World

“Comrades, we are transporting the whole factory!” Evacuation of the USSR industry in 1941

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The first months of Operation Barbarossa, i.e. the Third Reich’s invasion of the USSR, were a devastating defeat for the Russians. The Red Army retreated in panic, but in the chaos of war the need to evacuate factories to the east was not forgotten, in order to continue the production of everything the USSR armed forces needed to win the Second World War. Despite the lack of equipment, people and food, it is estimated that by the end of 1941 more than 1,500 factories with millions of workers and engineers had been relocated.

Battle of Aboukir Bay – Britain destroys Napoleon’s fleet

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Before the recently described Battle of Trafalgar, where the British fleet defeated the French invasion fleet, an equally important naval battle took place between the same nations. This was the Battle of Aboukir Bay (also known as the Battle of the Nile), where Napoleon’s fleet, tasked with protecting his expedition to Egypt, was utterly crushed by the ships of the Royal Navy under the command of the brilliant Horatio Nelson.

Operation Wikinger: the biggest embarrassment of Kriegsmarine during the Second World War

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Under the cryptonym “Wikinger” stands the unsuccessful action of the German navy against British fishermen, during which 2 destroyers were lost and 590 sailors were killed without any contact with the enemy. The following story has really happened, and this is probably the most discrediting defeat of Kriegsmarine during World War II.

Why was the attack on Pearl Harbor a failure for Japan?

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The American defeat inflicted by the Japanese fleet on Pearl Harbor is considered one of the biggest military catastrophes in the history of the USA. In fact, the losses of the Pacific Fleet were not as severe as usually thought, and Japan made a number of mistakes during the attack, which did not have the desired effect. Below there is an explanation of why the Pearl Harbor attack did not violate the foundations of the American war machine, but only became the beginning of the end for the Empire of Japan.

The last Kamikaze pilot and the chief drunkard of the Imperial Japanese Navy: The story of vice admiral Matome Ugaki

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Below, we present the profile of the man dubbed the ‘last kamikaze’ – one of the most dedicated and courageous figures in the history of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Vice Admiral Matome Ugaki lived by the spirit of the Bushidō code, and his death in the final days of the war reflected the ideals of samurai courage and honor. His warrior spirit, unwavering loyalty, and steadfast sense of duty were his defining traits, and one of the more unusual aspects of his samurai character was his legendary tolerance for alcohol.

Operation Foxley – British hunt for Adolf Hitler

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The Chancellor of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler, was the target of at least 42 documented assassination attacks not only during the Second World War, but also earlier, in the 1930s, when he took over power in Germany.
He was attempted to be shot, blown up by detonation of explosives, simulated a fatal car accident, poisoned, and derailed in his armored train.

The nuclear destruction of Japan – the history of the construction of the first atomic bomb

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When a heavy bomber B-29 was distancing itself from the Japanese city of Hiroshima, on which the crew just dropped the first atomic bomb in history, the second pilot of the “flying fortress” – Robert A. Lewis, seeing the exodus of almost 80,000 people underneath them, screamed: “My God, what have we done?”
The American did not know that in addition to the complete destruction of a large city, his crew had contributed to the end of World War II in the Pacific and the start of the nuclear arms race between the world’s superpowers.

Battle of Kursk – the largest tank battle of World War II

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The German offensive code-named “Zitadelle” carried out in the area of Kursk on the Eastern Front in the Soviet Union led to the largest armoured battle fought during World War II. Thousands of tanks, guns, planes and almost 3 million soldiers stood in front of each other. It was also the first test for new German medium tanks – PzKpfw V Panther and a demonstration of the strength of heavy tanks, PzKpfw VI Tiger.