The Battle of Ortona – When 2,600 Canadian Men Were Sacrificed for a General’s Pride
In December 1943, a group of largely untested Canadians went up against German forces in the Italian town of Ortona. The result was a bloodbath…
The Surrender of Japan Aboard the USS Missouri
Imperial Japan announced its surrender on August 15, 1945. The surrender was formally signed a few weeks later, on September 2, 1945, halting the hostilities…
The Only American To Fight For Both The U.S. And Russia In WWII
For much of the last 70 years, someone who fought for both America and Russia might bring to mind some Cold War espionage, a double…
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…
Behind Enemy Lines – The 82nd and 101st Airborne On D-Day
The amphibious landings of D-Day were hours away when the first combat missions by the US Army started in France. The invasion of Normandy began…
After The USS Indianapolis Was Sunk, The Sailors Had To Survive The Worst Shark Attack in History
On July 30th, 1945, a Japanese submarine sank a Portland-class cruiser of the US Navy, resulting in the single greatest casualty rate in American naval…
In 1935, Mussolini Planned To Form A Foreign Legion To Which Even Jews Applied
It is almost completely unknown, but in the wake of the Second Italo-Abyssinian war, Mussolini was quite keen on making his own equivalent of the…
These Germans Stationed Near The North Pole Were The Last To Surrender, In September 1945
Operation Zitronella took place on 8th September 1943. Though the name might conjure up images of a campaign fought across the hot Mediterranean shores, nothing could be…
With the Enemy Approaching, He Sat Beside His Wounded Comrade, Pulled the Pin on Two Grenades, and Waited
Refusing to leave his mortally wounded comrade as the enemy approached, Australian Warrant Officer Kevin Wheatley pulled the pin on two grenades and waited for…
The Death of Erwin Rommel: The Last Hours Of The Desert Fox
Erwin Rommel was, for a time, Hitler’s favorite general. After his success in 1940, as the commander of a Panzer division, Rommel was appointed to…
The Development of the Soviet Union’s La-5 Fighter in WWII
Author: Patrick Kinville In the Summer of 1943, the German Luftwaffe encountered the Soviet Lavochkin La-5 for the first time in large numbers in the skies…
Remembering The Many Through The Story Of One – by Chap. (Maj.) Thomas A. Brooks
War History online proudly presents this Guest Piece from Chap. (Maj.) Thomas A. Brooks. Remember – Memorial Day is a time to remember the ordinary…