Days after Pearl Harbor, Nazi Germany declared war on America. But why did Hitler choose to draw the United States directly into the European conflict?

If the American forces could break through the Hürtgen Forest, there was a chance they could reach the Rhine near Cologne, threatening the German industrial region along the Ruhr River and possibly even force a crossing. 

From the hedgerows of Normandy across the rivers of northern France and into the dense forests of the Hürtgen and the Ardennes, Royal Air Force (RAF) and US Army Air Forces (USAAF) aircraft cleared the way for the advance of the Allied ground armies. 

Concessions in diplomatic negotiations were nothing new, but after Munich, appeasement took on a new meaning. 

The Douglas C-47 became the mainstay for airborne drops and were used in this role extensively for Operations Overlord, Dragoon, Market Garden, and Varsity.

World War II was a global conflict involving nearly every country in the world. But who was on each side—and why?

Originally designated Operation Anvil and intended to support the hammer blow of the Normandy landings two months earlier, the renamed Operation Dragoon fulfilled an American desire for a lodgment in southern France that shifted forces from the strategic cul-de-sac of Italy.

A young New Zealander airman receives a Victoria Cross for his daring feats.