Paddy Mayne was a remarkable figure for the Allies during the Second World War. His story encompasses everything – from punching a Commanding Officer to being one of the most decorated soldiers in the British army. Joining The Reserves Paddy joined the British Supplementary Reserves in March of 1939, six months before Hitler’s invasion of […] More
The Yak 3 is the smallest fighter that was used during World War II, and it was also the same aircraft that gave the Luftwaffe a run for its money. Entering the Easter Front in 1944, its German commanders were impressed by what this modest plane can do that they issued an urgent order in […] More
A German Ace by the name of Friedrich Beckh had quite an unusual story. By most standards, Beckh was too old for a combat position in WWII. He was born in 1908 and first joined the army in 1926 as part of the cavalry. After a nine-year tenure, he traded his horse for a fighter […] More
In the summer of 1943, Japanese Admiral Kamito Kuroshime proposed the use of “volunteer dive bomber attacks.” The idea was that the pilots would attempt to crash into enemy ships in aircraft loaded with bombs, torpedos, and other explosives. However, Japanese officials would rebuff Kuroshime’s proposal as they had high hopes of winning the war […] More
On April 1945, the Luftwaffe, desperate to resupply trapped German forces in Berlin, created operations using gliders to fly supplies. These were one-way missions for unfortunate pilots. Dire Situation At this point, Berlin’s resupply situation was dire, and the defenders needed regular resupply of ammunition and other supplies to maintain their defense until help arrived […] More
During an engagement in the Battle of Kursk in 1943, one Tiger tank singlehandedly took down 50 Soviet T-34s in an unforgettable battle. The Battle of Kursk The Battle of Kursk was supposedly a battle that would change Germany’s fortunes on the Eastern Front. Both sides threw everything at each other in a struggle, but […] More
During WWII, Germany was experimenting with different designs for unpowered aircraft such as gliders. By then, they’d already had experience with rocket engines, but they could only sustain flights for short periods before using up their fuel. So why not put a rocket engine in a glider? Me 163 Komet After numerous prototypes (and a […] More
Named after a deck of cards, “Extra Joker” was a B-24 assigned to the 451st Bomb Group based in Italy in the summer of 1944. Extra Joker and her crew flew plenty of sorties for two months until August 23, 1944. A Rule Change That morning, the 451st was assigned to bomb an industrial target […] More
The Beriev Be-4 is a rather easily-forgotten aircraft developed by Beriev Aircraft Company. Despite only having less than 50 copies of this flying boat, it was still used by the Soviet Black Sea Fleet during WWII. Here are five facts about the Soviet Union’s forgotten flying machine: 1. Featured an inverted gull wing The flying […] More
The year is 1943. America’s bombing campaign in Germany is now the top priority of the Eight Air Force. Every day, strategic targets are brought down throughout Western Europe. And the aircraft leading the charge is the B-17 Flying Fortress, America’s trusty and durable heavy bomber. No Fighter Escorts In 1943, however, fighter escorts were […] More
In this video, we’re going to take a look at three Junkers designs, the Ju90, 290, and 390, and why they failed. Design Origins The story of the Junkers giant goes back to the Ju, which itself is an enlarged version of the Ju89 bomber. This was a mid-1939 contender for the so-called ‘Ural Bomber’ […] More
Hirohito, the Emperor of Japan, announced the nation’s surrender on August 15, 1945. But even though Japan was on its knees economically, its islands shelled vehemently, cities bombed to ruins, its merchant fleet largely sunk, and its people starving, many Japanese military officials were still determined to keep the fight going. In fact, the Japanese […] More
