VC: A Gurkha Calmly Stood Up In Open Sight & Killed A Sniper Pinning Down His Company Before Going On To Clear 5 Enemy Bunkers, Single-Handedly, All Whilst Under Heavy Fire
Bhanbhagta Gurung was awarded the Victoria Cross or VC, Britain’s highest military award although he had been demoted due to the incompetence of a senior…
Hitler’s Fortified Siegfried Line Was Massive And Included 22,000 Bunkers And Pillboxes
During the build-up to WWII, the German government commissioned a line of defenses all along its border with France. The enormous undertaking seemed a waste…
The Commando Raids On The Norwegian Coast That Tied Up 30,000 German Soldiers
In 1941, Britain raided Nazi-occupied Norway, making use of a new and still untested force – British Commandos. The aim was to boost British morale and…
Helped Save His Burning B-17 By Urinating On The Fire & Drove Off Waves of German Fighters
Maynard Harrison “Snuffy” Smith was such a screw-up, he joined the US Army to avoid jail. He earned the nickname, “Snuffy Smith,” because no one…
Like a Scene From the Great Escape: If PoWs Escaped They Had To Learn Fast To Blend In With The Locals
During WWII, many British servicemen became prisoners of the Germans. Some were captured during the fall of France and the retreat to Dunkirk. Others were…
MI9: The Secret British Organization Set Up in WWII to Help Prisoners Of War Escape
During WWII, thousands of combatants were taken prisoner by their opponents. To help Allied troops who had been captured and to get the best possible…
Started out as a Biplane: The Grumman F4F Wildcat One Of The Most Valuable American Fighter Planes Of WW2
Despite its slightly odd origins, the Grumman F4F Wildcat was one of the most valuable fighter planes in the US arsenal of WWII. The Biplane…
The Cutting Edge Heinkel He162 Salamander – Another fascinating German Jet Fighter Concept
During WWII Nazi Germany led the world in jet technology. Late in the war, the Germans tried to use their advantage to turn the tide…
The Ground-Breaking Gloster Meteor – The Only Allied Jet Which Took Part Combat in World War Two
The British Gloster Meteor jet fighter entered service late in WWII. It was a ground-breaking aircraft in an era when aerial combat was changing. The…
The Vultee Vengeance – The Allied WWII Dive Bomber Developed To Rival The German Stuka
When people talk about aircraft used in WWII, most remember the German Stuka dive-bomber used to great effect very early in the war, but both…
US 33rd Fighter Group – The Exhausting Fight for the Air Over Tunisia
In November 1942, the American 33rd Fighter Group went to North Africa. They were among the first US flyers to join the African campaign. Over…
The Martyr City: When Egyptian Civilians Fought British Paratroops: The 1956 Suez Crisis
By Christopher Weeks Sixty years ago, in the fall of 1956, Egypt faced the combined armed forces of three countries – Britain, France and Israel…