News - TracesOfWar.com

25Mar

Band of Brothers actors to parachute into Normandy for D-Day

Stars of the hit HBO show are taking on a real life parachute jump as part of D-Day commemorations.

2Mar

4,500 crashes in Scotland on more than 700 pages

During the Second World War Scotland was a key location for many of the Allies’ defensive and offensive activities. It was also important for the training of aircrew and maintaining air and sea lines of communication with Allied nations. Scotland’s ports, factories and cities were important targets for the Luftwaffe, while adjacent seas had to be traversed by German capital ships and U-boats seeking to interdict Allied trade convoys and warships. These activities came at a heavy price by way of lives lost and aircraft destroyed in crashes not just on airfields but on low and high ground and in the seas around Scotland, the rest of the British Isles and further afield. Keith Bryers wrote a book about this subject, Scotland's Wartime Aircraft Crashes, that has now been published by Aviation Books Ltd[/url]. We asked the writer some questions about his book by e-mail.

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28Mar

Black pilots had to fight for every step forward

The Tuskegee Airmen were black American pilots who served in the Army Air Corps during the Second World War. However, before earning their wings, these men and women needed to prove themselves to their white countrymen. After all, the racism prevalent at the time meant that black Americans were deemed unsuitable for the demands of modern war. In Tuskegee Airmen: Dogfighting with the Luftwaffe and Jim Crow, the inspiring history of these men is recounted detailing the struggles the men faced at home and abroad. We asked the Dutch author Samuel de Korte some questions by e-mail about his book.

25Feb

G.I. Stories 1941-1945 wants to bring the story of the American soldier to a larger audience

John J. Capasso runs the Instagram account @g.i.stories41_45, which is also the name of a series of booklets published between 1942 and 1945 by the US Army magazine Stars and Stripes about the Second World War. John also posts clips on YouTube and Facebook under the same name. G.I. Stories is one of the better history accounts and it frequently uploads high-quality content about American soldiers during the Second World War. He has more than 10,000 followers and posts content daily. We’ve emailed him some questions and he was kind enough to answer them.

1Mar

Kolberg, 1945: Evacuation from a besieged city

From 4 to 18 March 1945, Kolberg was besieged by troops of the Red Army and the Polish People's Army. The German seaside resort on the Baltic coast had not seen war since 1807. Back then, the siege by Napoleon's troops had ceased after an armistice was signed between France and Prussia. The propaganda film 'Kolberg' about this siege, premiered as recently as January 1945, was supposed to encourage Germans to hold out even now. They would not succeed, but until 17 March almost the entire civilian population was evacuated from the city by fishing, merchant and naval vessels by sea. Below is an excerpt from Kevin Prenger's book ' Hitler’s Last Chance: Kolberg' about this evacuation.

28Jan

Order a book at Pen & Sword Books and support us

You have probably heard of Pen & Sword Books. This British publisher has a wide range of books on war history. It has also published some books written by our volunteers, such as 'The 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion' by Samuel de Korte and 'Hitler's Last Chance' by Kevin Prenger. When you buy one or more books from Pen & Sword's webshop via this link, TracesOfWar will receive a commission for it. This way you support us and have a good read at the same time! Save the link to your favourites if you use it more often.

27Jan

Hitler's last propaganda film premiered 79 years ago

January 30, 2024 marks the seventy-ninth anniversary of the premiere of Hitler's last propaganda film. The title of this film directed by German director Veit Harlan is Kolberg. The subject is the 1807 siege of the German city of the same name on the Baltic coast by Napoleon's troops. The Prussian army, supported by a civilian militia, had then held out for months against the besiegers. The film story was intended to inspire and encourage Germans in early 1945 to keep up the fight. The film and the rise and fall of the German town of Kolberg are the subjects of Kevin Prenger's latest book Hitler’s Last Chance: Kolberg. The following is an excerpt from his book. It is about the making-of of the film.

6Jan

Mike Sadler, desert navigator who guided WWII commandos, dies at 103

The stars, sun and surveyor’s instruments were his only tools to lead British special forces through the North African desert during World War II.

17Dec

Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2024

17Sep

The German Ostheer became bogged down in a war of attrition it could never win

Dr. Craig W.H. Luther is a retired U.S. Air Force historian (16 years at McClellan AFB, 11 years at Edwards AFB) and former Fullbrigh Scholar (Bonn, West Germany 1979-80). However, his primary passion has always been researching and writing about German military operations during WWII, and primarily on the eastern front. He has published seven books (and a half dozen articles) on this topic. We asked him some questions by e-mail about his research and his latest books.

3Sep

The men who were written out of the story of D-Day

Forgotten is the story of an all-black battalion whose crucial contributions on D-Day have gone unrecognized to the present. In this blend of military and social history, Linda Hervieux brings to life the injustices of 1940s Jim Crow America and finally pays tribute to the valor of these brave young men. We asked her some questions by e-mail about her book.

17Jul

Photo report inauguration of the Tuskegee Airmen monument near Ramitelli, Italy

BY SAMUEL DE KORTE - On 16 July 2023, a monument was unveiled for the Tuskegee Airmen. Accompanying this event, a mural was unveiled, a presentation was given about the many local army air force bases, and a documentary was shown about the Tuskegee Airmen. All these events were to honor and celebrate the Tuskegee Airmen.

10Jun

WWII Era Submarine Discovered at the Bottom of the Aegean Sea

On Wednesday, HMS Triumph, a British Royal Navy submarine was discovered in the Aegean Sea by a Greek research team led by Kostas Thoktaridis.

8Jun

Announcement: Partnership STIWOT and LRE Foundation

🤝 We have exciting news: STIWOT and LRE Foundation are joining forces to enhance our shared mission of preserving the memory of the Second World War. Recently, Lennard Bolijn, Chairman of STIWOT and the TracesOfWar project, and Rémi Praud, LRE Foundation Managing Director, signed an agreement solidifying the commitment to working closely together. The primary focus of this collaboration is to exchange the wealth of information both organizations have collected over the years, including captivating stories, rare photographs, compelling videos, and insightful audio recordings. We are delighted about the many possibilities that this cooperation opens up. Stay tuned for updates!

8Jun

World War 2 Youtube Series - Through The Gates of Hell - D-Day [Part 2]

New on Youtube, from the makers and creators of Youtube channel 'The Great War', the Second World War week by week, 6 years long.

8Jun

World War 2 Youtube Series - Piercing the Atlantic Wall- D-Day [Part 3]

New on Youtube, from the makers and creators of Youtube channel 'The Great War', the Second World War week by week, 6 years long.

8Jun

World War 2 Youtube Series - German Counterattack - D-Day [Part 4]

New on Youtube, from the makers and creators of Youtube channel 'The Great War', the Second World War week by week, 6 years long.

6Jun

World War 2 Youtube Series - Invasion by Air - D-Day [Part 1]

New on Youtube, from the makers and creators of Youtube channel 'The Great War', the Second World War week by week, 6 years long.

Apr2023

Benjamin B. Ferencz, Last Surviving Nuremberg Prosecutor, Dies at 103

Benjamin B. Ferencz, the last surviving prosecutor of the Nuremberg trials, who convicted Nazi war criminals of organizing the murder of a million people and German industrialists of using slave labor from concentration camps to build Hitler’s war machine, died on Friday at an assisted living facility in Boynton Beach, Fla. He was 103.

Mar2023

New book: Hitler's Last Chance: Kolberg

January 30, 1945 Hitler's last propaganda film went into premiere. The title of this film directed by German director Veit Harlan is ‘Kolberg’. The subject is the 1807 siege of the German city of the same name on the Baltic coast by Napoleon's troops. The Prussian army, supported by a civilian militia, had then held out for months against the besiegers. The film story was intended to inspire and encourage Germans in early 1945 to keep up the fight. The Allies had repulsed the German Ardennes offensive and were preparing to cross the Rhine. The Red Army was about to reach the Oder River and only needed to cover about 40 miles as the crow flies before reaching the outskirts of Berlin. The final battle for Nazi Germany had begun. The film and the rise and fall of the German town of Kolberg is the subject of a new book by Kevin Prenger, ‘Hitler's Last Chance Kolberg’. Below an excerpt about the 'making-of' of the film.

Mar2023

South Korea announces plan to resolve wartime labor dispute with Japan

Funds for compensating wartime laborers would be raised by “voluntary” private sector donations to a South Korean foundation, with Japanese firms possibly among those that donate.

Feb2023

‘The unending journey’ is part of a constant fight against the far-right in all its forms

Iris Mavraki (1954) is a singer and political artist from Greece living in England. Her Jewish mother Frida Wenig-Berliner fled in 1938 from Austria to Rhodes where she met her future husband and father of Iris. He was a Greek, involved in the resistance against the Italian Fascists. Together they fled to Africa where Iris was born after the war. In 2021 she published a book about her family history, titled ‘The Unending Journey’. We asked her by e-mail some questions about this publication and the story of her family.

Feb2023

Opinion: Germany's quiet betrayal of victims of the Holocaust | CNN

Editor’s Note: Lev Golinkin writes on refugee and immigrant identity, as well as Ukraine, Russia and the far right. He is the author of the memoir “A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka.” The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own.

Jan2023

The Nazis’ most expensive and least watched propaganda film

After previous books about for instance Christmas during World War Two and SS judge Konrad Morgen and his crusade against SS corruption and ‘illegal’ murder, a new book of WW2 researcher Kevin Prenger will be published, entitled ‘Hitler’s Last Chance’. Its subject is the last propaganda movie of the Nazis and the rise and fall of the German city Kolberg, which is also the title of the movie. It premiered on 30 January 1945. Reich Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels was closely involved in the making of this movie which is still prohibited in Germany. Dutch website Historiek.net asked Kevin Prenger some questions about the subject of his book.