Veterans from 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines share their incredible stories from the Second Battle of Fallujah. This time of year marks the anniversary of one of the most storied battles in recent Marine Corps history: the Second Battle of Fallujah. The city became the scene of brutal urban combat when American, Iraqi, and British forces…
Category: Historical Study
World War II History: Could Long-Lost Amber Room Be Stashed in a Nazi Bunker in Poland?
There is perhaps no lost-treasure mystery more seductive than that of the priceless Amber Room of Peter the Great, which disappeared in the chaotic closing hours of World War II. Now Bartlomiej Plebanczyk, an unassuming historian and museum director in northeastern Poland, believes he has found it. Elderly villagers told Mr. Plebanczyk that they had…
Cold War Files: The Best Attack Subs of the Cold War
Putting 20th century ship killers to the test History’s three great submarine campaigns include the First Battle of the Atlantic, the Second Battle of the Atlantic, and the U.S. Navy’s war against Japanese commerce in World War II. The contestants fought these campaigns through asymmetrical means, with submarines doing battle against aircraft and surface escorts….
World War II History: We Almost Used Chemical Weapons on Japan in 1945
In May, President Barack Obama’s historic visit to Hiroshima reignited discussions of whether the United States actually needed to drop atomic bombs to force Japan to surrender at the end of World War II. What these debates didn’t touch on was that the U.S. military prepared to use other horrifying tactics, including starvation induced by…
History of Terrorism: How British Intelligence Infiltrated the IRA
This is an article from The Atlantic in 2006 but I thought it a great read on the History of the IRA from the British perspective.-SF I first met the man now called Kevin Fulton in London, on Platform 13 at Victoria Station. We almost missed each other in the crowd; he didn’t look at…
World War II History: Separating Fact from Fiction About the Polish Air Force
When the 1950s T.V. documentary series Air Power got around to covering the opening battles of World War II, it unfortunately reinforced a popular, and entirely incorrect, notion. “The Polish air force is caught on the ground,” narrator Walter Cronkite grumbled over images of German bombers pummeling Polish installations. “The Polish air force is destroyed…
History of Terrorism: The Bloody History of the Red Right Hand
This is but one of many thousands of chapters of violence in the History of the Fighting between the IRA and the Ulster Volunteer Force (UFV), also called the Red Right Hand. -SF There was collusion between some police officers and loyalist gunmen who killed six Catholics 22 years ago, a report by NI’s Police…
World War II History: 8 Famous People Who Served on D-Day
Monday was the 72nd anniversary of D-Day. On June 6, 1944, the Allies embarked on the crucial invasion of Normandy on the northern coast of France. Allied forces suffered major casualties, but the ensuing campaign ultimately dislodged German forces from France. Did you know these eight famous individuals participated in the D-Day invasion? James Doohan Actor James…
Military History: 10 Amazing Military Underdog Stories
Underdogs have a special place in the hearts of many, whether it’s the upstart Celtic Iceni tribe led by Boudicca revolting against the Romans or the ice-veined Spartans fighting in one of history’s greatest last stands against the Persians at Thermopylae. Either through superior tactics or more technologically advanced weaponry, the outnumbered often achieve some…
Brush-Up On Your History: The Little Known Story of Operation Tonga
As part of Operation Tonga, the British airborne component of Operation Neptune (the official name of the D-Day), the 9th Parachute Battalion was tasked with capturing the Merville Gun Battery, whose guns were trained on Sword Beach and the British troops who would be assaulting it on the morning of the invasion. The gun battery’s defenses…