Today in military history: Germany, Italy, Japan sign Tripartite Pact
On Sep. 27, 1940, Germany, Italy and Japan signed the Tripartite Pact and formed the alliance that would become known as the Axis Powers. A year earlier, Germany and Italy…
The ‘Pando Commandos’ were more intense than you’d think
For the 2017 Army-Navy Game, the Army’s jerseys celebrated the 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), the predecessor to…
Watch this 1943 news reel informing Americans of the liberation of Sicily
Three years earlier Italian dictator Benito Mussolini gave the order to invade Libya and take North Africa for himself. The allies were able to take back the territories conquered by…
6 of the biggest failed gambles of World War II
Everything in war is risky but depending on who’s leading an army, some gambles are better than others. Mistakes are always made, but when the biggest risks on the battlefield…
6 reasons why Fascist Italy underperformed during World War II
When Italy entered World War II on the Axis side, things were looking pretty good from where fascist dictator Benito Mussolini sat. He had an army of some 200,000 men,…
Today in military history: Ernest Hemingway wounded on the Italian Front
On July 8, 1918, Ernest Hemingway was wounded while serving on the Italian Front in World War I. Hemingway volunteered as an ambulance driver for the American Red Cross when…
Black Americans volunteered to fight Axis Italy in droves before the US entered World War II
In the summer of 1935, most of the world had no idea that various conflicts in different regions would explode into an all-out World War. World War I was supposed…
Today in military history: Italy declares war on Britain and France
On June 10, 1940, Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini brought Italy into World War II aligning with Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany. Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini founded and led the National…
Two POWs made a daring escape from prison just to relieve the boredom
On Jan. 23, 1943, an Italian POW named Felice Benuzzi, who was being held by the British in Africa, escaped.
But for a very peculiar reason.
Once free of the wire, Benuzzi and two other prisoners who escaped with him spent the next…
This war was started over a bucket
As in, a literal bucket. A container that is most often used today for gardening, carrying things, even sitting when a chair can’t be found – that is the source…