Some of the most famous generals of the war, including American George Patton, Nazi Erwin Rommel and Britain's Bernard Montgomery, led their armies into the brutal desert conflict.

This strategy World War II board game is set in 1942, the historical high-water mark of Axis expansion. Controlling one of the Axis or Allied powers, you will command both your country’s military forces and its wartime economy, with the chance to plan attacks, marshal forces into embattled territories, and resolve conflicts. Victory will go to the side that conquers its opponents on the field of battle and liberates or occupies the greatest cities of the world. This second edition of the Avalon Hill Axis & Allies 1942 board game features an Antiaircraft Artillery combat unit and sculpts including UK artillery, submarine and destroyer units, German artillery, and a Russian submarine. Avalon Hill and all related trademarks and logos are trademarks of Hasbro, Inc. © 2021 Hasbro. All Rights Reserved.

A small window into history.

World War II-War in Italy-Sicily 1943 Heavy Artillery Italian camouflaged ready to counter the enemy assault. Illustrated by La Tribuna Illustrata September 12, 1943. The Allied invasion of Sicily,...

Slovak Armed Forces > Slovak Armed Forces in the Second World War: organization of the Army and divisions and Air Force in the Polish campaign 1939 and on

Fact Cards - Hundreds of Little known, interesting, unbelievable facts with sources in easy to share image format that can be seen at a fast glance.

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Based on the British Garden-Lloyd tankette, the L 6/40 was armed with a 20-mm cannon together with a coaxial 8-mm (0.315-in) machine-gun. With a 47-mm sponson-mounted main gun and twin 8-mm (0.315-in) machine-guns in the two man turret, the M11/39 was soon outclassed with the introduction of improved Allied tanks. The Semovente M.41 M da 90/53 was the most powerful of the Italian tank destroyers, and used the 90-mm (3.54-in) anti-aircraft gun mounted on an M. 15/42 tank chassis. The basic Italian light tank of the war was the Fiat Carro Armato L6/40, the descendent of the 5-ton Fiat-Ansaldo light tank of the 1930s. Somewhat equivalent to the German PzKpfw II, the L6/40 weighed approximately 15,000 pounds, had a 70-hp engine, and was capable of 26 mph. It mounted a 20mm (.79-inch) main gun and one machine gun and had maximum 40mm armor protection. Unsuitable for front-line service because of its light armament, the L6/40 was utilized in the fighting in North Africa in cavalry and reconnaissance roles. It also was sent to the Eastern Front in fighting against the Soviet Union, and it served in Italy. Variants included command tanks and flamethrower tanks, and the L6/40 was also utilized in the Semovente 47/32 self-propelled assault vehicle mounting a 47mm antitank gun. In 1940 the Italians decided to build a new tank, the Fiat M13/40, which was to be the basis of future Italian armor formations. It became the principal Italian medium tank and mainstay of Italy’s armor force in North Africa. Broadly based on the M11/39, which was obsolete by the time it was introduced, the 30,900-pound M13/40 had a crew of four. The new tank incorporated the basic hull design of its predecessor but was larger and carried a new high-velocity 47mm gun in the turret, with secondary armament of four machine guns in the hull, the reverse of its predecessor. It had improved but still inadequate (maximum 42mm) riveted armor protection. It was unreliable mechanically and, at 125 hp and 30,900 pounds, underpowered. The M13/40 also had a tall silhouette (nearly 8 feet). The M14/40 first entered action in December 1940 in Libya and was used extensively in North Africa against British forces. Its deficiencies, including mechanical problems, soon became apparent. Although a practical design, it was no match for heavy British infantry tanks such as the Matilda. The M13/40 was also cramped and tended to catch fire easily when hit by antitank rounds. The Germans dubbed them Der Rollende Saerge (the Rolling Coffins). Given the shortage of British tanks in the early fighting in North Africa, Commonwealth forces did press a number of captured M13/40s into temporary service. The M13/40 gave rise to the successful Semovente 75/18 self-propelled assault gun. This utilized the M13/40 chassis but replaced the turret with a boxlike superstructure mounting slightly right of center a limited-traverse 75mm Model 75/18 howitzer. It had a low silhouette(6 feet), a great advantage for an assault gun. The 75/18 saw extensive service during the war in North Africa as well as in Italy with both German and Italian forces. It also appeared as a command vehicle. The same M13/40 chassis was used in the Semovente 90/53, one of the most powerful antitank guns of the entire war. Similar to the German 88mm in that it was a converted antiaircraft gun, it was mounted, because of its size, in the open on the rear end of an M14/40 chassis. Only 24 were made, and all were destroyed in the 1943 Sicily campaign. In mid-1942 Italy considered building the successful German PzKpfw III under license. The idea was rejected outright in early 1942, probably because of pressure from Fiat and Ansaldo, which controlled Italian tank construction. Italian Doctrine The Italians had a well-developed armor doctrine that closely paralleled the Germans’ blitzkrieg. They planned to utilize medium tanks to punch holes in enemy lines while light tanks served as the exploiting arm. Early on, especially in the fighting in North Africa, the Italians lacked mobile artillery, although their later selfpropelled guns, the Semovente, helped make up for this. The Italian artillery doctrine of fuoco da manovra (fire and maneuver) called for artillery and antitank guns to be located close to the front line supported by infantry. The chief deficiency in Italian armored doctrine was the lack of tactical air support, the consequence of Italy’s embrace of Guilio Douhet’s doctrine of strategic bombing. Other handicaps included a lack of radio equipment in the tanks. As with the French, Italian tank crews communicated in battle primarily with flags. Italian forces were also not as well trained as the Germans. As two scholars have summed up, “Italy had developed the concepts but lacked the materiel to implement them.”

Fliegers... I mean Soldaten of the 17th Luftwaffe Field Division posing for a photo. Probably France, 1944ish. The 17th was one of the first German units to engage the Allies in Normandy, having been...

Many men have the honor of saying they fought for their country in the global struggle known as World War 2. However, not many men have the misfortune of

The KhTZ-16 was a tractor armed with a 45 mm gun. It was born out of desperation in the darkest hours of Operation Barbarossa in summer 1941.

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Anne Frank (1929-1945) was a teen writer who went into hiding during World War Two to avoid the Nazis. She was one of over one million Jewish children who died in the Holocaust. After her death, Anne becomes world famous because of her wartime diary "The Diary of a Young Girl" she wrote while in hiding. “One day this terrible war will be over. The time will come when we will be people again and not just Jews! We can never be just Dutch, or just English, or whatever, we will always be Jews as well. But then, we'll want to be.” - April 9, 1944, an excerpt from "The Diary of Anne Frank." We take a look at her life through pictures. Anne Frank 12 years old - May 1942. Anne Frank with three friends. Beekbergen, summer 1941. Left to right: Anne, Tineke Gatsonides, Sanne and Barbara Ledermann. A photograph of the Frank family taken on the Merwedeplein in Amsterdam, May 1941. Left to right: Margot, Otto, Anne and Edith. Anne Frank, 11 years old - May 1941. Anne Frank writing at her desk in her room in the Merwedeplein apartment, Amsterdam. Anne Frank with her teacher and two fellow pupils at the 6th Montessori School in Amsterdam. From left to right: Martha v.d Berg, Miss Godron, Anne and Rela Salomon. Anne Frank (left) and her friend Hanneli Goslar on the Merwedeplein in Amsterdam. May 1940. Anne Frank with Isa's dog Dopy in Laren, The Netherlands. Margot (left) and Anne Frank on the beach at Zandvoort in the Netherlands, August 1940. Anne Frank, 10 years old – May 1940. Anne with Inge Kurpershoek at Isa Cauvern-Monas home in Laren. Anne's 10th birthday on 12 June 1940. Anne Frank and friends on the Merwedeplein Amsterdam. From left to right: Lucie van Dijk - Anne - Sanne Ledermann - Hanneli Goslar - Juultje Ketellapper - Käthe Egyedi (Kitty Gokkel-Egyedi) - Mary Bos - Ietje Swillens - Martha v.d. Berg Margot and Anne (near left) on the beach at Zandvoort with their grandmother Ida, 1939. Anne Frank, 9 years old - May 1939. Anne Frank, 8 years old - May 1938. Anne Frank with a rabbit in Amsterdam. Anne (2nd from left) with friends in the sandbox in July 1937. Margot (3rd from right) and Anne Frank (2nd from right) with a group of children on the beach in Belgium. Margot Frank and her friend Hetty Ludel at the skating rink in Amsterdam. Anne Frank, 7 years old - May 1937. A school photo of Anne Frank at the 6th Montessori School in Amsterdam, which she attends from 1933 to 1941. Anne (right) with friends on the Merwedeplein. Anne Frank, 6 years old - May 1936. Anne Frank during a holiday in Sils-Maria in Switzerland. Anne Frank (right) and her friend Sanne Ledermann in front of Anne's home on the Merwedeplein in Amsterdam. Left to right: Sanne Ledermann, Hanneli Goslar, two unknown girls, Anne and Margot Frank, two unknown girls in Amsterdam. Anne Frank, 5 years old - May 1935. Anne (left) and Margot (2nd from right) play with German Jewish friends during a visit to Gabrielle Kahn (right). Margot, Anne and Edith with Mrs Schneider (behind) on the beach. Anne Frank (in the middle at the back wearing a white dress) with her class at the 6th Montessori School in Amsterdam. Anne and Margot Frank wearing their summer vests in Aachen. Anne Frank, 4 years old - May 1933. Anne, Edith and Margot on the Hauptwache square in the center of Frankfurt am Main in March 1933. Anne, Edith and Margot Frank, Frankfurt am Main, 10 March 1933. Grace with Margot and Anne Frank in the Spring of 1932 in Frankfurt am Main. Anne Frank, 2 or 3 years old - 1932. Otto Frank with daughters Margot and Anne on his knee. Frankfurt am Main, 1931. Edith with Anne in the garden of their house on the Ganghoferstrasse. Frankfurt am Main, 1931. Margot Frank with neighbourhood children in fancy dress in Frankfurt am Main, 1931. Anne Frank. Frankfurt am Main, 1931. Anne Frank, 2 years old - 1931. Margot and Anne with children from the neighbourhood. Frankfurt am Main, september 1930. Anne Frank, 1 year old - 1930. Käthi Stilgenbauer, Margot Frank, Ilse Angrick, Mrs Dassing, Anne Frank, Edith Frank, Rosemarie Angrick and Gertrud Naumann, 1929. Margot Frank with her new baby sister Anne. Anne Frank, 0 years old - June 1929. (Photos © Anne Frank Fonds, Bazel / Anne Frank Stichting, Amsterdam)