A Sherman tank from the Canadian 27th Tank Regiment rolls through the shattered, deserted streets of Caen after the Germans pulled out. The British/Canadians lost thousands of men and 300-500 tanks. The delay in securing Caen badly damaged Montgomery’s reputation among the Allies.

European Theater

The European Theater of Operations (ETO) during World War II is generally regarded as the area of military confrontation between the Allied powers and Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The European Theater encompassed the Atlantic, Mediterranean, Eastern Front, Western Front, and Arctic areas of operation.

European Theater

The Last Flight of the Lonesome Polecat

By Diane Condon-Boutier

Every February 11, Rouxmesnil-Bouteilles, a tiny town in Upper Normandy situated north of the Seine River a short distance inland from the coastal city of Dieppe and some two hours from the D-Day invasion beaches, pays homage to 10 American airmen who crashed into the town center, narrowly missing the local children assembled in their schoolhouse just a few yards away. Read more

European Theater

The Allies’ Biggest Blunder?

By Brig. Gen. (ret.) Raymond E. Bell, Jr.

Before World War II, the Belgian port city of Antwerp was one of the world’s great ports, ranking with those of Hamburg, Rotterdam, and New York. Read more

Often overlooked, the portion of the Battle of the Bulge that took place in Luxembourg was as savage as the better known battles in Belgium.

European Theater

Fiery Fight for a Frozen Hell: Battle of the Bulge in Luxembourg

 

By James G. Bilder

Described in one U.S. Army report as “the quiet paradise for weary troops,” the tiny nation of Luxembourg was viewed by American commanders in late 1944 much like Belgium—liberated, safe, and an ideal location for combat-worn troops to rest and for untested replacements to get exposed to outdoor living and military routine before being exposed to combat. Read more

European Theater

The Lions of Carentan Part III: Operation Cobra

By Volker Griesser

Background: In this, the third and final installment of a three-part series excerpted from The Lions of Carentan, the 2011 book by a respected German military historian, Fallschirmjäger Regiment 6 (FJR 6) has been pushed out of Ste.-Mère-église, Read more

European Theater

The Lions of Carentan Part II: Defending Carentan

By Volker Griesser

Background: Fallschirmjäger Regiment 6, under the command of Major Friedrich August Freiherr von der Heydte, had the fortune (or misfortune) to be stationed in Normandy at the time of the Allied invasion of France on June 6, 1944. Read more

European Theater

Michael Wittmann: How the Legendary Panzer Ace Died in World War II

By Christopher Miskimon

During the late morning of August 8, 1944, the day famed tank commander Michael Wittmann would meet his end in combat, German SS-Oberführer (Colonel) Kurt “Panzer” Meyer sat in his staff car as his driver made his way toward the town of Cintheaux, France, near the front lines. Read more

European Theater

LIFE Photographer Ralph Morse’s War

By Susan Zimmerman

In an age before television and instant communications, Americans wanted to see what was going on in the world’s “deadliest conflict in human history,” and LIFE magazine was making a name for itself as THE war magazine during World War II. Read more

European Theater

The Amazing Voyages of the USS O’Brien

By Eric Niderost

At exactly three o’clock in the afternoon on February 25, 1944, a crowd gathered at the Boston Navy Yard for the commissioning ceremony of the USS O’Brien (DD725), a destroyer of the Sumner class. Read more

European Theater

The Bombing of Berlin by Doolittle’s Eighth Air Force

By Robert F. Dorr

He was widely regarded as America’s best pilot, he was already a recipient of the Medal of Honor, he was commander of the Eighth Air Force caught up in 1,000-plane bombing missions deep into the Third Reich, and he was mad as hell. Read more

From Around the Network

  • After completing a reconnaissance mission in the jungles of Guadalcanal, a group of U.S. Marines poses for a photographer while delivering a Japanese prisoner for interrogation. The Marine at right has taken a Japanese sword as a souvenir. Prisoners were rarely taken in the Pacific, as Japanese soldiers preferred suicide to captivity.

    WWII

    Bare-knuckle Brawl at Guadalcanal
    Read More
  • “Shenandoah Valley, September 1864,” first-hand drawing by Alfred R. Waud, a war correspondent for Harper's Weekly. On September 19, 1864, Union General Phillip Sheridan’s Army of the Shenandoah defeated General Jubal Early at the Third Battle of Winchester.

    Military History

    Crook’s Devils
    Read More

  • Military History

    John Keegan has broadened and deepened the range of military history.
    Read More

  • WWII

    U.S. VIII Bomber Command: From Savannah to Glory
    Read More