World War Two

Find old World War 2 articles here. We have great newspaper articles from wwii check them out today!

‘Invasion Fever”
(Yank Magazine, 1944)

As increasing aerial bombardment of Nazi-occupied Europe mounted in Fury day after day, every American civilian was talking last week about when and how the actual land invasion of the continent would begin.

Newspaper editors were already dragging out their largest headline type, and when more than 40 top Washington correspondents were called to the White House for what turned out to be a routine announcement, telephone lines from a dozen National Press building offices were being kept open in case this was ‘it’

Pre-Invasion Bombs
(Yank Magazine, 1944)

Invasion, however, will not begin until the Nazis have been virtually knocked out of the sky. The target of the moment, therefore, is the German air force. …From 500 airdromes scattered throughout Britain, Allied planes fly night and day – frequently every hour of the 24 – some in fleets of a thousand or more to battle the Luftwaffe…Air war as such is almost over in Europe; the Allied infantryman is preparing now to march across a continent, battling along a ‘road’ already cut wide and long by bombers and fighters four miles upward.

No Combat Pay for Combat Medics
(Yank Magazine, 1944)

The World War II pay raise that was granted to U.S. Army combat infantrymen in the summer of 1944 did not extend to the front-line medic for reasons involving the Geneva Convention Rules of War. This triggered a number of infantrymen to write kind words regarding the medics while at the same time condemning the Geneva restrictions:

…I’ve seen the medics in action and I take my hat off to them. Most of them have more guts then us guys with the rifles…I’ve seen them dash into cross-fire that would cut a man to ribbons to help a guy who was in bad shape. I say give them all the credit they deserve.

Suffering A W.W. II Head Wound
(’47 Magazine, 1947)

When Joe Martin received a shrapnel wound to the head it affected that region of his brain that processes language. He spent a good deal of time in military hospitals trying to regain his lost ability to communicate, as he articulated clearly in the attached article:

He then held up a pencil in front of me and asked, ‘Joe, what is this?’

I heard myself reply, ‘A paddle’.

The Parchuting Sheep of the Italian Army
(Click Magazine, 1938)

This is a highly amusing collection of photos depicting the seldom remembered Para-Sheep of the Italian Army during their adventures in Ethiopia. It would seem that Italian grunts simply would not stomach canned food the way other infantrymen were able to do and so it was decided that sheep would be individually rigged with parachutes and tossed out of planes, where they would be butchered and cooked by the Mussolini’s men below. The accompanying paragraph explains that even a bull had been air-dropped from the same purpose.
Take a look.

Inadequacies in Combat Training
(Yank Magazine, 1945)

Training for combat, according to veterans in Italy, should be a hell of a lot more realistic and a hell of a lot more thorough.

‘They oughta learn them guys’ is that favorite beef you hear from combat veterans when they talk about replacements who have just joined their outfits…the average replacement doesn’t know enough about the weapons an infantryman uses. ‘He usually knows enough about one or two weapons…but he should know them all. He may know how to use and take care of the M1 or carbine, but if you need a BARman or machine-gunner quick, you’re up a creek.’


Statistical data concerning the U.S. Army casualties in June and July of 1944 can be read in this article.

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