Tom Laemlein News Today

The long, 20-month slog of the Italian campaign gave the U.S. Army the greatest opportunity to study their tools, how they were used and how to improve their performance.

The sophisticated and successful assault on fascist Italy during the summer of 1943, known as Operation Husky, came as a complete surprise to the Axis powers, proving to the world the U.S. had become a full-fledged fighting power.

There are many tales of the daring exploits of commandos during World War II. However, not all of them come from the Allied side of the conflict. The Gran Sasso Raid is one such event, and involved were some of the rarest arms of the war.

America was born as a nation of riflemen, and that foundation of marksmanship carried over to the fledgling pilots and aerial gunners training in America. One of the biggest problems that the Air Service faced, particularly in 1917, was an embarrassing lack of machine guns.

What began as an unfeasible plan to open a second front in frozen Norway, ultimately created one of the finest special forces in the proud history of two armies—American and Canadian.

With every meter the Wehrmacht advanced into the Soviet Union, their supply lines seemed to grow exponentially longer. This provided ample opportunities for Soviet partisans to inflict casualties and destroy vital aspects of the German war machine, and they used an assortment of arms to accomplish their mission.

Here's the story of one well-traveled, Mosin-Nagant rifle that had been born in one country, fought for another country and then fought for two more countries over a short span of only thirty years.

The discovery of a limited number of British No. 4 rifles in a storage area in France unveiled a long-forgotten part of World War II and also provided firearm enthusiasts with a rare opportunity.

While most think of the RAF when it comes to the Battle of Britain, the makeshift British Home Guard also played a key role in keeping the isles safe from German invaders.