Afrika Korps
“The problem,” a member said, “is to make yourself so much master over the appalling difficulties of nature—heat, thirst, cold, rain, fatigue—that, overcoming these you yet have physical energy and mental resilience to deal with the greater object, the winning of the war.” Read more
Afrika Korps
The first published photo of one of the odd—but highly versatile —frontline vehicles of World War II appeared on the cover of the July 1942 edition of German Propaganda Minister Dr. Read more
Afrika Korps
Even though, technically at least, it was not a combat airplane, the performance of the Douglas C-47 transport led General of the Army Dwight Eisenhower to label it as one of the most important weapons of World War II. Read more
Afrika Korps
Located 58 miles south of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, the rocky, 122-square-mile island of Malta was the hinge upon which all Allied operations in the Middle East turned during the first half of World War II. Read more
Afrika Korps
German Teller mines were insidious weapons—killing or maiming thousands of Allied soldiers and civilians. The Wehrmact employed others, too, to great effect during the Second World War. Read more
Afrika Korps
When most people think of the Italian Army in North Africa during World War II, they tend to believe that the average Italian soldier offered little resistance to the Allies before surrendering. Read more
Afrika Korps
Sergeant Charles Callistan looked through the sights of an antitank gun at an approaching enemy tank. His weapon, a six-pounder cannon, was in the perimeter of a surrounded British outpost named Snipe. Read more
Afrika Korps
In the winter of 1942-1943, the Allies had every reason to believe that they were on the verge of total victory in North Africa. Read more
Afrika Korps
With Rommel driving on Egypt and the British pushed out of Greece, a sudden pro-Nazi coup d’état in Iraq lay rich oil fields and more at Germany’s feet. Read more
Afrika Korps
When Brig. Gen. Joseph-Pierre Koenig, commander of the 1st Free French Brigade, surveyed the area he had just been ordered to defend, he must have been mightily discouraged. Read more
Afrika Korps
First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Dudley Pound stopped tapping his pencil on the oaken desk and slowly leaned backward in the oversized leather chair. Read more
Afrika Korps
The Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe was inevitable as the tide of World War II turned against Germany. Read more
Afrika Korps
She was a tiny vessel, not really designed for the dangers and hardships of war in far places and deep waters. Read more
Afrika Korps
On April 15, 1942, Generaloberst (Colonel General) Erwin Rommel summoned his subordinate commanders of the Panzerarmee Afrika to a conference to outline his plans for the coming offensive against the British Eighth Army. Read more
Afrika Korps
Short, wiry, and with baleful blue eyes and an Old Testament beard, Maj. Gen. Orde Charles Wingate was unorthodox in thought and action. Read more
Afrika Korps
Due largely to their use in the postwar U.S. Army Air Forces and present proliferation among the air show community, the North American P-51 Mustang is thought of by many as the most important American fighter of World War II. Read more
Afrika Korps
The Allied decision to invade North Africa, codenamed Operation Torch, was reached in the summer of 1942 after lengthy—and sometimes bitter—arguments between interested parties. Read more
Afrika Korps
After assuming dictatorial powers in Italy, Benito Mussolini remained a popular figure with the Italian people – for a time. Read more
Afrika Korps
In late 1940, fortune seemed entirely against the United Kingdom. France had fallen, Italian troops threatened imperial holdings, and Britain’s few allies were still gravely threatened. Read more
Afrika Korps
Like many true combat veterans, my father didn’t talk much about the war—in his case, World War II. Read more
