Tag: Military History
How to Win a War in Three Easy Steps – A Selection of the Best (and Worst) Army Training Films
“Most of them are mind-numbingly utilitarian; others are unintentionally hilarious.” IT’S NOT OFTEN that an army training film gets a nod from the Oscars. But that’s just what happened in 1944 when a War Department…
The Fighting Cartoonist – How Bill Mauldin’s ‘Willie & Joe’ Comics Captured the Plight of GIs in WWII
“A baby-faced infantryman from Phoenix, Ariz. was the creative genius behind Willie and Joe, perhaps the best-loved comic strip to come out of World War Two.” PICTURE TWO SOAKING AND EXHAUSTED GIs squatting in a mud-filled…
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.” AMERICA’S ANTICIPATED INVASION of Japan ultimately proved unnecessary – the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki made sure of that. Yet all throughout…
Operation Chariot – Inside the British Commando Raid on Saint-Nazaire
“Why did Britain even consider this sort of ‘death or glory’ raid when casualties were guaranteed to be heavy?” By Robert Lyman IN MARCH OF 1942 British Commandos and the Royal Navy launched one of…
Civil War Submarines – How North and South Rushed to Win History’s First Undersea Arms Race
“The ill-fated Hunley was just one of a number of submarines and semi-submersibles to see service in the war between North and South. Here are some others.” ON THE NIGHT of Feb. 17, 1864, the 40-foot-long,…
The First Wartime Newsreels — A Collection of the Earliest Battles Captured on Film
“Amazingly, many of these early wartime newsreels have survived and are freely available online today.” (Originally published Nov. 14, 2012) EARLY PHOTOGRAPHERS immortalized conflicts like the Crimean War, the American Civil War, and the Franco…
