March 2002
WWII History
American Baptism of Fire at Kasserine Pass
By Roy Morris, Jr.The North African sky was clear and cold on the evening of February 13, 1943, as American General Dwight D. Read more
March 2002
Volume 1, No. 2
Field Marshal Erwin Rommel plots his next move in the assault on Kasserine Pass. Courtesy of the National Archives.
March 2002
WWII History
The French Maginot Line: Its Full History and Legacy after WWII
By Flint WhitlockLike a disjointed, moss-covered, concrete serpent, the French Maginot Line snakes some 800 miles, from the Mediterranean border with Italy northward, until it disappears near the North Sea. Read more
March 2002
WWII History
Bloody Betio: The Assault on Tarawa
By Al HemingwayPfc. Clayton Jay of Lamesa, Texas, was watching the sunrise from the attack transport Zeilin in the early morning hours of November 19, 1943. Read more
March 2002
WWII History
Better Or Best: The B-17 Vs. The B-24
By Sam McGowanOne of the most frequently discussed arguments to come out of World War II is which was the “better” bomber, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress or the Consolidated B-24 Liberator. Read more
March 2002
WWII History
Silent Blitzkrieg: the Battle of Fort Eben Emael
By Robert Barr SmithBelgian Fort Eben Emael was as close to impregnable as modern defense works could be—or so it seemed. Read more
March 2002
WWII History
Attack and defend, the classic quandary
In the title role of the film classic Patton, actor George C. Scott utters words to the effect that fixed fortifications are monuments to the stupidity of man. Read more
March 2002
WWII History, Dispatches
Maps
Dear Editor:
Congratulations on your premier issue of WWII History. I found the content to be interesting, the text informative, and the photographs and paintings to be of fine quality. Read more
March 2002
WWII History, Profiles
Air Force Profiles: Pilot Phil Cochran
By Gerald AstorSuperficially, Phil Cochran personified the WWII fighter pilot, a combat daredevil, nonchalant about the niceties of rank and zealous in pursuit of what he called “chicks.” Read more
March 2002
WWII History, Ordnance
The USS England’s Hedgehog Weapons System
By A.B. FeuerIn the Spring of 1944, Japanese Admiral Soemu Toyoda assembled a large fleet of warships at Tawi-Tawi in the southern Philippine Islands. Read more
March 2002
WWII History, Insight
The Strange Death Of Air Marshal Italo Balbo
By Blaine TaylorOn May 26, 1940, as the armies of Nazi Germany roared across prostrate France and the British Expeditionary Force was in the midst of its evacuation by sea from the European continent, Italian Army Marshal Pietro Badoglio, 69, was in the waiting room of the Palazzo Venezia in Rome. Read more
March 2002
WWII History, Top Secret
Soviet Military Intelligence: Richard Sorge
By Pat McTaggartThe Siberians are coming!” It was a cry that spread terror through the ranks of the German Wehrmacht in the winter of 1941. Read more
March 2002
WWII History, Books
Kenneth S. Davis’ ‘FDR: The War President 1940-1943’
By Michael HullNo American president has had to shoulder heavier burdens than Franklin D. Roosevelt did in the tense months after Japanese carrier planes crippled the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Read more
