The Red Ball Express: The Truck Convoys That Kept the Allied Advance Moving
When Allied armies raced across France in 1944, their supply network nearly collapsed behind them. The Red Ball ...
War Machine History archive
Military Engineering
How military machines, bases and logistical systems were designed, built and kept operating.
The Ghost Army: How Inflatable Tanks and Sound Effects Fooled the Germans
In World War II, a secret U.S. Army unit used inflatable tanks, recorded battlefield sounds, false radio traffic...
How the Seabees Turned Tinian Into a B-29 Superbase
In 1944, U.S. Navy Seabees began transforming a small Pacific island into an immense B-29 base. Their runways, r...
Cobra King: The First American Tank Into Bastogne
On December 26, 1944, an American Sherman Jumbo named Cobra King led a desperate armored column through German d...
The F-15 That Landed With One Wing
After a midair collision tore away nearly the entire right wing of an Israeli F-15, its crew faced an aircraft t...
USS Laffey: The Destroyer That Refused to Sink
Off Okinawa, USS Laffey endured an 80-minute air attack that left 32 sailors dead, 71 wounded and much of the de...
The B-17 That Returned From Cologne Without Its Nose
A direct flak hit destroyed the nose of B-17G “Lovely Julie” over Cologne. With most instruments, oxygen and nav...