World War II

World War II Features

Let There Be Light: How a Film on PTSD Worried the Army

Aiming to illuminate an invisible combat injury, a groundbreaking film became a casualty itself

World War II

Hell and High Water: The USS Barb

Eugene Fluckey threw out the operating manual to become one of the deadliest American submarine commanders in the Pacific during World War II. His sub USS Barb sank ships, shelled factories and even blew up a train.

WWII Figures

The Avengers: The Doolittle Raid

World War II

Duking It Out On The Western Front

Get ready for some edge-of-your-seat gameplay

landing craft

The Mortar-Equipped Landing Craft

war ii

Joe Boyd’s Battle for Peace

pope parrott and paul

Pearl Harbor Avenged

company commander

Surprised Outside Strass

air cover

One Man’s War: Donald Love

taking dictation

Secretary to a Master Spy

carmelo and bauerman

The ‘Battle Baby’ Magazine Born in Tokyo

World War II

Commands: French 2nd Armored Division

World War II

WWII Letters from Readers- February 2006

issue of world war

WWII Letter from the Editor- February 2006

unit

WWII Book Review: Jagdgeschwader 301/302

guard

Britain’s Secret Guerrilla Army

Today in History: Born on August 3

0106

Marcus Cicero, Roman statesman and author.

1621

William Tucker, believed to be first African-American born in the New World.

1793

Lucretia Coffin Mott, women's rights advocate and founder of the first Women's Rights Convention.

1901

Ngo Dinh Diem, South Vietnamese president assassinated by his own generals.

1907

Ray Milland, Welsh actor and director; won Academy Award for his role in The Lost Weekend.

1909

Victor Borge, pianist, comedian, conductor.

1911

John Sturges, director (The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape).

1917

Vernon A. Walters, US Army lieutenant general, diplomat, deputy director of Central Intelligence; member of Military Intelligence Hall of Fame.

1923

Bud Adams, owner of Houston Oilers (later Tennessee Titans) football team; instrumental in founding the former American Football League.

1929

Sergio Leone, Italian director, instrumental in creating the "Spaghetti Western" genre (A Fistful of Dollars, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly).

1956

Mel Gibson, actor, director, producer, screenwriter (Mad Max, Passion of the Christ).

Related Stories

World War II

Let There Be Light: How a Film on PTSD Worried the Army

Aiming to illuminate an invisible combat injury, a groundbreaking film became a casualty itself

World War II

Hell and High Water: The USS Barb

Eugene Fluckey threw out the operating manual to become one of the deadliest American submarine commanders in the Pacific during World War II. His sub USS Barb sank ships, shelled factories and even blew up a train.

WWII Figures

The Avengers: The Doolittle Raid

World War II

Duking It Out On The Western Front

Get ready for some edge-of-your-seat gameplay

World War II

The Mortar-Equipped Landing Craft

World War II Archives

Mag: Aviation History Personalities

American Aviators Aloft at Pearl Harbor

Two heroic American aviators led a spirited defense against the Japanese at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Mag: World War II Featured

The Man Who Knew No Fear: General Lucian K. Truscott

Lucian K. Truscott Jr. had a voice like gravel, a brain for combat, and a heartfelt grasp of the soldiering life

World War II News

World War II News

WWII Today- January 2009

World War II News

WWII Today- March 2009

World War II Conversations

Mag: World War II Featured

Conversation with Dick Cole, the Last of the Doolittle Raiders

A conversation with Dick Cole who copiloted the lead B-25 with Doolittle in the famous 1942 raid...

Mag: World War II Personalities

Conversation with Brigitte Schreiber Hayward

Brigitte Schreiber spent her childhood growing up in Nazi Germany along with her siblings and parents, and recalls her harrowing experiences.

World War II Weapons Manual

Mag: World War II Featured

Weapons Manual: The Boeing B-17 Heavy Bomber

The B-17 Flying Fortress was best known as the primary workhorse of the U.S. Army Air Force...

World War II Weapons Manual

Japan’s Type 97 Chi-Ha Medium Tank

It's name reflects the 15-ton vehicle’s creation in imperial year 2597—or 1937. Its category, “Chi-sensha,” means “medium tank.” And “Ha,” or 3, indicates the line’s third iteration. An upgrade arising from a bruising loss to Soviet tankers at Khalkin Gol in August 1939, the punchier 97 flourished in soggy settings, slithering through Malayan jungle to topple the British bastion at Singapore.

World War II Time Travel

Mag: World War II Featured

TIME TRAVEL: Fortifying the Last Frontier

Travel writer Jessica Wambach Brown travels to explore the forts that once protected a vital supply route during the war.

World War II Time Travel

Time Travel: Where Dragons Dwelled

The stubborn remnants of Hitler’s Westwall...

World War II War Letters

World War II War Letters

A Young Pilot’s Surprising Political Leanings

World War II War Letters

Mystery Date: Pacific War Edition

Fire for Effect

Fire for Effect

Fire for Effect: Toughing It Out in the Japanese Army

The reason to train an army is to beat an enemy in battle—but if you're a Japanese soldier, it might have seemed your army's real purpose was to beat you

Mag: World War II Featured

Fire for Effect: Not Making This Up

"Who knows what else is out there?," writes Rob Citino, head historian of the National WWII Museum. In a war this scope in size, there's always a new story

World War II Web Extras

World War II Web Extras

Baptised by Fire: Images of Peleliu

World War II Web Extras

London Can Take It!: British Propaganda in the United States

British documentary films like London Can Take It! and Words for Battle helped prepare Americans to enter the war.

Battle Films

Battle Films

‘The Imitation Game’ Sacrifices Truth for Emotion

The Academy Award-winning film downplays key historic details in the breaking of Germany’s Enigma code, yet still packs a powerful punch.

Battle Films

Battle Films: Rommel (2012)

In 2012 film Rommel, the myth of the famous German general as an apolitical figure falls apart

Unknown Soldiers

Unknown Soldiers

The Hungarian Math Whiz Who Helped the C-47 Take Flight

Unknown Soldiers

Finding Her Niche Behind Enemy Lines

World War II Video Gallery

World War II Video Gallery

From the Vault of the U.S. National Archives

World War II Video Gallery

Stories from the Northwest

World War II Their Darkest Hour

World War II Their Darkest Hour

The Joy of Killing

A counterintelligence officer explains why she pulled the trigger

World War II Their Darkest Hour

A Rational German Explains His Respect for Hitler

World War II Features

Mag: World War II Featured

Let There Be Light: How a Film on PTSD Worried the Army

Aiming to illuminate an invisible combat injury, a groundbreaking film became a casualty itself

World War II Features

Fire in the Skies, Ceasefire on the Ground

On August 15, 1945, U.S. Navy aviators fought right to the limit.

World War II Footlocker

World War II Footlocker

Footlocker: Reich Labor Service’s Klopfsteg

Curators at The National World War II Museum solve readers’ artifact mysteries

World War II Footlocker

Footlocker: Army Strip Map from the 100th Infantry Division

A reader submits a rare, intact strip map marking the trail of a group of men of the 100th Infantry Division as they meander through Europe

World War II Reviews

Mag: World War II Featured

Review: A Look At WWII’s Effects in Latin America

Journalist Mary Jo McConahay's "The Tango War" examines World War II's Latin American dimensions and how it shaped American policy in the region postwar

World War II Reviews

Review: The Battle of Arnhem by Antony Beevor

British historian Antony Beevor's Battle of Arnhem makes an old yarn fresh again in this exciting comprehensive look at Market Garden and its aftermath.

World War II

The Time Ernest Hemingway Worked As a Spy in Cuba

During World War II, the legendary writer sailed the Caribbean aboard the Pilar searching for U-boats

WWII Figures

Russia Adopts New Law to Counter Nazi Symbols, Revisionism

In July 2021 Russia became the most recent nation to join European countries adopting legal measures to stop the spread of Nazi symbols and ideology

Entertainment & Culture

‘Hope and Glory’ Provides a Child’s-Eye View of the Blitz

Directed and written by John Boorman, the 1987 film presents World War II as a life-altering adventure for young protagonist Billy Rowan.