Normandy

Alvan Gillem’s Invasion of Germany

By Chris J. Hartley

The United States had not yet entered World War II when Time magazine noted that the Army had created two new armored divisions. Read more

Normandy

Solving the D-Day Mystery at “Dead Man’s Corner”

By Niels Henkemans with Sean Claxton and Charles C. Roberts, Jr.

“Dead Man’s Corner,”at a road junction south of Saint-Côme-du-Mont, has become one of Normandy’s most famous landmarks. Read more

Normandy

Remembering D-Day

By Michael E. Haskew

Few events in human history have been so fraught with drama as the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. Read more

Normandy

Easy Company Mortarman

By Kevin M. Hymel

The green light lit up the inside of the Douglas C-47 Skytrain’s fuselage, and 20 paratroopers from Easy Company’s Stick 70, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division charged out the door. Read more

Normandy

H-Hour, D-Day: The Normandy Invasion

by Mike Haskew

Commonly known as D-Day, the Western Allies invaded Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II on June 6, 1944. Read more

Normandy

Adolf Hitler Led Germany To Ruin In World War II

by Mike Haskew

Born in Branau, Austria, on April 20, 1889, Adolf Hitler rose to lead the Nazi Party in Germany during the 1920s and was appointed the nation’s chancellor in 1933. Read more

Normandy

Outlandish D-Day Invasion Tales: A Hard Start for Rudder’s Rangers

By Patrick O’Donnell

In the early morning of June 6, 1944, LCA 668 (Landing Craft, Assault), carrying First Sergeant Len Lomell, Staff Sergeant Jack Kuhn, and most of the 2nd Platoon, 2nd Ranger Battalion, cut through the choppy, green waters of the English Channel. Read more

Normandy

The Allies’ Strong Stand Atop Mortain

by Kevin Hymel

A German SS officer, holding a white flag of truce, walked through the American lines and up to a tall lieutenant from Texas. Read more

Normandy

Vierville Civilians Recall Allied Pre-Invasion Bombings

by Kevin Hymel

The townspeople of Vierville-sur-Mer awoke around 3 am on June 6, 1944, to the sound of bombs. In the early morning of the Normandy Invasion, American Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers were dropping their payloads, preparing the invasion beaches for the coming attack. Read more

Normandy

Sketches of D-Day’s “Mulberry Harbours” on Auction

Developed by the British in World War II, “Mulberry harbours” were portable, temporary harbors that could be used for rapid on- and off-loading of cargo ships during the D-Day Invasion. Read more

Normandy

Brutal Battle for a Normandy Hill

By Mark Simmons

“At Tarnopol we endured heavy Russian fire but in Normandy we were hit again and again, day after day by British artillery that was so heavy the Frundsberg [10th SS Panzer Division “Frundsberg,” named after 16th-century German knight and general Georg Von Frundsberg] bled to death before our eyes. Read more

Normandy

Villers-Bocage: Wittmann’s Tigers, the Desert Rats, and Allied Disaster

By Major General Michael Reynolds

British General Sir Bernard Montgomery was given command of two Allied armies for the invasion of Normandy: Lt. Read more

Normandy

With the “Ragtag Circus” Across Europe: The Story of Frank Fauver

By Susan Zimmerman

The 83rd U.S. Infantry Division had been mobilized for World War I in September 1917. Its unit patch was a downward-pointing black triangle with the letters O-H-I-O stitched as an abstract gold monogram in the center. Read more

Normandy

U.S. Army Heritage Museum

By Mason B. Webb

In the heart of Pennsylvania, not far from the Civil War battlefields of Gettysburg, stands the U.S. Read more

Normandy

Amazing Photography of Normandy: D-Day Plus 1 Year

By Kevin M. Hymel

On June 6, 1945, two Stars & Stripes newspaper reporters traveled to Normandy with a mission: to photograph the effects of the year-old D-Day landings on the beaches, towns, and fields. Read more

Normandy

D-Day: Over Normandy: A New Drone’s Eye View of the Iconic Beachhead

New technology has shaped the way we view our past. Breakthroughs in Computer Graphics, editing, and videography have allowed documentary filmmakers to present stories from different angles in order to enhance the viewer’s appreciation and understanding of a topic. Read more

Normandy

WW2 Stories: 5 Compelling First-Hand Accounts from D-Day

The invasion of Normandy was one of the most audacious military campaigns in history. Nearly three million Allied personnel would participate in or support the Normandy operations. Read more

Normandy

D-Day Casualties: Operation Overlord by the Numbers

The largest amphibious invasion in history began on the night of June 5-6, with the roar of C-47 engines preparing to take off , and climaxed on the beaches of Normandy. Read more

Normandy

The WW2 Paratrooper: First-Hand Accounts of the D-Day Invasion

By Kevin M. Hymel

What was it like to be a WW2 paratrooper, parachuting into Normandy in the opening minutes of June 6, 1944—D-Day? Read more

Normandy

Why America Participated in the Allied Bombing of France in WWII

By Flint Whitlock

By any standard, the ancient city of Rouen, in Upper Normandy, is a historical treasure. Within its magnificent High Gothic Notre-Dame Cathedral (which was portrayed in a famous series of paintings by the Impressionist Claude Monet as well as by his contemporary Camille Pissarro) is a tomb containing the heart of Richard the Lionheart (1157-1199) who had been King of England and the Duke of Normandy. Read more