Winter 2026 Archives

Destroyed and abandoned, these German armored vehicles offer silent testimony to the desperation of the fighting near St. Vith. Before retiring, the American defenders of the town severely hampered German efforts to exploit their Ardennes breakthrough.

WWII History, Editorial

The Execution of Eddie Slovik

By Michael E. Haskew

A single prisoner was bound and blindfolded in the courtyard of a French country house near the village of Ste-Marie-aux-Mines at 10:04 a.m. Read more

WWII History, Profile

Major General John Shirley Wood

By Kelly Bell

When little John Shirley Wood was delivered on January 11, 1888, in Monticello, Arkansas, one of the Free World’s greatest defenders greeted his first dawn as eagerly as everything else he confronted and overcame in a lifetime of soldiering. Read more

During the 1943 Battle of Kursk in Russia, specialized antitank versions of the Junkers Ju-87 known as “Gustavs” used tungsten-core shells to knock out Soviet tanks. With its upgraded speed, firepower, and armor, the “Dora” (D-series) version of the Ju-87 proved crucial in supporting ground troops and destroying Soviet antiaircraft batteries.

WWII History, Ordnance

The Stuka

By Richard Rule

During World War II the exploits of certain aircraft saw them indelibly associated with the battles in which they fought. Read more

German POWs march to their barracks at one of the many POW camps in the United States.

WWII History, Top Secret

The Hanging of Werner Drechsler

By Colonel Samuel J. Rob (Ret.)

German U-boat crewman Werner Drechsler arrived at POW Camp Papago Park north of Tempe, Arizona, on March 12, 1944. Read more

WWII History, Insight

The Guadalcanal Mafia

By Alan Rems

Undertaken in haste and with slim resources, the Guadalcanal Campaign (Operation Watchtower) was America’s first offensive of World War II and it presented a unique set of challenges. Read more

WWII History, Books

9 World War II Book Reviews for Winter 2026

Full Reviews

Fighting Fifteen: The Navy’s Top Ace and the Deadliest Hellcat Squadron of the Pacific War (Stephen L. Moore, Dutton Caliber (PenguinRandomHouse), New York, NY, 432 pp., Read more

WWII History, Simulation Gaming

Ground of Aces

By Joseph Luster

The Swiss-Polish indie devs behind World War II base-building strategy game Ground of Aces recently gave players even more to play around with in the first major update. Read more

WWII History

Wolfhound

By Joseph Luster

There are plenty of alt-history World War II games to choose from out there, but few hit quite as hard as WOLFHOUND, the latest from Chasm developer Bit Kid. Read more

Soldiers of the U.S. 36th Infantry Division riding an M4A3 (75) “Sherman” tank of the 3rd Armored Division on October 14, 1944, near the town of Stolberg, Germany, just three miles east of Aachen.

WWII History

Slugger Turned Spearhead Tanker

By Darren Neely

Hundreds of American professional baseball players gave pause to their promising careers to step up to the plate for their country during World War II. Read more

German Fallschirmjägers in 10 gliders crash-landed on a 6,990-foot plateau near the Hotel Campo Imperatore on Gran Sasso in the central Apennine Mountains on September 12, 1943. The mission objective of Operation Oak was to rescue deposed dictator Benito Mussolini from house arrest and bring him to Munich.

WWII History

Rescuing ‘Il Duce’

By Colonel Bernd Horn, Canadian Army (ret.)

The flimsy canvas flapped loudly as it buckled in the wind. More bothersome for the nine German commandos crammed inside the narrow fuselage was the constant motion—sinking, then sharply rising, as the DFS-230 glider ploughed and pitched through the towing aircraft’s turbulent wake. Read more

On December 18, 1944, a patrol from the U.S. 1st Infantry Division (Company F, 3rd Bn., 18th IR) searches for Fallschirmjäger that were dropped between Eupen and Bütgenbach, Belgium. The “Big Red One” held out against the German 6th Panzer Army on the shoulder of the “Bulge” from December 17 until January 28, 1945.

WWII History

A Rifleman at the Battle of the Bulge

By Robert F. Dorr

To American infantryman Rocky Moretto, war on the European continent in the winter of 1944-1945 was mostly about never getting enough sleep, warmth, respite, or relief. Read more