They Called Her ‘Agnes’: The Untold Story Of A French Resistance Hero
My young French friend, Maxence Druelle Fourniez, is the great-nephew of resistance member Marine Fourniez. Maxence achieved his ambition on February 22nd, 2021, to have…
Medic: On Return from Afghanistan I Was Never the Same, I Was Broken
Background I don’t claim to have been the greatest soldier, the bravest or the most resilient. I don’t claim to have been in ferocious combat,…
The “Russian Spitfire” Completes Her Flight Testing
Affectionately known as the “Russian Spitfire” due to her combat heritage flying with the Soviet Air Force during WWII, Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX PT879 has completed…
Trenton: A Day That Changed the World
A light rain had begun to fall out of a pewter grey sky, spattering dirt on the troops as they slowly made their way down…
Bunker Hill – The Rabble Strikes Back
On May 25, 1775 – as gulls squawked, circling overhead – the British frigate HMS Cerberas dropped anchor in Boston harbor. Onboard, generals William Howe,…
Pickett’s Charge: Nothing but Glory
At exactly 2:25 PM, Confederate Colonel Edward Porter Alexander scribbled this note and rushed it off to General George Pickett: ”If you are coming at…
Being a WWII Historian WW2TV Show – October 12th
In 2016, in a Guardian article titled ‘Big Books by Blokes about Battles – Why is History Still Written Mainly By Men?”, Sir Antony Beevor…
Spilve Airport Riga A Rare Stalin Insight
Spilve Airport Riga in Latvia offers a perfect pairing of two Soviet military aviation and tourist attractions for visitors. Easily reachable from the city centre…
Death of the Wooden Warship – Monitor vs Merrimack
It was March 8, 1862, a Saturday. On the waters of Hampton Roads off Newport News, Virginia – where the Chesapeake Bay empties into the…
Alexander’s Final Masterpiece – Savagery on the Hydaspes
For three days the rains had fallen steadily, but then the downpours ceased. So, riding through the mud with his lieutenants, he studies the enemy,…
The Most Lethal Fighting Unit of the Civil War
At approximately 4:00 PM, July 2, 1863 the great Confederate turning movement at Gettysburg, meant to roll-up the Federal line from left-to-right, finally stepped-off, General…
A Friend Asks For Cards To Make Veteran’s Birthday Special
D-Day veteran Mr Vincent Corsini (ICo/116th/29ID) will be celebrating his 96th birthday this July 4th (coincidentally). His wife, unfortunately, has been hospitalized since early January…
The Great Raid & The Great Salute of WWII
Dressed as Filipino peasants, the two American Scouts slipped into an abandoned hut about 300 yards from their objective. It was 11:30 AM, January 30,…
The Race to Bastogne
It sounded at first like a thunderstorm, distant, rumbling. Then the ground began to shake as grinding columns of tanks and tracked transports finally emerged…
Lightning Strikes Twice – American Hannibal of the Revolutionary War
It is dawn, August 2, 216 BC and lightning is about to strike the Roman Republic. On a ridge overlooking the expansive plain, Hannibal Barca…
Isles of Scilly Garrison Walls
A tiny British island in the western approaches to the UK has over the years been in the forefront of the country’s defences. However, probably…
The Day the South Nearly Won the Civil War
It has become an accepted historical fact that the South could not have won the American Civil War. The North’s advantages in finance, population, railroads,…
The Liberation of Belgium
September 2019, people all over Belgium are celebrating the 75th anniversary of its liberation from Nazi Germany during the Second World War. 75 years ago,…
81 Years Since the Winter War – Memories Are Still Alive
On the 30th of November 1939 Soviet troops attacked Finland in order to seize the areas which according to the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact belonged to the…
The Liberation of Belgium Celebrating the 75th Anniversary
September 2019, people all over Belgium are celebrating the 75th anniversary of its liberation from Nazi Germany during the Second World War. 75 years ago,…
The Tour de France & Two World Wars: Revenge, Blackmail & Third Reich Ties
I recently stumbled across an article discussing the 1914 Tour de France. Intrigued by the prospect of a wartime Tour de France, I started to…
US POW Descendants, Polish Historians to Create Museum at the Site of the Former Barracks of US POWs
Szubin, Poland. September 24, 2019. The Polish-American Foundation for the Commemoration of POW Camps in Szubin will illuminate the experiences of the thousands of Allied prisoners-of-war who…
Did You Know That Charlie Chaplin Was Hated & Ridiculed For Not Enlisting in WW1
Charlie Chaplin was ridiculed and denigrated when he didn’t volunteer to fight in the First World War. It was only after his death that the…
How Nomans Land became a “no man’s land”
First of all, Nomans Land should not be confused with No Man’s Land which describes the land that separates two occupied areas which neither side…
How did Brits use allotments and ‘grow your own’ to survive two World Wars?
In September 2018, the world marked 79 years since the beginning of the Second World War — a conflict that lasted six years, divided the…
America’s Great War Highlanders
The mornings were cold in November 1917, so it’s easy to imagine the scene: His Majesty’s Troopship Canada arrives at the Liverpool docks, England. Soon…
100 Beautiful Colourised Photos of WW1 for the 1918-2018 Centenary
I began colourising black and white photos professionally in 2014, coinciding with the centenary of the outbreak of WW1 in 1914. Around the world there…
How a Small SAS Force “Convinced” a Large German Force to Flee
War History Online proudly presents this Guest Piece from Damien Lewis The role played by Special Forces in any army is to hit fast and…
Revealed – Italian Resistance, SOE, Betrayed: How Allied High Command Abandoned Italian ‘Reds’ Because of Pending Cold War
When endeavoring to tell a story that concerns behind-the-lines raids, partisan armies, and epic journeys deep into enemy territory, one invariably bumps up against the…
Revealed: Soviets Who Fought Alongside SAS in War’s Most Daring Raid Sent to Their Doom at War’s End
When legendary British Special Air Service (SAS) Major Roy Farran was dropped behind the lines in Northern Italy in early 1945, he knew he would…
The untold story of heroism of the Spanish who fought in the SAS during WWII
One war to fight is arguably enough in anyone’s lifetime. Two back-to-back is enough to destroy most people. Coming to the end of their second…
Charlie Winters: Smuggling B-17s to Israel
War History Online proudly presents this Guest Piece from Christopher Stuttard Prior to and during 1947, the Jewish paramilitary group, the Haganah (precursor to the Israeli…
Operation Safari & How The Danish Scuttled Their Own Navy
It is well known among those who study World War II that Vichy France scuttled its own navy in Toulon on November 27, 1942 as…
I Want to Drink the “last man” Bottle of cognac at the Marines’ Memorial Club: 98 Year-old Vet was at Pearl, Okinawa, Inchon, but Has New Aim
John Stevens is 98. Despite his age, however, the steely-eyed Marine who fought in World War II and Korea is still on a mission. He…
Deadliest Day in American History is September 17 – Antietam By the Numbers
Today marks the 156th anniversary of Antietam, arguably the pivotal battle of the Civil War. Had the South won on that September day, Robert E.…
Snipers Created Confederate Chain-of-Command Crisis at Antietam
At Antietam—as with other Civil War battles—the most modern weaponry was employed, rifled muskets and long-range cannons that could lob a shell a mile distant.…
Pushing the Rebs to the Brink – The 9th New York Zouaves at Antietam
During the afternoon of the Battle of Antietam, Federal forces mounted a final assault. First they formed into a massive, mile-wide battle line on the…
Youngest Combat Casualty in the Civil War Fell at Antietam
In April of 1861, Charlie King was giddy with war fever. During those heady days immediately after the first shots were fired at Fort Sumter,…
How a Drunken Colonel Wasted the Gallant 7th Maine at Antietam
Late in the afternoon of September 17, roughly an hour before the sunset that would mark the close of the bloodiest day in U.S. history,…
2 Hour Break At Antietam – Suddenly Both Sides Stopped Fighting
Battles don’t unfold as one might imagine. They don’t progress in orderly or predictable ways. Smack in the middle of the bloodiest day in U.S.…
The Georgian 450 – Holding Off 12 Thousand Men at Antietam Under the Brash General Robert Toombs
Impossible Odds The ability of 450 resolute Georgians to stave off 12,500 Federals, preventing them from crossing Antietam Creek for several crucial hours, has to…
1st Texas At Antietam – 80% Losses and Their Unique Flag on America’s Costliest Day
This is the first in a series of posts, as guest blogger Justin Martin counts down to the September 17 anniversary of Antietam, still America’s…
“Lured Onto the Punch” – How the Falklands War Really Started
War History Online proudly presents this Guest Piece from Ricky Phillips. The 1982 Falklands War is, for its brevity – at just 74 days – one…
Great Trans-Atlantic Air Race and the Hawker Siddeley Harrier
War History Online proudly presents this Guest Piece from Dean Smith Following the allied victory at the end of the First World War, the British newspaper…
Mach Loop – Guide to Low Altitude Flying Up Close and Personal
War History Online proudly presents this Guest Piece from Frank Pleszak If like me, you are excited by and want to see low flying fast jets…
Vietnam Gunboat Captain’s 1st Hand Account – Night on the River
War History Online proudly presents this Guest Piece from Richard Kirshen Patrolling the rivers of the Mekong Delta in Vietnam during daylight hours in the late…
Bunker Turned SS Prison Camp – A Visit to the Fortress of Breendonk
War History Online proudly presents this Guest Piece from Roy van der Steen While chatting at a birthday party about World War II sites, someone gave…
New military museum in the Middle East – Jordan’s Royal Tank Museum
War History Online presents this Guest Article from Robby Houben The world’s newest tank museum opened its doors this year in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.…
Brothers In Arms: 1st Hand Account of Sacrifice And Survival at Chosin Reservoir
War History Online proudly presents this Guest Piece from Ned Forney For 19-year-old Pat Finn, a Minnesota Marine with Item Co, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, the…
Primosole The 1st Bridge Too Far – ‘Green’ vs ‘Red’ Devils
War History Online proudly presents this Guest by Mark Saliger, the author of “The First Bridge Too Far” about one of the most significant British airborne…
Stalingrad – Breaking Down the German Disaster
War History Online proudly presents this Guest Piece from civilianmilitaryintelligencegroup.com 23 August 1942–2 February 1943. Stalingrad’s worst luck was that it was named after Josef…
Nurse, Spy, Guerrilla Leader – Remembering First Lt. Manuela Orquejo
War History Online proudly presents this Guest Piece from Abraham Garcia First Lieutenant Manuela Orquejo started her military service when she signed the Oath of…
Women Warriors of the Philippines – WWII Heroines Helped Liberate Their Country
War History Online proudly presents this Guest Piece from Pacificatrocities.org The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th of 1941 represented the initial step of…
Stars and Stripes: A Symbol of Hope for American POWs
War History Online proudly presents this Guest Piece from Jennifer Grant who writes on behalf of American Flags The United States has sent millions of people…
Resistance Warriors of the Philippines
War History Online proudly presents this Guest Piece from Pacificatrocities.org The Imperial Japanese Forces attacked Pearl Harbor and the Philippine Islands simultaneously. This planned attack…
Dirty Dozen to Nightriders: Our Favorite Air Force Squadron Nicknames
War History Online proudly presents this Guest Piece from Jennifer Grant who writes on behalf of the American Flags Each year, approximately 1,200 young men and…
Always Facing Forward: Why the American Flag Appears Reversed on Military Patches
War History Online proudly presents this Guest Piece from Jennifer Grant who writes on behalf of American Flags The American flag, the nation’s symbol of patriotism,…
Evolution of AMMO
War History Online proudly presents this Guest Piece from Thomas who writes on behalf of SWGGUN There are many things that we take for granted every…
Diary Reveals Firsthand Account of Fierce Turkish-Russian Battles
War History Online proudly presents this Guest Piece from Jack Snowden Following the calamitous defeat of the Turkish army at Sarıkamış in late 1914 and early 1915,…
Nigerian Civil War – The Ashes Linger
Hostilities in the Nigerian civil war commenced on the 6th day of June 1967; it is one of the sourest conflicts ever to (dis)grace the…
Ensign Jumonville, George Washington & the Dawn of The Seven Years’ War
No one expected Joseph Coulon de Villiers (1718-1754) to be the cause of a worldwide conflict. A minor French noble, Sieur de Jumonville became an…
Marines’ Secret Weapon in the Pacific: Navajo Code Talkers
The Navajo ‘Code Talkers’ were one of the most unrecognized groups of Native Americans involved in cryptography in military history. They used their native Navajo…
Commandos – Keeping Discipline in the Boer Army
The second Anglo-Boer War, also called the South African War, started on 11 October 1899. Two young Boer republics were pitted against the might of…
The Soviet Bomber Arsenal in Photos
The USSR’s force of long-range strategic bomber aircraft evolved out of USSR copies of the United States’ (US) B-29 strategic bomber aircraft. By the early…
China’s Red Guard and the Cultural Revolution
War History online proudly presents this Guest Piece from Dean Smith “At this moment of potential national emergency, Mao chose to smash the Chinese State and…
Amazing Story of Gun Running in the Turkish War of Independence – The Alemdar
War History Online presents this article from Jack Snowden The source for the adventurous tales of the Alemdar are two ship’s logs, the first of…
On A Hill Far Away: Remains of Marine from Chosin Reservoir Close to Being Identified
War History Online presents this Guest Article from Ned Forney We’ll never know the terror 18-year-old Marine PFC Edward “Eddie” Thorn experienced in the final…
A Soldier’s Journal: “Boys, this is old South Carolina, lets give her hell,”
When not in combat, a soldier during the American Civil War, whether Union or Rebel, often found himself idle for great stretches of time. Writing…
A Vietnam War Story – by James E. Jacobson
To my children and grandchildren We’re aboard the U.S.S. Oklahoma City CLG-5. The CLG stands for Cruiser Light Guided Missile. It’s the last ship in…
Vlad the Impaler Once Launched a Night Attack Against the Ottoman Sultan
Written by Barney Higgins. Mehmed II, better known as Mehmed the Conqueror, was one of the greatest military commanders of his day. In the middle…
The Buddy I’ll Never Forget: Beautiful Collection of Stories of Friendships Forged in War
War History Online presents this article from AARP The Magazine “We honor the men and women who served, those who still serve today, and the friendships they…
How the Father of Organized Crime Won His Freedom by Helping the US Government during WW2
War History Online Presents This Article By Guest Blogger Jack Hawkins It is often said that crime does not pay, and when Charles ‘Lucky’ Luciano…
The Most Decorated Panzer Companies Of The Wehrmacht PART 3 – 4th Company, Panzer-Regiment 35
War History online proudly presents this Guest Piece from Evan Pinter Continues from: Part 2 – 13th (heavy) Company, SS-Panzer-Regiment 1 and Part 1 – 2nd Company, 502nd…
Remembering A Forgotten Campaign: Vic Knibb’s story fighting with the British Army in Burma during WWII
War History online proudly presents this Guest Piece from Lars Erik York Gill As one of the last voices of the British Army that fought…
The Most Decorated Panzer Companies Of The Wehrmacht PART 2 – 13th (heavy) Company, SS-Panzer-Regiment 1
War History online proudly presents this Guest Piece from Evan Pinter Continues from The Most Decorated Panzer Companies Of The Wehrmacht PART 1 – 2nd…
A Century of Innovation Explained – Review by Paul Theobald
This is the centenary year of Royal Air Force. It became the RAF on the 1st of April 1918 when the Royal Flying Corps and…
All Is Fair in Love and War – A WWII Veteran Recalls Making Both
War History Online presents this guest blog by Dave Paone In 1945, at age 19, Stanley Feltman was a tail gunner in a B-29 for…
Captain Albert Jacka – The First Australian VC In World War One
War History Online presents this guest blog by Guest Blogger James Maloney Albert Jacka was the first Australian soldier to receive the Victoria Cross during the…
The Most Decorated Panzer Companies Of The Wehrmacht PART 1 – 2nd Company, 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion
War History Online presents this guest blog by Evan Pinter In this three-part series, we will take a look at the three most decorated panzer…
R. Lee Ermey Will Be Remembered for One Role but There Was More to Him That
For a short time in the late 1980s, three lines from Stanley Kubrick’s Vietnam war film “Full Metal Jacket” (1987) could be heard all across…
The Italian “Acqui” Mountain Infantry Division Disaster, Kefalonia, 1943
War History Online proudly presents this Guest Piece from Pietro Giovanni Liuzzi Much has been spoken and written about that event which saw an entire…
Innovation and Dedication – Nursing and Medicine in the Korean War
Thanks to CEUfast Blog for this Guest Article. Within a month of landing on the beach in Korea in 1950, nurse Margaret (Zane) Fleming and her fellow nurses with the 1st…
Bombing Germany: The Allied Campaign 1940-44
In any time of ‘total war’ human beings, driven by the will to stay alive, will do un-imaginable things of one kind or another. War…
The Story of James Lincoln Wynn – Captured At The Battle Of The Bulge, And POW Experience As Slave Labor During World War II – PART 2
Continues from …. Part 1 – By James L. Wynn, Assembled by nephew Jeff Wynn Slave labor for the Reich Because he wasn’t an officer or a non-com, he and…
Colorized Confederates -By Liana Jacob and Michael D. Carroll
War History Online presents this Guest Article from Michael D. Carroll A UNIQUE INSIGHT into the Civil War Confederates has been brought to light in the…
The Story of James Lincoln Wynn – Captured At The Battle Of The Bulge, And POW Experience As Slave Labor During World War II – PART 1
War History online proudly presents this Guest Piece from James L. Wynn, Assembled by nephew Jeff Wynn With the Pearl Harbor attack on 7 December 1941,…
The Invasion of Cos: The Killing of 103 Royal Italian Army Officers
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…
Between Two Rivers: Opening Shots of the Mexican-American War
War History online presents this Guest Piece from Christopher Hoitash The Mexican-American War of 1846-1848 doubled the size of the United States by halving Mexico. The…
PANERIAL – The Silent Forest Became a Site of Mass Murder & It Isn’t Easy Reading
War History online proudly presents this Guest Piece from Suzanne Make. Suzanne recounts the tragic story of the site of terrible events at Ponary, now…
The Causes Of The English Civil Wars – Some Of The Most Destructive Conflicts In British History
By Guest Blogger Jemahl Evans The English Civil Wars (there were three, involving all the nations of the British Isles) were some of the most destructive…
Not Often Spoken Of – Australia’s WWII Lend-Lease Program
On January 10, 1941, Draft H.R. 1776 – the “Lend-Lease Bill” was presented to the United States Congress. Under the proposed act, the President of…
The Battle of Edgehill, October 1642 – Both Commanders Hoped to Force Battle
War History Online presents this Guest Article by Jemahl Evans Everyone thought it would all be over by Christmas. Everyone expected a single sharp engagement and…
This Egyptian Unit Escaped Destruction In 1967 By Invading Israel
War History Online presents this Guest Article from Christopher Weeks When faced with an attack by a superior force, sometimes the key to survival lies…
The Incredible WW2 Story Of Intrepid Espionage Agent Bill Chong: Agent 50
By Catherine Clement Not every secret agent is flashy and well-dressed like James Bond. In fact, sometimes the most unassuming individuals prove to be the…
The Raid on Alexandria – Military History of Italy in WW2
War History Online presents this Guest Article by Bruera Clément Italy’s military history of World War II is not well known by that many people; this…
This Epic Siege In World War II Lasted For More Than 100 Days
War History online proudly presents this Guest Piece from Evan Pinter In history, there have been many great examples of heroic last stands. Among the most…
Here Are Some of the Worst Friendly Fire Incidents From Before WWI
War History Online presents this Guest Article from by Martin Fejfar The term friendly fire became widely used during and after WWI although it had previously taken…
Arsenals Transferred From Federal Control Prior to 1914
War History Online presents this Guest Article from Tyler Turpin How long do you think the U.S. Army has been involved in closing bases or restructuring…
The Battle of Midway: Turning the Tide in the Pacific
Six months after the Pearl Harbor attack, the Japanese planned to lure the American aircraft carriers into a trap at Midway Islands. Imperial Japan’s overall…
Coming Home, 1968 – A Vietnam Veteran’s True Story By Dan Daly
War History Online presents this guest article by Dan Daly. Just over 50 years ago as a junior officer, I arrived in Coronado California to meet…