September 2009

Volume 8. No. 5

Cover: Lieutenant General George S. Patton reviews the troops at the front south of El Guettar, Tunisia, March 30, 1943. He would end the war as a four-star general. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

September 2009

WWII History

Rescue at Ladd Reef

By Paul Farace

As the submarine USS Cod left Apra harbor, Guam, on the afternoon of June 26, 1945, for her seventh war patrol, her crew of 97 officers and enlisted men were all but certain that their new assignment was to be junk hunting—a thankless and dangerous job that in the words of one Cod crewman saw “Uncle Sam risk a seven million dollar submarine and crew to sink a leaky sailboat not worth more than $20,000!” Read more

September 2009

WWII History

Panzers at the Gates of Moscow

By Jonathan Jordan

The war map gave Adolf Hitler every reason to be confident. Operation Barbarossa, Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union begun on June 22, 1941, had succeeded spectacularly on nearly every front. Read more

September 2009

WWII History, Editorial

OSS Uncovered

Like any spy network worth its salt, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the U.S. World War II intelligence-gathering agency authorized by President Franklin D. Read more

September 2009

WWII History, Dispatches

Pétain: Savior of France

Dear Editor:

Regarding your July 2009 issue about Marshal Philippe Pétain: Most of us subconsciously view the French through British eyes, and the results are often unbalanced even when the facts are accurate. Read more

September 2009

WWII History, Profiles

Arnhem’s Other Urquhart

By Jon Diamond

The Hollywood military film devotee will remember the beginning of the epic, A Bridge Too Far, when a young British airborne officer named Fuller informs Lt. Read more

September 2009

WWII History, Top Secret

Bringing Down the Bridges

By John Mancini

In April 1941, German troops swarmed into Greece from Bulgaria. Despite a valiant defense by the Greek Army and support from the British, the Nazis smashed their battle lines and controlled Greece within weeks. Read more