USS Archerfish: Sinking the 72,000-ton Aircraft Carrier Shinano
USS Archerfish (SS-311) was a Balao-class submarine named after a toxotoid fish. The archerfish is an adept predator that shoots a high-pressure stream of water to stun…
I Visited Auschwitz-Birkenau, The More I Know, the Less I Understand
It’s the numbers I struggle with. 1.1 million people, murdered here in cold blood, is an unimaginable figure for me to comprehend. These people walked…
High School Football Coach Gained Valuable Experience in US Navy in WWII
Decades before he was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame for his success as a high school football coach, John “Pete” Adkins collected…
Daks over Normandy D-Day 75 Programme Biggest fleet of DC-3’s & C-47’s Since WW2
On Monday 28 January The Imperial War Museum (IWM) announced that Daks over Normandy will be part of its programme on an “unprecedented scale” to…
Slim Pickens Stated His Profession Was “rodeo”, the Recruiter Heard “radio”, Slim Spent WW2 as a Radio Operator
There are three ways to do things: the right way, the wrong way, and the army way. During World War II, millions of men donned…
Kangaroo Squadron American Courage in the Darkest Days of WW2
I am pleased to get my reviewing year off to a blistering start with this superb book from the historian Bruce Gamble. In it, he…
Ulfberht, Mysterious Viking Sword Made With Technology That Didn’t Exist For Another 800 Years
Ulfberht: unique swords with the inscription +VLFBERHT+ on the blade, dated between the 9th and 11th centuries. In the Viking Age, the privilege of having…
To This Day, The Myth Still Abounds: Why Didn’t The Germans Invade Switzerland?
By the end of 1940, the German Wehrmacht had overrun most of its neighbors — only brave little Switzerland remained free. But why did Adolf…
WW2 Spy Who Pulled Off A Real Life James Bond Mission & Inspired An Iconic Goldfinger Scene
The opening scene to 1964’s Goldfinger, one of the most popular and critically-acclaimed James Bond movies, portrays the famous spy at his deadliest and most…
James Barry: The Girl Who Became a Man, Fought with Florence Nightingale
Today, women openly serve in our armed forces as diligently as the men around them. However, in the past, women weren’t permitted to serve their…
Kazimierz Moczarski – Resistance Fighter, Assassin, Anti-Communist Rebel, Cellmate Of Infamous Nazi Jürgen Stroop
Poland was the site of much turmoil, conflict, brutality, and tragedy during the Second World War. It was the first country Hitler invaded in 1939,…
The Beautiful Angel of Bordeaux – He Saved Thousands of Lives as Germans Were Storming France
For people who stand strong in their beliefs there are no hard times or difficult choices. There are only principles and one’s will to stick…