In August 1944, the Allies followed up the massive Normandy Invasion with another in southern France known as Operation Dragoon.

ULTRA

Rampage on the Riviera: Operation Dragoon

By Glenn Barnette and André Bernole

Early 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

Britain appeared doomed until the German naval codes were cracked.

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The Codebreakers’ War in the Atlantic

By Gene J. Pfeffer

The Battle of the Atlantic was a life-and-death struggle between the German Kriegsmarine and the Allied navies that was fought for control of Britain’s lifeline to its empire and to the United States. Read more

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New Year’s Day Defense in Alsace

By Allyn Vannoy

Like something out of a dream, a soldier walked into the command post. He unspooled a line of wire, hooked a field phone to it, checked the line, and handed the receiver to the officer in charge, Captain Howard Trammell, saying, “Someone wants to talk to you.” Read more

Major General Eric Dorman-Smith was an architect of the strategy that won the first battle of El Alamein in June 1942.

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Eric Dorman-Smith: Churchill’s Scapegoat in North Africa

By Jon Diamond

When one gazes upon the bookshelves in the Military History section of a well-endowed library, one cannot help but notice the number of volumes dedicated to the battles for North Africa during World War II and particularly to the Battle of El Alamein in October 1942. Read more

From Around the Network

  • Erik the Red became the first Viking to settle in Greenland, while his son Leif Eriksson may have been the first European to visit North America.

    Military History

    Viking Father & Son: Erik the Red & Leif Eriksson
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  • The crew of a British Sopwith Camel flying at 10,000 feet downs the first Gotha on British soil during a night raid on London in January 1918. Germany reinvigorated its strategic bombing campaign late in the war by using Gotha aircraft instead of zeppelins.

    Military History

    Germany’s Gotha Heavy Bombers
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  • Civil War

    The 5th U.S. Cavalry: “A Hard Duty” at Gaines Mill
    Read More