World War 2 | War History

The Real Fury: Patton’s Disastrous 1945 Raid to Rescue His Son-in-Law

In February 1943, the U.S. Army had its first major engagement with the forces of Nazi Germany, ending with their disastrous defeat at the Kasserine…

The WW2 Raid on Amiens Prison – A Rescue Mission Which Turned Into A Bloodbath

Operation Jericho was an air raid conducted by the RAF with the goal of freeing the captives of the Nazi-held Amiens prison in France. The…

Reinhard Heydrich, Head of the Gestapo, Who Hitler Called “The Man with the Iron Heart”

Few men in all of human history have been responsible for such monstrous acts as Reinhard Heydrich. The head of the Gestapo, the Nazi secret police,…

The Man Who Escaped 200 Times From A Nazi PoW Camp To Visit His Lover

For some people, escaping a German prisoner of war camp once would be enough. The first time Horace Greasley did it, he was just getting…

“What we went through” – James Belshe, WWII Veteran Earns Purple Heart for Injury Sustained in the Philippines

War History Online proudly presents this Guest Article by military historian Jeremy P. Amick. “Seventy-something years ago,” described Eldon, Mo., veteran James Belshe, a “wide-eyed…

Invading Okinawa, The Biggest Amphibious Invasion In The Pacific

Codenamed Operation Iceberg, the invasion of Okinawa was the largest amphibious landing in the Pacific theater of the Second World War which started on April…

En Route To North Africa, FDR Was Almost Killed By A Torpedo Fired By A US Navy Destroyer

Jeff Edwards

There is truly no way to quantify who might be the worst crew in US Naval History, but the men of the USS William D.…

Hitler’s Vision Of Germania Still Casts Its Long Shadow Over Berlin

In the south of Berlin, there is a massive pillar; one of the few remnants of the Nazis’ attempts to make Berlin the capital of…

How to Lose the War in 100 Days – Give The Eastern Front to Himmler

The headline may come to a surprise to many. Wasn’t Heinrich Himmler the person behind the SS and the Holocaust? Surely he wasn’t in command…

Jimmy Doolittle Led The First Mission To Bomb Japan – Against All the Odds

Jeff Edwards

Often, war is no different than your average street fight regardless of how crude that might seem. When a man is punched in the nose,…

By Sacrificing Himself Coastguard Douglas Munro Saved 500 Marines From Being Slaughtered

Gabe Christy

The United States Coast Guard was founded on a tradition of taking small boats into dangerous conditions to save lives. This skill made Coast Guard…

Sinking the Tirpitz, Sister to the Bismarck and the Heaviest European Battleship Ever

Colin Fraser

The story of the World War II German battleship Bismarck is legendary. The massive warship was destroyed by British ships and planes and then scuttled…