weapons Archives

To a casual observer there would be little to distinguish an Anglo-Saxon thegn from his Norse Viking counterpart.

weapons

Norse Viking Warriors vs. Anglo-Saxon Thegns

By Eric Niderost

It can indeed be rather difficult to understand the differences between Anglo-Saxon thegns and the Norse Viking warriors. Read more

Despite its high production numbers, the Hawker Typhoon 1A and 1B were both plagued by a series of design and technical problems.

weapons

The Hawker Typhoon 1A & 1B: Worst RAF Fighters in WWII?

by Arnold Blumberg

In 1934 the British War office accepted a new aircraft design eventually designated the Hawker Hurricane Mark 1. Read more

Waffen SS General Felix Steiner was an able commander who refused to sacrifice his troops needlessly.

weapons

Waffen SS General Felix Steiner’s WWII Legacy

by Pat McTaggart

“Where is Steiner?” Adolf Hitler demanded as his Thousand Year Reich crumbled around him in April 1945. “Is he attacking yet?” Read more

Ancient Greek engineers developed war machines such as the catapult, which evolved from the crossbow and were the forerunners of modern artillery.

weapons

Types of Weapons Used by Ancient Greece

by Mike Markowitz

When we think “catapult,” we imagine the types of weapons used for hurling rocks, dead plague victims, or unlucky cows against a castle. Read more

weapons

Project Habakkuk’s Iceberg Aircraft Carrier

By Stephen D. Lutz

During World War II British and American aircraft carriers, serviced and ready for naval combat, averaged 20,000 to 30,000 tons. Read more

Hobart Funnels were specially designed armored vehicles that contributed to the Allied victory in Europe.

weapons

D-Day Funnies: No Joke to the Nazis

By Michael D. Hull

German defenders hunkered in their concrete and steel bunkers along the Normandy coast were in for two major shocks on Tuesday, June 6, 1944. Read more

weapons

The Red Army’s T-34 Tank: The Eastern Front and Beyond

By Blaine Taylor

In 1942, careworn Nazi Führer Adolf Hitler lamented to his military intimates at his Wolf’s Lair headquarters near Rastenburg in East Prussia, “If I had known that there were so many of them, I would have had second thoughts about invading!” Read more

weapons

The Me 262 and the Beginning of the Jet Fighter Age

By Phil Zimmer

The Germans knew the bombers were coming, and they prepared even as the U.S. 457th Bomber Group first assembled in the early morning sunlight over faraway London. Read more

While it never developed the mystique associated with the Springfield rifle, the 1917 Enfield was a sturdy and reliable weapon.

weapons

Was the 1917 Enfield a Good Rifle Compared to the Springfield?

By Steve Lilley

In director Howard Hawks’s 1941 film classic, Sergeant York, then-Corporal Alvin York, portrayed by Gary Cooper, single-handedly knocks out more than 30 German machine-gun nests and, with little assistance, captures 132 enemy soldiers. Read more

weapons

WWII Weapons Systems: The German Sturmgewehr

By Brandt Heatherington

With the conflict in Iraq, combat photography is once again prevalent in the media, and it would be impossible to miss images of U.S. Read more

During World War II, Joachim Benz served on the Eastern Front in a Luftwaffe ground unit known as a field division.

weapons

From the Luftwaffe: Joachim Benz on the Eastern Front

by Joachim Benz, as told to Peter D. Fyfe and Ward Carr

Following service as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery during the early 1970s, Ward Carr decided to remain in Germany, residing in Frankfurt. Read more

weapons

Garand’s Wonder Weapon

By Michael D. Hull

A variety of outstanding weapons and pieces of equipment affected the course of World War II for both the Allies and the Axis powers. Read more

Be sure to check out these and other stories on the Battle of the Bulge, Adolf Hitler's last great counteroffensive along the Western Front.

weapons

The Battle of the Bulge: 75+ Years On

During the Battle of the Bulge, Adolf Hitler launched his last great counteroffensive along the Western Front. From full armored divisions running on gasoline fumes to “American schools” teaching spies how to pose as Allied soldiers, Hitler used everything in his arsenal to try to turn the tide of the war. Read more