Two Childhood Friends Helped Found an Elite WW2 Unit Then Died on the Same Day, Hundreds of Miles Apart
Founded in 1940 during the difficult days of the Second World War, the Small Scale Raiding Force was an elite British naval unit. The predecessor…
A Terrible Mistake – Why The USSR Ignored Britain’s Warnings of Impending Invasion
On June 22, 1941, Germany invaded the USSR. It was a move that came as a shock to the Soviets, but less so to the…
Harry Errington: The Only London Fireman to Earn a George Cross for Service in the Blitz
The bombing campaigns of WWII put a massive strain on firefighters. In both Britain and Germany, campaigns of deliberate destruction set cities alight. Not just…
Bill Slim and WWII’s Forgotten Army – One Of The Most Successful Commanders Of The War
One of the greatest military commanders of WWII is usually forgotten in stories of the war. Bill Slim, the British general commanding troops in Burma,…
The First Thousand-Bomber Raid – Changing the WWII Air War
From the start of the Second World War, Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) committed themselves to a particular bombing strategy. They believed that, with heavy…
Hugh Seagrim, Who Fought WW2 from Behind Japanese Lines
In the small Karen village of Mewado, Burma, two men stood smoking cigarettes. The owner of the cigarettes, Captain Inoue, was an officer in the…
Japanese-American Soldiers, The Nisei: The Purple Heart Battalion
When Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, Japanese-Americans became enemy aliens and were sent to internment camps. One responded in a most spectacular way. Daniel…
Medal of Honor – One American’s Daring Escape from German Soldiers In WW2
Typically, the actions for which a man earns the Medal of Honor are the most exciting and frightening of his military career. For Russell Dunham,…
The Crew Of The B-24 Liberator “Star Valley” – Downed Behind Enemy Lines
War History Online presents this Guest Article by Mark Gero Saturday, February 5th, 1944, in a remote part of central France lies a village called…
One Secret Agent Who Helped Pave the Way for D-Day
Many agents served in secret during the Second World War. Sent behind enemy lines, they risked their lives gathering information and supporting acts of resistance…
Godfrey Place: World War Two Submariner, Future Admiral, And Victoria Cross Recipient
A daring submarine exploit of the Second World War was an attempt to sink the battleship Tirpitz using midget submarines. One man who came close…
The British POW Who Saved Hundreds of Jews from Death at Auschwitz
Few people have had a more ironic name that Charles Coward. This Second World War soldier risked his life while a prisoner of the Nazis,…