INTERVIEW: HMS Victory and the ‘Big Repair’
War History Online guest writer Geoff Moore has been investigating Lord Horatio Nelson’s flagship, HMS Victory. The 104-gun vessel is currently under a 10-year repair program at HMNB Portsmouth, in…
The Trojan Horse Is in Your Pocket: How Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey Predicts the End of Privacy
When Christopher Nolan announced his upcoming adaptation of The Odyssey, the film world buzzed with the anticipation of a return to grand myth and legend. However, Homer’s ancient tale of…
A Dentist’s Bizarre Idea: The WWII Plan to Turn Bats into Incendiary Weapons
When Los Angeles burned in January 2025, the frightening part wasn’t just the flames—it was the speed. Red Flag warnings were up, Santa Ana winds were forecast to howl (with…
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918): How Russia’s WWI Exit Still Shapes Eastern Europe
March 3, 2026, arrives just days after the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine was marked at the United Nations, a reminder that borders and security guarantees in…
An Actual Magician Who Wanted to Outsmart the Germans: The WWII Legend of Jasper Maskelyne
In the annals of World War II deception, few names are as polarizing as Jasper Maskelyne. A 37-year-old stage magician from a legendary dynasty of British illusionists, Maskelyne joined the…
From The Tank Museum: Wartime Bullet Discovered In Museum Tank
Conservation work stopped when engineers at the Tank Museum in Bovington, Dorset, United Kingdom, discovered a live bullet that had lain undisturbed for over 80 years. Workshop staff were surprised…
Why the German Army Refused to Use the “Superior” Captured T-34
In the summer of 1941, during the opening stages of Operation Barbarossa, German tank crews encountered a battlefield “ghost” that shattered their belief in Panzer superiority: the Soviet T-34. On…
The Plane That Survived Pearl Harbor and Got Its Revenge at Midway
Military aircraft are built for the front lines, but few ever achieve the legendary ‘survivor’ status of Bureau Number 2106. This specific Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber managed to live…
Boston Massacre: The 1770 “Viral” Moment That Lit the Fuse of Revolution
On March 5, 2026, Boston is doing what it does best: turning history into a live argument. Revolutionary-era sites downtown are back in full “walk it, don’t just read it”…
Did You Know the Small Island of Alderney Has a Long Military History?
Curvaceous soft sandy beaches sit side-by-side with brutalist concrete constructs left over from World War II. These are now reminders of when the island of Alderney, in the Channel Islands,…