In 1940, France had the numbers. The French army possessed a greater number of soldiers with all available firepower. According to theory their numbers should have made it simple to defeat Germany. They even had British backup. France should hav…
Many U-boats were at sea or in port when the “Regenbogen” order was given to surrender on May 3, 1945. This was not as easy as it might sound since a submarine suddenly appearing out of the water was a target, even if it meant to surrender. Many G…
Called the Washington B-1 by the RAF it was never well-liked by the RAF. These bombers we not made for the RAF but rather were in-service USAF B-29s that were handed over to the RAF which received 87 of them. To the RAF their B-29s were merely a s…
They were, quite frankly, done. In fact, there was a game that children in Berlin would “play” right after the war, called “Raid.” If they happened to see a soldier, they would make a big show of screaming and running away. However, a lot changed …
I’d have to give ‘last German holdouts’ prize to the 11 men in the weather forecast unit under the command of lieutenant Wilhelm Dege stranded at a weather station on the Norwegian island of Nordausandet (near Spitsbergen), in the arctic. They had…
Many were frustrated by the American way of warfare, especially the officers who could not call upon the resources that their enemy could. The common soldier was annoyed that the American infantry declined to “fight fairly” and relied heavily on art…
There’s a story—maybe true—that says a lot. During the bombing of Germany, American bombers were getting hit hard. The problem? Their fighter planes couldn’t fly far enough to protect them deep into enemy territory. The Germans knew this. They wai…
Albert Speer (Hitler’s architect and eventually somewhat of a friend) often wondered this himself and came to the conclusion that Hitler’s mind and personality seemed to work more like that of an artist and therefore embraced the night as a sort o…
They drank… a lot of alcohol. Some guards simply didn’t know. Allow me to explain. Upon arrival to the camp, people were placed in 2 lines. One line to work, one line to die. The ones who couldn’t work would be marched off to the gas chamb…
In warfare when someone says, for example, "500,000 Soviet troops were encircled by German Army Group Centre near Smolensk", it means the Germans had captured all the roads, bridges, railway lines ... connecting Smolensk with other plac…
Luck. Over time, Hitler grew more and more suspicious but he was one lucky guy. 1. There was an attempt to shoot Hitler when he was on a stand during a parade. However; he was became blocked by a crowd of people. The sniper waited until…
There was no escape for Hitler . He was a dead man in a basement while the world burned above him. The Russian artillery was leveling the city block by block. A man could not walk from one street to the next without being killed. Soldiers were figh…
World War 2 was a difficult time not knowing which of the leaders of the Nazi party Germans disliked most. The government was highly strict. Leaders could end up in serious trouble should people say bad stuff about them. Worse they could be sent to…
Special forces, like the "Brandenburger" regiment or "Meereskämpfer," weren't really seen as elite back then. They trained for special jobs other units couldn't do, but that didn't mean they were the best fighters. T…
Many were frustrated by the American way of warfare, especially the officers who could not call upon the resources that their enemy could. The common soldier was annoyed that the American infantry declined to “fight fairly” and relied heavily on ar…
