Second World War battles

HMS Bittern on fire and severely damaged after a German air attack in Namsos fjord, 30 April 1940. Both sides sustained heavy losses in the battle of Norway but the German navy was less able to absorb these than its British foe. (Photo by Topfoto)

Second World War

Narvik in context How battle for Norway in 1940 saved Britain

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Pod Helen Fry WL

British spies in WW2: everything you wanted to know . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Men of the SAS returning from a three-month trip behind enemy lines during the war in North Africa. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

“They changed the way war is run”: Ben Macintyre on the early SAS . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A German soldier captured during the battle of Kursk, July–August 1943. Germany’s last major offensive on the eastern front ended in crushing defeat (Photo by STF/AFP/ GettyImages)

Second World War

Bitter end: Hitler’s downfall and the end of the war and the Third Reich

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Pod Al Murray WL

How the Allies plucked victory from the jaws of defeat . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Photo of the SAS in North Africa

Second World War

How the early SAS became heroes of the Second World War

Troops engaged in street fighting in the battle of Stalingrad,1942 (Photo from akg-images)

Second World War

The battle of Stalingrad: a German officer’s account of WW2’s bloodiest battle

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Pod Ian MacGregor WL

Stalingrad: a soldier’s testimony . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Firemen tackling a blitz fire at St Paul's Cathedral, London

Second World War

WW2 timeline: 20 important dates and milestones you need to know

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Peter Caddick-Adams

Peter Caddick-Adams on the Russia-Ukraine war “The language, tactics, and weapons hark back to the 1940s” . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Soviet infantrymen charge in a counter offensive during the battle of Moscow, 1941.

The 1941 battle of Moscow: how successful was Operation Typhoon?

Winston Churchill (left) with Charles de Gaulle, c1944. The British prime minister encouraged Vichy’s colonies to rally to the Free French leader. (Getty Images)

Operation Ironclad: the WW2 battle for Madagascar

The destroyer USS Shaw explodes in a massive fireball at Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941. The attack led almost immediately to Germany declaring war on America, and so brought Stalin an unexpected ally of colossal potential power, says Laurence Rees. (Bettmann/Getty Images)

Opinion Why December 1941 was the most important month of WW2

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A Hawker Hurricane of Fighter Command on its way to intercept German bombers as they crossed the south coast of England during the Battle of Britain, 1940. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

6 Battle of Britain myths . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Two Hitler Youth who have surrendered to Allied Forces, Germany, 1945. (Photo by © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

First World War

Innocence under fire: how children were used in warfare of the past