We celebrate Thanksgiving this year on November 28th, and this blog is due to be published on the 29th. We celebrate this year in peace in most of the world (although alas far from all of it.) In World War II things were just a little different … let’s look at late...
The war to end all warsIn the United States we observe Veterans Day on November 11th (next Monday as I write this) and Remembrance Day in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. Why November 11th? World War I ended in Europe on November 11, 1918, with the signing of...
Across the Siegried Line, October 1944 (Cost, approximately 250,000 casualties) In October 1944 the war in Europe is entering its sixth bloody year. Its sixth year! As Courtney Hodges’ 1st US Army grimly fights its way through the notorious Siegfried Line, Nazi...
Men of the 3rd Canadian Division approach Juno Beach on D DayThe Allied invasion of Europe on June the 6th 1944 took place on five beaches. The American army landed on Utah and Omaha beaches, of course, and the British army landed on Gold and Sword beaches. But it is...
Battle in the Bocage – Sherman vs TigerFrom Goodwood to Falaise; From the Bocage to the Pocket In my last blog, which I called ‘Inch by Bloody Inch,’ I described the ferocious battles which culminated in the capture of Caen by the British and Canadian armies on July...
A little girl is rescued from the ruins of her home in NormandyD Day After the success of the initial landings on D Day—150,000 men were landed in one day and were not thrown back into the sea—the Allies found themselves engaged in a long and bitter battle against...
