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Losin, Yigal. (1983). Pillar of Fire: The Rebirth of Israel--a Visual History. Israel: Shikmona Publishing Company. *(Archived screenshot)Swastika on the walls of Jerusalem's Zion Gate. Arab feelings in 1936.1936 was not a good year for democracy. The Fascist countries were seen as successful by many people. Every step taken by Hitler or Mussolini met with hesitation and trepidation on the part of the leaders of the free world. Hitler armed Germany, contraven-ing the Treaty of Versailles. The Wehrmacht marched to the Rhineland; this was a blatant violation of the Locarno Pact, according to which Germany was to keep the area...

The Army deployed 65 infantry divisions for the Second World War. Each was a small town with its own equivalents for community services within eight categories of combat arms. Units such as artillery, engineering, and heavy weapons engaged the enemy directly. Yet of all categories, the foot soldier faced the greatest hazard with the least chance of reward.These civilians become warriors, confronted the most dismal fate of all, and their duty was uninterrupted by missions completed or a fixed deployment time. The infantryman was enveloped within a deranged, barbaric, and brittle existence against a resolute enemy where victory often required...

It was the plane that pilots 'put on' rather than flew; the beautiful beast that left even the Germans waxing lyrical. If you ask people today what typified British defiance the most in the Second World War, many of them will tell you it was the Spitfire. So when I got the chance to take to the skies in one - and even briefly take control - on a sunny morning in March, I knew that this would be the experience of a lifetime. Today, as Britain marks the 80th anniversary of VE Day, we are rightly remembering the men...

The Sledge Patrol, by David Howarth, 233 pages, published by Macmillan in 1957. $10 in mass market paperback from Amazon. First editions available as used copies. The Sledge Patrol is a one of those fascinating glimpses of WWII which show the conflict through an unexpected and unusual lens. It is the story of the East Coast of Greenland and how a few men can affect a much larger conflict, in ways of which they are unaware. As a bonus, there is the description of a conflict between a polar bear and a man alone on the ice. The polar bear...

In commemoration of the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s surrender in May 1945, the Hoover Institution Library & Archives has released more than 800 digitized audio recordings and transcripts of conversations relating to 20th century conflict – most notably, undercover conversations with high-ranking Nazis who had fled to South America.

https://x.com/DeptofDefense/status/1918999055566614571May 4, 2025 · 253.3K Views

John "Paddy" Hemingway, the last surviving pilot who flew in the Battle of Britain, died in March of this year. He was 105. Hemingway was forced to bail out of his aircraft four times – three times in England and a fourth over enemy territory in Italy, where locals helped him get back to Allied lines. He said that his "biggest regret was the loss of friends, in particular that of Richard 'Dickie' Lee in August 1940.“ The last living witnesses to World War Two are leaving us and taking a shared memory of its history with them. If you...

US President Donald Trump on May 1 expressed his intent to rename two US holidays to “Victory Day” in his latest attempt to alter the country’s nomenclature. “I am hereby renaming May 8 as Victory Day for World War II and November 11 as Victory Day for World War I,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform. -snip- “Many of our allies and friends are celebrating May 8 as Victory Day, but we did more than any other country, by far, in producing a victorious result on World War II,” Mr Trump’s post said. - snip- “We won both wars,...

From Kaliningrad to Vladivostok, Russian schoolchildren are preparing for the most important holiday of the year: Victory Day. Commemorated with a grand military parade on Moscow’s Red Square every May 9, the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany has long been used by authorities to rally support for the state. And it starts in school. In September 2016, three history textbooks were sanctioned by the Ministry of Education, all of which gloss over Stalin’s crimes and his initial alliance with Nazi Germany. “My main issue with the textbooks is that they do not reveal the whole truth,” says historian and...

On February 19, 1945, waves of 18, 19 and 20-year-old Marines hit the beaches of Iwo Jima, a heavily defended island held by the Japanese. The importance of taking Iwo Jima and converting it into a major airfield for American bombers, cannot be overestimated. Our planes needed a place to land and be repaired to continue their devastating attacks on Japan; and only courage and blood could secure the landing fields they needed to get the job done. Those young Iwo Jima Marines who are still alive, are great grandfathers now with the youngest survivors being 92 years old. We...

April 18, 2025, marks the 80th anniversary of Ernie Pyle’s death on the battlefield Eighty years ago, Ernie Pyle, one of America's most recognized war correspondents, was killed while covering the Battle of Okinawa during World War II. HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) -- Eighty years ago, one of America’s most recognized war correspondents was killed while covering the Battle of Okinawa during World War II. When it came to telling the story of the American soldier fighting the good fight overseas, no one compared to Ernie Pyle. “He exemplified the courage and the willingness to hear the story of the common soldier,...

The Doolittle Raid wasn't just an operation of the Army Air Force. The Navy made its own plans, took its own risks, and has its own story that deserves to be remembered. Beyond Doolittle: The Navy Role in the Doolittle Raid | 15:16 The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered | 1.53M subscribers | 55,154 views | April 18, 2025

At 106 years old, Vaughn Drake Jr. was the oldest known survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor until his death on April 7, according to his obituary. Born Nov. 6, 1918, in Winchester, Kentucky, Drake served in the Army Corps of Engineers during World War II. He saw the battles of Pearl Harbor and Saipan in the Marianas, collecting an array of honors including the special congressional medal for Pearl Harbor veterans and the World War II Victory Medal. In 2016, the Lexington Herald-Leader sat down with Drake to record some of his memories of the fateful attack on...

London -- Keir Starmer hailed the contributions of British Sikhs across all walks of life in the UK in his Baisakhi greetings from 10 Downing Street on Sunday. Having hosted a special reception earlier this week to mark the festival symbolising the birth of the Khalsa, Starmer posted a video on social media showcasing the festivities along with his Baisakhi message. “It’s really fantastic to be able to come together and to celebrate the contribution of British Sikhs to our nation, and what a contribution that is and has been and will be into the future,” said Starmer. “From across...

The body of U.S. Army Air Force Sergeant Henry Allen Jr., a World War II soldier from Covington, Georgia, has been identified decades after his death.Allen was killed during the war when his plane was shot down over Germany.In June, his family was notified of the identification, which was made possible through anthropological and dental analysis.Sergeant Allen will be laid to rest in Covington at a future date.

Capturing the heart of America, an Ohio veteran turning 104 years old in May of 2025 requested President Donald Trump to attend his birthday in a viral video acquiring hundreds of thousands of viewers. The message acted as a captivating reminder of the enduring patriotism of United States veterans, showcasing the love for our nation still deeply rooted in those who have served. The man making that heartfelt and heartwarming plea to the president while wearing a red MAGA hat was Denver Moore, a proud World War II veteran celebrating his 104th birthday on May 15, made a heartfelt plea...

A 100-year-old World War II veteran traveled from Bristol, Connecticut, to Iwo Jima to mark 80 years since the U.S. fought on the small Japanese island. Joseph Caminiti, a 100-year-old WWII veteran who still goes to the gym daily, joined U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, military officials, and families of those killed in the battle of Iwo Jima to visit the island for the combat’s 80-year anniversary, according to a report by WTNH. Caminiti is among the estimated three remaining living survivors of the battle of Iwo Jima, where the iconic photograph was captured of U.S. Marines raising the...

The Battle of Okinawa, code named Operation Iceberg, was World War II's largest and bloodiest battle in the Pacific Theater. The landings on the Japanese island by joint U.S. and Allied forces took place 80 years ago, April 1, 1945, lasting until June 22, 1945. It was the last major battle of the war. Army Lt. Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr., who commanded the Tenth Army, led the invasion. The Tenth Army was a composite unit comprising the Army's 7th, 27th, 77th and 96th infantry divisions, the 1st, 2nd and 6th Marine divisions, as well as a joint Army/Marine Corps...

Former Biden White House adviser Susan Rice went on MSNBC to proclaim the Trump Administration's Signal group chat on the Houthi air strike "the biggest national security debacle that any national security advisor can remember. The pure laziness, malpractice, recklessness of the Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, the Director of National Intelligence, the CIA Director and others is bizarre." Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth questioned Rice's remarks, saying "I think most normal people would consider the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 the biggest national security debacle. Over 2,400 people were killed by a massive Japanese air...

Staggering losses in the Battle of the Atlantic during 1942 led many U.S. Navy officials to believe that Germany’s Kriegsmarine was receiving assistance from Axis sympathizers on the U.S. East Coast and had spies in New York City. To counter this threat, the Office of Naval Intelligence’s (ONI’s) District Intelligence Office (DIO) in the Third Naval District sought assistance from an unlikely ally to help secure the waterfront: the Mob.By using informants from organized crime families, which in this time period were referred to simply as “the underworld,” the DIO was able to secure the waterfront and the coastline around...