Category: Odd Facts
The Atlantic Wall – 11 Key Facts About the Nazi Defences at Normandy
“Although one of the most impressive engineering feats of modern times, British, American and Canadian troops breached the seemingly impregnable Nazi defences along a 80-mile stretch of French coastline at Normandy in a single day:…
D-Day Wasn’t History’s Only June 6th Battle
Brace yourselves, history fans. With the approach of the 70th anniversary of the 1944 Normandy Invasion this Friday, the media is a-buzz with D-Day backgrounders, retrospectives and first-hand accounts from those who were there. Spoiler alert:…
How Foreign Conscripts Helped Hitler Defend ‘Fortress Europe’ on D-Day
(Originally published in MilitaryHistoryNow.com on June 6, 2012) ONE OF THE ironies of the June, 1944 Normandy campaign is that Third Reich, a regime so deeply obsessed with racial purity, would hold its Atlantic Wall in Europe…
D-Day 1943? – Three Allied Plans to Invade France Long Before Operation Overlord
“How might the course of the war (and history itself) have unfolded differently had these generals had their way? No one can be sure, but here is what the Normandy campaign might have looked like.”…
Flying Colours – A Short but Vivid History of Warplane Insignia
“The colourful crosses, roundels and stars that adorned early warplanes were more than just decorations.” THE ARMIES THAT MARCHED OFF TO WAR in 1914 had long since shed the flashy garb and colourful banners of the 19th…
From “Overlord” and “Desert Storm” to “Dracula” and “Mermaid Dawn” — The Cryptic History of Codenaming Military Operations
“Designating operations by their objectives or points on a map didn’t offer much in the way of security… and using simple alphanumeric designations, like “Operation 12a” was seen as unimaginative.” HAD IT NOT been for…
