World War 2 | War History

With Every Other Senior Officer Dead, the Battle Control Officer of the USS San Francisco Waded through Waist Deep Water to Save the Ship

It is a scenario we have seen play out in the movies time and time again. Amidst heavy combat, a naval vessel is taking on…

First African American to be Awarded The Navy Cross Was a Cook Firing .50-Caliber Machine Guns at Japanese Bombers At Pearl Harbor

World War 2 will long be remembered as the epitome of total war, total gallantry, and total brutality. It spared none based on their ethnic…

Fighting in the Desert – The Battle for Sidi Bou Zid, Saint Valentine’s Day, 1943

On February 14, 1943, a force of American soldiers received the worst Valentine possible. Around the Tunisian village of Sidi Bou Zid, the Germans launched…

A Doctor Created A Fake Typhus Epidemic And Saved 8,000 People During WWII

At the outbreak of WWII, a young Polish doctor was finishing his medical studies and looking forward to using his skills for the well-being of…

General James “Jumpin Jim” Gavin -the only general to make 4 combat jumps in the history of the US

James Maurice “Jumpin’ Jim” Gavin was the youngest lieutenant-general in the US Army ever, and the only general to make four combat airborne jumps in…

The Nuremberg Trials in 1945: The War Crimes Of The Wehrmacht

The Nuremberg Trials in 1945, established that the infamous SS were responsible for most Nazi war crimes. The Wehrmacht, consisting of the army, navy, and…

Operation Halyard: An Airlift Operation That Saved 417 Allied Airmen In The Balkans

During WWII, the situation in the former country known as Yugoslavia was, to say the least, complicated. On the one hand, there was a partisan…

MoH Ace: It was common for pilots to celebrate aerial victories over the airfield with a barrel roll for each one – he did 7

Over the course of a long war, there were many American flying Aces with a large number of them reaching into the double digit kills. …

The Operation Torch Atlantic Coast Landings

On November 8, 1942, American ground forces entered the western theater of WWII. During Operation Torch they invaded three areas of Axis-occupied North Africa. One…

Events on Cos, September 1943 – October 1945 – by Pietro Giovanni Liuzzi

War History Online presents a Guest Article by Pietro Giovanni Liuzzi In the early hours of 3rd October 1943, a number of German Naval vessels arrived…

This Reindeer Battalion of WWII Was Braver than Soviets, Tougher Than Tanks

The Petsamo-Kirkenes Offensive in 1944, which led to the expulsion of German forces from the northern regions of Norway, would have been severely hampered had…

Strategy of Fear: Doctors Tricked Nazis with Fake Epidemic and Saved 8000 Lives

Providence shone on Dr Eugene Lazowski one night in 1942 when he saw a means of escape and took it. He had been a prisoner…