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K Rations Created the World’s Best Fed Army

K Rations remain one of the great icons of World War II. Soldiers either loved them or hated them. Read more

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Patton’s Last Command

The October light was beginning to fade as the U.S. Army limousine sped along the autobahn in the American Zone of Occupied Germany. Read more

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Chuck Yeager: Fighter Pilot

Major General Charles “Chuck” Yeager, United States Air force (Ret.), was one of a handful of people who could rightly claim the title “living legend.” Read more

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A Scout in Patton’s Third Army

The Messerschmitt Bf-109 fighter plane dove out of the sky with machine guns firing. The pilot’s target—a pontoon bridge being stretched across Germany’s Werra River by American engineers. Read more

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British Paratrooper at Arnhem: An Interview With James Sims

Q: Could you give us a little personal background before we talk about your war experiences?

SIMS: I was born on April 29, 1925, at Sheffield in Yorkshire. Read more

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Waffen SS General Felix Steiner’s WWII Legacy

“Where is Steiner?” Adolf Hitler demanded as his Thousand Year Reich crumbled around him in April 1945. “Is he attacking yet?” Read more

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The German SS at Rzhev: Loyal to Their Deaths

Early in December 1941, Operation Typhoon, the German drive on Moscow, withered in the face of tenacious Soviet resistance and one of the worst Russian winters in living memory. Read more

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Daylight Bombing Gamble: The Schweinfurt–Regensburg Mission

In early 1942, the U.S. Eighth Air Force arrived in England firmly entrenched in the belief that continuous and accurate daylight precision bombing was the only way to decisively crush German industrial capacity. Read more

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How Did Benito Mussolini Die? The Story Behind Il Duce’s Last Moments.

It was shortly before seven o’clock on the rain-drenched morning of April 27, 1945, the day before the death of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Read more

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The Forgotten American Airborne of Operation Market-Garden

“In the years to come everyone will remember Arnhem, but no one will remember that two American divisions fought their hearts out in the Dutch canal country,” wrote U.S. Read more

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WWII Weapons Systems: The German Sturmgewehr

With the conflict in Iraq, combat photography is once again prevalent in the media, and it would be impossible to miss images of U.S. Read more

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That Great Bitter Battle of Kohima

The two regiments from the county of Kent, down in southeastern England, are of both ancient and honorable lineage. Read more

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Hell in a Small Place: the Canadian Paratroopers of Operation Varsity

In the hut no one spoke, no one joked. The assembled British and Canadian paratroop commanders awaited the briefing from their brigade commander on their next major operation. Read more

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Thomas D. Howie: The Major of St. Lô

In the late afternoon of July 18, 1944, in what was left of the main square of battle-scarred St. Read more

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My Battle Up the Boot: Paul McNelis in the Italian Campaign

The U.S. 85th Infantry Division was one of the Allied workhorses in Italy during World War II. Read more

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Sturgeon Catch 1942: The Siege of Sevastopol

By late October 1941, the armies of the Third Reich had swept deep into western Soviet Russia. Read more

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Famous Navy Ships: The USS Tang

During World War II, the United States employed 288 submarines, the vast majority of which raided Japanese shipping in the Pacific, thus preventing the enemy’s vital supplies and reinforcements from reaching the far-flung island battlefields. Read more

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“Mad” Mike Calvert: A British Legend in Burma

The English officer studied the Burmese river and its surroundings. The area seemed quiet, for the moment peaceful. Read more

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The Bombing of Rabaul in November 1943

In some historical circles, a mistaken impression has developed that the U.S. Navy’s Task Force 38 launched the aerial offensive on the Japanese stronghold at Rabaul, New Britain, that ultimately rendered the base useless. Read more

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The USCGC Taney: Pearl Harbor and Beyond

Built in the mid-1930s as one of the famed Treasury class of large U.S. Coast Guard cutters, USCGC Taney had a distinguished career spanning five decades of continuous service. Read more