Repairs at Sea: Floating Dry-Docks of World War II
With few other ports offering facilities able to cope with such massive vessels, the American Navy got creative in its solutions. When the United States…
Morris “Moe” Berg: The WWII Spy with a .243 Career Batting Average
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor,Berg was interested in using his language skills to help the war effort. He had, after all, studied Latin, Greek,…
The Highest Award for Valor on D-Day: Is it Time to Correct this 75-year-old Injustice?
No other one-day battle in the fight to liberate Europe was as costly for Americans as that to take “Bloody Omaha”. On 6 June 1944,…
Did Stalin Suffer a Nervous Breakdown After Germany Invaded Russia?
Communists were the archenemies of all Nazis. The Soviet Union, therefore, had to be attacked and destroyed. Operation Barbarossa, the German attack on the Soviet…
The Coded Diary of Tanya Savicheva & the Siege of Leningrad
Tanya’s mother, Mariya Ignatievna Savicheva, gifted Tanya the notebook after Nina disappeared during a bombardment in Leningrad. Reminiscent of the story of the famous Anne…
Plan Z: The End of the Kriegsmarine in WWII
Dönitz had long believed that too many resources were spent on the surface fleet to the detriment of the submarine fleet, but even he balked…
Battle of Britain Hurricane Rises From its Muddy Grave
On August 26, 1940 Hemingway bailed out of his Hurricane at 17,000 feet, with the plane burrowing itself into 30 feet of mud near the…
The Chainsaw in WWII: The Germans Cutting Edge
Wood was also used to replace materials deemed vital for the war effort, with metal cutlery replaced with wooden alternatives, and even clothes were made…
Lethal Trio of Female Spies Whose Job Was to Seduce German Soldiers
“the Germans were banging on the doors with the butts of their rifles…. And they would always yell – it was very frightening.” When it…
He Continued to Play Despite Breaking his Neck: From Fallschirmjäger To English Soccer Hero
n 1942, after a few months of fighting, only 300 of the original 1,000 men of Trautmann’s unit were still alive. When American soldiers captured…
Audie Murphy: The Film Career of an American War Hero
Murphy was a Texan of Irish descent but was not what you might call a typical example. He always looked younger than his age and…
Ypres: The Last Post at the Menin Gate
Ieper, Ypres, or “Wipers” as it was nicknamed—I’ve been to the Belgian town dozens of times before. I can even remember my first visit here…