News Archive

World War I, World War II, military history and militaria collecting in the news

Palin to reveal fate of soldiers on final day of Great War
October 10 2008 The Herald
The story of the final day of the First World War will be uncovered by Michael Palin in a TV programme marking the 90th anniversary of the end of the conflict.

Using new research and photographs, with contemporary film and newspapers, the Monty Python star turned travel writer and presenter embarked on a quest to unravel what happened to soldiers who fought to the last minute and beyond.

His sombre film reveals how there were thousands of casualties in the hours after the Armistice was signed 90 years ago....

WW2 rescue boat faces bleak future
By Stephen Adams 08 Oct 2008 Telegraph.co.uk
A World War Two rescue boat once used to save 38 airman off England's south coast faces slow deterioration unless a buyer can be found, according to its owner. Engineer Phil Clabburn spent three years restoring 64-foot High Speed Launch 102, after finding its rotting shell in 1992. He spent some £500,000 on rebuilding the wooden boat, capable of 38 knots, which is the last surviving vessel of the RAF's wartime Air Sea Rescue team...

Dig out your valuables!
By Joanna Glover 6th October 2008 Somerset County Gazette
A FREE valuation day for collectables will be held in Taunton next week. National auctioneer firm Warwick and Warwick, will hold the event at the Express by Holiday Inn, Blackbrook Park Avenue, on Thursday October 16, from 9am-1pm. The company, which will give valuations and advice on selling, have experts in coins and banknotes, stamps, medals and militaria, postcards and cigarette cards, die cast toys and model railways...

Hitler's desk set on which Munich pact was signed in 1938 put up for sale in online auction
By Daily Mail Reporter 01st October 2008
Ink from these bronze wells and the blotter that accompanies them sealed the fate of peoples and nations during the Second World War. Now the U.S. soldier who liberated them from Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler’s study as a souvenir of his military experiences has put them up for sale. Bidding began online on Tuesday – an ominous day in history and one in which the bronze desk set played a significant role...

Italian war veterans denounce 'insulting' Spike Lee film
By Richard Owen in Rome, October 1, 2008 Times Online
It is a story that underpins Italy’s postwar democracy: the honour lost under Benito Mussolini was regained through the struggle of the partisans and their help for the Allies. Now the partisans are fighting for their reputation after a new film by the director Spike Lee which, they say, insults the memory of the Italian Resistance during the Second World War.

Miracle at St Anna retells the story of the massacre of 560 civilians – including women and children – in August 1944 by SS troops as they retreated northwards in the face of the Allied advance.

The film, which highlights the role of African-American soldiers in the war, suggests that antiFascist partisans indirectly caused the atrocity by taking refuge in the village and then abandoning the residents to their fate...

WOMAN TAKES WW2 BOMB ON JET
Saturday 27th September 2008 Daily Express
A BRITISH woman sparked the evacuation of an entire airport when she tried to board a plane – with a bomb in her hand luggage. Security guards spotted the live Second World War shell on the scanners as she boarded a Ryanair flight at Bergerac, in the Dordogne.

Bomb squad officers destroyed the shell in a controlled explosion, while 1,000 passengers and staff were evacuated from the terminal. The woman, 55, said she had bought the 37mm explosive in a secondhand shop as a present for her husband, who collected military memorabilia....

Pistol that helped trigger WW1 on show in London
Fri Sep 26, 2008 Reuters UK
A pistol carried by the group who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914, helping to spark World War One, is among the exhibits at a London show that recalls the Great War through 90 personal stories...

WW1 Vet's Tears For Dead Troops
September 24, 2008 Sky News
One of Britain's last surviving veterans of the First World War has cried as he paid tribute to dead servicemen and women at the launch of a book about his life. Henry Allingham, who at 112 is the oldest man in Europe, introduced Kitchener's Last Volunteer, The Life of Henry Allingham, the Oldest Surviving Veteran of the Great War, at the RAF Club in Piccadilly, London.

He showed he still has a sense of humour when he joked that his secret to a long and healthy life was "fast women and whisky"...

Bruce's History Lesson: The Battle of Antietam…close but no cigar
Terre Haute Tribune Star, IN - September 17, 2008
It was the bloodiest day of America’s Civil War and remains the bloodiest one-day battle in American history. This week (Sept. 17) in 1862, some 24,000 soldiers died or were wounded in the clash between Union and Confederate troops at Antietam Creek near Sharpsburg, Md.

It was also, arguably, the most consequential battle of the entire war, and the outcome turned in part on a lost package of cigars...

US experts in Germany to search for missing WW2 GIs
September 16, 2008 Telegraph.co.uk
A team of American experts has arrived in Germany to search for the remains of GIs who died fighting the Nazis in World War Two. Tens of thousands of American troops fell in the Eifel Mountain region as the forces of Hitler made them fight for every inch of ground. Many of them have never been found, their corpses lost on the battlefields.

The Joint Prisoners of War, Missing in Action Accounting Command of the US Department of Defence (JPAC) is " now combing the killing fields for the remains of those warriors"...

Memorial Service Held for Japanese Soldiers of WW2
Esk Valley Today, UK - Sep 12, 2008
A LEALHOLM woman has written a book to raise money for a memorial to gunners' from the Second World War. Caroline Eddleston has written Gunner’s Tales and Memories of WW2 in collaboration with the Lowestoft Royal Artillery association. The book contains real-life tales told by the gunners and offers an insight into life on the front lines during the war...

Team searches for missing WW2 soldiers
United Press International - Sep 9, 2008
The remains of a U.S. soldier missing since one of World War II's deadliest battles in Germany have been identified and a team is looking for more missing GIs. Defense officials said in a statement Tuesday the remains of Army Pvt. James W. Turner of Altus, Okla., will be buried Thursday in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington.

Turner, a member of G Company, 112th Infantry Regiment of the 28th Infantry Division, was reported missing in action near Vossenack, Germany, Nov. 4, 1944, while the unit fought German forces in the Hurtgen Forest, the Defense Department said..

Caroline brings to life tales of WW2 gunners
stv.tv, UK Friday, August 22, 2008
Fifty Scots will travel to France this weekend to attend a special service in honour of their relative who was awarded the Victoria Cross during the First World War for his bravery as a soldier. Linwood man Private Hugh McIver died in battle in 1918, aged just 28-years-old and received the award - the most prestigious a soldier can receive - posthumously. The French government launched a search for surviving members of his family to witness the planned memorial recognising the 90th anniversary of his death...

Derby University lecturer appeals for information on World War One hero
28 August 2008 Evening Telegraph
A DERBY University lecturer is appealing for details on the life of an heroic First World War soldier. Amateur historian Graham Conway stumbled across the account of Driver Frederick Osborne's bravery in battle while researching his own grandfather's life. Driver Osborne, of Allestree Street, Alvaston, helped repel a German attack in one of the early clashes of the conflict and his bravery was due to earn him a Victoria Cross – one of the highest military honours. But the 19-year-old's fate remains a mystery and now the environmental sciences lecturer wants to piece together what happened...

World War II bombers at Cape May Airport
Thursday, August 28, 2008 By Richard Degener
Stephen Sedlak had never even been in an airplane before when he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942 and asked to fly planes. His reasoning was simple. "I thought it would beat walking," Sedlak, 88, now retired in South Carolina, said Wednesday at the Cape May Airport. Sedlak ended up as a navigator/bombardier on a B-24 Liberator, flying more than 20 bombing missions over Poland, Austria, Italy and other European countries from July 22, 1944, to Oct. 24, 1945...

WW2 hero dog is celebrated to keep his legend alive
Wednesday, 27 August, 2008 STV.tv
A Montrose hero of the Second World War will be celebrated in the town tonight - but this legend is no ordinary soldier. After docking in the North East in 1940, Bamse the sea dog became local star when he bravely saved the lives of two soldiers. A book of tales launched this evening focuses on his exploits aboard the Thorodd - the Norwegian Minesweeper the St Bernard lived on...

One of boats crucial to winning World War II undergoes restoration
Tuesday, August 26, 2008 By Jay Price
The men, all in their 80s, have trickled in as if visiting a friend in the hospital. They stand on the observation balcony inside the North Carolina Maritime Museum’s barnlike waterfront boat shed, mixed among the tourists and squinting at the rust-streaked, rectangular hulk on the shop floor. Eventually they have to speak. "Is that the LCVP?" they ask one of workers down on the floor, though they know the answer better than anyone. Then the stories start, stories about how this strange boat carried the men to victory and death on beaches from Normandy to Iwo Jima...

World War II soldier’s letter finally delivered to friend
Friday, August 22, 2008 By Ashlee Buckner
It may be called “snail mail”, but in this case it’s not the Postal Service’s fault. A World War II soldier’s letter written 64 years ago has finally been delivered to the friend it was intended for. ...

Buchenwald liberator's death moves CNN.com readers
By Wayne Drash CNN Friday, August 22, 2008
The voice on the other end of the phone line spoke in a gentle, hushed tone. "They put us on what you call the Hitler Highway. On the highway, we saw massacres of people being slaughtered off the highway," Anthony Acevedo said. "You could see people of all ages, hanging on barbed wire. They had been shot or were being shot at." ...

Linwood soldier is remembered in France for WW1 courage
stv.tv, UK Friday, August 22, 2008
Fifty Scots will travel to France this weekend to attend a special service in honour of their relative who was awarded the Victoria Cross during the First World War for his bravery as a soldier. Linwood man Private Hugh McIver died in battle in 1918, aged just 28-years-old and received the award - the most prestigious a soldier can receive - posthumously. The French government launched a search for surviving members of his family to witness the planned memorial recognising the 90th anniversary of his death. ...

Author convinced Worthing WW2 bunker exists
The Argus, 21st August 2008
Did a secret bunker in Worthing help turn the tide of the Second World War? A growing number of people now believe it did, and that the town played a significant role in the fight against the Nazis ...

Amazing WW2 graveyard revealed as TV team probe depths of Pacific
By Nigel Blundell, sundaymirror.co.uk Aug 8, 2008
This is the watery graveyard of Japan's dreams of conquest. In a remote corner of the Pacific Ocean lie the remains of the evil empire's wartime fleet... blitzed by the Americans in revenge for Pearl Harbour. Revealed now for the first time is the full scale of that vengeance - 12 times more destructive than the infamous attack on the American Navy base that pitched the US into World War Two...

WW2 ‘Great Escape’ mastermind dies at 92
Dispatch Online, Aug 8, 2008
ERIC Dowling, who helped plan the mass wartime breakout from a German prison camp that inspired the movie The Great Escape, has died at 92. ... Seventy-six Allied prisoners escaped from the Stalag Luft III prison camp on March 24, 1944, in a daring breakout. All but three were recaptured, and 50 were shot on the orders of Adolf Hitler to deter future attempts...

German WW2 vet crashes near city he bombed
BATH, England, Aug. 8, 2008 (UPI)
A veteran of the World War II Luftwaffe crash-landed near Bath, the city he bombed during the war, witnesses said. Willi Schludecker, 88, who visited Bath earlier this year to attend a memorial service for those killed during the raid, had come back because he promised the organizer of the service, Chris Kilminster, a plane ride, The Daily Telegraph reported. The plane, carrying four people, had just taken off from an airport north of Bath when the crash occurred last Friday...

Hamilton hero who took part in famous WW2 raid dies
Aug 7, 2008 by John Rowbotham, Hamilton Advertiser
A FORMER pupil of Hamilton Academy who took part in one of the most daring actions of World War Two has died aged 95. David Paton was medical officer on the St Nazaire raid in 1942.

The aim of the operation was to neutralise the German battleship Tirpitz by destroying the only dry dock big enough to take her should she be damaged. That dock was at St Nazaire, a French port on the Loire estuary...

Book Review: Terror of the Autumn Skies Examines Life of WWI Pilot Frank Luke (VIDEO)
Video Book Review by Tim King Salem-News.com Aug 6, 2008
Terror of the Autumn Skies -The True Story of Frank Luke, America’s Rogue Ace of World War 1, is by far the most comprehensive and accurate review of this dashing aviator from Arizona who ruled the skies over France during WW1 for a brief period in 1918...

East Timor tour follow's WW2 commandos footsteps
Fri Aug 1, 2008 ABC Radio Australia
An East Timor trek to commemorate the experiences of Australia's World War 2 commando forces and the role locals played has just been completed. Reporting from East Timor, Radio Australia's Christine Webster says unlike the similar assistance given to troops by locals in PNG, the role of the East Timorese in Australia's World War 2 history has almost been forgotten...

Exclusive: Historian's plea in hunt for family of hero WW2 airman
Jul 28 2008 By Stephen Stewart
A DUTCH historian hopes to solve a wartime mystery by finding the family of a Scots air hero who was killed in a mission over Nazi-occupied Europe. Sergeant Robert Williams, from Glasgow, was just 21 years old when his Lancaster bomber was brought down over the town of Dalfsen in Holland, in May 1943..

WW2 vet gets long-lost Army cup back
BROOKSVILLE, Fla., July 23 (UPI)
Years after a Florida man lost the tin cup he carried as a soldier through Africa and Europe, he got it back from a woman who found it in a New York field. Leonard Noreen's name and serial number were inscribed on the cup with "Smash and Drive," the motto of the 422nd Regiment. He also used it for a record of his military service, etching the places his unit was deployed and the dates, Hernando Today reported...

64 years later, France and Germany delve into shrouded WW II massacre
Tuesday, July 15, 2008 | CBC News
A German prosecutor was visiting a French village Tuesday to try to uncover secrets about one of the most vicious massacres perpetrated on French soil during the Second World War.

As the world rejoiced at the liberation of Paris from Nazi occupation on Aug. 25, 1944, mere hours to the southwest, German troops were committing a horrific atrocity in Maillé. An estimated 80 soldiers entered the village of 600 in the Loire Valley, and that morning killed 124 residents, including 46 children under age 14 and 42 women...

Map of unexploded WW2 bombs revealed in UK
July 13, 2008 | Russia Today
A digital map of unexploded World War Two bombs has been created in Britain. It pinpoints more than 21,000 possible locations across the country and is meant to help constructors and developers to avoid the risk of detonating the devices...

Daughter of WW2 pilot found guilty of assault on ‘memorial vandal’
July 11, 2008, 11:21 Russia Today
The daughter of a British WW2 pilot has been convicted of assault on a teenager who she claimed had vandalised a memorial to war dead, the British Daily Mail newspaper reports. Last year after seeing one of a group of youths riding a bike through freshly-laid flower beds, Julie Lake tackled the one she believed to be the ringleader and gave him ‘a cuff round the ear’. She also threw a bicycle belonging to one of the youths into the road...

2 men linked by a WWII enemy weapon
By Ken Bode July 11, 2008
It was well known that Donnan was wounded in World War II, but until recently he was guarded about his experiences. When he finally told his story, his audience listened in awed silence. Five young soldiers were recruited for a dangerous and secret mission...

Ammo from World War II is found near Polish beach
WARSAW, Poland (AP) July 10, 2008
A huge cache of undetonated World War II ammunition and explosives was found near a public beach in northern Poland and is being destroyed, an official said Wednesday...

Surveying German Subs Sunk Off North Carolina During World War II
ScienceDaily (July 9, 2008)
NOAA will lead a research expedition July 7-26 to study the wrecks of three German submarines sunk by U.S. forces in 1942 off the coast of North Carolina during the Battle of the Atlantic...

Medal of WW1 bus hero is up for sale
By John Kelly 6/07/2008 (Sunday Mirror UK)
A medal awarded to a bus driver who became a World War One hero is expected to fetch £3,500 at auction this month. Alfred Chouffot was at the wheel of one of 90 London buses which ferried home wounded and dying soldiers from the Western Front in 1914. Their appearance rallied the spirits of the Tommies and dumbfounded the Germans across No Man's Land in France and Belgium...

Uprooted by WW2 and German division, US Embassy returns to historic Berlin address
July 4, 2008 (International Herald Tribune, France)
Former President George H.W. Bush inaugurated the new U.S. Embassy in Germany at its pre-World War II site on Friday, a return that he said symbolized the fulfillment of "a great and noble dream" of European freedom and unity.....

Local WW2 vet honored
July 3, 2008 KGET 17, CA
Tonight, a long overdue honor for a local veteran who served in World War II. Today, Luis Mendoza was presented with the medals he earned during his service more than 60 years ago....

WW2 wheel of fortune up for auction
Jun 26, 2008 (Sydney Morning Herald, Australia)
A World War II relic from Japan's midget submarine raid in Sydney Harbour is expected to fetch tens of thousands of US dollars at auction on Sunday. The steering wheel from one of three Japanese subs which made the daring raid on May 31, 1942, goes under the hammer at Sydney auction house Lawsons...

WW1 U-boat to be moved
Jun 24, 2008 (Kent Online, United Kingdom)
A German submarine which sank off the coast of Folkestone in 1918 is to be moved because it poses a threat to shipping. The U-boat is a designated war grave and saw the loss of 28 crewmen when it collided with a mine...

A world of their own, Civil War re-enactors create cottage industry (Carroll County Online)
Tue, 17 Jun 2008 03:34:19 GMT
A line of disheveled rebels in itchy wool pants stand in the hot sun near a line of cannons, waiting for the battle to commence. They squint across the field at blue-coated Union soldiers stuffing their 1860s rifles with gunpowder...

They saw long-term, unlike us (The Star-Ledger)
Tue, 17 Jun 2008 05:00:22 GMT
Much is made of the World War II generation marching to the end of the timeline. Especially at this time of year, we salute this...

Thunes help Veterans History Project (Rapid City Journal)
Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:47:46 GMT
Some of Harold Thune's experiences as a World War II fighter pilot are now part of the national Veterans History Project sponsored by the Library of Congress...

Award being named after Truro veteran: Sgt. Herbert Peppard Silver Star Award to be presented annually to a deserving ... (The Truro Daily News)
Tue, 17 Jun 2008 03:03:08 GMT
TRURO — Sitting with Herb Peppard at the kitchen table of his Truro home, it’s almost easy to forget this man is part of military history...

Iconic Second World War photo of the fall of Berlin missed the main point (CNews)
Mon, 16 Jun 2008 01:49:08 GMT
BERLIN - It's an iconic image of the Second World War: Berlin has fallen and Soviet soldiers are hoisting the red flag over the Reichstag...

Famed World War II photo was staged by Soviet Union on Stalin's orders (Chicago Sun-Times)
Sun, 15 Jun 2008 19:36:37 GMT
BERLIN — It’s an iconic image of World War II: Berlin has fallen and Soviet soldiers are hoisting the red flag over the Reichstag. What most people don’t realize, however, is that the photograph isn’t capturing the historic moment...

A magical military tour (The Daily Tribune)
Fri, 30 May 2008 13:57:36 GMT
The Veterans Federation of the Philippines Museum, Library, Archive and Theatre (VFPMLAT) in Taguig City is undoubtedly world-class. A tour has the power to put the involved viewer in a journey to a heroic era, an eventful and frequently shifting time of sacrifice and death...

Paul Allen opens collection of vintage warplanes to public
Seattle Post Intelligencer - June 5, 2008
Ten years in the making, Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen's collection of vintage fighter aircraft will open to the public Friday. Allen's "Flying Heritage Collection" of 15 planes, mostly dating from the 1930s and '40s, is noteworthy both because of its rarity -- several are the only models of their kind remaining -- and its condition -- almost all of them have been refurbished so that they can be flown...

This article contains a photo gallery of Paul Allen's vintage warplanes.

World War II bomb alert closes runway
DutchNews.nl, Netherlands - Jun 3, 2008
The unexploded World War II bomb which caused Amsterdam Schiphol airport to close one of its runways on Monday evening will be dismantled on Wednesday, reports the Volkskrant. The bomb is an English 500 pounder, according to the Telegraaf...

Award-winning World War II reenactment returns to festival
The Oak Ridger - June 5, 2008
The Invasion of Normandy is about to begin -- again. Sixty-four years after the original jumps by the 101st Airborne Division made way for the Allied invasion of France, the "Five Oh First Group," a Knoxville-based World War II Airborne Reenactment group, prepares for the invasion of Europe all over again...

World War II US D-Day invasion tank unearthed in France
Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom - June 4, 2008
An American tank that formed part of the 1944 D-Day invasion force was discovered buried under a street in northern France. Council workers came across the M5 tank as they carried out routine repairs to the road in Chartres, 55 miles south-west of Paris. It is thought the tank from the 31st Tank Battalion formed part of the invasion force that liberated France from the Nazis more than six decades ago....

WWI troop remains discovered
ITV.com, UK - June 2, 2008
Archaeologists excavating a suspected mass grave from the First World War have discovered human remains. Experts from Glasgow University Archaeological Research Division (Guard) have uncovered skeletal remains and items of military equipment in a field near the village of Fromelles, in northern France. It is thought the bodies of around 400 British and Australian troops may be buried at the site, known as Pheasant Wood....

Last known WWI veteran honored for Memorial Day
The Associated Press - May 25, 2008
Frank Woodruff Buckles, the last known living American-born veteran of World War I, was honored Sunday at the Liberty Memorial during Memorial Day weekend celebrations. "I had a feeling of longevity and that I might be among those who survived, but I didn't know I'd be the No. 1," the 107-year-old veteran said at a ceremony to unveil his portrait. His photograph was hung in the main hallway of the National World War I Museum, which he toured for the first time, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States presented him with a gold medal of merit...

The soldier who crossed over to join the other side
Belfast Telegraph, United Kingdom - May 21, 2008
Former UDR man Harvey Bicker, from Co Down, tells Laurence White why his love of military history led him to switch from unionism to joining Fianna Fail. Former Ulster Unionist councillor Harvey Bicker sent shockwaves through local politics in February when he announced that he was joining Fianna Fail. It was one of the most dramatic defections in the history of Irish politics — a former unionist throwing in his lot with the traditional republican party in the Republic. But to him it was no great deal — indeed it was just a matter of pragmatism. He has spent many years working with successive Dublin governments to create lasting memorials to Irish military history on both sides of the border...

Bootle family appeals for help finding lost war medals icSeftonandWestLancs, UK May 22 2008
A FAMILY has appealed for help in finding their lost war medals. Seven war medals have been taken from Grace Pryce’s property in Mona Street, Bootle. The medals, believed to have been stolen within the last year, but the exact date is unknown.

VIDEO: WW2 Bomb Prompts Mass Evacuation
Javno.hr, Croatia - 19 May 2008
The discovery of a World War II bomb in a crowded Tokyo suburb prompted a mass evacuation. Japanese army bomb disposal experts sealed off the one tonne munition, which was found next to a busy railway line in Chofu city. About 16,000 residents living within a half-a-kilometre radius were ordered to leave their homes. Hospitals emptied and patients were taken by ambulance to safety. For many of the elderly, the evacuation rekindled painful memories of Japan's wartime past...

Moscow indignant at Estonian trial of WW2 hero
Moscow, 20 May 2008
The Russian Foreign Ministry has defined as ‘an immoral act’ the Estonian trial of Hero of the Soviet Union Arnold Meri on genocide charges. “It is obvious to any sober-minded person who knows details of Meri’s false case that this shameful trial has nothing to do with justice. It comes together with the purposeful attempts of the Estonian authorities to discredit and persecute WW2 veterans,” the ministry said...

WW2 dam buster raids commemorated
May 17, 2008 5:09 PM
A New Zealander, the only surviving pilot of those who flew the missions known as the Dam Buster raids in World War Two, has been guest of honour at the 65th anniversary commemoration in Britain. Squadron Leader Les Munro said he felt a certain amount of pride that he had outlasted all the others...

A look at Gurkha military history>
International Herald Tribune, France - 17 May 2008
From the pages of the martial history of Gurkhas:

• British in 1815 begin recruiting soldiers among Gurkhas, people from several ethnic groups in Nepal's hills with a warlike past.
• As much of India rebels against British rule, Gurkhas stay loyal and help crush the Great Mutiny of 1857.
• Gurkhas take part in Britain's colonial wars during the Victorian era.
• Some 200,000 — virtually an entire male population — enlist to fight in World War I. About 250,000 fight in World War II. In the two wars, 30,000 Gurkha troops are killed, and Gurkhas win nearly 5,000 medals for gallantry...

Weapons dad spared prison
GazetteLive, UK - 15 May 2008
An obsessive collector who amassed a haul of guns has been spared an immediate jail term. Police and Army investigators seized weapons, ammunition and military memorabilia from Philip Jackson’s home. Teesside Crown Court was told that Jackson, 41, had filled his Darlington home with the collection. Jackson faced a potential sentence of five years or more when he appeared before a Teesside Crown Court judge on Tuesday...

WW2 German fighter pilot saved U.S. bomber crew
CTV.ca News Staff Updated Sun. May. 11 2008
Franz Stigler's death in Surrey, B.C., received little notice in the local press, but friends knew a remarkable story about the man -- he had been a decorated German fighter pilot who saved the lives of a U.S. bomber crew. Stigler began his career as a German pilot at age 12, going on to make 28 allied kills in the Second World War. On Dec. 20, 1943, American pilot Charles Brown was flying his first mission in his B-17 bomber. He had just dropped his bombs on a German aircraft factory when he was attacked by fighters from above and flak from below...

Russia celebrates WW2 victory with Soviet-style parade
Moscow Fri May 9, 2008 (Reuters)
President Dmitry Medvedev warned on Friday against "irresponsible ambitions" that lead to war as tanks and missile launchers rumbled over Red Square in a show of Russian fire-power not seen since the fall of the Soviet Union. Medvedev, in his first major public event since being sworn into office, told 8,000 parade troops and guests at a ceremony to mark the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany that Russia would not tolerate "disrespect for international law"...

US, Australia commemorate WWII battle
Radio Australia, Australia - 8 May 2008
Americans and Australians have joined together at Darwin Harbour, in Australia's north, to commemorate the anniversary of a key battle that helped end the second world war. A United States aircraft carrier was lost in the Battle of the Coral Sea, which prevented Japanese forces from invading New Guinea at Port Moresby. The Battle of the Coral Sea, 66 years ago, is considered a pivotol point to lead into the end of World War II.

Europe celebrates victory over Nazism
May 8, 2008, 12:05 GMT
Western Europe marks the victory over Nazi Germany on Thursday. On May 8, 1945, Germany signed an unconditional surrender on the outskirts of Berlin – the historic event which marks the end of World War Two. On that date, which was later called Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day), massive celebrations took place all over Europe. And nowadays people are commemorating war victims and paying tribute to those dead...

UK police find WW2 archive forgeries
May 6, 2008 10:46 PM GMT
British police have discovered forged documents were planted in the National Archives alleging top Nazi Heinrich Himmler was murdered on Winston Churchill's orders, the Public Record Office said. The investigation identified 29 forgeries that had been slipped into 12 files after 2000...

Great Patriotic War - the main front of World War II (Russian Information Agency Novosti)
Thu, 08 May 2008 09:40:47 GMT
MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti military commentator Ilya Kramnik) - The approaching Victory Day always evokes disputes about the bloodiest war in human history.

Ceremony to honor World War II nurse (The News Journal)
Tue, 06 May 2008 07:46:39 GMT
One of the "Normandy Nightingales" -- 18 female nurses who tended to wounded Allied soldiers under fire on Omaha Beach during World War II -- will be honored Wednesday at the Air Mobility Command Museum in Dover.

Military Prague (Radio Prague)
Thu, 08 May 2008 15:09:50 GMT
In today’s Special, we look at Military Prague: a few of the key moments in the city’s history, from the first Slavonic settlements, to the founding of Prague Castle and achievements later in the 20th century. Like any major city, Prague’s military history is impossible to separate from other historical developments: technological, economic, and cultural. As a site in the Czech lands it is of ...

Airman makes history after being awarded Military Cross (The Herald)
Wed, 07 May 2008 21:15:18 GMT
An RAF serviceman who ran through a hail of enemy gunfire to rescue a fatally wounded colleague became the first airman to be awarded the Military Cross yesterday.

World War II Vets Honored With Flight to Their Memorial (The Missourian)
Wed, 30 Apr 2008 08:06:32 GMT
The hot sun and over 700 miles didn't stop 32 veterans from visiting a memorial built to honor them and fallen comrades. The first trip to the World War II Memorial, sponsored solely by Franklin County Honor Flight to Washington, D.C., was Saturday April 26.

Former Doctor World’s Most Wanted WWII Nazi (CityNews)
Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:28:03 GMT
A list of the top 10 surviving brutal criminals of World War II is lead by a despicable doctor and another man whose name is well known in Toronto.

Declassified NSA Document Reveals the Secret History of TEMPEST (Wired News)
Wed, 30 Apr 2008 18:01:49 GMT
The secret history of how the nation's spies discovered that their ace equipment was leaking data into the ether has never been told before. But now a declassified NSA document tells how a Bell Telephone engineer stumbled onto a problem that vexes the agency to this day.

Today in history (Gloucester Daily Times)
Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:17:17 GMT
Today's Highlight in History: On April 30, 1945, as Russian troops approached his Berlin bunker, Adolf Hitler committed suicide along with his wife of one day, Eva Braun.

Investments: medal detectors (Daily Telegraph)
Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:10:57 GMT
Military memorabilia, coins and Dinky toys are still highly collectible - and the best place to start looking is often family heirlooms. Emma Wall reports.

Debating Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The British military historian Max Hastings is best known for volumes that insist on recounting World War II from the bottom up. Hastings wants his readers to learn history from the perspective of the army grunts, sailors and airmen who endured the tedium and barbarity of war. His is military history as told from the foxhole -- or, in the case of this narrative of the last year of the Pacific war, as told from the decks of aircraft carriers.

Read more of this review or read Chapter One of Max Hastings' "Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944-45".

WWII Families for the Recovery of the Missing (WWRM)
There are more than 79,000 soldiers still Missing in Action (MIA) from World War II, even though it is estimated that 35,000 plus are recoverable and could be repatriated back to American soil. In addition, there are more than 10,000 buried as unknowns. There are thousands of families looking for information, crash sites, and burial sites of their loved ones. WWII Families for the Recovery of the Missing (WWRM) is a tax exempt, non-profit organization started by families who are seeking information about their lost family members. WWRM is the only WWII advocacy group that has ever organized to assist families of MIA's since the war ended in 1945.

On March 19 Rear Admiral Donna L. Crisp, the Commander of the US Defense Department’s Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) announced that JPAC will conduct on-site surveys of World War II crash sites in India beginning this year.

If there are others that know of crash sites in India could you please notify WWRM via their website at http://www.wwiimissing.com

Defense Focus: Weapons evolution -- Part 1
Charles Darwin was right -- at least for weapons systems: Principles of evolution and the struggle for survival of the fittest apply there all the time. Weapons systems have to keep evolving. And when they can't evolve any more -- they die. Sometimes weapons evolution moves phenomenally quickly -- as was the case with aircraft design in World War II...

Why Don't More Colleges Teach Military History? Despite its enduring public appeal, and a country at war, the subject gets little respect on campus. Five years into the war in Iraq, military history seems to be experiencing a golden age. Hollywood has been cranking out war movies. Publishers have been lining bookstore shelves with new battle tomes, which consumers are eagerly lapping up. Even the critics have been enjoying themselves. Two of the last five Pulitzer Prizes in history were awarded to books about the American military. Four of the five Oscar nominees for best documentary this year were about warfare. Business, for military historians, is good. Except, strangely enough, in academia....

Noted Novelist and Historian Hosts Military Video Website
The internet's largest military history video website, RealMilitaryFlix.com, welcomed retired US Army Colonel John Antal this week. The 30-year veteran will lend his expertise to guide visitors through the site. RealMilitaryFlix.com spotlights historical movies made by military organizations for documentation, training and even propaganda purposes. It also features new military videos from Iraq and Afghanistan and other collections such as the which were once classified as Top-Secret...

Ian Fleming's James Bond: what links WW2 with the character 007
He may be a fictional hero but a new show reveals how James Bond is rooted in wartime reality...

WW2 treasure mystery uncovered
One of the last mysteries of the WW2 may be about to be solved - the whereabouts of the Amber Room - treasure from Russia. The extraordinary treasure was looted by German troops during the war. A small village near the Czech border may soon give up its secret but it's more than just treasure which is being uncovered...

British WW2 spy who posed as saleswoman
The secrets of a female spy who posed as a cosmetics saleswoman during World War II and helped lead the resistance inside Nazi-occupied France have been unsealed. Pearl Cornioley outfoxed the Nazis by, among other tricks, concealing secret messages in the hem of her skirt and helping airmen escape to safety, according to records unsealed at Britain’s National Archives last week. The release follows Cornioley’s death on February 24...

Collector's Corner: 2008 Show of Shows for Militaria Collectors
Last year I wrote a review, of sorts, for the Collector's Corner regarding the world's largest militaria collector event - The Show of Shows (known to military collectors as simply the SOS), held each year in Louisville, Kentucky. Since I received quite a bit of interest from the 2007 article, I thought it would be appropriate to submit a round-up for the 2008 event held February 21 - 24. The SOS is by far the creme de le creme of events for the militaria enthusiast. There were nearly 2000 tables this year (http://www.sosovms.com/show_of_shows.htm)...

Project recording World War II veterans' memories before they're gone
Warren J. Poland was returning from a bombing mission in Strasbourg, France, when his B-24 plane was gripped by a snowstorm. The windows froze over, and the plane, punctured by anti-artillery fire, was dangerously low on fuel. "We were 80 miles out at sea and 300 miles north of our base," the World War II Army Air Corps veteran recalled. "We flew right on until we ran out of fuel...

Prized militaria goes to auction for Legacy
Australian and German militaria, dating from the World War 1 to the present day were taken out of their glass casings and velvet pouches today for an auction at Queensland's Legacy House. Lot number 17 was of particular interest to private collectors - a trio of Australian Light Horse medals, which belonged to an original ANZAC, Second Lieutenant O'Hara. They sold for $3000. Read the full story or view the Gallery of Militaria treasures.

Bulgaria to Auction WWII Nazi Tanks
In Bulgaria, the Ministry of Defense is preparing to auction off a piece of European military history, which has been lying forgotten and half-buried in the ground for decades. Collectors of vintage military vehicles are already lining up to bid on some of the more than 40 Nazi German tanks, which were once used to protect Bulgaria's southern border during the Cold War...

Veteran receives citations years after return from war
Roger Carlsen started his experience in World War II the same way he ended it: looking at miles and miles of planes and tanks...

Government Liquidation marks largest auction with Davis-Montham 'boneyard' planes
This scrap metal has a history. Government Liquidation LLC of Scottsdale is helping to clear space in the "boneyard" on Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, creating the company's largest auction to date. Aircraft such as C-141 Starlifters, A-4 Skyhawks, S-3 Vikings, T-34 trainers and "Jolly Green Giant" helicopters will be sold for their base materials in the form of 27 million pounds of scrap metal beginning April 21...

WW2 and the Iraq War - History Repeats Itself
In many ways history is a cycle of repeating events and it can be instructive to look at WW2 and the Iraq War to see how they overlap and what lessons we should learn from it...

FEATURE-US to search for missing WW2 airmen in India
By Simon Denyer NEW DELHI, March 18 (Reuters)
In honour of the crouching, naked blonde painted on its nose, its pilot had named his bomber the "Hot as ...

Australia WW2 warship found and ends 66-year mystery
By Rob Taylor CANBERRA (Reuters)
Australia's greatest military mystery was solved on Monday with the discovery of a World War Two warship which went down ...

Report: Eichmann intervened to save 800 Jews in Berlin in WW2
By Haaretz Service
Adolf Eichmann was among a group of top Nazi officials who intervened in order to save the lives of 800 Jews in the heyday of World War II ...

Long lost 'Amber Room' may have been found (+video)
New Zealand Herald
German treasure hunters say they might have located the long-lost "Amber Room" in eastern Germany. The ornate Amber Room, made from amber panels decorated with gold leaf, was originally a gift from the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm I to the Russian Tsar Peter the Great. During the Second World War it was dismantled by the Nazis and later disappeared, and since then archaeologists have searched for the room in over 100 places...