Kugelpanzer: What Was the Purpose of This German Armored Vehicle?
The Germans developed an array of combat vehicles over the course of the Second World War. The majority have accompanying documentation that allow historians to…
Felix Steiner: The SS General Who Turned Against the Führer
The Waffen-SS was a military division that aided Germany’s domination of Europe in the lead-up and during the Second World War. Initially consisting of soldiers…
Prisoners of War Who Bravely Defied Their Captors
An unfortunate consequence of war is that those involved in the fighting will sometimes get captured by enemy forces. Known as prisoners of war (POWs),…
Did You Know Wartime Rationing Actually Helped the British Public Get Healthy?
Rationing is often thought of as a type of “starvation diet,” but did you know that wartime rationing not only changed the dietary habits of…
The Sausage War Between Finland and the USSR Was Among the Weirdest Battles of WWII
On November 30, 1939, hundreds of thousands of Soviet soldiers and thousands of tanks and aircraft flooded across the Finnish border, signalling the start of…
A Chicago Tribune Reporter Revealed the US Had Cracked Japan’s Naval Code – The Enemy Didn’t Notice
The Battle of Midway was an integral part of America’s fight in the Pacific Theater. The engagement resulted in extensive damage to the Imperial Japanese…
Project Habakkuk: The British Once Tried to Construct an Aircraft Carrier Out of Ice
The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest-running campaign of World War II. The Kriegsmarine had seized control of the mid-Atlantic, using U-boats to sink…
Attagirls: Remembering the Women Who Flew Supermarine Spitfires Across Britain
A large portion of the combat that occurred during World War II happened in the air. As such, manufacturers developed new aircraft that could stand…
Bell P-39 Airacobra: World War II’s Most Controversial Low-Altitude Fighter
A substantial portion of combat during World War II occurred in the skies as countries developed their aerospace technology. That included the United States, which…
The ‘Wild’ History Behind America’s Counterintelligence Service
William “Wild Bill” Donovan is widely known as the “father of American Intelligence.” His determination to create a centralized counterintelligence unit paved the way for…
Lienz Cossacks: Desertion and Betrayal In World War II
The repatriation of Lienz Cossacks following the Yalta Conference is considered by many to be a massive betrayal by the United Kingdom. Despite being aware…
David Dushman: Last Surviving Soviet Solider to Liberate Auschwitz Dies at 98
David Dushman was a 21-year-old serviceman with the Red Army when he took part in the liberation of Auschwitz in January 1945. The last surviving…