September 2006 Archives

In this painting by Norman Wilkinson, the land, sea, and air around the port city of Dunkirk appear to be ablaze, beneath a pall of smoke. The epic evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from the continent of Europe in June 1940 allowed thousands of Allied soldiers to fight another day.

WWII History

What Happened in Dunkirk: a Royal Engineer Tells His Story

By Norman Wickman, as told to Pauline Hayton

Pauline Hayton was 52 years old before her father, Norman Wickman, talked about his life in the British Army, and what happened in Dunkirk as he saw it. Read more

Crewmen service the quad mounted 40mm cannon aboard a U.S. Navy destroyer escort. A 5-inch gun turret is visible in the background.

WWII History

Savagery off Samar: Interview with Jack Yusen

Interview by John Wukovits

The 18-year-old seamen bobbed in the oily waters off the Philippine coast with other survivors of the October 25, 1944, battle. Read more

WWII History

The Battle of Kursk: Showdown at Prokhorovka and Oboian

By Ludwig Heinrich Dyck

With the German Sixth Army destroyed at Stalingrad, the Soviet juggernaut lunged west and southwest across the River Donets. Read more

Hit by Japanese fire, a wounded American soldier slides to his icy grave in this combat painting. The bitter fighting on enemy-held Attu resulted in the recapture of the Aleutian island at a cost of 600 dead American soldiers, 1200 wounded.

WWII History

Bitter Cold, Bitter War: The Aleutian Islands in WWII

by Al Hemingway

In the early morning hours of May 11, 1943, the silhouettes of two subamarines silently rose to the surface in the icy cold waters off the coast of Attu, an island in the Aleutian chain. Read more

Taking on water, the U-505 is perilously close to sinking. A towline is delivered from a whaleboat to a boarding party so that the submarine may be taken to safety.

WWII History

The Capture of German Submarine U-505

by David Alan Johnson

“Frenchy to Blue Jay—I have a possible sound contact,” squawked from USS Guadalcanal’s bridge intercom at 1110 hours. Read more

Awaiting rescue by sea, Allied soldiers form long lines on the beach at Dunkirk. The great effort mounted by military and civilian seamen resulted in nothing short of a miracle.

WWII History, Editorial

A blunder by Hitler and the fortitude of the common soldier resulted in a miracle at Dunkirk.

The evacuation of nearly 350,000 allied officers and soldiers from the embattled beaches at Dunkirk was indeed an event of epic proportions. Read more

WWII History, Dispatches

Coolidge Goes Down

Dear Editor:

I am now into my second subscription year and am really enjoying your magazine. I will be extending my subscription for another two years. Read more

WWII History, Profiles

William R. Dunn: Eagle Squadron Pilot

By David Alan Johnson

“I jammed the throttle wide open and, attacking the Me-109 from the port quarter, fired one burst of four seconds and three bursts of two seconds each,” Pilot Officer William R. Read more

WWII History, Insight

The Argentia Conference: How the Allies Were Formed

by Michael D. Hull

A British battleship and an American cruiser converged secretly in a remote bay on the Newfoundland coast early in August 1941. Read more

WWII History, Ordnance

WWII Planes: The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk

By Sam McGowan

During the first year of American participation in World War II, the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk (Kittyhawk or Tomahawk to the British) came to symbolize the United States Army Air Corps as it fought a desperate war to hold the Japanese in check. Read more

WWII History, Top Secret

WWII Spies: the Soviet Cambridge Network

by Peter Kross

In the modern era, the majority of those accused of spying have done so for monetary purposes—the quick acquisition of wealth as opposed to ideological or philosophical reasons. Read more

WWII History, Books

Trial of a “Desk Murderer”

By Mason B. Webb

As the man in charge of the Third Reich’s logistical apparatus of mass deportation and extermination of two million European Jews at Auschwitz-Birkenau and other death camps, Adolf Eichmann was the acknowledged center of Hitler’s “Final Solution.” Read more

WWII History, Simulation Gaming

Battleground Europe, Rush for Berlin, Strategic Command 2: Blitzkrieg

By Eric Baker

There are a variety of multi-player games that are refighting World War II twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, but none of them are quite like Battleground Europe: World War II Online from Cornered Rat Software and newly distributed by Matrix games for the PC and the Mac. Read more

September 2006

From Around the Network

Thomas McKelvey Cleaver’s ‘Going Downtown’

Heyde Toy Soldiers

Alex Vraciu: U.S. Navy Ace, Philippines Guerrilla

Piper Bill on the D-Day Beach