How the US Navy Trained its Pilots in WWII – the Bar for Entry was High
With a thud and a screech, a damaged fighter plane hits the deck of an aircraft carrier. The ocean heaves in a high wind, making the…
Tough Reading – A Nightmarish Place: The Mauthausen-Gusen Concentration Camp
The Mauthausen-Gusen Concentration Camp lies just North of Linz, in Austria. It was one of the first large concentration camps created in Nazi Germany and…
From The Tank Museum: Joe Ekins – One of the Most Famous WWII British Tank Gunners
Joe Ekins remains one of the most famous WWII British tank gunners for taking down three Tiger tanks with five shots, including that of Nazi…
The Russian KV Tank and Its Crew That Stopped The German Advance for a Full Day
On June 22, 1941, Germany and the Axis powers commenced Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union along a 2,900 km front with a…
He’s Called The Ghost, Has The Same Medal Count As Audie Murphy, And Is Virtually Unknown
By the time a man earns seven Purple Hearts and lives to talk about it, he could either be described as one of the luckiest…
Two Years Before Filming It’s a Wonderful Life, Jimmy Stewart was Bombing the Daylights Out of Nazi Germany
Every year when the Christmas season rolls around, the classic film of a Banker, who wishes he had never been born and an angel who…
Korean Soldier Fought in Pacific, Eastern Front, and D-Day for Axis and Allies and 3 Separate Countries
Many men have the honor of saying they fought for their country in the global struggle known as World War 2. However, not many men…
The Amazing SOE Operation To Kidnap General Heinrich Kreipe From Crete
The Special Operation Executive (SOE) in 1944, planned to conduct a daring mission in Crete. Their initial plan was to kidnap the German commander of…
When An American Submarine Took Out a Japanese Troop Train and Much More in the Pacific in WW2
On the 22nd of January, 1945, 30 Japanese merchant ships sat in Namkwan Harbor, in Southern China. They felt safe in their well-defended home, surrounded…
Learning the Luftwaffe’s Secrets: How Intelligence Gathering Shaped the Battle of Britain
In WWII the Battle of Britain was fought in the air. A victory was achieved through the skill and courage of the rightly revered fighter…
Blazing trails – Daughter of Foreign Service Officer served in WAC in WWII, and later in CIA
War History online proudly presents this Guest Piece from Jeremy P. Ämick, who is a military historian and writes on behalf of the Silver Star Families…
The Unlucky Soviet Nuclear Submarine K-19, Nicknamed “Hiroshima”
The misfortunes of the Soviet nuclear submarine K-19 could fit into some mariner’s folk tales of bad luck at sea. Even during its construction, a…