WWII History September 2007 Archives

Russian women pilots originally flew the antiquated Polykarpov PO-2, which was made of wood covered with fabric.

WWII History September 2007

Red Air Force Heroines: The Night Witches

By George Tipton Wilson

Ignoring a nonaggression pact between Hitler and Stalin, Nazi Germany launched Operation Barbarossa, an invasion of the Soviet Union, on June 22, 1941. Read more

The dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London looms against the surreal glow of fires ignited during a Luftwaffe bombing raid. The cathedral itself was in great peril during the Germans’ Blitz against the British capital city in 1940. (The Art Archive/Culver Pictures)

WWII History September 2007

Luftwaffe Raids: St. Paul’s Stands Proud

By David Alan Johnson

At St. Paul’s Cathedral, the rooftop lookout telephoned the cathedral control center at 6 pm to report that air raid sirens were sounding off to the southwest. Read more

WWII History September 2007

The Afrika Korps at El Alamein: Beginning of the End

By John Brown

Tobruk, the vital Libyan seaport on the coast of Cyrenaica, fell to General Erwin Rommel and his victorious Afrika Korps in less than 24 hours after an unexpected and devastating air, armor, and infantry attack on June 21, 1942. Read more

The German crew, which has manned a captured British Matilda tank in the Western Desert in 1941, surrenders to a group of New Zealand troops after the vehicle has been disabled by antitank fire. Note the German markings and flag draping the tank. (Australian War Memorial)

WWII History September 2007

Captured Allied Armor: Enemy Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing

By Christopher Miskimon

The German crewmen occupied the various stations in their tank as they approached the American roadblock ahead. It was 2100 hours on Christmas Eve, 1944, just outside the town of Manhay, Luxembourg, which was occupied by elements three different U.S. Read more

Preparing for an invasion by the Japanese, Indian troops, which comprised a large number of the British Commonwealth forces in Burma, march past a pagoda toward defensive positions. (Imperial War Museum)

WWII History September 2007

The 17th Indian Division in Burma: Disaster on the Sittang

By Marc D. Bernstein

The Japanese looked unstoppable. Two divisions of the 15th Army had crossed from Thailand into Burma in mid-January 1942, bent on capturing Rangoon before the British could land reinforcements and block the seizing of the Burma Road. Read more

WWII History September 2007

Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess: Foe or Ally?

By Sherman Gengler

Throughout the reign of the Nazi Party in Germany during the 1930s and 1940s, Adolf Hitler’s inner circle comprised a diverse group of men from many walks of life. Read more

WWII History September 2007

The USS Utah: The Memorial & The Pearl Harbor Paradox

By Richard Klobuchar

Very few among the throngs of visitors to Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu are aware of an anomaly, but it definitely exists in the case of the USS Utah. Read more

Not yet a second lieutenant or a pilot, student flier Grant Stout poses with the Stearman PT-17 Kaydet primary trainer that was the initial aerial classroom for so many.

WWII History September 2007

What happened to fighter pilot Grant Stout?

By Robert F. Dorr

It was loud. It was violent. Gunfire ripped into 1st Lt. Grant G. Stout’s Republic P-47D Thunderbolt fighter high over Dortmund, Germany, near midday on March 19, 1945, and the aircraft trembled and shook. Read more

WWII History September 2007

The British Prosper Spy Network: Destroyed to Protect D-Day?

By Peter Kross

On June 6, 1944, hundreds of thousands of Allied troops, planes, and ships departed from their bases in England bound for the shores of France in what was to be the greatest invasion of all time. Read more

From Around the Network

Ex-Nazis Still Being Rounded Up

Russia’s Four Immortal Generals

Experience modern warfare on the ground and in the air in three new games.

Roger Fenton, Crimean War Photographer