December 2017

Volume 17, No. 1

Cover: General Dwight Eisenhower speaks with a member of the 101st Airborne Division shortly before giving the command to launch the D-Day invasion, June 5, 1944.

Photo: National Archives

WWII History, Feature

Seven Meetings to D-Day

By Kevin M. Hymel

The invasion force was ready. All across the United Kingdom men waited in more than 5,000 ships and hundreds of landing craft. Read more

WWII History

The Tide Turns at El Alamein

By Michael D. Hull

After more than two wearying years of seesaw fighting across the North African desert, the outlook was bleak for the British Eighth Army in the early summer of 1942. Read more

Tanks of the U.S. 6th Armored Division leave their telltale tracks in the snow as they advance toward the town of Bastogne, recently relieved after days under siege by German forces during the Battle of the Bulge.

WWII History, Feature

Nobody knew it in the 6th Armored Division’s 9th Armored Infantry Battalion, but the tide of the Battle of the Bulge had turned by the time the outfit moved into snow-covered fields and forests near Bastogne. Read more

WWII History, Feature

Wolf of the Atlantic

By Christopher J. Chlon

Fregattenkapitän (Commander) Otto Kretschmer sank or damaged more Allied ships than any other U-boat commander during World War II. Read more

WWII History, Feature

Soviet Disaster in the Crimea

By Pat McTaggart

Christmas Day 1941 was anything but festive for the commander of German Army Group South’s 11th Army, General Erich von Manstein. Read more

WWII History, Editorial

Developing the Atomic Bomb

By Michael E. Haskew

In 1938 the Italian Fascist government of Benito Mussolini began enacting a series of laws intended to intimidate, persecute, and otherwise control virtually every aspect of the lives of Italian Jews. Read more

WWII History, Ordnance

The P38 Can Opener: WWII’s “Other” P-38

By Richard A. Beranty

Far down on the list of important inventions essential to victory in World War II is a modest gadget built of stamped metal called the GI Pocket Can Opener—commonly known as the P-38 can opener—which was used by American troops in the field to sever the lids off combat rations. Read more

WWII History, Profiles

Ernie Pyle: Foxhole Dateline

By Michael D. Hull

If General Omar N. Bradley was “the GIs’ general,” then their best friend in World War II was undoubtedly a small, stringy reporter with graying red hair from Indiana who shared their foxholes and hardships while slogging across five battlefronts. Read more

WWII History, Top Secret

The Scholarly Spies

By Tim Miller

Early in June 1940, refugees from northern France and the low Countries who had flooded Paris in May fled with the residents of the city as the German advance neared. Read more

WWII History, Books

WWII Book Reviews: From Defeat to Victory

By Christopher Miskimon

The Battle of Sangshak is one of those unknown fights that laid thegroundwork for the subsequent Allied victory in World War II. Read more

WWII History, Simulation Gaming

December 2017 World War II Games

By Joseph Luster

Developer Kite Games’ Sudden Strike 4 recently made its way to consoles with a release on PlayStation 4, offering one of the rare opportunities to enjoy real-time World War II strategy on the system. Read more

December 2017

From Around the Network

The Last Battle of the Nez Perce War

D-Day Capture of Les Moulins Draw

Bringing the War to the Japanese in China

The German SS at Rzhev: Loyal to Their Deaths