicily and Crete. Read more

January 2006

From Around the Network

Belated Medals of Honor Righted Injustices

Army Combat Engineer Paul Ray Smith

Patton and Rommel were masters of battlefield mobility and the operational art of war.

Company B’s Tunisian Offensive