Learn about WWII History

Explore the critical events related to the war and the personal stories of those who lived through that challenging time.

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Liberated, but still under attack

On March 6 1945, at around 10 pm, a German flying bomb struck Heuvelplein. The projectile came down on the corner of Nie...

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Ten days of shelter

In September 1944, projectiles from Germans and British crossed each other for days over the Kempisch Kanaal at Mol-Donk...

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Last train to Auschwitz

During World War II, the Nazis used the Dossin Barracks as an assembly camp for nearly 26,000 Jews, Roma and Sinti. Plan...

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Celebration and sadness in Gierle

In the final months before liberation, several aircraft crashed near Gierle. On 9 May 1944, a US B-24 bomber crashed at ...

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Quickly liberated, long wait

From 3 September 1944, the Germans began the retreat. They claimed everything with wheels, from bicycles to farm carts. ...

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Battle of the Bulge

The last German surge was in December 1944, when the Allies had advanced to the Belgian Ardennes and were completely sur...

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Atlantic wall in Normandy

Following the invasion of the U.S.S.R. and the entry into the war of the U.S.A. on the British side, German strategy in ...

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Battle of Normandy

Fought between the iconic landings on 6 June 1944 and the liberation of Paris on 25 August, the Battle of Normandy is of...

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82nd Airborne Division

From 1943 to 1945, the 82nd U.S. Airborne Division was deployed in all of the important operations in western Europe. It...

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6 june 1944 : D-Day

6 June 1944 entered history under the now legendary name of D-Day, the Allied landings on the beaches of Normandy. It wa...

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Liberation of Belgium

On 2 September 1944 allied troops crossed the Belgian border at diverse places. The process of liberation went fast: in ...

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Battle of Berlin

The battle of Berlin was one of the last battles of the Second World War in Europe. The war that had proceeded from Berl...

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Liberation of Paris

The liberation of Paris didn’t have Allied priority, but an uprising of the population against the Germans on 19 August ...

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Battle of Hürtgen Forest

During the autumn and winter of 1944/45, the longest battle of the Second World War on German soil took place in the Hür...

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National Socialist Ordensburg Vogelsang

The Ordensburg Vogelsang was a training venue for an upcoming Nazi-elite. Young cadets were persuaded they were racially...

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Westerplatte

On 1 September 1939 the Germans attacked the Westerplatte peninsula in the port of Gdańsk. This assault marks the beginn...

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The 1st Polish Armoured Division

The Polish First Armoured Division under command of general Maczek played an important role in the liberation of France,...

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Preparations for D-Day

D-Day is one of the most remembered campaigns of the Second World War. The operation involved troops from Britain, the U...

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The Campaign of Monte Cassino

The Allied campaign of Monte Cassino was fought in four phases between January and May 1944. The town of Cassino was a k...

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Ambiguous liberation

The European drama of 1939-1945 resulted in widespread destruction. Millions were killed, maimed, displaced or traumatiz...

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Operation Pluto

Operation Pluto (Pipelines Under The Ocean) represents one of wartime’s greatest feats of engineering. Huge pipelines we...

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Towards the German capitulation in the Netherlands

In May 1940 the Netherlands was occupied by German forces. It would take five years before they could be ousted. The fin...

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Operation Fortitude South

As D-Day approached, Kent became the stage for one of the War’s greatest deception plans, Operation Fortitude South. In ...

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The Rhineland Offensive

The Allied Rhineland Offensive comprised several large-scale military operations during the last months of the Second Wo...

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