World War Two

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

With the Brazilians in Italy
(Newsweek & Yank Magazines, 1944)

The attached YANK MAGAZINE article was written from the perspective of the American G.I.; it lays out a few peculiar facts about life in the World War Two Brazilian Army:

Every type of South American racial strain is represented. This gives a squad the appearance of a capsule League of Nations, except that there are no blonds.


Read about the day Brazil declared war on Nazi Germany…


Mexico preferred not to participate in the war, but they did kick all the Fascist spies out of their country, click here to read about it…

With the Brazilians in Italy
(Newsweek & Yank Magazines, 1944)

The attached YANK MAGAZINE article was written from the perspective of the American G.I.; it lays out a few peculiar facts about life in the World War Two Brazilian Army:

Every type of South American racial strain is represented. This gives a squad the appearance of a capsule League of Nations, except that there are no blonds.


Read about the day Brazil declared war on Nazi Germany…


Mexico preferred not to participate in the war, but they did kick all the Fascist spies out of their country, click here to read about it…

Mexico: American Ally
(Coronet Magazine, 1943)

When Manuel Avila Camacho (1897 – 1955) came to power as the president of Mexico (1940 – 1946) he immediately went to work kicking out the Fascist spies from Japan and Germany

He banned Nazi newspapers and cut Nazis off the air. He squashed the anti-Semitic Gold Shirts of Monterey and purged fifth columnists in key positions. He washed his hands of the Nazis and extended a hearty handclasp to Roosevelt.

S/Sgt. Henry E. Erwin Off the Coast of Japan
(Collier’s Magazine, 1945)

War correspondents see and hear about many courageous acts that serve as a testimony to the level of personal commitment held high by many (but not all) of the American soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who served in the Second World War, and when I read the opening paragraphs about this hero, I knew it was going to be unique:

His name is Staff Sergeant Henry E. Erwin of Bessemer, Alabama. He was the radio operator on a B-29, and what he did, we think, was the bravest thing we ever heard of.

The War-Babies of Occupied Japan
(People Today Magazine, 1954)

There was one thing the Japanese hated more than being defeated and occupied by the Gai-jin (the Japanese slur for Whites) and that was when their daughters, sisters and nieces began bedding their tormentors and baring their young. Tremendous shame was brought on these women, and their families. This article is about the Amerasian babies who were isolated in a special orphanage designed just for them.


How did all of this come to pass? Click here to find out…

American Advantages During World War II
(Yank Magazine, 1945)

General Marshall listed a number of clear advantages that the American G.I. had over his German and Japanese counterpart: the M-1 Garand semi-automatic rifle, the jeep and the two-and-a-half ton truck (Deuce and a half):


It is interesting to trace the planning and decisions that gave us the Garand rifle and the tremendous small arms fire-power that went with it, noting especially that the War Department was strenuously opposed.

When Germany Quit the League of Nations
(Literary Digest, 1935)

In October, 1933, Baron Konstantin von Neurath (1873 – 1956), Germany’s Foreign Minister, sent a telegram to the Geneva Disarmament Conference announcing Germany’s resignation from the Conference and the League of Nations. The resignation will become effective Sunday, October 20, two years after notice of retirement was given… In March, 1935, Chancellor Hitler announced universal military conscription for Germany, thereby making the Treaty of Versailles a ‘scrap of paper’.


Italy left the League of Nations in 1937 – click here to read about it.

U.S. Congress Approves Naval Expansion
(Pathfinder Magazine, 1934)

In 1934, the members of the U.S. Congress were able to see how ugly the world was becoming – and with this forethought they approved the Vinson Act. This legislation did not violate any of the restrictions agreed to under the Washington Naval Treaty and provided funds for 102 additional ships to be added to the American fleet by 1942.

Fresh Meat Delivery System for Italian Troops
(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 at the time 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 finest. The accompanying paragraph explains that even a bull had been air-dropped for the same purpose.
Take a look.

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