Panzer
At daybreak on December 16, 1944, three senior officers in the Army Air Corps and a Royal Air Force air vice marshal arrived at an elegant chateau near the town of Spa in southeastern Belgium that was the headquarters of Lt. Read more
Panzer
Early in World War II, German panzer forces trampled all foes. Confidence suffused the Germans, and their tank designs stagnated. Read more
Panzer
The tank was created to break the bloody deadlock along the Western Front. It was originally envisioned as a kind of “land battleship” that could cross trenches and barbed-wire entanglements. Read more
Panzer
On June 6, 1944 the Allies opened the Second Front against Nazi Germany. Concentrated against the beaches of Normandy, Operation Overlord landed 20 army divisions plus support troops on five beaches in anticipation of a breakout across France and toward Berlin. Read more
Panzer
World War II was the first fully mechanized war in history, and oil, both crude and synthetic, was a major factor in military planning. Read more
Panzer
By December 24, 1944, the commander of the Sixth Panzer Army’s strongest battlegroup, SS Obersturmbannführer (Lieutenant Colonel) Jochen Peiper, was facing the ultimate military nightmare. Read more
Panzer
When Brig. Gen. Joseph-Pierre Koenig, commander of the 1st Free French Brigade, surveyed the area he had just been ordered to defend, he must have been mightily discouraged. Read more
Panzer
The North African campaign has been aptly described as a “tactician’s paradise and quartermaster’s hell.” The contested area was large, stretching some 1,400 miles from Tripoli in the west to Alexandria in the east, a vast expanse of waterless desert wastes. Read more
Panzer
Letters home provide us with a glimpse into the daily lives of soldiers during the best and worst times. Read more
Panzer
In the early morning of December 16, 1944, 80-man German shock companies from the 5th Panzer Army slipped toward the American lines in the Ardennes region under the cover of heavy fog. Read more
