Free Republic

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Wednesday that Israel would defend itself against Iran, calling an emerging nuclear pact “a mistake that will cost dearly.” Speaking at the Knesset during a discussion devoted to the victory of the Allied forces in World War II 70 years ago, Netanyahu said world powers should learn a lesson from the rise of Nazi Germany and not go ahead with an agreement that would allow Tehran to continue enriching uranium and lift sanctions. “The lesson of history is never to make concessions to a radical regime which waves the banner of genocide and expansionism,” he...

WHEN Hitler’s forces marched into Warsaw in September 1939, Wladyslaw Bartoszewski’s parents told him not to panic. They had experienced German occupation during the last war. There would be inconvenience, disorder and even looting. He should be careful. But it would not be too bad—the Germans were, after all, west Europeans—and by next year, the British and French would arrive. The Bartoszewskis could hardly have given their teenage son worse advice. The Western allies never came; instead the Soviets joined in the Nazi attack. Hitler not only wiped Poland off the map, but aimed to obliterate its language, culture and...

Link only due to copyright. WWII vet flies Spitefire for first time in 70 years

WORLD WAR II - THE BATTLE OF OKINAWA - Discovery History Military (full documentary)

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel walk to attend a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Kremlin walls in Moscow, Russia, May 10, 2015.

The most extraordinary things about this truly incredible tale of World War II are that it hasn’t been told before in English, and that it hasn’t already been made into a blockbuster Hollywood movie. Here are the basic facts: on 5 May 1945—five days after Hitler’s suicide—three Sherman tanks from the 23rd Tank Battalion of the U.S. 12th Armored Division under the command of Capt. John C. ‘Jack’ Lee Jr., liberated an Austrian castle called Schloss Itter in the Tyrol, a special prison that housed various French VIPs, including the ex-prime ministers Paul Reynaud and Eduard Daladier and former commanders-in-chief...

Events are being held in many countries to mark 70 years since the end of World War II in Europe on May 8, 1945, but in fact the last large-scale engagement of the conflict began three days after the Nazi capitulation. More than a thousand people, mostly German soldiers, were killed in a largely forgotten battle against U.S. and Soviet troops plus Czech irregulars on May 11-12, 1945. (RFE/RL)

Dignitaries and veterans commemorated the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe at a ceremony at the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. Speakers included White House National Security Adviser Susan Rice and author and World War II historian Alex Kershaw. The ceremony was followed by a flyover by dozens of World War II aircraft. May 8, 1945, marked the formal acceptance by the Allied forces of Germany’s unconditional surrender.

The 70th anniversary of the end of World War II was commemorated throughout the Baltic countries today. In Estonia, the largest events will take place in the capital, Tallinn, where wreaths will be placed on behalf of the government at the Defence Forces Cemetery and at the memorial to the victims of Nazism at Rahumäe Jewish cemetery. Traditionally, wreaths are placed in the name of the government at the Maarjamäe Memorial Square at the monument for participants of the 1944 Estonian defence battles, graves of German soldiers and the Red Army memorial. [....] As previously reported, this year Lithuania will...

Russian state television is promising a special treat for military veterans for Victory Day on May 9: a newly colorized version of the 1973 film classic Only Old Men Are Going To Battle, the powerful story of a doomed squadron of World War II fighter pilots. There's just one problem. The movie, arguably one of the best of the Soviet war genre, was directed by a Ukrainian, filmed in Ukraine, and stars more than a half-dozen Ukrainian actors -- including Vladimir Talashko, whose character, an aspiring opera singer, is killed after deliberately crashing his plane into a Nazi supply train,...

Soviet War Dead [Infographic] Population Losses in the 20th Century: A Reference. Key Civilian Dead Military Dead Deaths as % of 1940 population

In the Western popular imagination -- particularly the American one -- World War II is a conflict we won. It was fought on the beaches of Normandy and Iwo Jima, through the rubble of recaptured French towns and capped by sepia-toned scenes of joy and young love in New York. It was a victory shaped by the steeliness of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the moral fiber of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and the awesome power of an atomic bomb.

On 7 May 1945, Germany signed an unconditional surrender at Allied headquarters in Reims, France, to take effect the following day, ending the second world war in Europe. In this gallery, we look back at VE Day and the events leading up to Germany's surrender.

The unmistakable roar of American warplanes that helped the Allies win World War II will thunder over Washington on Friday to mark the 70th anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat. From 12:10 pm (1610 GMT), for 45 minutes, 56 restored "warbirds" will fly in formation down the Potomac River, past the Lincoln Memorial and over the National Mall, the nation's symbolic front lawn. Up to 10,000 people are expected to watch the spectacle -- including 300 to 500 of the last surviving veterans of the 1939-45 conflict that the United States entered in December 1941 with the Japanese attack on Pearl...

Part I. The Pacific in Eruption. A segment on the WWII Battle of Coral Sea from the series War in the Pacific.

A series of incredible photographs showing more than 150 lost World War Two aircraft 130-feet under the Pacific Ocean has been released. The stunning images show the planes surrounded by coral and fish as they lie - sometimes vertically - on the seabed more than seven decades after they were dumped there. The find includes historic American aircraft including Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers, F4U Corsair and TBF/TBM Avengers.Amazingly, many of the planes have remained intact, with only a few broken tails and wings littering the floor. Brandi Mueller, from Cameron, Wisconsin, discovered the planes while scuba diving around five...

The reputation of a disgraced wartime navy captain has been restored, thanks to the discoveries of a documentary featuring the finder of the Titanic. For more than 60 years, Captain Herbert G. Claudius was blamed for letting a Nazi U-boat ‘get away’, after it sank the Robert E. Lee passenger freighter in the Gulf of Mexico in 1942. But an undersea expedition – aided by Dr Robert Ballard who rediscovered the Titanic 30 years ago – has revealed the first published pictures of the submarine’s wreckage, showing how bombs dropped by Cpt Claudius’ crew successfully sunk the attacker U-166. ........

"Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces, Reims: Nazi General Jodl, representing Admiral Doenitz, strides into the 'war room' where Allied Generals await him and his party. After the surrender terms are understood, Jodl fills a third of a page with his scrawly signature, this his associates sign. U.S. General W. B. Smith the Allied Chief of Staff signs as do the remainder of the Allied Generals. In an adjoining room, General Eisenhower, wreathed in smiles, forms the signature pens into a V for Victory sign. Unconditional surrender is an accomplished fact." scenes of peace signed at red scholhouse in Reims, France,...

Welcome to Jamie's Journeys! Join Regent Seven Seas cruise director and adventurer Jamie Logan as he travels to this this small but heavily fortified island which was the site of one of the great battles during WWII. Here American and Filipino forces held off the Imperial Japanese Navy which delayed their advance and saved Australia from invasion. See the incredible remains of this battle torn island!

"The Filipinos did most of the fighting and most of the dying..." This tells the "true story" behind the "forgotten war" of Bataan and Corregidor -- savage battles that violently hurled falsely reassured Filipinos and an ill-prepared Philippines into the Second World War in the Pacific. Produced by the Department of National Defense of the Philippines and the Philippines Veterans Affairs Office this series of videos documents the outstanding courage, heroism and nobility of Filipinos regardless the inevitable fall of the country to the unrelenting Imperial Japanese military juggernaut. An outcome inevitably irreversible despite the fierce resistance of the mostly...