Rosemary Giles

Rosemary Giles is a history content writer with Hive Media. She received both her bachelor of arts degree in history, and her master of arts degree in history from Western University. Her research focused on military, environmental, and Canadian history with a specific focus on the Second World War. As a student, she worked in a variety of research positions, including as an archivist. She also worked as a teaching assistant in the History Department.

Since completing her degrees, she has decided to take a step back from academia to focus her career on writing and sharing history in a more accessible way. With a passion for historical learning and historical education, her writing interests include social history, and war history, especially researching obscure facts about the Second World War. In her spare time, Rosemary enjoys spending time with her partner, her cats, and her horse, or sitting down to read a good book.

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Articles by Rosemary Giles:

The Remarkably Effective WWII-Era PIAT Anti-Tank Weapon

Two soldiers lying on the ground while aiming a PIAT

By 1942, the Second World War had dragged on for three years. The British had seen a good deal of combat in various theaters, frequently…

Operation Tracer: The Secret British Military Operation for Gibraltar

Naval officers standing on the deck of a ship that's docked off the coast of Gibraltar

Of all the secret operations of the Second World War, none were less appealing than Operation Tracer, which involved spies being buried alive (literally). This…

Odette Sansom: The SOE Agent Who Became the First Woman to Receive the George Cross

Odette Sansom standing with a group of young women

In 1942, a young Odette Sansom responded to a call from the British Admiralty, asking for individuals to send postcards or family photographs from the…

Nuclear Weapons Were Almost Deployed During the Korean War

Two commanding officers reading a newspaper announcing the armistice being signed to pause the Korean War

The end of the Second World War ended with a literal bang for the Americans when they forced the Japanese surrender by dropping atomic bombs…

How Norwegian Commandos Sabotaged Germany’s Atomic Bomb Research

Richard Harris and Kirk Douglas as Knut Straud and Dr. Rolf Pederson in 'The Heroes of Telemark'

As the Second World War dragged on, both the Allied and Axis powers invested heavily in research that would create the first atomic weapons. The…

A Lone KV-1 Tank Held Off German Advances During the Battle of Raseiniai

Soldier climbing out of a tank

On June 22, 1941, Germany launched Operation Barbarossa, the World War II invasion of the Soviet Union. Despite signing the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact in 1939,…

Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Body and a False Identity Helped the Allied Invasion of Sicily

Soldiers watching while additional troops disembark from a landing craft

In the years since the Second World War, many documents have been released, detailing the covert operations undertaken by the UK’s Special Operations Executive (SOE),…

Why Did the German Cruiser Deutschland Change Her Name During WWII?

German cruiser Deutschland at sea

Many ships have had their names changed or passed on to another. For example, the US Navy has had eight different vessels called Enterprise, with…

The M1 Garand was ‘The Greatest Battle Implement Ever Devised’

Two soldiers aiming their M1 Garands

Of the many guns to see combat during the Second World War, the M1 Garand was the first standard issue autoloading rifle used by the…

Richard ‘The Giant Killer’ Flaherty was the Shortest Green Beret to Fight in Vietnam

US soldiers climbing out of a stream

The US Army Special Forces, commonly referred to as the Green Berets, are one of the country’s most elite fighting forces. They’re known for their…

The Type 4 Grenade was a Last Ditch Effort By the Japanese

Two Type 4 Grenades placed beside each other

As the Second World War drew to a close, the Japanese were in a difficult position. By 1944-45, most of their industrial buildings had been…

Horizontal Collaboration: How Traitors Were Dealt With Following the Liberation of France

Group of women standing together

When France was liberated in 1944, foreign press agencies were there to document the aftermath. Among the photos taken were of thousands of French women…