The Polish Thermopylae: 800 vs 42,000 at Wizna, 1939
As German troops poured across the border into Poland in 1939, one Polish captain, 40 miles from the front line, prepared for what he knew…
Fearless Escapes Over (And Under) The Berlin Wall
When the Second World War was finally over, Germany was divided up into four occupation zones among the Allied forces. Berlin was also divided up…
Operation Mincemeat – How the Allies Tricked Hitler to open the gates of Sicily
World War II was fought on battlefields across the globe, with staggering numbers of casualties amassing on all sides. But under the cloak of darkness,…
The Strange And Cold Day The French Cavalry Captured a Dutch Fleet at Sea
The Hussars were a type of light cavalry that originated in medieval Hungary and were adopted by other European countries. Their bravery, cunning, and daredevil…
The Last Shogun Marches To The End Of His Rule – The First Shots of the Boshin War
On the 27th of January, 1868, the army of the Shogunate was marching toward Kyoto. For more than a quarter of a century, the Tokugawa…
Little Ship that Ferried Soldiers from Dunkirk found on England’s Canvey Island
Recently, the Vanguard, one of the many Little ships that aided in the evacuation at Dunkirk in 1940 has been located. Sitting on blocks and…
Charity Edna Adams – the Highest Ranking African-American Woman During WWII
During WWII, the US did its best to maintain the flow of mail to its troops in Europe. Unfortunately, most able-bodied workers were either fighting…
Court Rules WWI Memorial Must be Torn Down
In Bladensburg, Maryland, there is a memorial to the 49 men from the area who died in WWI. It was erected in 1925 by the…
The Bund Deutscher Mädel: Nazi Training for the Future Mothers of the Third Reich
When Hitler was in power in Germany, he considered teenagers and children to be the future of the Third Reich. The Hitler Youth, an organization…
Hans-Ulrich Rudel – The Flying Tank Buster Who Flew More Than 2,000 Missions And Killed Over 500 Tanks
Hans-Ulrich Rudel was shot down 30 times during his 2,530 missions. He destroyed one battleship, one cruiser, one destroyer, 70 landing craft, 800 vehicles, 150…
Horrifying, Tragic, Inspirational – How the Nazis Destroyed Lidice and the World Preserved its Memory
In June 1942, the Nazi German occupiers of Czechoslovakia destroyed the mining village of Lidice. It was wiped off the map so completely that even…
The Rogue British Officer Who Broke All the Rules, Founded the SAS, and was Nicknamed by the Germans, “The Phantom Major”
If there hadn’t been a global war for survival taking place, Major David Stirling is the type of British Officer who would have been thrown…