April 2020 Archives

WWII History

Operation Dragoon: The Allied Invasion of France in the South

By Patrick J. Chaisson

“This was war deluxe,” observed Brig. Gen. Frederic B. Butler as his command car entered the French village of Quincon during Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of France in the country’s southern region, in August 1944. Read more

U.S. Navy Lieutenant Alex Vraciu holds up six fingers signifying the number of Japanese aircraft that fell to his guns during an eight-minute span on a single mission.

WWII History

The Setting Sun

By David H. Lippmann

Once again, the Japanese regarded an upcoming naval engagement as the “decisive battle,” but it had been two years since her aircraft carriers and battleships had emerged from their Inland Sea lairs to menace the United States Navy. Read more

A German tanker stands on the Russian steppe near Voronezh after emerging from the turret of his PzKpfw. III tank. In the summer of 1942, Hitler mounted an armored thrust to the south along the Eastern Front, and it led to ruin.

WWII History

Derailing Case Blue

By Pat McTaggart

After the brutal defensive fighting during the winter of 1941-1942, Adolf Hitler was ready for another round with the Russians. Read more

WWII History

Lightnings on the Deck

By Patrick J. Chaisson

Second Lieutenant William Capron first saw the attacking Messerschmitts as black dots descending rapidly to ambush his squadron of American fighter-bombers. Read more

WWII History, Editorial

Adolf Hitler’s Last Birthday.

On April 20, 1945, Adolf Hitler observed his 56th, and last, birthday. There was little to celebrate. The so-called “Thousand Year Reich” was in its death throes after only 12. Read more

WWII History, Profiles

The Last Days Of General Patton

By Michael D. Hull

Fearless, demanding, and inspirational, General George Smith Patton, JR., was generally recognized as the U.S. Army’s outstanding field commander by the end of World War II. Read more

A huge floating Phoenix unit, part of the artificial Mulberry harbors, under construction at Portsmouth, England.

WWII History, Ordnance

Mulberry Harbors: The Allied Secret Weapon at Normandy

By Blaine Taylor

One of the major aims of the great Allied invasion of German-Occupied France on D-Day, June 6, 1944, was the securing of the port of Cherbourg on the Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy. Read more

Reichsfuhrer SS Heinrich Himmler, founder of the Lebensborn Program, talks with a young Ukrainian boy. Many children were essentially kidnapped from occupied countries and given to German parents.

WWII History, Insight

Children for Hitler

By Brent Douglas Dyck

By 1936, 18-year-old Hildegard Koch had reached a crossroads in her young life as she finished her schooling. Read more

Chinese children are being subjected to trials intended to limit the spread of the plague. Many of the terrible experiments conducted by Unit 731 involved the spread of infectious disease.

WWII History, Top Secret

Military Intelligence: Japan’s BW Group

By Charles N. Tallesen

Confronted with war, some men seem capable of assuming almost any evil. Such were the actions of General Shiro Ishii and the men of his Manchuko Unit 731, which developed means of biological warfare in the 1930s and ’40s. Read more

WWII History, Books

U.S. Paratrooper Left for Dead at Nijmegen

By Christopher Miskimon

As Gene Metcalfe floated down toward the earth in his parachute, the first thing he saw below him was a German soldier walking down a path with girl on his arm. Read more

WWII History, Simulation Gaming

The Stealth Thrills of Sniper Elite V2 Return in Remastered Form

By Joseph Luster

Even with all the improvements made in a series over the years, sometimes it’s a breath of fresh air to go back to the earlier roots. Read more

April 2020

From Around the Network

Patton’s Dual Drives

Was Leon Degrelle a Traitor of Belgium, or a German Army Hero?

Tactical Combat Casualty Care: Medical Innovations Spurred by Combat

Patton: from Gafsa to El Guettar