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Scroll back up to restore default view. Associated Press Explorers find WWII Navy ship, deepest wreck discovered June 26, 2022 In this article: Samuel B. Roberts Recipient of the Navy Cross (1921-1942) Robert W. Copeland United States admiral MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A U.S. Navy destroyer escort that engaged a superior Japanese fleet in the largest sea battle of World War II in the Philippines has become the deepest wreck to be discovered, according to explorers. The USS Samuel B. Roberts, popularly known as the “Sammy B," was identified on Wednesday broken into two pieces on a slope at a...

How the pope failed the Jews in the HolocaustA new book sets out damning evidence about the conduct of Pope Pius XII during the Second World War Julie CarbonaraBY Julie Carbonara June 30, 2022 09:06 Timid: Pope Pius XII (Photo: Getty Images)Pope Pius XII, who presided over the Catholic Church during the Second World War, has always divided opinion: was he a Nazi sympathiser who did little to save the Jews? Or has he been wrongly vilified? Only the documentation hidden away in the Vatican archives could provide a definite answer. It looked as if the truth would remain buried...

One of only four remaining Medal of Honor winners from WW2. The last remaining Marine MOH winner from WW2. The last remaining MOH winner from the Pacific theater of WW2.

Hershel W. "Woody" Williams, the last remaining Medal of Honor recipient from World War II, whose heroics under fire over several crucial hours at the Battle of Iwo Jima made him a legend in his native West Virginia, died Wednesday. He was 98. Williams' foundation announced on Twitter and Facebook that he died at the Veterans Affairs medical center bearing his name in Huntington. "Today, America lost not just a valiant Marine and a Medal of Honor recipient, but an important link to our Nation's fight against tyranny in the Second World War," U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in...

A previously sunken World War II-era landing craft that once was 185 feet below the surface of Lake Mead, is being exposed as waters keep shrinking. The Higgins landing craft is nearly two-thirds exposed. It is beached less than a mile from Lake Mead Marina and Hemenway Harbor. The boat was used to survey the Colorado River decades ago, then was sold to a marina and eventually used as an anchor for a breakwater in the sediment, according to D.J. Jenner of Las Vegas Scuba, which conducts various tour dives on the lake, previously including the sunken boat. National Park...

It has recently come to light that a number of significant Japanese aircraft wrecks are currently being disassembled for recovery in the South Pacific. Located at the old Imperial Japanese Navy airfield on Balalae Island, part of the Shortland Island Group in the western province of the Solomon Islands, the collection of airframes and components importantly includes two Mitsubishi G4M attack bombers, along with the rear fuselage of another example. The G4M, better known in the west by its Allied code name, Betty, was a mainstay of the Imperial Japanese Navy’s land-based aerial bombing fleet. They possessed incredible range, although...

Personnel and equipment arriving at Normandy by air and sea following the D-Day invasion in 1944.National Archives and Records Administration, 26-G-2517

Before James Doohan became famous playing 'Scotty' in the original Star Trek, he was a Canadian lieutenant in World War II who heroically took out German snipers during the D-Day invasion. Doohan, who died back in 2005, had enlisted in the Royal Canadian Army when he was just 19 years old. He had progressed to the rank of lieutenant with the 14th Field Artillery Regiment of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division by the time Allied troops invaded Normandy on June 6, 1944. Doohan and his division were tasked with taking Juno Beach on D-Day as other Allied forces, including U.S....

At the beginning of the Second World War, Doohan joined the Royal Canadian Artillery. He was commissioned a lieutenant in the 13th Field Artillery Regiment of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division. Doohan went to England in 1940 for training. His first combat was the invasion of Normandy at Juno Beach on D-Day. Shooting two snipers, Doohan led his men to higher ground through a field of anti-tank mines, where they took defensive positions for the night. Crossing between command posts at 11:30 that night, Doohan was hit by six rounds fired from a Bren gun by a nervous Canadian...

From James Doohan At the outbreak of World War II, aged 19, he joined the Royal Canadian Artillery, and was eventually commissioned as a lieutenant. His first combat assignment was the invasion of Normandy at Juno Beach on D-Day. Shooting two snipers along the way, Doohan's unit made its way to higher ground and took defensive positions. At 11:30 that night, he was machine-gunned, taking six hits: four in his leg, one in the chest, and one through his middle right finger. The chest bullet was stopped by his silver cigarette case; he would later generally hide the amputated finger...

In late December 1941, Navy Secretary Frank Knox and FDR met and selected Chester Nimitz to command the Pacific Fleet, which at that time the public perceived as residing at the bottom of Pearl Harbor. Roosevelt said, “Tell Nimitz to get the hell out to Pearl and stay there until the war is won”. Knox informed Nimitz by saying, “You’re going to take command of the Pacific Fleet, and I think you will be gone a long time”.On Christmas Day 1941 Admiral Chester Nimitz arrived by Catalina flying boat to take command. He did not bring any staff with him....

A D-Day veteran who was reported missing from a care home has been found in Normandy after travelling to France to mark the invasion's 70th anniversary. Bernard Jordan, 89, a former mayor of Hove, sneaked out of The Pines nursing home in Furze Hill yesterday after being told by staff he could not make the trip to Normandy. Donning his war medals under a raincoat, the Royal Navy veteran joined his former comrades on a coach, before arriving at a hotel in Ouistreham, northwestern France, 12 hours later.

So this is one of those historic dates that seems to be slipping faster and faster out of sight, receding into a past at such a rate that we who were born afterwards, or long afterwards, can just barely see. But it was such an enormous, monumental enterprise – so longed looked for, so carefully planned and involved so many soldiers, sailors and airmen – of course the memory would linger long afterwards. Think of looking down from the air, at that great metal armada, spilling out from every harbor, every estuary along England’s coast. Think of the sound of...

After World War I, Germany's economy suffered from depression and a devaluation of their currency. On January 30, 1933, Adolph Hitler was elected Chancellor of Germany by promising hope and universal healthcare. Less than a month later, on February 27, 1933, a crisis occurred -- the Rheichstag, Germany's Capitol Building, was suspiciously set on fire. Hitler was quick to use this crisis as an opportunity to set aside Germany's Weimar Republic and seize emergency powers as a dictator. He suspended basic rights and accused his political opponents of conspiracy. He ordered mass arrests followed by executions, even ordering his SS...

In Dennis Sullivan's photograph above, a landing craft from HMCS Prince Henry carries Canadian troops toward Juno Beach in the early hours of D-Day. Many years ago, I spoke to someone who'd been aboard the Prince Henry's sister ship, HMCS Prince David, who talked about the subtly different dynamic among the guys on those landing craft. The Royal Canadian Navy men at the front are concerned to make their rendezvous on time: They're in the middle of the mission, and they want to complete it. The infantrymen behind them are waiting for theirs to start. As the Prince Henry recedes...

~ D-DAY, June 6, 1944 ~ NORMANDY INVASION May 1944 had been chosen at the conference in Washington in May 1943 as the time for the invasion. Difficulties in assembling landing craft forced a postponement until June, but June 5 was fixed as the unalterable date by Eisenhower on May 17. As the day approached and troops began to embark for the crossing, bad weather set in, threatening dangerous landing conditions. After tense debate, Eisenhower and his subordinates decided on a 24-hour delay, requiring the recall of some ships already at sea. Eventually, on the morning of June 5,...

Timeline of the D-Day landings of 6th June 1944 hour by hour as events unfolded on the day

It was the largest amphibious invasion in history, commanded by General Dwight D. Eisenhower. More than 13,000 aircraft and 5,000 ships supported the operation. Allied casualties on D-Day have been estimated at 10,000 killed, wounded, and missing in action: 6,603 Americans, 2,700 British, and 946 Canadians.

Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world. I have full confidence in your courage and devotion to duty and skill in...

Timeline of the D-Day landings of 6th June 1944 hour by hour as events unfolded on the day