HMS Prince of Wales (53): The British Battleship That Took on Bismarck – and Survived
The HMS Prince of Wales (53) was one of five King George V-class battleships commissioned during the Second World War. Laid down at a time…
Fritz X: The World’s First Precision-Guided Missile Took Out the Italian Navy’s Flagship
The Fritz X was a German radio-guided anti-ship missile that went by many names: Ruhrstahl SD 1400 X, PC 1400X, Kramer X-1 and FX 1400.…
Academy Award-Winning Actor David Niven Had to Fight to Serve In WWII
A famous Hollywood star of the 1940s, through to the ’80s, David Niven featured in numerous popular films, even taking on the role of James…
Was Thomas Dobney the Youngest Bomber Pilot of World War II?
It’s no secret that, during the First World War, it was common for men to lie about their age when enlisting. While it was more…
The Tragic Story Behind One Man’s Refusal to Salute the Führer
Among the rows of men saluting the Führer in an infamous photo dating back to July 1936, one individual is seen standing, arms crossed, daring…
How the USS Yorktown’s (CV-5) Sacrifice Helped Lead the US to Victory at Midway
After suffering extensive damage in the Battle of the Coral Sea, the USS Yorktown (CV-5) limped her way back to Pearl Harbor as preparations for…
17 Powerful Images That Show the Human Side of War
Since the First World War, every conflict has been well-documented. There are millions of photos showing soldiers, aircraft, tanks and battlefields, and behind them are…
The USS Laffey (DD-724) Was Known As ‘The Ship That Would Not Die’
A number of US Navy vessels are named for veterans who served their country gallantly and with valor. That being said, few live up to…
101st Airborne Medics Robert Wright and Ken Moore Treated Both Sides On D-Day
Inside the Église Saint-Côme et Saint-Damien d’Angoville au Plain are two stained glass windows dedicated to the US forces that pushed through following the D-Day…
Joe Ekins: The Tank Gunner Who Took Out the Black Baron and Three Tigers
Starting out as an employee at a shoe factory, 17-year-old Joe Ekins never could have imagined he would be credited with taking out not just…
AVS-36: The Worst Rifle Ever Developed By the Soviet Union
While the Soviet Union may have been adept at producing tanks, the same can’t really be said about its handheld weaponry. The interwar period and…
Gewehr 43: The German Semi-Automatic Rifle Inspired By the Soviet SVT-40
When the Germans launched Operation Barbarossa, they weren’t prepared for a number of things. While the weather is often the aspect most historians point to,…