Giving the Machine Gun Wings
On April 1, 1915, Roland Garros took off in a Morane-Saulnier L from an airfield in northern France, planning to play an April Fool’s Day trick on the Germans.
Book Review: Russia’s Iron General
Jamie Cockfield profiles WWI Russian commander Alexei Brusilov, among his nation's greatest generals
Medium Mark A ‘Whippet’
Debuting on the Western Front in 1917, the Whippet was nimbler than other tanks, though hardly a greyhound
Perfect Trap: The Godfather of Naval Aviation
Remarkable career of naval aviation pioneer Frederick “Trap” Trapnell encompassed biplanes, airships, WWII fighters, research planes and early carrier jets.
Book Review: The Polar Bear Expedition
James Carl Nelson recounts the North Russian Intervention, intended to keep WWI supplies sent to Russia from falling into the wrong hands
Book Review: The Greatest of all Leathernecks
Joseph Arthur Simon relates the U.S. Marines’ transformation into an elite force and John Lejeune’s pre-eminent role in it
Albatros D.III
Flown aggressively with tactical skill, the D.III became the terror of the Western Front
The 1918 Shotgun Protest
In the final year of World War I, the United States armed its forces on the Western Front with pump shotguns. Germany wasn’t pleased.
Hard Truth About Disarmament: Diplomacy Means Diddly
Iran will build a bomb when it's ready, despite treaty restrictions
Six Facts of How Veterans Day Came to Be
Fun facts about the day made to celebrate the troops
January 2020 Readers’ Letters
Readers sound off about chemlights, the Ukraine, airborne turrets and WWI relics
Book Review: With Their Bare Hands
Gene Fax delivers an epic account of the 1918 Battle of Montfaucon—American doughboys' drive on the Meuse-Argonne front
Book Review: Instrument of War
Dennis Showalter studies the German army in World War I, refuting lingering myths, while clarifying recent insights
This Week in History – ‘Bonus Army’ Demands Pay From Washington During Great Depression
On July 28, 1932, WWI veterans hit by the Depression stormed Washington to collect bonuses promised to them after Congress delayed their disbursement
Air Raids Over Paris
Maurice Busset used an age-old medium—wood-block prints—to depict Germany’s terrifying air raids on Paris during World War I.
This Week in History – Belleau Wood 1918
When ordered by the French to fall back at the battle of Belleau Wood, one Marine officer, Capt. Lloyd Williams, said, “Retreat? Hell, we just got here.”
