Today marks the 4oth Anniversary of the disastrous attempt to rescue the American hostages who had been held captive in Iran ever since the storming and occupation of the US Embassy in Tehran several months earlier. Those of us that are old enough to remember that day 40 years ago will never forget the […]
Today is the 75th anniversary of the iconic US-Soviet link-up on the Elbe River in 1945. The Elbe River had been agreed upon at the Yalta Conference held February 4–11, 1945 as the dividing line between the westward advance of Soviet forces, and the eastward advance of US and British forces. This famous handshake […]
The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (abbreviated as ANZAC) was a First World War army corps of the British Army’s Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was formed in Egypt in December 1914, and operated most famously during the bloody Gallipoli campaign. Observed on 25 April each year, Anzac Day was originally devised to honour […]
Today is the 33rd anniversary of the creation of the US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). The Army Special Operations Forces (ARSOF) component of SOCOM traces its lineage back much further however – all the way back to the early years of WWII in fact. And today’s Throwback Thursday takes a look at a special weapon […]
For anyone with an interest in WWII history, and especially for anyone interested in the history of airborne forces in WWII, today marks a rather special, and poignant, anniversary. On the 15th of April 1945 the town of Arnhem in the Netherlands was finally liberated after 5 years of occupation, and 6 months after the […]
Operation Varsity – also known as The Crossing of The Rhine – took place on the 24th of March 1945. Although the airborne component of Operation Market-Garden involved more troops and drops, Varsity was the largest airborne operation of WWII that took place in one location and on a single day. Like the airborne invasion […]
“Shortly after sunrise on Feb. 23, 1945, elements of the U.S. 11th Airborne Division along with Filipino resistance fighters struck the Japanese prisoner of war camp at Los Baños, Luzon, 40 miles south of Manila and deep in enemy-held territory. It was a daring air, sea and land operation to liberate 2,146 civilian internees — […]
On December 22, 1944, German officers under a flag of truce approached the American lines demanding Bastogne’s surrender… After reading the demand, Gen. Anthony McAuliffe, the American commander in Bastogne, remarked, “Aw, nuts!” Further discussion failed to improve on his first reaction, and “NUTS!” became his famous one-word response. When the Germans failed to understand, an […]
Anyone who’s watched “Band of Brothers” will know about the brutal defensive battle fought by American troops (who were largely caught off guard) in the Ardennes Forest of Belgium from mid-December 1944 until late January 1945. American forces bore the brunt of the attack, and the resulting bulge in their lines gave the battle its […]
An historic unit name synonymous with the commando heroics and bravery of World War Two has been revived for a new era of the Royal Marines. 1 Assault Group Royal Marines – the marines’ amphibious warfare experts – will now be known as 47 Commando Raiding Group, reinvigorating a unit name that not only gives a […]