British soldiers release a pigeon with a message capsule attached to its leg, August 1940. Thought to be more secure than radio or telephone communications, the birds could deliver written messages quickly, but sometimes were captured or shot down by the enemy.

WWII Quarterly Fall 2017

Warfare’s Unsung Pigeon

By G. Paul Garson

Battlefield communications are often a matter of life and death to individual soldiers and serve to determine not only the outcome of battles but entire wars. Read more

Members of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, and U.S. volunteers from Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, search for the remains of two American service members still missing from World War II.

WWII Quarterly Fall 2017

WWII’s Forgotten “Missing”

By Flint Whitlock, Editor WWII Quarterly

Recently, I saw an article about American MIAs—those service members who went “missing in action” during World War  II—and, frankly, was taken aback.  Read more

WWII Quarterly Fall 2017

Deadly Duel Above Berlin

By Mark Mathosian

“Our mission was Berlin. We flew in that dreaded position—last and lowest in the squadron.”

Archie Mathosian, B-17 Radio Operator, A/C #521 (Skyway Chariot), 100th Bomb Group (H), USAAF

“Last and lowest in the squadron.”These Read more

WWII Quarterly Fall 2017

Mayhem in Burma’s Jungles

By Tom Crowley

Special operations soldiers have existed since armed forces were first organized. Arguably, the hand-picked Greek warriors concealed inside the Trojan horse outside the gates of Troy 3,000 years ago were the first “special ops” troops. Read more

The U.S. 22nd Infantry Regiment and many other units suffered heavily in the grim, bloody Battle of Hürtgen Forest during World War II.

WWII Quarterly Fall 2017

Bloodletting in the Hürtgen Forest

By Nathan N. Prefer

At first, no one cared much about the forest. The objective of the First U.S. Army was the Siegfried Line, the much vaunted defensive line that protected Germany from invasion from the west. Read more

WWII Quarterly Fall 2017

Commanding Patton’s Personal Tanks

By Kevin M. Hymel

Major General George S. Patton, Jr. had no patience for soldiers disobeying the rules of combat at his Desert Training Center in Southern California. Read more

WWII Quarterly Fall 2017

Overrunning Norway

By Mark Simmons

“U-64 was seen on the surface at the top of Herjansfjord near Bjrekvik. I selected the two anti-submarine bombs and put the Swordfish in a dive and released the bombs at 200 feet. Read more

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