World War Two – Page 14 – Old Magazine Articles

Examining Axis War Material
(See Magazine, 1944)

This article tells of the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps and how they go about turning enemy weaponry inside-out in order to gain a full understanding of Axis capabilities:

“Every gun, from the smallest side-arm to largest howitzer, every tank, truck or other conveyance, every airplane and item of equipment abandoned by the retreating enemy, whether it be emergency ration or new type haversack falling into Allied hands, is carefully scrutinized for tell-tale clues to [the] foe’s tactics and resources.”

Examining Axis War Material
(See Magazine, 1944)

This article tells of the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps and how they go about turning enemy weaponry inside-out in order to gain a full understanding of Axis capabilities:

Examining Axis War Material
(See Magazine, 1944)

This article tells of the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps and how they go about turning enemy weaponry inside-out in order to gain a full understanding of Axis capabilities:

The American Leviathan
(Liberty Magazine, 1945)

Between the years 1941 and 1945 the United States achieved a level of power that the tyrants of yore only dreamed about:

“Clearly here was a phenomenon to make anyone sit up and take notice – a new kind of military machine, a new kind of global power that apparently could be delivered anywhere in the world, at any time… By building 75,000 to 100,000 planes yearly and by improving planes and motors, we have emerged suddenly as an air power…No other nation has made a comparable investment in carrier aviation. No other nation would dare to put an expeditionary force to sea against a nation strong in carriers and land -based aircraft…With the object of defending ourselves, we have solved one problem after another until we have stumbled on a formula for conquering most of the world.”

A similar article appeared twenty years earlier…

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.

Press Reviews from Coast to Coast
(PM Tabloid,1945)

Here is a smattering of editorial opinions collected from numerous newspapers across the United States concerning the Japanese surrender and the close of World War II.

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…”

Air Corps Ordinance
(PM Tabloid, 1942)

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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].”

Oscars at War
(PM Tabloid, 1943)

War-torn Hollywood was at its best for the Academy Award Ceremony at the Coconut Grove Hotel in March, 1943. To no one’s surprise, Mrs. Miniver walked home with most of the most coveted trophies.

War Memorials Don’t Have to be Ugly
(Pageant Magazine, 1944)

Robert Moses (1888 – 1981) was an American urban planner who worked as the New York City Parks Commissioner between 1934 and 1960. During the Second World War his phone was ringing off the hook:

“All over the country plans are being hatched for war memorials. Demands upon public officials for space in parks and public places are daily becoming more insistent. [But] if truth be told, most gestures of patriotism are pathetic, third-rate, inadequate [and] ugly…”

The Second Strongest in the West
(Newsweek Magazine, 1945)

When Brazil joined forces with the Allies in 1942, they were soon lavished with numerous ships, submarines and armaments that would aid them in their struggle against global Fascism. By the time 1945 rolled around, it became clear to anyone in the region that Brazil had become the second mightiest nation in the hemisphere.

Brazil’s German Problem
(PM Tabloid, 1942)

You can be sure that when Brazil declared war upon Nazi Germany in 1942, there was no talk of “our diversity is our strength” – for they were worried about the 1,000,000 Teuto-brasileiros (German-Brazilians) who dwelt among them who seldom, if ever, made much of an effort to assimilate:

“The Germans, in their towns and communities, have set up schools of their own, schools in which German teachers, with better equipment than the Brazilian national schools provide, have been preaching loyalty to the German fatherland… It was charged by investigators that German school children were being taught obedience to Hitler and the German clergymen were taking their texts from Mein Kampf.”