January 2008

Volume 7, No. 1

Cover: A German soldier guards a Junkers Ju-87 Stuka dive-bomber. Three bombs lie on the grass in front of the plane. © CORBIS

U.S. Navy dive-bombers attack a Japanese cruiser at the Battle of Midway in this painting by Robert Benny.

January 2008

WWII History

Lifting the Japanese Military

By John W. Whitman

Japanese military successes in 1941 and 1942 shocked the West. Behind those successes lay a logistics effort not often appreciated, that of shipping. Read more

War artist Gary Sheenhan captured the prisoners’ misery, fear, and deprivation at Buchenwald in 1945. The revolts in Sobibor and Treblinka were the last chance for the inmates to survive as the Nazis began to cover up their heinous deeds.

January 2008

WWII History

Revolts in the Death Camps

By Jonathan F. Keiler

By the spring of 1943, the Nazi deaths camps in eastern Poland—Sobibor, Belzac, and Treblinka—were running out of victims. Read more

In a photo taken from another B-29 in formation, this heavy bomber disgorges incendiary bombs from the skies above Formosa. The largest B-29 raid of the war to date took place on October 14, 1944. The target was the repair and supply facilities at Okayama on the island.

January 2008

WWII History

B-29 Superfortress: The Plane That Bombed Japan Into Submission

By Sam McGowan

As the Japanese delegation stood on the deck of the battleship USS Missouri on September 2, 1945, preparing to sign the documents that ended World War II, a large formation of Boeing B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers swooped low over Tokyo Bay as a reminder of the terrible destruction that had befallen their nation and turned Japan’s cities into ruins. Read more

January 2008

WWII History, Dispatches

Red Air Force Pe-2

Dear Editor:

I read with interest George Tipton Wilson’s article “Red Air Force Heroines” in the September issue of WWII History. Read more

British commandos march through the ruins of the French town of Caen. An objective of the Allied D-Day landings that was supposed to have been captured on June 6, stiff German resistance prevented the city from being liberated until a month later.

January 2008

WWII History, Profile

Fleming, Ian Fleming

By Hervie Haufler

Some accounts of Ian Fleming’s life make it seem that only at the age of 44, as an antidote to the shock of finally agreeing to get married, did he suddenly commit himself to the unplanned task of creating his James Bond novels. Read more

A U.S. Navy destroyer escort was originally conceived as something of a stopgap measure during World War II. Later, the design proved to be effective in all theaters. Here, a destroyer escort is shown under way during sea trials.

January 2008

WWII History, Ordnance

Holding the Line on the High Seas

By Paul B. Cora

Through the first half of World War II, Allied shipping losses to German U-boats climbed steadily from over 400,000 tons in the last four months of 1939 to more than two million tons each in 1940 and 1941, before reaching a staggering 6,266,215 tons in 1942 following the entry of the United States into the war. Read more

January 2008

WWII History, Books

Horrific Fight on Land and Sea

By Mason B. Webb

Operation Iceberg, the battle of Okinawa, which lasted from April to June 1945, was the final and largest air-sea-land battle of the Pacific campaign. Read more

January 2008

WWII History, Simulation Gaming

SMERSH takes on the Germans.

By Eric T. Baker

The Soviet counterintelligence agency known as SMERSH is so famous for its role in Ian Flemming’s James Bond novels, that its real, historical role is comparatively unknown. Read more

From Around the Network

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    Operation Greif: Assassinate Eisenhower?
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    Military History

    Curtiss Flying Jennies Pursue Pancho Villa Across Northern Mexico
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  • Hearty soldiers from Normandy—descendants of Norsemen— looked for challenges and opportunities far from home and found some in Italy. They landed there in the early 11th century and began to assemble dominions for themselves.

    Military History

    Singing Swords & Charging Warhorses
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