What is often forgotten about the First World War is that it was the first pan-European war to have erupted in nearly a century. Not since the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars at Waterloo in 1815 had all of the major European powers been at war with each other. As such the First World War […]
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The Bloodless Liberation: The Channel Islands during the Second World War
Britain avoided a direct Nazi invasion in the course of the Second World War. The country was certainly dreadfully impacted upon. The Blitz saw an intensive aerial bombardment of the country by Germany between the autumn of 1940 and the summer of 1941, while intermittent bombings and rocket strikes continued through to 1945. Similarly the […]
The Assassination Of Reinhard Heydrich
During the course of the Second World War there were many attempts to assassinate both the head of the German Reich, Adolf Hitler, and several other leading members of the Nazi regime. For instance, at least three different assassination attempts were planned for when the German chancellor visited Poland in March 1943. Most famously, a […]
Remembering “the Forgotten Battle”: The Aleutian Islands Campaign
The Pacific War is remarkable as a theatre of the Second World War in which almost none of the fighting occurred on the sovereign territory of the two main actors, the Empire of Japan and the United States of America. Most of the fighting actually took place in regions such as Midway Island, Guam, the […]
Interrupting Axis Supply Lines in North Africa: The Raid on Sidi Haneish Airfield
Of all the fronts in the Second World War that in North Africa was the most evenly contested between the Allies and the Axis Powers in the early years of the Second World War. Where Germany had quickly overrun Poland in 1939 and then Denmark, Norway, the Low Countries and France in 1940, the war […]
Hitler’s Assassination Attempt Of 1939 – The Story Of The Georg Elser
Many people are familiar with the attempt which was made to assassinate Adolf Hitler by a cohort of German army officers led by Claus von Stauffenberg on the 20th of July 1944. The plan, if successful, would have led to a coup d’état, whereby the army would have seized power from the Nazis and endeavoured […]
The Most Successful British Raid of the Second World War?: Operation Claymore (March 4th, 1941)
A great many raids were carried out by British forces during the course of the Second World War, all across Europe and wider afield. However, one of these raids has a claim to being the most successful British commando raid ever undertaken during the whole war. This was Operation Claymore, struck against German naval and […]
The Great Escape: The True Story of the Attempted Escape from Stalag Luft III
The True Story of the Attempted Escape from Stalag Luft III (24–25 March 1944) Ever since 1963 western film-viewers have been aware of the infamous break-out of Allied prisoners-of-war from the Stammlager Luft III POW camp in south-western Poland. Yet while The Great Escape starring Steve McQueen served to immortalise a version of the story, […]
The Rise of the Paratrooper: The Bruneval Raid (February 27–28th, 1942)
The Bruneval Raid (February 27–28th, 1942) The Second World War witnessed the first widespread use of paratroopers as military units. The first military parachute jump had actually been carried out by the Italians in the final weeks of the First World War, but this was from a low altitude and the concept did not enter […]
The Only Sailor To Receive The Medal Of Honor: Henry Breault
On the morning of October 14th, 1900, in the outskirts of Putnam, Connecticut, a young Henry Breault was born. A man who would come to gain great fame until his untimely death in 1941 at the age of 41. He is famous and widely known as the first and only submariner who has ever been […]