✅ This post was reviewed and corrected as part of the 2025 Historical Accuracy Update.Reviewed by Doc Snafu on July 28, 2025. Mark VI-2 King Tiger #332: From Henschel to Fort Benning The German Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf. B Tiger II, more famously known as the King Tiger, was the ultimate armored juggernaut fielded by Nazi Germany during World War II. Among the few King Tigers captured during the war, Tiger #332 remains unique: it is the only known example taken completely intact by Allied forces. This is the comprehensive story of Tiger #332 – from its construction in Kassel (Germany) to...

✅ This post was reviewed and corrected as part of the 2025 Historical Accuracy Update.Reviewed by Doc Snafu on June 24, 2025. Welcome to the Photos Resources section of the European Center of Military History. This category offers a growing repository of historical photographs meticulously gathered from various origins, including public online sources, personal contributions from collectors and researchers, and above all, official holdings from the United States National Archives and other governmental repositories. Most, if not all, of these images are in the public domain, which means they are legally free to use, reproduce, and share without restriction—although credit...

Document source: The Germans Ardennes Counter-Offensive December 16, 1944, to January 2, 1945, Ardennes Alsace Campaign, Type of operation: Army Group Offensive, Advanced Infantry Officers Class #1, Major Keith H. Barber. Infantry School, Fort Benning, Georgia. INTRODUCTION On June 6, 1944, the Allied Armies under the command of Gen Dwight D. Eisenhower came over the beaches of Normandy, embarked upon the invasion of the continent to bring to a successful conclusion the war in Europe by the destruction of the German field forces in the West. Seven weeks later, they had captured the Port of Cherbourg, cleared the Cotentin Peninsula of...

Document Source: Annex #2 to G-2 Periodic Report N°199 Commanding General, Third US Army, December 27, 1944, HQ Third US Army (1) UNCOMMITTED FALLSCHIRMJÄGER AND INFANTRY UNITS The withdrawal from the contact of the 6.Fallschirmjäger-Division on the 21st Amy Group front focuses attention on the enemy’s available Infantry reserves, particularly the four Fallschirmjäger Divisions (2, 6, 7, 8) that are now out of the line. If the enemy is to hold his present penetration against the mounting pressure of the Third US Army, there must commit more of his few remaining Infantry reserves, for all of his Infantry divisions on the Southern...

Document Source: Einheit von Der Heydte (December 23 1944); ANNEX NO.3 TO G-2 REPORT NO.181 HQ 2D INF DIV; December 23, 1944 Fallschirmjaeger Kampfgruppe Oberstleutnant Friedrich August Freiherr von der Heydte (Operation Stoesser) Oberstleutnant von der Heydte had already jumped with a broken arm held in place in a leather sleeve. Totally exhausted and completely disillusioned following the obvious failure of the mission entrusted to him, only after having passed almost a week, days and nights, in one of the most hostile parts of the Belgian Ardennes, the high fens, gave the order to the men of his combat group to disassemble...

(Document Source: Reproduction of the Original Papers by EUCMH) EUROPEAN CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY UNITED STATES ARMY EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS DEPUTY JUDGE ADVOCATE'S OFFICE 7708 WAR CRIMES GROUP EUROPEAN COMMAND APO 407 APRIL 14 1948 UNITED STATES v. Otto Skorzeny et all Case N° 6-100 REVIEW AND RECOMMENDANDATIONS I. TRIAL DATA: The accused were tried at Dachau, Germany during the period August 14, to September 9, 1947, before a General Military Government Court. II. CHARGE AND PARTICULARS Charge I: Violation of the Laws and Usages of War Particulars: In that Otto Skorzeny, Philipp Von Behr, Walter Scherf, Hans Haas, Wilhelm Maus, Dennis Müntz, Günther Fitze, Ralph Bellstedt, Wilhelm Kocherscheidt, and Arend de Bruin,...

Document Source: this study is a historical analysis of the German Special Operations conducted in support of their overall Ardennes Offensive. It focuses on the two major special operations of the German Offensive, Operation Greif (Skorzeny) and Operation Stoesser (Von der Heydte). Operation Greif was the German attempt to infiltrate a commando unit behind American lines disguised as American soldiers. Operation Stoesser, the last German airborne operation of the war, was designed to secure a key crossroads behind American lines. These special operations failed because of faulty planning, inadequate preparation, and a lack of coordination between the special and...

(Document Source) Headquarters US Army Intelligence Center, Fort Holabird, Baltimore, Maryland. ACSIH-GC-250/58/M, April 1959, CIC History. Plélude The US Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC): Origins, Missions, and Role in Postwar Europe. The (CIC) was a crucial yet often overlooked branch of the US Army dedicated to counterintelligence, espionage detection, and internal security. Officially established in 1942, the CIC played a significant role during World War II and the early Cold War, particularly in Europe, where it was instrumental in rooting out enemy agents, securing liberated territories, and later combating Soviet infiltration. Origins and Establishment The origins of the CIC date back to World War...

Document Source: This document is transcribed from the copies in the collection of the US Military History Institute, Carlisle Barrack, Pennsylvania, #D739 F6713 #B-592 & #D739 F6713 #B-838. These two separate documents are really Part I and Part II of the Generalmajor (Maj Gen) Otto Ernst Remer’s account of the Fuehrerbegleitbrigade (Fuehrer Escort Brigade) during the Ardennes Offensive. They are manuscripts B-592 and B-838 of the Foreign Military Studies series that were compiled after World War II. The transcription was made and edited by Wesley Johnston, son of Walter Johnston of the AT Platoon, B Co, 38th Armored Infantry...

Document Source: File #847-59, After Action Report, 825th Tank Destroyer Battalion, September 1944 - October 1944 & Able Company 825-TDB December 17 1944 to January 17, 1945. Archives Collection European Center of Military History. On September 1944, the 825th TD Battalion had nearly completed a mission assigned to it by Headquarters, Advance Section, Communications Zone. In the accomplishment of its mission during the month of August, the battalion had been scattered lengthwise and over the entire width of the Cotentin Peninsula from Cherbourg to La Haye-Pesnel; then east to the vicinity of Le Mans. Now with it Headquarters and...

Document Source: United States Army; Robinson, Wayne; and Hamilton, Norman E., Move out, verify: the combat story of the 743rd Tank Battalion, (1945). World War Regimental Histories. (http://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/ww_reg_his/66) - (Bangor Public Library, 145 Harlow Street, Bangor, Maine, 04401, USA). The part extracted relates to the Battle of the Bulge, December 16, 1944, to February 25, 1945. (Corrections (if) Photographs, Additional Research by Doc Snafu.) Author's Foreword Sometimes, War can generate a complicated task to be done. A Battalion truck was driven hundreds of miles through Germany to locate and haul a linotype machine so that type could be set for this...

Document Source: Report about the employment of four (4) Tank Destroyer Battalions in the ETO. Officers Advanced Course, Armored School. 644th Tank Destroyer Battalion (Self-Propelled), by Maj William F. Jackson, Maj John E. Wales III, Maj Marshall B. Garth, Maj John A. Rankin, Maj Alfred L. Dibelia, Maj Robert Hall, Capt George F. Sawyer, Capt Robert L. Perley, Capt James L. Higgins OPERATIONS OH THE 644th TANK DESTROYER BATTALION - ARDENNES The 644th Tank Destroyer Battalion (SP)(Self-Propelled), commanded by Col Ephriam F. Graham, sailed from the USA on Jan 2, 1944, on board of the HMT Aquitania. The battalion landed in...