Hand-picked WWII news by Joni Nuutinen (Check out my Strategy game series for Android that I have been crafting since 2011) Churchill's Werewolves – London trained a secret army of teenage partisans the British planned for the worst case: namely that the Germans could land and they would occupy large parts of the country. And then a resistance army of teenagers would face them. Hand-picked young people were selected for this partisan group, which should have operated in secret, including a surprising number of girls. Operation Claymore: A Daring British Commando Raid in Norway The German Army was riding high in the early part of 1941. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had determined the country needed to put a win on the board against the Germans. The first attempt to do so was Operation Claymore. Book Review: The Virtuous Wehrmacht: Crafting the Myth of the German Soldier on the Eastern Front, 1941-1944 What David Harrisville is interested in is how ordinary German soldiers felt about their participation in this Vernichtungskrieg, or War of Extermination. Harrisville chose 30 soldiers, and read between 100 and 500 letters by each man, all sent between 1941 and 1944. In all, he cites 2,018 letters. Eichmann audios recorded in Argentina to be released These audios were believed to have been lost but they had only remained buried for decades in a German archive. Now it is possible to hear one of the architects of the Final Solution in the documentary The Devil's Confessions: Eichmann's Last Records, by Yariv Mozer. West German intelligence infiltrated Adolf Eichmann trial in Israel, documents show West German spies infiltrated the trial of Adolf Eichmann, one of the architects of the Holocaust, in order to limit its damage on the reputation of senior West German politicians who had a Nazi past. Book Review: ‘Nazi Billionaires: The Dark History of Germany’s Wealthiest Dynasties’ De Jong discusses in detail how Adolf Hitler and Nazi Party officials, like Joseph Goebbels and Heinrich Himmler, began their political conniving with some of Germany’s wealthiest industrialists even before they had officially taken complete political power. Donations were met with promises from the future regime—promises of immense profits and security from competition. How the First Night Vision Scope Influenced the Outcome at Okinawa The German Army was the first to introduce night-vision technology during World War II. The Americans also hoped to use night-vision to help their soldiers but placed the scopes on their guns rather than on tanks. Named the M1 or M3 and nicknamed “sniperscopes” or “snooperscopes,” the devices could be attached to M1 carbines. What did ordinary Germans really think of Hitler? What did ordinary Germans really think of Adolf Hitler, and how strongly were they committed to Nazi ideology? Julia Boyd’s exceptional new book gets to the root of the matter by focusing exclusively on the inhabitants of one small village. WW1: British Tank Crew Survived Being Stuck in No Man’s Land for Three Days When the British began incorporating tanks into their war arsenal, Donald Richardson was promoted to captain and given command of his own tank crew. He named the Mark IV “Fray Bentos,” after the canned meat his family sold at their store. Zimmerit: The Unnecessary Coating on German Tanks During WWII hen looking at German tanks from WWII, you may have noticed a strange texture covering most surfaces of their armor. Although this looks like an interesting type of camouflage, it’s actually a special coating devised by the Germans to decrease the magnetic properties of a tank’s armor. Here’s The Way German Commandos Rescued An Imprisoned Benito Mussolini n the 1940s, Adolf Hitler didn’t have all that many friends. He did, however, consider Benito Mussolini of Italy to be among those in his circle. So when Mussolini lost the support of his country, the German chancellor was ready to offer him aid. Germany went so far in 1943 to rescue the Italian dictator. The German industrialists who aided and abetted the Nazi regime The ghosts of the Third Reich still haunt many German businesses, David de Jong argues Why did women vote for Hitler? Long-forgotten essays hold some answers More than 30 essays on the subject “Why I became a Nazi” written by German women in 1934 have been lying fallow in the archives of the Hoover Institution in Palo Alto for decades. Devil’s Bargain – Inside the Soviet Union’s Pre-WW2 Cooperation with Germany From 1924 – and in direct contravention of the Versailles Treaty – the Soviet air force would invite German pilots to train at the Lipetsk flight school. Located 550 kilometres from Moscow, some 1,000 German pilots and ancillary staff would pass through the facility. This group would eventually form the core of Hitler’s Luftwaffe. Hikers find rare WW II Canadian tank 'rusting peacefully' in English field A group of British hikers has captured footage of a rare Canadian tank built during the Second World War and left abandoned in an English field. It was only when British historian Mark Felton posted a followup video in March 2022 that the tank was identified as a Canadian-built Ram. dward VIII told Nazis to keep bombing England and passed information to Germany during WWII, new documentary claims Edward VIII encouraged the Nazis to bomb Britain into submission in World War Two and crown him as King. The former king, who abdicated in 1936 to marry the divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson, also passed information to Germany that aided the fall of France in 1940, according to a new documentary. The 442nd Infantry — How the Men of the U.S. Army’s Famous Japanese American Regiment Had to Overcome Suspicion (Even of Each Other) Before Going to War Senior officers seriously discussed the possibility of disbanding the regiment. That if we could not work together, how can we ever consider going into combat together? WWII diary of a Dutch teen on Nazi occupation Jan Bazuin wrote a diary about his experiences during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, including his time as a forced laborer. Now published as a book, his testimony will also inspire a new app. Hitler, top Nazis pressured Japan to attack Singapore as soon as possible About a week before Matsuoka’s arrival in Berlin, Hitler held a meeting with his top military men ... they agreed that Germany aimed to induce Japan to start aggression against Singapore and other British bases in Asia. Panzerfaust: Germany’s Somewhat Legendary Anti-Tank Weapon As far as anti-tank weapons are concerned, the Panzerfaust (armor fist) was not exceptional, nor was it an innovation at that time. Regardless, this inexpensive, single-shot, recoilless anti-tank weapon was effective for its purpose, given its crude design. Hidden from the Nazis, vast Jewish archives are now online In 1941, Jewish intellectuals forced to work in the Nazi-controlled Vilnius archives risked their lives to hide documents from them. These have now been digitized and can be viewed online. Anne Frank's betrayal: Dutch publisher apologises for book A Dutch publishing house has apologised for printing a book which identifies a person who may have betrayed Anne Frank and her family to the Nazis. Many people have criticised the book since its publication. The First Successful Drone Strike Occurred in 1944 In 1942 the United States began a project to develop cheap and simple to operate drones. It was to be controlled remotely by a pilot located in a TBM Avenger that would follow the drone. Three Special Task Air Groups (STAGs) were assembled to operate the aircraft, first being shipped out in mid-1944. When they arrived on the Solomon Islands... How to deal with Nazi-era memorabilia? Trading in goods associated with Nazi history is common online and at flea markets. A Vienna museum is now showing how people can address such problematic objects. The Fw 190 “Sturmböcke” Interceptor was Designed to Take on the B-17 “Flying Fortress” The first Sturmböcke Fw 190 had its wings modified and two 20 mm cannons removed. Then, four 20 mm cannons were hung under the wings in pods... Hindenburg and Hitler — How Germany’s War-Hero President Set the Stage for a Nazi Takeover The Nazis moved swiftly to consolidate their dictatorship in the first months of 1933. In this, Hindenburg was a willing collaborator How the Russians Made the Kremlin “Disappear” During WWII During the Soviet Union’s clash with Nazi Germany during WWII, many of their cities were reduced to rubble. However, incredibly, the Kremlin survived. 'Lost' blueprint discovered for world's first tank built by the Brits to win WWI. The fascinating design document is the only known blueprint for the British-made Mark I tank that exists. The highly-detailed, large scale technical plan is like an 'X-ray' for the tracked vehicle that helped change the course of the First World War. The 44ins by 28ins blueprint, that is dated May 1916, has come from a private vendor whose family have owned it for some considerable time. The Japanese Knee Mortar That Terrified Enemies One Japanese weapon was particularly feared by US Marines was the knee mortar. This grenade launcher was easy to use and transport, and had a higher rate of fire. Hurling explosives at a rate of up to 25 a minute, it is believed that the knee mortar caused 40 percent of American casualties in the Pacific. Who Betrayed Anne Frank and Her Family?: Machine Learning, a Retired FBI Agent and a Team of Investigators May Have Finally Solved the Case Using new technology, recently discovered documents and sophisticated investigative techniques, an international team—led by an obsessed retired FBI agent—has [seemingly] solved the mystery that has haunted generations since World War II: Who betrayed Anne Frank and her family? And why? The Amerikabomber Was Germany's Attempt To Bomb The United States Simply put, it was a German initiative to create a long-range, strategic bomber, that could fly from Germany, to America, specifically New York City, and back, and terrify the American population.Various designs were proposed, and some prototype aircraft were actually built. The Junkers 322 Mammut and the Messerschmitt 321/323 Gigant All three of these aircraft originated with a 1940 requirement for a large assault glider in preparation for Operation Sealion, the projected invasion of Britain. Although Operation Sealion had effectively been cancelled by the time the requirement was issued in October 1940, there was still an urgent need for this sort of heavy air transport capability, as attention was now focused on Operation Barbarossa, the future invasion of the Soviet Union. Why the U.S. Photographed Its Own World War II Concentration Camps (and Commissioned Photographs by Dorothea Lange) During World War II, the United States put thousands and thousands of its own citizens into concentration camps. The wartime internment of Japanese Americans is a well-known historical event, and also an unusually well-documented one — not just in the sense of having been documented copiously, but also with exceptional power and artistry. Much of that owes to the astute photographic observer of early 20th-century America Dorothea Lange. Nazi archive on Freemasonry amassed by Heinrich Himmler could shed light on secret society A historic archive of Freemasonry amassed by the Nazis of their wartime purge may nonetheless reveal secrets and techniques in regards to the society, researchers say. From perception into girls’s Masonic lodges to the musical scores utilized in closed ceremonies, the trove – housed in an previous college library in western Poland – has already make clear a bit identified historical past There’s Only One German Dornier Do 335 Aircraft Left In The World The Dornier Do 335 is one of Germany’s most weird and wonderful late WWII aircraft. Its unique push-pull engine configuration made the Do 335 extremely fast, but it also meant the aircraft was unreliable and exceedingly complex. Although it was advanced, production delays meant only a handful were made, none of which made an impact on the outcome of the war. Meet the German Agent in Hollywood Who Altered Iconic Movies One man in Hollywood was responsible for ensuring that no films outwardly attacked Hitler or his government, and he was willing to go to great lengths to do his job. Hitler's second seat of power at Obersalzberg The idyllic spot served as Hitler's vacation home and second seat of government. The documentation center explaining the dark history of the site is getting a revamp. Hundreds of WWII-Era Munitions Detonated Off Okinawa After the discovery of hundreds of WWII munitions this year leftover from the Battle of Okinawa, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force has begun to destroy them. The uncovered ordnance is now in the process of being destroyed, with over 600 in total due to be dealt with. The Nazis looted my family’s art – here’s how we might get it back Gabrielle Schwarz on the painstaking hunt for the countless still-missing works that the Third Reich stole from their Jewish owners Stanley Hollis: The Only British Soldier to Earn the Victoria Cross for his Actions on D-Day Since it was introduced only 1,358 Victoria Crosses have been awarded. One of these was to Stanley Hollis, a soldier in the British Army who had served from the opening days of the war. On D-Day he performed a number of heroic acts, becoming the only soldier to earn Britain’s most prestigious award on D-Day. Burying Leni Riefenstahl: one woman’s lifelong crusade against Hitler’s favourite film-maker Nina Gladitz dedicated her life to proving the Triumph of the Will director’s complicity with the horrors of Nazism. In the end, she succeeded – but at a cost The making and breaking of the Luftwaffe Feared, reviled and revered, few military organisations have carried a reputation quite like the Luftwaffe did during WW2. Victoria Taylor reveals how the Nazis shaped this formidable air force – and the reckless mistakes that underpinned its demise Final Account review – chilling portrait of Hitler’s generation of Germans Luke Holland’s final film is a vital study of the people who witnessed and supported the Third Reich Hitler and Pearl Harbor — How News of Japan’s Surprise Attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet Rocked the Third Reich Hitler’s press chief, Otto Dietrich, was at the Wolf’s Lair that evening monitoring the news wires when he picked up a wholly unexpected bulletin from Reuters East Asian radio: the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii was under attack by Japanese warplanes. With details of the raid only just emerging, Dietrich raced off to inform Hitler of the news. Already exercised by the bad news from Russia, Hitler received his press chief coldly, obviously fearing tidings of another catastrophe. But when Dietrich cut him short by reading out the message, Hitler reacted with astonishment. The secret underground bunker which helped win World War II Some 73 feet below the traffic and bustle of London's Piccadilly lies a silent warren of corridors and pitch-black rooms, rarely seen, rarely visited, but which played a vital role in the course of 20th-century history. Now, the opportunity has come round again to slip behind the door of the abandoned Down Street Tube station and descend by torchlight into the World War II hideaway from which campaigns such as the D-Day landings and the Dunkirk evacuation were coordinated. Munich WW2 bomb blows up near station, wounding four Four people were hurt, one seriously, when a World War Two bomb blew up on a railway construction site in the German city of Munich. The fire brigade says it happened during drilling work near Donnersberger Bridge, close to the main station. As a result rail traffic in much of Munich was brought to a standstill. Unexploded wartime bombs are frequently found in Germany and prompt big evacuations, but most are defused by experts without exploding. WWII contaminants on an Aleutian island are one step closer to finally being cleaned up Richard Ragle is a project manager with the Army Corps of Engineers who works for the Formerly Used Sites program — known as FUDS — in which the U.S. Defense Department hires the Corps to clean up sites where the agency no longer owns the property. The BV 238 was the Heaviest Plane of WWII and an Example of Extreme German Engineering The Blohm & Voss BV 238, showed that like the Axis’ other huge-scale projects, bigger was not better. Germany: Report spotlights Nazi legacy of postwar prosecutors Until the 1970s, the Federal Prosecutor's was staffed mostly by former members of the Nazi party, a new study has revealed. How Britain's top private schools including Eton, Harrow, Winchester, Westminster and Rugby ran exchange schemes with top German academies to train Hitler's future Nazi leaders Nazi Germany's elite schools forged close links with British boarding schools in the 1930s and used the likes of Eton, Harrow and Winchester as models, a historian has revealed. Louis Curdes was One of the Only Pilots to Shoot Down German, Japanese and Italian Planes During WWII An American pilot from Indiana, Louis Curdes was not only a fighter ace but one of the few pilots with the rare distinction of shooting down an aircraft from each of the big-three Axis air forces. Equally unusual, he is also credited with shooting down an American aircraft, which happened to be carrying his future wife. The P-38 Terrified Opponents And Dominated Aerial Reconnaissance During WWII During the war, if you needed a great fighter, fighter bomber, escort, reconnaissance aircraft, night fighter, and pathfinder, the P-38 Lightning was a go-to choice. German tanks were made to look like Americans during the Battle of the Bulge The act of deception on the battlefield is an integral part of armed conflict. From the Trojan Horse to the American Ghost Army, wartime trickery can mean the difference between victory and defeat. Interestingly, Nazi Germany managed to stay on the legal side of this line with their disguised tanks during the Battle of the Bulge. 5 Times The US Was Attack At Home During WWII, And How Those Attacks Ended Many American’s assume that prior to 9/11, the US hadn’t been attacked on its own soil since Pearl Harbor in 1941. However, this is not true, as the US was actually attacked a number of times just during WWII alone. How a notorious Nazi almost got a Hollywood biopic — and why Kubrick refused to direct it After serving 20 years in prison, Albert Speer became a best-selling author, penning the memoir “Inside The Third Reich.” Naturally, in 1971, he and his publisher were interested in a film adaptation. The film Speer wanted was never made, and his meetings with screenwriter Andrew Birkin — a Stanley Kubrick protegé who would go on to co-write films like “The Name of the Rose,” — may have remained yet another Hollywood curiosity among the long list of scuppered Paramount projects. But Birkin recorded their conversations and — pivotally — kept them. Most Combat Footage from D-Day Was Dumped Into the English Channel By One Man Have you ever noticed a distinct lack of footage from the D-Day landings? Maybe you assumed that it was simply too dangerous to film, or that documentation was not a priority. This is far from the truth though, as the Allies made an attempt to thoroughly capture the entire event from the first few waves. So where is all of this footage now? Well, a lot of it sits on the bottom of the English Channel. Hiroshima bomb survivor Sunao Tsuboi dies at 96 Sunao Tsuboi was on his way to engineering school when the first nuclear bomb hit Japan in 1945. He became a prominent campaigner for nuclear disarmament in the years that followed. German Zeppelins Were Made with Cow Intestines And It Led To Sausage Restrictions During WWI A rain of German bombs falling onto London may sound like a scene from the Blitz, but the city was also attacked by Germany during WWI, not by sleek metal-skinned aircraft, but by Zeppelins. Described by Winston Churchill as “enormous bladders of combustible gas,” these ominous lighter-than-air crafts caused 500 deaths in Britain. They also caused chaos on their own people, by denying them of their beloved sausages. Secrets of the Italian torpedo frogmen who attacked Allies Missions wreaked havoc among Allied shipping and were later copied by the Royal Navy’s Special Boat Service Here’s how the Most Successful Submarine in US Navy History Accidentally Sunk Itself The USS Tang is the US’ most successful submarine, sinking over 100,000 tons of enemy shipping over five combat patrols during WWII. Her experienced and highly skilled crew terrorized Japanese sailors, yet she was sunk by one of her own torpedoes, an unfitting end for such a prestigious vessel and crew. Last messages from Hitler’s bunker revealed 76 years after French soldier took them as souvenirs The son of Captain Michel Leroy, a French soldier who broke in to the bunker at end of Second World War, had the papers until his passing. Captain Leroy, a German soldier stationed in Berlin at the time, discovered the 70 papers among a pile of furniture and broken objects in Bormann’s office in November 1945. Il Duce’s Blitz — Italy’s Forgotten Role in the Battle of Britain Although not a major contributor to the 1940 air campaign against Britain, Italy did volunteer as many as 170 planes to the effort. In fact, more than five per cent of the 2,500 Axis aircraft committed to the battle were Italian. Seven New War Machines the U.S. Planned to Unleash On Japan in 1946 The arsenal included larger tanks, more powerful artillery, faster fighter planes and new bombers. Germany’s royal family backed the Nazis, says historian A new book examines the role played by the Hohenzollern dynasty in the rise of Nazism as it fights for the return of its old palaces and art treasures The Kamikaze War – Inside the U.S. Navy’s Race to Defeat Japan’s Suicide Pilots Although U.S. Navy commanders were initially surprised by the first large-scale kamikaze attacks, they were quick to respond and within weeks were identifying measures to defend against this new threat. Eddie Jaku: Holocaust survivor and peace campaigner dies aged 101 During World War Two, he was imprisoned in four concentration camps, led a daring escape on a train, broke free from a death march and survived in a forest. Last year, to celebrate his 100th birthday, Jaku published his memoirs. Entitled The Happiest Man on Earth, it chronicles his extraordinary story of survival, weaving in his messages of tolerance and forgiveness. Austria faces up to Nazi past in Auschwitz Austria's new National Exhibition at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial underscores one main point: the country has dropped its victim myth. Kaiten: Japan’s fully-manned kamikaze torpedos during WWII Kaiten could be launched either from a submarine or a surface vessel, although in practice only submarine launches were used. Piloting these machines was very complex. Pilot training took place at the island of Ozushima in the Inland Sea. The island was fully equipped for the testing of kaiten and the training of their pilots. Pilots were first trained in controlling fast boats using just a periscope and instruments. After this, they were placed in trainer kaiten armed with dummy warheads and worked through progressively harder tests. The training culminated in a submarine launch and nighttime missions. How German Soldiers Used Lentil Soup as an Effective Defense Mechanism Against the Soviets Soviet troops were notoriously underfed during the war which made them desperate for food. With this in mind, the German commander ordered his cooks to make a large batch of lentil and pea soup from a stockpile of legumes they found in a building in the village. In front of the first buildings the advancing Soviets would reach, the Germans lit fires. The ingredients for the soup were mixed into large pots filled with water and positioned over the fires. The ruse had worked; the German troops were able to successfully withdraw from Verkhne-Buzinovka while the Soviets were busy eating. ‘Flaming Coffin’: The He 177 Bomber Was a Total Disaster The hot, flammable He 177 Greif, or Griffin, was Nazi Germany’s only long-range heavy bomber produced in appreciable numbers. The 35-ton machine — when fully loaded — was a mistake, and more importantly, contributed to the German defeat by sucking up valuable resources into an ineffective and compromised aircraft. Mustang vs. Corsair – Inside the U.S. Navy’s 1944 Match-Up Between the Two Fighters In late January and early February 1944, the U.S. Navy conducted a comparison of both airplanes at the Naval Air Station, Patuxent River, Maryland. How Holocaust perpetrators are prosecuted in Germany German prosecutors are working to bring the last surviving Holocaust perpetrators to court. But what are the legal hurdles they need to clear? And why have they waited so long? Nazi trial: 100-year-old SS guard in court in Germany Seventy-six years after the end of World War Two, a former concentration camp guard has gone on trial for assisting in the murder of 3,518 prisoners at Sachsenhausen near Berlin. Granddaughter of Mussolini wins seat in Rome municipal vote Rachele Mussolini said she wanted nothing to do with the "burden" of her surname. The far-right politician insisted her success was because of her hard work, not her family history. Files from the Nuremberg Trials published online On the 75th anniversary of the Nuremberg trial of the major war criminals of World War II, Stanford University digitized the historical files of this trial and made them publicly available online. George Patton bought supplies from Sears because the US was so unprepared for WWII Patton was born into an affluent family and married the daughter of an extremely wealthy businessman, whose family was also worth a fortune. With these funds, Patton was able to enjoy some of the finest luxuries, but he was also not afraid to use them for less conventional means, like personally financing the equipping of an armored division. Austria: Explosive war relic kills German man at swimming lake A German man has been killed by a piece of ammunition he found in a popular swimming lake in Austria, police say. The lake is known to contain large quantities of munitions left over from World War II. The first American-designed tank in combat didn’t fight with US troops first Eventually, the U.S. produced the M2, which would go on to fight in World War II. The first American made tank to see combat didn’t go with U.S. troops, it would first see action with the British Army in North Africa. Junkers JU-52 Now Available for Microsoft Flight Simulator Microsoft has now released the Junkers JU-52 for Microsoft Flight Simulator. The sinking of U-864: The only time a submarine has sunk another submarine while submerged Only a single submarine has been sunk while both it and the attacker were submerged. This occurred right at the end of WWII, in a duel between a British submarine and a German U-boat, suspected of transporting top-secret goods to Japan. There’s a receipt for the Hiroshima Nuclear Bomb One of history’s most significant receipts ever signed still exists today. It was issued to mark the successful delivery and use of the Little Boy atomic bomb, which would be the first atomic bomb used in combat. Beyond the cult of Churchill: New Netflix film Munich shows Chamberlain in 'sympathetic light' a new Netflix film aims to move beyond the “cult” of Churchill and restore the reputation of Neville Chamberlain. Munich: The Edge of War, based on the best-selling novel by Robert Harris, stars Jeremy Irons as Chamberlain and revisits the Munich Agreement of 1938. The film’s producer, Andrew Eaton, said: “I certainly think we’ve had enough Churchill stories to last us a lifetime.” Harris said that Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement towards Nazi Germany “has had a great overhang in this country… to call someone an ‘appeaser’ is still a deadly insult.” A Marine Pilot Used His Propeller To Down An Enemy Plane, Here’s How It Happened On May 10, 1945, two U.S. Marine pilots were on a combat air patrol when they came across a lone Kawasaki Ki-45. Realizing there was no other way to take the Ki-45 down, the Marine decided to use his propeller to destroy the enemy plane – understanding the risk that this posed to his own aircraft. This is the story of how Robert Klingman used his propeller to bring down a Japanese airplane and lived to tell the tale. World War Two: The brothers who fled Nazi occupation by kayak Whenever Niels Peteri visits a beach, he thinks of his father, Henri. He was one of the "Engelandvaarders" who, on 21 September 1941, stepped back upon land having paddled across the North Sea from the Nazi-occupied Netherlands to join the UK's war effort. Lloyd Fredendall: One of the Most Unsuccessful American Generals of WWII The military is an institution built on order and service. While the majority who join abide by these values, others choose to disregard the chain of command, resulting in disastrous consequences. This is true of Lloyd Fredendall, whose actions hurt Allied operations following the landings in North Africa. When the Nazis sent scientists to the Himalayas In 1938, Heinrich Himmler, a leading member of Germany's Nazi party and a key architect of the Holocaust, sent a five-member team to Tibet to search for the origins of the supposed Aryan race. Author Vaibhav Purandare recounts the fascinating story of this expedition, which passed through India. Historian brings to light story of the dressmakers of Auschwitz When she read about a 'tailoring studio' in Auschwitz, historian Lucy Adlington set out to find more about the death camp inmates employed as dressmakers. WWII Spy And War Hero Martin Gelb Dies At 101 Martin Gelb, a WWII spy and one of the Nazi’s most wanted men, has passed away aged 101. As a member of the OSS, Gelb’s wartime exploits were classified until 2008. Nazi Stutthof camp secretary flees as German trial starts Irmgard Furchner, 96, was due to stand trial in northern Germany on Thursday for complicity in 11,000 murders on Thursday morning, but the judge instead issued a warrant for her arrest. Gilbert Seltzer, Soldier in the World War II ‘Ghost Army,’ Dies at 106 He was one of the last survivors of a band of Army con artists who duped German forces with their arsenal of fakery, including inflatable tanks and scripted radio transmissions. How A Jazz-Playing Comedian In The Marines Gave Us The Name Bazooka The word bazooka is synonymous with shoulder-fired anti-tank weaponry today, but this strange term actually dates all the way back to WWI, when it was used to identify a much more peaceful, yet still-tubular object. George Jones, one of the last surviving World War II paratroopers, has died aged 95 in Tipton Tributes have been paid to one of the last surviving World War II paratroopers after he passed away aged 95. Torpedownia: A Torpedo Launch Station Abandoned Off the Polish Coast An abandoned piece of German construction still stands today off the coast of Poland, near the town of Gdynia. The structure, which sits on the shallow sea bed, was used by the Germans for testing torpedoes during WWII. Although it is now slowly collapsing, the complex remains a popular destination among beachgoers and urban explorers. Assault on Tulagi — Inside the U.S. Marine Raiders’ First Ope he Marine landings had caught the crack Japanese soldiers completely flat-footed. They were hardly prepared to defend their posts, let alone the island... The Japanese-American combat unit that earned 4,000 Bronze Stars and 21 Medals of Honor The United States’ most decorated WWII unit was made up of people considered ‘enemy aliens’ at the time. When America joined WWII after the attack on Pearl Harbor in late 1941, they did what many other nations did when at war; gathering and incarcerating citizens from countries they were at war against. These people were known as ‘enemy aliens,’ and were placed in internment camps after President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which affected over 100,000 Japanese Americans. Hitler's autobiography Mein Kampf becomes unlikely summer bestseller in France French publishing house Fayard has ordered a second print run after its new edition sold almost 10,000 copies in two months. The B-24 Liberator: The Most Produced Bomber In History The B-24 Liberator was one of the US’ primary heavy bombers of WWII. It fought alongside the legendary B-17 but has since been overshadowed by the sleeker and more popular Flying Fortress. Despite this, the B-24 was able to carry a heavier bomb load than its Boeing counterpart, and also had a higher top speed and cruise speed. Over 18,000 B-24s were built during WWII, making it not only the most produced American military aircraft but the most produced bomber in history. The forgotten Black victims of the Nazi era Of the 75,000 commemorative stones dedicated to victims of the Nazis, only four of them remember Black people. Their experience of persecution was largely erased. When Japan sent Young School Girls into the Battle of Okinawa In March of 1945, as the end of the Second World War was nearing, the US attacked the island of Okinawa. Capturing Okinawa was vitally important as it would serve as a staging ground for the eventual invasion of Japan itself. The fight was one of the most ferocious and bloody battles of the entire war. The Japanese mobilized over 200 students from women’s schools into a nursing unit in the Imperial Japanese Army to help tend to the wounded. The girls worked in atrocious conditions, and many were killed in the crossfire. They would become known as the Himeyuri students. World War II Bunker Discovered Inside Ruins of Roman Fort Nazi soldiers built the shelter during the German occupation of Alderney, an island in the English Channel The Battles of Narvik: Norway’s Toughest Fight The Battles of Narvik refers to the naval offensives and land battle between the Germans and Allied troops in Norway. It was one of the first large-scale missions of World War II and initially looked to be an Allied victory, until things took a turn in Europe, leading to an unexpected withdrawal. Unique Islington flat with refurbished WW2 bunker goes on the market A flat with a difference has gone on the market in Islington, with its very own World War Two bunker. Little Willie: The World’s Oldest Preserved Tank Prototype Virtually all militaries around the world today field some type of tank, or a variation of one for certain tasks. No matter what vehicle this is, either the Challenger 2, M1 Abrams, T-62 or T-14 Armata, all of them relate back to one design: the Little Willie. Paratrooper Bicycles Were Incredibly Popular And Featured A Brilliant Design As if jumping out of an aircraft laden with parachutes, equipment, and a weapon while under enemy fire wasn’t daring enough, some British paratroopers made the jump while clinging onto a bicycle. Dogfighting — A Primer on Fighter Combat in World War Two Once the fight begins, the outcome is determined by a pilot’s experience in the air, his tactics and the airplane itself. Weather Station Kurt: The German’s Only North American Operation During the 1940s In 1943 a German U-boat visited Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada and established the only German military operation on North American soil during the war. The operation was just a small weather station, but, in conjunction with other monitoring systems was massively important for Germany’s military effectiveness in Europe. Japan marks 76th anniversary of WWII defeat Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga spoke of the damage inflicted on Japan, but did not offer an apology for his country's militarism. His ministers courted controversy by visiting a war shrine for the war dead. Operation Olive: The Allied Attempt To Break Through The Gothic Line The final years of the Second World War saw Germany fighting a defensive battle against the Allies. Germany had been pushed out of Africa and was steadily losing ground in Italy. To reinstate control over the country, they constructed a defensive wall spanning the width of Italy, dubbed the Gothic Line. Floods in Germany unearthed exceedingly rare Nazi archives Archaeologists in Germany have been stunned by the discovery of “rare” Nazi documents discovered by recent floods. Archaeologists in Germany discovered a “vast amount of stuff” hidden behind a wall in a residential structure. The “copious volumes of materials” discovered may have been hurriedly tossed into the shaft by members of the National Socialist People’s Welfare organisation (NSV) as American soldiers marched towards Hagen in April 1945. Hill 400 And Hürtgen Forest: The Longest Battle Fought On German Soil During WWII The Battle of Hürtgen Forest for Hill 400 is often overlooked due to its proximity to the Battle of the Bulge. A German stronghold, it provided an observation point overlooking the Roer River Valley, as well as an open view of Allied movements in the area. The U.S. made attempts to gain control over Hill 400 and the surrounding forest, but they failed. Germany: 100-year-old ex-death camp guard to go on trial The accused worked as a prison guard at the Sachsenhausen death camp near Berlin from 1942 to 1945. The elderly man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, will face trial in the fall. Hitler's plan to run Third Reich Britain from £35 a night budget Scarborough hotel Scarborough suffered more than many coastal towns during the Second World War, but The Grand Hotel stood unscathed while rubble and smoke surrounded the clifftop building. Three years ago official documents were unearthed revealing how Luftwaffe pilots faced a court martial if they dropped a single bomb on the hotel. The reason? Hitler had apparently desired to make it his base. One Tank Fought Without Interruption From D-Day To VE Day Not many tanks from the 1940s were known for exceptional reliability, especially heavy tanks like the German Tiger and King Tigers. However, if there was an example of a well-designed machine that was actually very reliable, it was the M4 Sherman, and none more so than “Bomb,” a Canadian M4A2 Sherman. Bomb made its way uninterrupted from the beaches of Normandy on D-Day all the way into Germany on VE Day without a single hiccup, one of the few tanks to do such a drive during the war. 84-year-old German man fined €250,000 for keeping Nazi war machines – including panther tank – in basement An 84-year-old German man has been fined €250,000 (£212,796.10) for keeping stockpiles of Second World War-era weaponry in his basement – including a 45-ton tank. The conviction under Germany's War Weapons Control Act was handed down in Kiel, a city in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein, and regards an investigation from 2015. How Russia’s Tanks Went To War In Spain In 1936 Early in the morning of October 29, 1936 a column of T-26 tanks went rattling down the road towards Seseña, a Spanish town on the outskirts of Madrid ostensibly held by forces loyal to the Republican government backed by Moscow. Leading the column was a Latvian communist named Paul Arman, a captain in the Soviet Red Army. Of the forty-five men under his command, there were thirty Soviet military personnel and fifteen Spanish recruits manning the guns. Operation Nordwind: The Last Large-Scale German Offensive Operation Nordwind was the last large-scale German offensive of the Second World War on the Western Front, and yet it continues to live in the shadow of the Battle of the Bulge. However, Operation Nordwind was a separate operation from the Battle of the Bulge. The goal of this operation was mainly the destruction of as many enemy forces as possible. Historians have heavily analyzed the Battle of the Bulge, but Operation Nordwind remains relatively obscure in the history of the Second World War. Bumblebee packed a huge fifteen-centimeter main gun atop the chassis and supported German tank maneuvers. Building on lessons learned from the Geschützwagen, a semi-experimental German self-propelled gun that saw German artillery pieces mated to the hulls of British light tanks, the Hummel design was not only much larger but also packed a much more powerful main gun. Faustian Bargain Review: Partners In Crime Between the wars, Russia offered a place for the German army to develop weapons and train men in violation of the Versailles Treaty. Operation Unthinkable – Inside Churchill’s Abortive Plan to Drive the Red Army From Eastern Europe If the western allies could inflict a rapid and crushing defeat on the Red Army, then Stalin would be forced to rethink his planned domination of Eastern Europe. The Collapse of the Third Reich From the lecture series: a history of hitler's empire, 2nd edition The Highs And Lows Of The Czech Panzer 38(t) The Czech Panzer 38(t) played a major role in some of the most decisive battles early on in World War Two. US Veterans Excavate The Wreckage Of A B-24 Liberator In Sussex A team has gathered in Sussex, England, to recover the bodies of two airmen who were lost in a violent crash in the British countryside in 1944. The men were inside a Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber that had been damaged during a mission over Europe. After limping most of the way home, it suddenly crashed on friendly soil — the exact reason is still a mystery today. The M3 Tank Was Far from Perfect. It Was a Successful Tank Anyway. The M3 medium tank was a lesson in expediency: it was cheap, and good enough to enter mass production. What Did WWII Combatants Think Of Each Other’s Aircraft? During the war, the nations involved had the same questions: What were the enemy’s aircraft like? Were they faster? More maneuverable? Easier to fly? Knowing the answers to these questions was incredibly important, as it meant they could counter any advantages and exploit any weaknesses. Usually, the only way to look at their opponents’ aircraft was at crash sites, so it was a huge moment when they were able to get their hands on a working aircraft. The American M2 Light Tank was Tiny The American M2 was initially envisioned as a high-speed infantry support vehicle, intended to quickly bring a large amount of firepower to bear on enemy positions. Felix Steiner: The SS General Who Turned Against Hitler Steiner joined the SS-Verfügungstruppe (V-Truppe) on March 16, 1935, as Obersturmbannführer and appointed commander of the 3rd Battalion/SS-Standart “Deutschland.” With ex-Army officer Paul Hausser, he set out making his soldiers the finest in Europe, staging his training around the tactics of the Sturmtruppen. Kugelpanzer: What Was The Purpose Of This German Armored Vehicle The Nazi regime developed an array of combat vehicles during the course of WWII. The majority have accompanying documentation to allow historians to develop a better understanding of their use during the conflict. However, there’s one that’s simply an enigma, with no one quite sure of its purpose: the Kugelpanzer. Why Were Italian Troops Freezing to Death Outside Stalingrad? Why in God's name were Italian peasants freezing to death outside Stalingrad? They should have been home eating pasta in Palermo, or veal in Venice, during that bitter winter of 1942–43. Instead, they were being trampled into the snow by waves of Soviet tanks. Some Italian soldiers fought, and others fled. Many were killed, and those that weren't disappeared into the Soviet gulag prison camps. Nearly half of the Italians who fought in Russia never made it home. How Wartime Rationing Helped The British 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 British people but also improved their health? Studies show increased wellbeing among Britons thanks to a food rationing system that spanned 14 years. X troop: how the British army turned Jewish refugees into elite Nazi-killers Leah Garrett's thrilling book unearths the true story of the Third Reich escapees who formed a secret military unit hell-bent on revenge World's last Nazi hunter calls on NZ to open inquiry into how war criminals came here The world's last Nazi hunter has called on the Government to open an inquiry into how suspected war criminals and collaborators were able to sneak into New Zealand and live a quiet life. Operation Barbarossa: 80 years of Germany’s invasion of Russia The mortal combat between two mighty dictators—Stalin and Hitler—was a phenomenon the world had seldom seen. This battle was between two men who held absolute power over their nations. Both were of humble birth and were of nationalities different from the countries they ruled. Jewish commando who found his parents alive in Nazi death camp A new book tells the story of the X Troop, a secret squad of Jewish fighters who operated deep in Nazi territory France honours last survivor of French D-Day commando unit President Emmanuel Macron gave one of France’s highest honours on Friday to Leon Gautier, last surviving member of the French commando unit that waded onshore on D-Day alongside allied troops to begin the liberation of Europe. 80 years since the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union Commemorating the upcoming 80th anniversary of Operation Barbarossa, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the suffering of the former Soviet people should be "burned into Germany's collective memory." Bell P-39 Airacobra: WWII’s Most Controversial Low-Altitude Fighter Despite its perceived failings, the Bell P-39 Airacobra featured a sleek design that was unlike anything seen before. Its all-metal design was not only the first to feature tricycle landing gear, but to also seat its engine in the center of the fuselage, as opposed to the nose. This was done to fit its 37mm T9 cannon through the propeller hub. X Troop tells the fascinating tale of Jewish commandos trained in Wales Book Review: Tank Warfare by Jeremy Black A Forgotten Holocaust Hero: Himmler’s Personal Physician Lienz Cossacks: Desertion And Betrayal In WWII A Solomon Islands Man Is Killed By Unexploded 1940s Ordnance — Who Is To Blame? A Bicycle Troop Peddled Through D-Day Minefields To Help Defeat The Germans The 7 craziest commando missions of World War II Japan's forgotten kamikaze diver unit The Mulberry Harbor Paved The Way For Victory On D-Day British Special Forces in WWII Across the Channel in a Nazi Helicopter Axis pilots tested captured Allied aircraft How Spies and Codebreakers Won the Middle East in World War II IL-2: The Soviet Flying Tank Was One Real Deal Killer US Airborne Tanks 1939-1945 Last Surviving Marine Of The USS Indianapolis Has Passed Away Aged 96 American Traitor: The Trial of Axis Sally On the Run: How One Group of Escaped POWs Survived in Nazi-Occupied Italy Lost 52 Project: Navy Honors Explorer Who Discovered 7 Sunken Subs Last surviving Auschwitz liberator David Dushman dies These Tiny WW2 Tankettes Have Us Scratching Our Heads Raid on Dieppe masked secret mission to steal Nazi Enigma machine Floyd Smith: Meet the Maverick Inventor Behind the U.S. Military's Parachutes of WW2 Rare Tank Development books to be republished by The Tank Museum Operation Chariot: Inside the British Commando Raid on Saint-Nazaire Seelöwe – Book Review by Mark Barnes Dangerous ‘Dragon’s Teeth’ Sea Defenses To Be Removed From British Beach The Philippine Resistance – How WW2’s Forgotten Guerrilla Movement Helped Bring Down Japan