William Speakman Held Back 6,000 Enemy Troops with Beer Bottles in Korea
24-year-old William Speakman volunteered to serve in the Korean War in 1951. He’d joined the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment), attached to the 1st Battalion…
How Norwegian Commandos Sabotaged Germany’s Atomic Bomb Research
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…
The Vietnam War Featured Four Exceptional American Snipers
The battles of the Vietnam War were unlike any the US military had faced before. Early on in the conflict, officials realized snipers were going…
Indra Lal Roy was India’s Sole Flying Ace During World War I
World War I was the first major conflict to feature aircraft engage in aerial battles. At the time, it was incredibly dangerous to take to…
Gold Dust Twins: The Two Coast Guardsmen Who Saved Chesty Puller’s Marines on Guadalcanal
The Guadalcanal campaign – also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal – is among the most well-known engagements to occur in the Pacific Theater during…
How the Legend of the Gurhkas’ Kukri Blade was Forged
In 1814, the British Army first encountered Nepalese soldiers known as Gurkhas. While both were initially enemies, the British later brought the Gurkhas into their…
A Lone KV-1 Tank Held Off German Advances During the Battle of Raseiniai
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
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?
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…
How Many 5 Star Generals Are There? Nine: A List of 5 Star Generals in the US
Following the death of Gen. Omar Bradley in 1981, the elite rank of five-star general feels more like a legend than reality. Since Congress allowed…
Patrick Fleming: The Flying Ace Who Shot Down 19 Japanese Aircraft In Just Six Sorties
Patrick Dawson Fleming was born an Army “brat” on January 17, 1918. He took an interest in flying at an early age and became the…
Clarence L. Tinker: The First Native American to Be Promoted to Major General in US Army History
They don’t make soldiers like Clarence L. Tinker anymore. Born on a Native American reservation in 1887, Tinker was inspired to serve the United States…