Fall 2018

Volume 10, No. 1

COVER: A tank crew from Company C, 193rd Tank Battalion, prepares to advance near Kakazu Ridge on Okinawa and into the open country beyond in April 1945.
Photo: National Archives

The crew of Memphis Belle return from their 25th mission in May 1943.

WWII Quarterly, Editorial

A rugged lady finds a home at Wright-Pac.

Anyone with an interest in World War II aviation knows the name Memphis Belle, which, along with the B-29 Enola Gay, is inarguably one of the two most famous planes of that era. Read more

The Indy’s Marine Guard under No. 1 turret, photographed shortly before the sinking.

WWII Quarterly

Wartime Tragedy

By Richard Camp

Lieutenant Commander Mochitsura Hashimoto, Imperial Japanese Navy, stared intently through I-58’s periscope. Visibility was poor until the moon peeked through the clouds and he spotted a dark silhouette on the horizon. Read more

This pristine Lockheed P-38, “White 33,” was buried in a pit in the New Guinea jungle for decades before being retrieved and restored to better-than-new condition at the WestPac Restoration facility.

WWII Quarterly, Museums

The National Museum of World War II Aviation

By Flint Whitlock

Colorado Springs, Colorado—at the foot of majestic Pikes Peak—has long been a favorite vacation destination. And now there’s another reason to head for the Rockies: the National Museum of World War II Aviation. Read more

WWII Quarterly

Britain’s Decisive Aerial Victory

By David Alan Johnson

“I say, better wake up.”

Red Tobin opened one eye, rolled over, and found his squadron mate, Pilot Officer John Dundas, shaking him by the shoulder and staring into his face. Read more

A group of American tankers of the 193rd Tank Battalion take a break on and around their M4 Shermans before returning to combat on Okinawa, April 1945. Note that the white stars on the sides of the tanks have been painted out to reduce their visibility to the enemy. Nevertheless, exceptionally strong Japanese resistance took a heavy toll on American tanks and tankers.

WWII Quarterly

Death Ride of the Shermans

By Nathan N. Prefer

They weren’t originally supposed to be there. In the early planning for the invasion of the island of Okinawa, the 27th Infantry Division was to be held in reserve as the eventual garrison force after the defeat of the Japanese 32nd Army. Read more

WWII Quarterly

Forest of Death

By Nathan N. Prefer

“Passchendaele with tree bursts” was how war correspondent Ernest Hemingway described it. The three-month slugfest that became known as the Battle the Hürtgen Forest was that and much more. Read more

Follow-on troops of the Royal Marine Commandos, lugging their equipment, come ashore at Juno Beach, Normandy.

WWII Quarterly

A “Light-Hearted War”

By Mark Simmons

Vice Admiral Norman Denning said of Ian Fleming, the “ideas man” who worked at British Naval Intelligence, that a lot of his proposals “were just plain crazy.” Read more

WWII Quarterly

Japan’s Hellish Unit 731

By David D. Barrett

The final months of World War II saw the liberation of hundreds of ghastly concentration camps and the awful reality of Nazi racism. Read more

WWII Quarterly

Too Many Close Calls

By Flint Whitlock

Clarence M. “Monty” Rincker was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, on September 8, 1922. When he was a year old, his parents bought a farm in eastern Wyoming and the family moved there. Read more