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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

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Bradenburgers: Germany’s Special Forces in World War II

War had been raging for 10 days, and Wehrmacht columns were pouring through Poland in a ceaseless torrent. Read more

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The German 11th Panzer Division: Giving Up the Ghost

It was an impressive sight. Upon the reviewing stand as honored guest was General Dwight D. Read more

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Frederic John Walker & the German U-Boat

On this writer’s desk sits a small, pewter mug, dented and somewhat bat-tered. It is neatly engraved, and the lettering reads: “Wardroom H.M.S. Read more

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Operation Cartwheel: Seizing the Solomons and Beyond

On the island of New Britain, at the north end of the Solomon chain, lay a major base that provided Japanese forces with the naval power, supplies, and reinforcements to control the sea lanes of the Southwest Pacific. Read more

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WWII Heroes: Aristides de Sousa Mendes

Panic and confusion reigned across France as the bright, warm spring of 1940 turned into summer.

Blitzkrieg, a brutal new mode of warfare, was on the loose in Western Europe. Read more

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The USS Vestal: The Pearl Harbor Attack & Beyond

On Saturday, December 6, 1941, the repair ship USS Vestal eased alongside the USS Arizona at her berth at Pearl Harbor. Read more

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WWII Spies: Oreste Pinto

Two men were seated on either side of a paper-strewn table inside an office of MI5, the British intelligence service, in the Royal Victoria Patriotic School at Clapham, London, shortly after the fall of France in the spring of 1940. Read more

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General Mark Clark’s Secret Mission to North Africa

Rain battered the shore and the seas were rough on the night of October 21, 1942. Under the surface of the water, a submarine carried the Allies’ best hope for turning the tide of war in 1942. Read more

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The Battle of the Bulge & The Defense of St. Vith

The U.S. 9th Armored Division arrived in the European Theater of Operations in late October 1944 as a reserve for Maj. Read more

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Operation Matterhorn

Most writings about World War II tend to attribute the success or failure of military operations to the skill with which generals and admirals handled their forces in battle and to the fighting abilities of soldiers, sailors, and airmen. Read more

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Battle of Rennell Island: A Fiery End for the USS Chicago

With bond clerk Marge Henning standing by as a witness, Colonel Frank Eldridge removed the first piece of the puzzle. Read more

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The Murmansk Run: Running the Gauntlet of WWII’s Arctic Convoys

It was unbelievably dull and uncomfortable duty, often interspersed with moments of sheer terror and the possibility of sudden and violent death. Read more

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Charlie Mott: Flying Tiger Caged

­­Charles D. Mott was a U.S. Navy dive-bomber pilot when he joined the American Volunteer Group (AVG), the small band of Americans who flew under the leadership of General Claire Lee Chennault and became known to history as the Flying Tigers. Read more