April 2022 Archives

Soldiers of the U.S. 5th Infantry Division, part of General George S. Patton’s Third Army, march through the snowy streets of the town of Ettelbruck, Luxembourg, in January 1945. These soldiers were involved in the Allied counteroffensive that reduced the bulge formed by the German Ardennes Offensive. Some of these soldiers are wearing white sheets as camouflage.

WWII History

Flattening the Bulge

By Patrick J. Chaisson

Corporal Thomas B. Tucker stood shivering in the bitterly cold night air as he looked down on a ribbon of water that separated his unit from the enemy’s front-line positions. Read more

After completing a reconnaissance mission in the jungles of Guadalcanal, a group of U.S. Marines poses for a photographer while delivering a Japanese prisoner for interrogation. The Marine at right has taken a Japanese sword as a souvenir. Prisoners were rarely taken in the Pacific, as Japanese soldiers preferred suicide to captivity.

WWII History

Bare-knuckle Brawl at Guadalcanal

By Michael E. Haskew

Even after their stunning defeat at Midway in early June 1942, senior commanders of the Imperial Japanese armed forces were resolute in their grand plan to extend their defensive perimeter in the Pacific. Read more

A tank crew of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment waits patiently for a French woman and her cow to cross a rain soaked road near the town of Luneville in the fall of 1944. The regiment was a component of the 4th Armored Division and played a key role in disrupting a German attempt to cut the 4th Armored off and destroy it. A derelict German helmet lies in the roadway.

WWII History

Cavalrymen Stand at Luneville

By Allyn Vannoy

Lieutenant Wessling did not believe that his two 75mm assault guns could effectively deal with the German panzers. 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 History

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

WWII History

Gray Wolves and the Ides of March

By Kelly Bell

Adolf Hitler and his military commanders were feeling a new and unsettling emotion early in 1943—desperation. A year earlier, they had seemed on top of the world as their forces ruled a region that surpassed Rome at its greatest. Read more

WWII History, Editorial

During the Second Happy Time, the destroyer USS Roper struck a blow against marauding U-boats.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once admitted that the only issue to trouble him to the extent that he thought World War II might be lost was the uncertainty of the Battle of the Atlantic and the U-boat peril that threatened to starve the British Isles into submission. Read more

WWII History, Ordnance

Fork-tailed Devil

By David H. Lippman

Technically and visibly, it was unique among World War II fighters. The P-38 stood on tricycle landing gear, with its twin Allison engines in separate booms and the pilot sitting in his cockpit in a cupola between the booms. Read more

SAS veterans of the Desert War photographed just after completing a three-month patrol. Their Jeeps are armed with machine guns and include Jerry cans containing fuel and water.

WWII History, Top Secret

SAS: Owning The Desert

By Frank Johnson

Second Lieutenant David A. Sterling of the Scots Guards was serving with Lt. Col. Robert E. “Lucky” Laycock’s No. Read more

WWII History, Profile

Eaker and the Mighty Eighth

By Michael D. Hull

Forty-eight Wright Cyclone aero engines coughed into life on the hardstands at windswept Polebrook Airfield in Northamptonshire, England, early on the afternoon of Monday, August 17, 1942. Read more

American soldiers of the 92nd Infantry Division move into the town of Moninoso, Italy, in April 1945. The 92nd was one of several Black outfits of the U.S. Army that served in the Italian campaign during World War II.

WWII History, Books

Belated Medals of Honor Righted Injustices

By Christopher Miskimon

The squat, gray brick Castle Aghinolfi sat on high ground over-looking a coastal road on Italy’s west coast. Read more

WWII History, Simulation Gaming

Company of Heroes 3 Preview

by Joseph Luster

One of the most anticipated World War II titles of 2022 is Company of Heroes 3, which is currently on the way from SEGA and developer Relic. Read more

WWII History, Simulation Gaming

Men of War II Preview

by Joseph Luster

World War II real-time strategy series Men of War first kicked off in 2007, courtesy of the folks at Best Way Studio, which is known for releases like Soldiers: Heroes of World War II, as well as the expansions that followed the original Men of War. Read more

April 2022

From Around the Network

Operation Flipper: British Commandos Take on General Erwin Rommel

Brusilov’s WWI Breakthrough on the Eastern Front

Carlson’s Long Patrol: Marine Raiders at Guadalcanal

How The Roman Empire Attained Success