An Australian tanker waves from the turret of an Italian M13/40 light tank captured by the 6th Australian Divisional Cavalry in Cyrenaica, Libya, on March 4, 1941. The kangaroos were painted on the tank to help distinguish friend from foe.

June 2008

Volume 7, No. 4

Cover: A flamethrower operator equipped with an M2-2 flamegun is protected by a rear guard of infantrymen carrying Browning Automatic Rifles in this simulated action photo. Photo courtesy of the National Archives

WWII History

Was It Right to Drop the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima & Nagasaki?

By Sam McGowan

The most controversial decision of the 20th century—probably in all of history—was the one reportedly made by President Harry S. Read more

WWII History

Adolf Hitler’s Elite Bodyguard at Mortain

By Major General Michael Reynolds

By the morning of July 27, 1944, General Omar Bradley’s First U.S. Army had won the “Battle of the Hedgerows” in Normandy and stood ready to break out to the south. Read more

WWII History

Night Battle: The Barroom Brawl Off Guadalcanal

By David Alan Johnson

November 13, 1942, was a Friday, which sailors aboard the cruiser USS San Francisco noted with anxiety. Read more

With infantry charging alongside, a motorcycle unit of the Red Army roars into action against German positions in July 1942. The submachine gun appears to be the weapon of choice for these soldiers.

WWII History

Leningrad & Tikhvin: Nazi Winter Repulse During Operation Barbarossa

By Pat Mc Taggart

The men of Field Marshal Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb’s Heeresgruppe Nord (Army Group North) had little sleep during the night of June 21, 1941. Read more

Efficient and aggressive, Japanese troops rush into Hong Kong in early December 1941. Reports of widespread atrocities were received as the invaders took control of the city. (Imperial War Museum)

WWII History

Tragedy at Hong Kong: The Ordeal of C Force

By Jerome M. Baldwin

By the 1930s the security Hong Kong had enjoyed since its acquisition by the British Empire in 1842 was a memory. Read more

WWII History, Editorial

Anne Frank’s chestnut tree is threatened by disease and the axe.

More than 60 years after her death, Anne Frank, the young girl who was a virtual prisoner in the famous “annex” as she, her family, and others hid from the Nazi Jew hunters in Amsterdam, remains an icon of optimism and belief in the triumph of the human spirit. Read more

Shown rolling along a dirt road in northwest Europe on November 29, 1944, a captured German Panther tank is in use by the British 4th Coldstream Guards, 6th Guards Tank Brigade. (Imperial War Museum)

WWII History, Ordnance

How the Allies Used Captured German Tanks and Vehicles

By Christopher Miskimon

Geijsteren Castle sits north of the Dutch town of Venlo on the banks of the Meuse River. In late 1944, the castle was a strongpoint in the local German defenses and under attack by elements of the British Sixth Guards Tank Brigade. Read more

Red Army scouts report the findings of a recent foray to locate the Germans in the northern Caucasus. The Germans were not uniformed against the harsh Russian winter and suffered tremendous casualties as a result.

WWII History, Profiles

Russian Commanders: Marshal Semyon M. Budenny

By Blaine Taylor

At 8 am on the cold, blustery morning of November 7, 1941, the 24th anniversary of the Russian Communist Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, a dashing lone horseman galloped out of the Spassky Gate of the Kremlin onto snow-covered Red Square. Read more

On January 21, 1945, soldiers of the U.S. 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division move cautiously through the town of Moesdorf, Luxembourg. (All photos: National Archives)

WWII History, Insight

Ernest Hemingway and the Ivy Leaguers in World War II

By Charles Whiting

During the second week of July 1944 a young, sharp Lieutenant Goldstein of the 4th Infantry Division’s 22nd Infantry Regiment was told by his boss, Colonel Buck Lanhan, “Expect a special civilian, a big war correspondent is coming to visit us. Read more

The Duke of Windsor, fourth from right, accompanies the Viscount Gort and a contingent of British Army officers during an inspection of troops in France early in World War II.

WWII History, Top Secret

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor: A Dark Royal Secret?

By Peter Kross

One of the most interesting yet little known aspects of World War II was the role played by the Duke of Windsor, previously King Edward VIII of England, and his covert relationship with Adolf Hitler’s Germany. Read more

WWII History, Books

Eisenhower, Marshall, and MacArthur

By Mason B. Webb

Only five modern American Army generals have ever been authorized to wear the five stars denoting the rank of General of the Army. Read more

WWII History, Simulation Gaming

Get three games in one with Pacific Storm: Allies.

By Eric T. Baker

Some games take a small part of WWII and try to model it very closely. Some games take the whole of the war and try to model it very broadly. Read more

June 2008

From Around the Network

The Marines and North Vietnamese at Khe Sanh

Ancient Greek General Epaminondas

The HMS Illustrious & Other Armored British Carriers Left Their Mark

Battle of Rennell Island: A Fiery End for the USS Chicago