World War Two

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

The German Paratroopers
(Collier’s Magazine, 1941)

This 1941 article lays out the brief history of airborne infantry before the author begins to recall the origins, training and victories of the W.W. II German paratroopers:


“The origin of parachute usage in warfare is obscure. They were extensively employed in the Great war to land spies and saboteurs. It is also of record that in 1917 General [Billy] Mitchell tried to persuade General Pershing to permit him to form an experimental troop of parachute fighters. Thus Mitchell was probably the first man professionally to express the notion of paratroopers… It was in 1935 that Hitler ordered Goering to organize paratroopers…[In Germany] the parasoldier is an object of curiosity to the elders, of envy to the youth. He is bound to be questioned and bound to do a sales job in educating the public, as you would say.”

One Journalist’s Encounter with General Patton
(PM Tabloid, 1945)

We have no idea who Tom O’Reilly was – beyond what can be immediately conjectured, that he was a staff columnist with PM, and so admired that they thought it a grand idea to clean him up and send him off to see Nazi Germany in its death throes. O’Reilly had a very candid, off-the-cuff manner of writing, which came across as quite humorous when he explains how unimpressed he was with General Patton’s dramatic appearance.

Clash of the Titans in Libya
(Liberty Magazine, 1942)

This is a primary source article by a reporter who rode in the armored vehicles of the British Army during the Libyan campaign of 1942:


“It seemed incredible that in the melee either side could know whom or what they were firing at. The best I could do was identify the burning tanks: white smoke for the petrol-driven British – black smoke for the Diesel oil of the German tanks. There was plenty of both.”

He Saw the French Defense Implode
(Liberty Magazine, 1940)

“Probably never before has a country with three quarters of its army intact and the majority of its civilian population untouched by war surrendered so completely…In Tours, I ran into a French staff officer I had met on a trip to the Maginot Line in the quieter days of the war. It seemed incredible that then we had believed those fortifications would render France invincible. As we waited in a traffic jam, he told me the real story of the Ninth Army, which held the section adjoining the end of the Maginot Line, and which broke with such disastrous results…”

Nazi Spy Master
(Liberty Magazine, 1942)

This is a profile of Admiral Wilhelm Canaris (1887 – 1945), Hitler’s man in charge of sabotage and espionage. It tells the story of what he was up to during the First World War and throughout the Twenties; how he greased the wheels in Belgium, Norway, Denmark and France to make the invasion of those nations a bit easier. It explains how impressed Hitler was with his abilities and how suspicious Himmler was at the same time.

The Well-Organized War
(Liberty Magazine, 1942)

In the attached column, Liberty Magazine publisher Paul Hunter responded to all the naysayers who were carping about how poorly the American war was being prosecuted, he would have none of it. Hunter pointed out that previous American wars were plagued with all manner of shortages and bureaucratic foul-ups that hampered military success but that was not the case with the current conflict. The war at that point was not even half-way over, yet Hunter seemed clairvoyant when he wrote these words that historians yet un-born would agree with:


“On performance to date it is an even bet this war will go down in the history books as the best-run war America has ever fought.”


A similar article can be read here.

The Curtain Falls on the North African Campaign
(PM Tabloid, 1943)

“The chase is over in Tunisia.”


“Breathing hard, Rommel’s Afrika Korps has succeeded in outstripping its pursuers and taken refuge behind the fortress heights that guard the Tunis-Bizerte pocket. Pounding on the gates are the British Eighth Army of General Bernard Montgomery [and] Lt. General George Patton’s American and French Army…”

Bringing the African-Americans On-board
(PM Tabloid, 1942)

Here is a small notice concerning the Office of War Information and the steps they took during the Summer of 1942 to ensure the patriotic enthusiasm of the African-American community in the war effort:


“Two well-known Negro newspapermen have been selected to supervise the gathering and issuance of Negro news. The head of the new division – still untitled – will be Ted Poston, former New York newspaperman. He will be assisted by [filmmaker] William D. Alexander [who will make newsreels].”

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