Tanks
The Allies’ Strong Stand Atop Mortain
by Kevin HymelA German SS officer, holding a white flag of truce, walked through the American lines and up to a tall lieutenant from Texas. Read more
Tanks
Pershing’s Hammer: The Meuse–Argonne Offensive
By William StroockAt 0100 hours on September 12, 1918, German positions in the St. Mihiel salient on the Western Front were lit up by a massive artillery barrage. Read more
Tanks
When Did World War I End?
by Mike HaskewAt least ostensibly, World War I ended first with the cessation of armed hostilities between the warring powers at the famed “11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month,” that is November 11, 1918. Read more
Tanks
Battle of the Bulge POWs: One Man’s Story of Capture
By David H. LippmanNobody knew it in the 6th Armored Divisions 9th Armored Infantry Battalion, but the tide of the Battle of the Bulge had turned by the time the outfit moved into snow-covered fields and forests near Bastogne. Read more
Tanks
The Scholarly Spies
By Tim MillerEarly in June 1940, refugees from northern France and the low Countries who had flooded Paris in May fled with the residents of the city as the German advance neared. Read more
Tanks
Ford’s Willow Run Factory
By Samantha L. QuigleyThey said it couldn’t be done. Doubters chided Henry Ford for declaring that his Willow Run Bomber Plant could turn out a B-24 Liberator heavy bomber every hour. Read more
Tanks
The U.S. 3rd, 5th, and 4th Marine Divisions: Uncommon Valor at Iwo Jima
By Nathan N. Prefer“You know,” said Marine Maj. Gen. Clifton B. Cates to a war correspondent on the eve of Operation Detachment, the invasion of Iwo Jima, “if I knew the name of the man on the extreme right of the right-hand squad of the right-hand company of the right-hand battalion, I’d recommend him for a medal before we go in.” Read more
Tanks
How To Make a Fake Tank
By Kevin M. HymelDeception is a vital tool in war. During World War II, the British developed a dummy tank to fool enemy surveillance planes into thinking they had more tanks than they needed, were strong where they were weak, and were preparing to attack where they were not. Read more
Tanks
Adolf Hitler Sends Joachim Peiper to the Bulge
By Josh QuackenbushDuring the Battle of the Bulge, the largest battle America has ever fought, Hitler chose the Sixth Panzer Army for the German juggernaut’s most important role. Read more
Tanks
Operation Aphrodite
By Mason B. WebbWhen it came to advanced military technology in World War II, arguably no one was better at it than Nazi Germany, whose scientists Adolf Hitler keep busy trying to invent the ultimate “super weapon” capable of defeating his enemies. Read more
Tanks
Rampage on the Riviera: Operation Dragoon
By Glenn Barnette and André BernoleEarly in 1944, German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, the defeated hero of North Africa and now head of Army Group B in France, was tasked with strengthening the Atlantic Wall defenses against Allied invasion. Read more
Tanks
Could an M4 Sherman Tank Even Survive Against a German Panther?
By Kevin HymelThe German Panzer-kampf-wagen V (Panther) tank was superior to the American M4 Sherman in almost every respect, but it could not guarantee victory at every encounter. Read more
Tanks
Hobart’s Funnies
By Phil ZimmerThe elite German paratroopers, who were some of the finest fighters in the service of the Third Reich, believed they were exceptionally well prepared to defend the deep water port of Brest on France’s Brittany coast against an impending attack by the Allies. Read more
Tanks
The Panzer VIII Maus: The Heaviest Tank Ever Built
By Brandt HeatheringtonAs early as 1941, the German high command had visions of military technology that was far ahead of its time, and many innovative technological concepts were becoming reality. Read more
Tanks
Mission to Madagascar: British Assault on Diego Suarez Port
By Cleve C. BarkleyIn early 1942 things could have hardly looked bleaker for the Allies. In Europe, Hitler’s war machine had steamrolled across the entire continent and was now battling before the gates of Moscow. Read more
Tanks
The Battle of the Bulge and Roads to Bastogne
By Edward P. BeckAn eternal grayness created a sense of constant gloom. The short, wintry days ended quickly, giving way to endless hours of dark, monotonous cold, and ever-present clouds of ghostlike fog crept slowly over the landscape, blocking all sight. Read more
Tanks
Prelude to Iwo Jima: The Japanese Assault On B-29 Base On Marianas
By Michael P. SlaterFrom an altitude of 30,000 feet, the swift Japanese reconnaissance aircraft flew high over Saipan and Tinian, photographing the brisk and extensive engineering effort under way on the American airfields far below. Read more
Tanks
Sherman Tanks vs. Tiger Tanks: Which Was Best at the Bulge?
by Michael D. HullWhen 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
Tanks
The Hawker Typhoon 1A & 1B: Worst RAF Fighters in WWII?
by Arnold BlumbergIn 1934 the British War office accepted a new aircraft design eventually designated the Hawker Hurricane Mark 1. Read more
Tanks
Colonel Creighton Abrams at the Battle of the Bulge
By Michael D. HullOn the chilly afternoon of Tuesday, December 26, 1944, a column of mud-caked Sherman tanks, halftracks, scout cars, and tank destroyers of the U.S. Read more
