WWII History - April 2013

Features

Surging Toward the Alps
Allied troops pursued the retreating Germans during the last days of the war in Italy.
By Michael E. Haskew

The Sinister Valley
Bitter fighting in the Reichswald delayed Allied entry into the Ruhr, the industrial heart of Germany.
By David H. Lippman

Hard Charging Landings
Navy student pilots did not always land smoothly in the USS Charger.
By Kevin M. Hymel

Battle at Bir el Gubi
When planning the relief of Tobruk in late 1941, British Eighth Army commanders brusquely discounted the opposition they would face from Italian armored forces. The tank battle at Bir el Gubi proved that assumption decidedly wrong.
By Arnold Blumberg

Seeds of Continuing Strife
Allied efforts in Indochina were a harbinger of years of fighting in Southeast Asia following World War II.
By John Brown

Columns

Dispatches
Readers of WWII History offer their insights, comments, and criticisms.

Insight
Ernie Pyle wrote the story and Robert Mitchum starred in the movie about Henry Waskow.

Top Secret
The Soviet military used deception on numerous occasions to thwart the Germans.

Ordnance
American flamethrower tanks provided a horrific edge during island fighting in the Pacific.

Profiles
Adolf Galland flew countless sorties, led the Luftwaffe fighter arm, and defied Reichsmarshal Hermann Göring.

Books
Jewish fighters battled the Nazis amid appalling conditions in the Polish capital.

Simulation Gaming
Mixing third-person shooting with real-time strategy does not always lead to a successful game.