The plot to kill Hitler, code-named Operation Valkyrie, of July 20, 1944 almost succeeded and helped intensify the war.   More »

During the Battle of France and the following occupation, Germany systematically ruined the country in May and June 1940.   More »

After the fall of France, Britain prepared for the inevitable: Operation Sea Lion, a Nazi invasion of England. So why did it never happen?   More »

By Pat McTaggart
Colonel General Walter Model was a rising star in the German Army in early 1943. The son of a music teacher, Model was born on January 24, 1891, in Genthin, Saxony-Anhalt. In 1909, he joined the Kaiser’s army as an officer candidate, but the harsh training almost made   More »

With weapons at the ready, the American squad advanced cautiously on both sides of the tree-lined boulevard toward the German strongpoint in Aachen. Buildings pummeled by Allied shells had toppled to the ground, sending concrete and bricks spilling into the street. Hardly a structure remained intact as a result of   More »

Seventy years later, should the “Desert Fox” be considered an anti-Nazi hero or a faithful soldier turned opportunist?   More »

German Panzers under General Heinz Guderian captured the Ukraine in 1941.   More »

Hitler’s elite bodyguard and other SS units were transformed during the Polish campaign into real fighting men and became responsible for atrocities.   More »

For decades historians have wrestled with the idea that the Allies might have mounted a successful invasion of Western Europe in 1943.   More »

Troopers of the U.S. 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions fought with distinction during the air-ground assault in the autumn of 1944.   More »