On June 6, 1944, tens of thousands of American soldiers, sailors, and airmen assaulted the German held coast of France at Normandy. Some were killed, some wounded, and all of them were changed as the battles raged against Rommel and his defenders. They fell for yards of sandy beaches, for critical roads, bridges, villages, towns, and cities. Together, we will travel to those places, and we will relive all the bravery and horror, all the mistakes and honor, as we learn their stories - Chasing Rommel.

In the fall of 1942, with Rommel's forces poised to overrun Egypt, the Suez, and the oil rich Middle East, the British launch a desperate plan to send a small, heavily armed team behind enemy lines to stop Germany's Afrika Korps and its commander.

An exciting account of a little-known, yet vital part of World War II, the Allied effort to blockade Axis forces in North Africa with a relatively small number of planes and submarines included some of the war's most spectacular air battles, and opened the way to the attack on Fortress Europe from the south. This is the first book-length treatment of the crucial struggle to cut Axis supply lines in the Tunisian campaign of 1942-1943, a battle often ignored or played down even by official historians. The campaign marked the first big U.S. victory against the Axis powers and served as a proving ground for several top Allied commanders. This study fills an important gap in the history of the war, reevaluating the development of Allied airpower and the role of Italy in the campaign. Allied success in interdiction was a critical factor in the greatest Allied victory in the Mediterranean campaign, a victory which left the enemy so weakened that it could not stop the subsequent invasion of Europe from the south. Despite initial disorganization and early disappointments, the British waged one of only two successful submarine campaigns ever fought. This study describes some of the war's most amazing air battles, notably Operation Flax against the enemy's air transport fleet, and attacks on convoys, all interwoven with the events of the ground war in the desert and comparisons with the Pacific effort. It details the struggle to reorganize and improve the Allied effort, the belated success of sea sweeps against enemy ships, and the final victory in the spring of 1943, in which an air blockade was clamped on the sea and sky approaches to Tunisia.

When young John Lebda waded ashore on that beach in North Africa during World War II, he had no idea he was walking into the biggest mess the world has ever seen. All he wanted was to find a way back home, but the road seemed to be a million miles long - across deserts, up mountains, over oceans and rivers, through many countries resembling hell. He knew he had the right stuff, but he had to have God on his side when the machine guns chattered, artillery crackled and bomb bursts were sent to put him down.

I refer to my book as a memoir, somewhat autobiographical but also a journal, recounting my quest to discover more about those who came before me in my father's family. Things grew complicated, and I had no intention of writing about any of this until a colleague spoke the fateful words to me: "You need to write this down." If I had not begun writing when I did, much of this story would be lost to time and other life factors. On the surface, this is a mystery story about a cigar box of memorabilia I took possession of in 1977 after my dad died. The cigar box was no more than a curiosity, so I would look at the contents and put it away. Then came personal computers so I could search from the comfort of my home. Like so many mysteries, I thought the answers were rather straightforward. The deeper I searched, the more I was frustrated, humbled, and compelled to keep searching and writing for ten-plus years. As a Roman Catholic, I soon saw this search had a deeper theological meaning for me as I pondered the relationship this journey had to the (a) communion of saints, the (b) corporal works of mercy, and, ultimately, (c) forgiveness of self and others. I wrote this as a conversation with the reader asking them to ponder these same issues with me. I also adopted the Catholic practice of picking a patron saint for this memoire, and who is better than Saint Jerome? I needed both a muse and a taskmaster, and he fills both roles quite ably. He is also the patron saint of archivers, and that would certainly be me. The music theme is a significant backdrop to my story. Just like the movie background music or score kept subtle to set the tone and elicit emotion, my lyrics and melody selections are used to express and convey the same. As you will learn, Emma herself was an accomplished musician. In addition, science suggests that this universe itself is believed to be finely tuned harmonic from galaxies to DNA. As I write about implied realms beyond this one, a music soundtrack seems appropriate.

After surviving the brutal Bataan Death March in spring 1942, Louisiana native John Henry Poncio spent the remainder of World War II as a Japanese prisoner, first at Camp Cabanatuan in the Philippines and later at Hirohata in Japan. In those three and a half years, U.S. Army Air Corps sergeant Poncio suffered severe beatings, starvation, disease, and emotional and psychological abuse at the hands of his captors. However, his resiliency, sense of humor, and cunning helped him to persist and to recover from the traumatic events without rancor toward the Japanese. In Girocho, he relates his experiences as a POW with touching honesty, vividly describing the harsh conditions he and his comrades endured as well as the sometimes-funny clashes with Japanese culture. Girocho was a samurai who stole from the rich and gave to the poor, a Japanese Robin Hood. Early on, Poncio was given this name in jest by one of the prison guards, and it suited him perfectly. During his internment, he took part in a vast smuggling operation that brought food, money, mail, and other supplies into the POW camps; he reported enemy troop movements to Filipino guerrillas and participated in acts of sabotage. He and the other prisoners worked together incessantly to subvert the Japanese war effort even under the threat of death, going so far as to bury expensive calibration equipment in wet cement and build irregular gears for planes. To frustrate their captors and to stay alive, the American POWs developed the technique “going Asiatic” — maintaining a blank expression during interrogations and beatings and escaping mentally for a time. Although he and his fellow captives were treated with cruelty by many, Poncio recalls the camaraderie of the prisoners and encounters with humane guards and kind civilians, proving his remarkable gift for finding the positive in the most dire of situations. Girocho is an inspiring memoir, transcribed verbatim by Poncio’s wife, Inez, from nine hours of cassettes Poncio recorded some years after the war. Marlin Young verified her uncle’s stories, placed them in chronological order, and set them within the greater context of the war, creating a compelling tale of one soldier’s courage, honor, and resolve to overcome life as a prisoner of war. Their book is a fitting tribute to the POWs in the Pacific, who fought in their unique way for the U.S. war effort, their friends, and their very lives.

Seniors of the pulp and paper town of Powell River, BC remember two major events in their lives, the Great Depression and WWII. Some have lived 80 + years in the community, others recall events from other Canadian provinces. The were children during the Great Depression and young adults during WWII. A collection of 70 stories.

The theme of trust, betrayed or fulfilled, runs through this collection of short stories: Parents lead children into peril, husbands abandon wives, wives manipulate husbands, and time undermines all. Love pangs, a favorite subject of the author, take on a new urgency as earthquakes, illnesses, lost wallets, and deaths of distant friends besiege his aging heroes and heroines. One man loves his wife’s twin, and several men love the imagined bliss of their pasts; one woman takes an impotent lover, and another must administer her father’s death. Bourgeois comforts and youthful convictions are tenderly seen as certain to erode: “Man,” as one of these stories concludes, “was not meant to abide in paradise.”

An RAF pilot who flew around the world with Winston Churchill during World War II tells his story. An RAF Volunteer Reserve officer, John Mitchell was mobilized on the outbreak of war—and just missed going to join a Battle Squadron in France where he would have undoubtedly been killed. Instead, he was posted to No. 58 Squadron flying Whitleys, surviving a tour of operations in 1940–41 that included ditching in the North Sea. Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, he was sent to the US, becoming involved in the development of the first navigation training simulators with the famous Link Trainer factory. There, he was awarded the US Legion of Merit, signed by Harry S. Truman. Then, returning to the UK in 1942, he was personally selected to join the crew of Winston Churchill’s private aircraft, one of the early prototype Avro Yorks called Ascalon. For two years he navigated Churchill to conferences around the world—from North Africa to Italy, the Middle East to Moscow, including the famous Teheran and Yalta conferences. He also flew “General Lyon” (aka His Majesty George VI) on several occasions. After the war, he enjoyed an eventful career as an air attaché, including an intelligence posting to Moscow, and was senior navigation officer for the long range exercises over the Pole in the converted Lincoln, Aries III. His is an exceptional story, told with wit and verve to military aviation historian Sean Feast, who adds authoritative and informed insights.