February 2020
WWII History
Swift Invasion of Denmark
By John W. Osborn, Jr.On the night of April 8, 1940, almost four million people went to bed at peace in the midst of a world war. Read more
February 2020
Volume 19, No. 2
Cover: British General Miles Dempsey confers with Brig. Gen. James M. Gavin, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division during Operation Market Garden.
Photo: National Archives
February 2020
WWII History
Operation Market Garden: The American Airborne’s Audacious Role
By Michael E. HaskewWith his troops in a bitter fight with German forces in northern France in the late summer of 1944, General Omar Bradley, commander of the Allied 12th Army Group, could not believe his ears. Read more
February 2020
WWII History
New Year’s Day Defense in Alsace
By Allyn VannoyLike something out of a dream, a soldier walked into the command post. He unspooled a line of wire, hooked a field phone to it, checked the line, and handed the receiver to the officer in charge, Captain Howard Trammell, saying, “Someone wants to talk to you.” Read more
February 2020
WWII History
Fatal Pride at Peleliu
By John McManusInside the shabby tent that served as his command post on Peleliu, a despondent Maj. Gen. William Rupertus sat on his bunk, slumped over with his head in his hands. Read more
February 2020
WWII History
British Invasion of Madagascar
By John W. Osborn, Jr.“The first I saw of Madagascar and the last after adventurous months ashore was the eerie color of the soil,” a British novelist turned security sergeant would write a decade later. Read more
February 2020
WWII History, Editorial
A stirring chapter of naval history steeped in controversy.
While American troops slugged it out with the Japanese on the Philippine island of Leyte, one of the greatest battles in the history of naval warfare raged far and wide in the surrounding waters. Read more
February 2020
WWII History, Ordnance
What Made the German Luger the Most Famous Pistol in Modern Warfare
By Blaine TaylorThe German Luger is, most likely, the most famous pistol in modern warfare. Almost every World War II movie ever made featuring German armed forces seems to show it as an integral part of its action sequences. Read more
February 2020
WWII History, Profiles
Nazi Stuka Ace Hans Rudel
By Ludwig Heinrich DyckIn the village of Seiferdau, Southern Prussia, an eight-year-old boy with an umbrella jumped out of a second-story window. Read more
February 2020
WWII History, Insight
Churchill and Stalin’s Uneasy Alliance
By Jon DiamondIn the Grand Alliance volume of Winston S. Churchill’s memoirs of World War II, the British prime minister lambasted Soviet Premier Josef Stalin and his inept government for failing to anticipate Operation Barbarossa, the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, which began on June 22, 1941. Read more
February 2020
WWII History, Top Secret
Sterling Hayden, Hollywood Actor, Viking Hero of the OSS
By Michael D. HullSeveral Hollywood stars served proudly in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II, including Tyrone Power, Louis Hayward, Lee Marvin, Macdonald Carey, Hugh O’Brian, Bill Lundigan, John Russell, Robert Ryan, Brian Keith, and Peter Ortiz. Read more
February 2020
WWII History, Books
Pathfinders Pave the Way
By Christopher MiskimonCaptain Frank Lillyman drifted down toward a French field in the predawn darkness of June 6, 1944. Frank was a pathfinder, one of the paratroopers assigned to prepare the way for the main airborne drop on D-Day. Read more
February 2020
WWII History, Simulation Gaming
An Alternate History WWII Game Goes Behind Enemy Lines, and Strategy Spans the Ages in a Unique Spin on the Genre
By Joseph LusterSome war games are all about the conflicts themselves, honing in on the minutiae of the tactics that walk the line between victory and defeat. Read more
