In this series of articles, we will discuss the development of the Pz.Kpfw. VIII 'Maus'. After taking a look at ideas and visions leading to the development of its prototypes, we will take a closer look at the infamous German vehicle that got past the firing range tests.

Spain erupted into civil war on July 1936 with the popularly elected “loyal” Republican faction defending themselves against the rebel “true Spanish” Nationalist side. The opportunity to test their armed forces attracted Stalin, Hitler, and Mussolini to the war.

The 503rd Heavy Tank Battailon was a German heavy tank unit consisting of Tigers and later King Tigers, which was formed in May 1942. The unit saw combat on both the Western and Eastern Front and many of Germany's best tank crews served with the 503rd, including the famous tank ace Kurt Knispel.

At Camp Claiborne in April of 1941 the 761st was born and were deployed on October 10, 1944 on Omaha Beach in France. The 761st was part of the 5th Tank Group along with the 785th and the 784th, this was the first all African American Armored tank group.

In 1938, the Soviet Union began development of several modern heavy tank designs, to be used in the Soviet “deep battle” doctrine. During the Winter War, three tank prototypes were sent to Finland to be tested: The SMK, KV, and T-100.

Professor Doctor Ferdinand Porsche is remembered as one of the pioneers in automotive engineering. However, what many people do not know, is that during the WW II Dr. Porsche was also trying to design tanks. While most of them did not leave the prototype stage, they were still fairly important thanks to innovative design philosophies.

Operation Typhoon (or 'Taifun' in German) was the code-name for the German offensive of the Army Group Center against the Soviet Western, Reserve and Brjansk Armies with the ultimate goal to capture the Soviet capital, Moscow. 

With nations across the entire globe weary of bloodshed, the tragedy of the Second World War was finally drawing to a close in August 1945. On August 15th, in the skies above Odaki Bay, a dogfight took place which many historians credit as being probably the last aerial combat of the Second World War.

On the 7th of November, 1944, in the air above the town of Niš (pronounced Nish) in former Yugoslavia, a skirmish between American P-38 Lightnings and Soviet Yak-9s occurred - an incident of friendly fire between the two allies.

There is a lot of ghosts with smoke and mirrors about the story of the actual capture of the Tiger 131 in Africa, several books have claims of things done that have since been shrouded in doubt from letters to the Bovington museum from Douglas Lidderdale prior to his death.

At 7:49, Fuchida transmitted the radio message: “Tora, Tora, Tora”, which meant complete surprise. The dive bombers and torpedo bombers began descending to attack, as fighters converged to attack the US aircraft on the airfields.

The towns of Dubno, Lutsk, and Brody formed a triangle of the 4th,8th,9th,15th,19th, and 22nd Mechanized Corps of the Soviet Army commanded by Mikhail Petrovich Kirponos in the Ukraine was the most intense tank battle prior to Kursk.

Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham ordered the attack on Taranto to take place on the night of 21st October – the anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. However, a number of delays such as a fire onboard the carrier HMS Illustrious and contaminated fuel forced a delay to the attack, and a reduction in the strike force.

The British operated an arrangement of defences (including guns and fighter aircraft) to intercept the bombs before they reached their targets as part of Operation Crossbow, while the launch sites and underground V-1 storage depots were targets of strategic bombing.

After the conclusion of the “Battle of Britain day” on September 15th, the conflict for the skies over England had changed and evolved massively since the initial stages. What was seen as one of the first victories over German forces provided critical for gaining aerial superiority and also in the building up the strength of the RAF in the process.

In the opening months of the Second World War, the might of the German military smashed its way across Western Europe with ground breaking tactics, superior training and state of the art equipment.

100 years ago, Sergeant Joseph Frantz and Corporal Louis Quenault managed to achieve the honor of being the firsts aviators to shoot down an enemy aircraft with gunfire.

 The aircraft was designed by the Boeing Corporation as a true strategic bombing platform. it’s endurance, altitude and payload was beyond any other aircraft of it’s day, and was truly a contender for the title of greatest bomber of World War 2