The way to safety for the fighting men trying to escape the Nazis lay over the high Pyrenees. But for one group there was an added danger – they couldn’t be sure that their mountain guide… the man their lives depended on… wasn’t a traitor in the pay of the enemy! Story: Alan Hemus Art: Garijo Cover: […]
R.A.A.F pilots Dave Keating and Roger Smith hated each other to distraction, often putting their petty squabbles before their duty and their crew. But when their Catalina crashes into the jungle of Japanese occupied Papua New Guinea, the survivors radio for help. Two days, they are told. Two days until back-up will arrive. Two days […]
Look at the map of the South Pacific. Between Australia and New Guinea, you’ll find the Coral Sea. It was here in the Second World War that some of the fiercest and bloodiest naval fighting took place. Yet, of all the heroes these battles threw up, and there were many, none could compare with Petty […]
During the chaos of the Dunkirk retreat, units were scattered under fire from German aircraft. Many soldiers were left alone, separated from their squadrons. Some took this opportunity to scavenge valuables. So, when Private Bill Wilson wandered alone into a ruined French village with a bag of looted treasure, Sergeant Thomson did not believe Bill’s […]
R.A.F. officers, Johnny Lees and Nat Rankin, were both skilled fighter pilots. Put either of them in the cockpit of a Hurricane and they could handle whatever the Luftwaffe threw their way. But in an unarmed fishing boat, with a German fighter homing in with all guns blazing, their chances of survival were drastically reduced! […]
Fearing the Nazi’s grip on Germany in the 1930s, Lisa Fischer’s mother had no choice but to take her children and run away from her fanatical German diplomat husband. But in her escape she only managed to save her daughter… Then, ten years later, in 1943, Lisa ‘Fisher’ joined the British Army. Specially trained as […]
Stifling desert heat, low-flying Messerschmitts, craftily-hidden mines: Second Lieutenant Neil Hamilton knew he had to face all these as an armoured car commander. But when he added in a private feud between himself and a fellow officer, he began to wonder how he’d find the time to fight the Jerries. Story: C. G. Walker Art: Bielsa […]
Sergeant Ned Jenkins is one of the R.A.F.’s best Lancaster tail gunners – but no-one wants to fly with him. It seems that wherever Ned goes there’s trouble, yet somehow he always manages to get out without a scratch on him. But in a time when superstition ruled the morale of the fighters, what the […]
The Mills Number 36 was the standard British infantry grenade of World War Two. Its operation was simple. The pin was pulled and the grenade thrown to explode seconds later and be forgotten about… or at least, that was the idea. But one particular grenade would never be forgotten by the men whose paths it […]
During the construction of the Atlantic Wall in 1942, the sounds of rolling waves and the voices of German-accented French were interrupted by the dull thud of a spade hitting something ancient. It was a rare discovery, a Viking burial, the body remarkably preserved int he clay. Thorvald Ulfson was a large, strong Viking warrior […]
Thank you. You have been successfully subscribed to our newsletter.