The story of the Dambusters has become legendary, officially known as Operation Chastise, it was an attack on German dams using bombs that bounced across the water (like a stone skipping on a lake) until they hit the dam wall, detonated, and caused catastrophic damage. The dams were vital parts of the German war machine,…
The PBY Catalina one of the most famous seaplanes in history, over 3,300 were built between 1936 and 1957, and many of them saw active duty during the Second World War. So versatile was the Catalina that they served every branch of the United States Armed Forces, and were used extensively by the armed services…
The Supermarine Spitfire The Spitfire is not only one of the most consequential aircraft of the Second World War, it’s also one of the most famous aircraft of the 20th century. Originally developed in the mid-1930s, the Spitfire was designed by Supermarine to fill Air Ministry specification F7/30, calling for a modern fighter capable of…
The Dodge WC56 Command Reconnaissance Vehicle was developed on the platform of the Dodge WC Series as a 4×4 to be used by senior officers and reconnaissance personnel, as well as as radio operators with the WC58 variant that had a large radio fitted to the rear. General Patton and the Dodge WC56 The most…
The Despatch Rider and The Wren is part of the British War Stories series, this episode focusses on husband and wife John and Margaret Gordon. During the Second World War John started out serving in the anti-aircraft artillery before becoming a despatch rider. Motorcycle despatch riders had one of the most dangerous jobs during both WWI and WWII,…
The Spitfire Pen is a creation of the Hordern Richmond Aircraft Company, they’ve been in business since 1937 when the company was founded by Frederick Gordon-Lennox (the 9th Duke of Richmond) and Edmund Hordern. During WWII they built many of the propellers for British fighters and bombers, as well as the Hordern Richmond Autoplane. In…
If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to fly a chopper, this 1952 US Navy Training Film will do an excellent job of getting you started – it’s surprisingly detailed, and it starts out all the way back in the time of Leonardo da Vinci, then follows major iterations in design until 1952. This film…
MWC is a Swiss company founded in the 1970s that designs and builds watches for military units around the world, as well as police forces, anti-terrorist units, mining companies, specialist marine security units, shipping and salvage organizations, and a wide variety of government agencies and departments. Each MWC watch is made with three criteria in…
This is a 1961 U.S. Air Force Training Film titled “Helicopter Rescue Operations”, it covers the use of the Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw in rescue procedures, and goes into quite a bit of interesting detail about how these operations were (and still are) conducted. The film runs at just under 33 minutes in length, and by…
The Enigma was invented shortly after the end of the First World War, and it would go on to be one of the most important machines of the Second. The device itself is relatively small, about the size of a mobile typewriter, but it was capable of encrypting messages in any of 159 million million…
This is the original United States Army Air Forces training film for trainee pilots of the North American B-25 Mitchell – a tough-as-nails bomber that served in every theater of World War II and stayed in active service for over 40 years. Over 10,000 B-25 Mitchells were built and there are many airworthy examples still…
Autobiography of a Jeep is a relatively short film at just under 10 minutes in length, it was created in 1943 during the Second World War by United Films to show young GIs how the Jeep had come about, and also to instill a certain amount of affection in their hearts for the little 4×4. It’s…
