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.

During this action, Ware’s small assault group was fully engaged in attacking enemy positions.

European Theater

Bloody Fight for Hill 351: Skirmish in the Colmar Pocket

By Dan Champagne

On a cold, dark December morning in 1944, B Company, 1st Battalion, 15th Regiment began the slow ascent up Hill 351. Read more

European Theater

The Real Story of General George Patton, Jr’s Death & Final Days

By Major General Michael Reynolds

The commander of the U.S. Third Army, General George Patton, Jr., took no great pleasure in the end of the war in Europe; he already knew that despite his lobbying of many influential figures in Washington, D.C., Read more

European Theater

D-Day’s Concrete Fleet: Making the Mulberry Harbors

By Michael D. Hull

No Allied amphibious invasion in World War II left such a bitter legacy as Operation Jubilee, the ill-fated British-Canadian raid on the northern French port of Dieppe on Wednesday, August 19, 1942. Read more

European Theater

Operation Dragoon: Second D-Day in Southern France

By David H. Lippman

Winston Churchill was against it. So was Lt. Gen. Mark W. Clark in Italy. But the American chiefs of staff were for it, and so was General Dwight D. Read more

European Theater

The Legend of Lightning Joe Farinholt, the Four-Time Silver Star Recipient

By Don Haines

Not all of the 68 infantry divisions available to the U.S. Army during World War II were made up of draftees and enlistees. Read more

European Theater

Rommel’s Ghost Division

By Dr. Michael Rinella

The appointment of Erwin Rommel as commander of the 7th Panzer Division (nicknamed the “Ghost Division”) in February 1940 seems, in the light of his many triumphs in France and North Africa, an unremarkable and perfectly natural choice. Read more

European Theater

George Preddy, Jr.: The USAAF’s Greatest P-51 Ace

By Kelly Bell

Darwin, Australia, was hot even though it was mid-winter. On the afternoon of July 12, 1942, four newly deployed pilots of the U.S. Read more

One of the most iconic British WW2 weapons today, the Bren Gun was in short supply in 1939 but quickly became the backbone of the British infantry.

European Theater

What Made The Bren Gun One of the Most Iconic British WWII Weapons

By Arnold Blumberg

While all the combatant nations engaged in World War I fielded machine guns during the conflict, the British Army’s Vickers was arguably the best medium machine gun of the war, while their Lewis gun—an American design but perfected by the English—was the most effective light machine gun. Read more

European Theater

Sherman Tanks vs. Tiger Tanks: Which Was Best at the Bulge?

by Michael D. Hull

When American soldiers landed in France in June 1944 as part of the great Allied crusade to liberate Europe, they were well trained, fully equipped, and brimming with confidence. Read more

European Theater

American Athletes and Spectator Sports During World War II

By Flint Whitlock

In the 1940s, war disrupted the lives of millions of people around the globe: fuel rationing, food rationing, shortages of all kinds, and, of course, the death and destruction that was visited on cities, nations, and whole populations. Read more

European Theater

Chuck Yeager: Fighter Pilot

By Eric Niderost

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

European Theater

Patton’s Panthers: The Story of the 761st Tank Battalion

By Charles W. Sasser

In the Academy Award-winning film Patton, the setting was all wrong when actor George C. Scott delivered General George S. Read more

European Theater

Battle of Meximieux: American Infantry & French Resistance

By Flint Whitlock

Nineteen-year-old Private First Class Peter Gaidosh of East Rochester, NY, was enjoying that rarest of wartime treats—a hot breakfast of fresh eggs, coffee, and pancakes—on the front lines. Read more

At Saint Sever, American Sherman tanks battled German Panthers blocking a minor intersection in a small but intense WWII tank duel.

European Theater

Saint Sever Tank Duel: M4 Sherman vs. Mark V German Panther

By George J. Winter, Sr.

The Normandy landings, the fighting at St. Lô and Caen, Operations Goodwood and Cobra, and the subsequent Argentan-Falaise Pocket have always drawn major attention from historians, with respect to the early struggle for supremacy in France. Read more

The Pointe du Hoc Rangers of the U.S. 2nd Ranger Battalion were involved in one of the most daring episodes of D-Day

European Theater

The Pointe du Hoc Rangers: a Madman’s D-Day Mission

By Daniel R. Champagne

On the morning of June 6, 1944, the 2nd Ranger Battalion, commanded by Lt. Col. James Earl Rudder, began its ascent of a sheer 100-foot precipice called Pointe du Hoc. Read more

European Theater

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WWII History

Holly Springs was Van Dorn’s ticket to fame.

David Bushnell’s Turtle: The World’s First Submarine

Teutonic Fury