All In One Directory: Second World War Related Websites

The Home Front: The multiple award winning Learning Curve has launched its latest piece of content. The Home Front: 1939-45 is designed to complement fully the History National Curriculum (Key Stages 2-4). Students can take a multimedia journey through seven different aspects the Second World War and make up their own mind as to why it occurred and how it was fought. Along every step of the way the student has unrivalled access to the original documentation, gaining a real experience of 'making history'.

War and Conflict: World War II: Another outstanding website produced by the BBC. The material on the war can be accessed by topic, time or people. The large collection of articles covers the Battle of Britain, the Holocaust, the Blitz, Area Bombing, War in Russia, the Battle of El Alamein, Allied PoWs, SOE, Emperor Hirohito, Heinrich Himmler, Battle of Arnhem, Home Guard, MI5, Monte Cassino, Evacuation, Adolf Hitler and the role of Caribbean, Indian and African forces during the war.

U-boat War 1939-1945: This website contains over 12,700 pages of information on the U-boat War. This includes biographies of 1,411 U-boat commanders and profiles of 1153 U-boats. Recent articles added include U-boat Shipyards, U-boat Types, Donitz at Nuremberg, Sinking of SS Athenia, German Saboteur Teams in the USA, U-boat Songs, Men Lost from U-boats, German Torpedo Crisis, Operation Deadlight, Convoy Commodores and U-boat Computer Simulations.

George Rarey's Sketchbook Journals: George Rarey was drafted into the US Army Air Corps in 1942 and eventually became a member of the 379 Fighter Squadron. Rarey was also a commercial artist and until he was killed in France in 1944 kept a cartoon journal of the daily life of the fighter pilots. This very impressive website, produced by his son, includes George Rarey's drawings, with explanatory text contributed by surviving members of the 379th Fighter Squadron. The website also features excerpts from Rarey's letters and his wife's memoirs.

Winston S. Churchill: Maintained by the Churchill Center in Washington, this website is devoted to the life and times of Winston Churchill. The very detailed biography is organism into eight sections: Youth (1874-1900), Young Statesman (1901-1914), The Challenge of War (1914-16), The Stricken World (1917-1922), The Prophet of Truth (1923-1939), Finest Hour (1939-1941), Road to Victory (1942-1945) and Never Despair (1945-1965). Other sections include Debates about Churchill, Churchill's Life: Day by Day, Churchill Facts and Frequently Asked Questions.

Deutsches Afrika Korps : Paulo Henriques of Portugal has created this detailed website on the Deutsches Afrika Korps during the Second World War. As well as providing biographies and photographs of the leading commanders there are also articles on the War in Africa, The Italian Army, Afrika Korps History, Life in the Afrika Korps, Afrika Korps Units and Symbols, Afrika Korps Uniforms, Afrika Korps Guns and Afrika Korps Songs.

Secret Service in the Second World War: A study of the secret service during the Second World War. Biographies of forty agents and accounts of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), Special Operations Executive (SOE) and the Prosper Network. Each entry contains a narrative, illustrations and primary sources. The text within each entry is hypertexted to other relevant pages in the encyclopedia. In this way it is possible to research individual people and events in great detail. The sources are also hypertexted so the student is able to find out about the writer, artist, newspaper, organization, etc., that produced the material.

Women and the Second World War: In September 1943 the Special Operations Executive (SOE) sent Pearl Witherington into France where she became head of the Wrestler Network. Over the next few months Witherington, one of the 39 female agents sent into France during the war, helped organize over 1,500 members of the Maquis against the German Army. This website illustrates the important role played by women in the war and includes biographies of twenty secret agents, twenty women involved in the anti-Nazi resistance movement in Europe and twelve women who risked their lives as war reporters.

Violette Szabo: After hearing that her husband had been killed at El Alamein, Violette Szabo, developed a strong desire to get involved in the war effort and was recruited to join the Special Operations Executive (SOE). The violette Szabo Museum website tells the story of how she was parachuted into occupied France to help the resistance. Szabo was captured and executed by the Gestapo and was posthumously awarded the Croix de Guerre and the George Cross.

NZ Fighter Pilots Museum: In 1945 New Zealand had a population of under 1.5 million. During World War II this small country provided (on a per capita basis) the largest number of aircrew (57,000) and the largest number of fighter aces (94) of any country in the world. It is a sad statement, also, that they contributed the largest number of aircrew killed relative to population. The New Zealand Fighter Pilots Museum is over eight years old. In that time over 165,000 visitors from around the world have visited us to learn and be entertained. In the four years since this site was launched, the number of visitors to this website has surpassed twice that number.

Canadian Air Aces and Heroes is a set of biographies on Canadians who distinguished themselves in military aviation from WWI through WWII and Korea. Linked with the biographies are technical pages on the aircraft they flew and fought against. It is continually being updated and added to so check back occasionally to see if anything new has been added.

War Peace and Security Guide provides a comprehensive collection of links to military resources. Produced by the Canadian Forces College Information Resource Centre, the website includes sections on Armed Forces of the World, Contemporary Conflicts, International Organizations, International Relations, Military Art and Science, Military Biography, Military History & Peace and Disarmament.

Royal Air Force: A website that celebrates the history of the RAF and its pioneering role in the development of aviation, from its earliest beginnings to the present day. The Time Line traces the history of aviation and the Royal Air Force. It features many photographs and illustrations as well as sound-bites and links which provide fuller explanations of the major aircraft types, people and events of the period. The Histories section provides material on the different Royal Air Force units and stations.

A-Bomb WWW Museum: This website is produced by the A-bomb WWW Project is based in Hiroshima, Japan. The authors, Mitsura Ohba and John Benson, state that their main objective is to "provide the context for a constructive discussion of what the world can learn from this event and why such weapons of total destruction should never again be used". The website includes sections entitled 'Voices of A-bomb Survivors' and 'Children of Hiroshima'.

Australia in World War Two: During the Second World War more than 900,000 men and women served in the Australian armed forces. About 560,000 Australians served overseas, the majority of them with the Army, which employed 482,690 personnel at its peak in April 1943. This website, produced by Rosemary Horton, the librarian at Trinity College in East Perth, provides a series of links to websites with detailed content on Australia in World War Two.

Women of the Special Operations Executive: This website, created in 1995, tells the story of the women who joined the Special Operations Executive (SOE) during the Second World War. As the author points out, the website "does not intend to glamorize or hero worship the women - the work was far from glamorous - but to simply show the intricate work they did, the extraordinary courage they showed and the sacrifices they made."

Special Operations Executive: This website tells the story behind the role of the Special Operations Executive during the Second World War. There are sections on Beginnings, Facts, Missions, Tools of the Trade, Operatives, Myths and Legends, the SOE in the Far East and Picture Gallery. The website is produced by Maurice A. Christie, whose father worked at the SOE Laboratories that were to make and test some of the first James Bond type Gadgets. He was later sent on a undercover operation in Singapore.

Canadian Military Heritage Project: This website is dedicated to presenting Canadian military history - the wars, uprisings and conflicts in which Canadians participated. The goal of the project is to preserve the records and memories of Canadians who served their country, and to ensure that their sacrifices are not forgotten. The website provides historical background for each conflict, chronological timelines, statistics, battles, weaponry, uniforms & equipment, famous Canadians, biographies of soldiers, heroes and their stories, contributions of women, other countries who participated, muster rolls for conflicts before 1900, letters from soldiers at the front, music and poetry, guest authors' submissions and links to other online resources.

Battle of Britain: This is probably the most comprehensive website available on the Internet on the Battle of Britain. It includes a detailed account of every days events from July 10th 1940 through to October 31st 1940, the official period set down for the Battle of Britain. Included in this account, are all the days events, weather conditions, the times of enemy detection by radar and combat actions, quotations given by many that took part, and historical accounts provided by many historians and a full listing of all the R.A.F casualties for each day. The website also has a Bulletin Board where you may post messages and ask questions.

Women Come to the Front is a website devoted to women who worked as journalists, photographers and broadcasters during the Second World War. This includes articles such as War, Women and Opportunity and Seeds of Change and biographies of Therese Bonney, Toni Frissell, Clare Boothe Luce, Janet Flanner, Esther Bubley, Dorothea Lange and May Craig. There is also a full list of accredited women correspondents employed during the war.

Life and Times of Winston Churchill: The most comprehensive website on Winston Churchill on the Internet. There is a day by day account of his life and a complete list of books written by Churchill. Other sections include Churchill's speeches and quotes, Churchill trivia, debates about Churchill, and reviews of early books by Churchill.

Bob Baxter's Bomber Command: This website provides an overall and concise view of the role of Bomber Command in World War II. At the press of a button can be seen the memories of the men who flew in the bombers, and the men on the ground who kept them flying night after night. Three main targets in that nightmare of all bomber crews 'the Ruhr' of Germany are highlighted, along with aspects of those dark and dangerous days and more than a glimpse of the impact and dedication of Bomber Command and its crews. The web site also has a typical airfield layout as it was in WWII. The most famous and productive bomber of WWII, the Lancaster is fully illustrated with photographs and text plus a very detailed photograph of the Merlin engines that carried the bomber to and from the target on countless occasions from 1942 to 1945.

Iwo Jima: At the beginning of 1945 General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of the Southwest Pacific Area, decided to try and capture the small volcanic island of Iwo Jima that at the time was being defended by 20,000 veterans of the Japanese Special Naval Landing Force. On 19th February, American soldiers began landing on the island. Over 250,000 men and 900 ships were involved in this amphibious operation under the command of Admiral Richmond Turner. The main objective was to capture the island's three airstrips and to to obtain a forward air base for the planned Allied attack on the Japanese home territories. Of the 23,000 Japanese soldiers defending Iwo Jima, only 216 were taken alive. The American forces also suffered during the bitter fighting on the island with 5,391 Marines killed and 17,400 wounded. This website provides a detailed account of the campaign.

Virtual Chat with Adolf Hitler: In this innovative "artificial intelligence" activity from Russel Tarr at ActiveHistory, users can type in questions which Hitler answers. If you are stuck for a question, you can ask the computer to suggest one from a variety of categories, and if Hitler does not respond correctly it is possible to submit the question to ActiveHistory so that his 'brain' can be updated. All people who contribute in this way are given full recognition on a separate 'credits' page. Lesson plans to make use of the resource in the classroom are also provided, and this is an original and engaging way of learning about Nazi Germany.

The Niztor Project: A website dedicated to the millions of Holocaust victims who suffered and died at the hands of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi regime. Subjects covered include the Holocaust Camps, Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, The Nuremberg Trials, Techniques of Holocaust Denial, Trial of Adolf Eichmann and Holocaust Revisionism.

D-Day Letters: The D-day invasion began with a dangerous attack by American paratroopers. Dropped behind enemy lines to soften up the German troops and to secure needed targets, the paratroopers knew that if the accompanying assault by sea failed - there would be no rescue. Departing from Portland Bill on the English Coast, the 101st and 82nd US Airborne Divisions were dropped on the Cherbourg Peninsula. From that point, the 101st division was to secure the western end behind UTAH and head off an eastern German advance. The 82nd, landing farther inland, was to seize the bridges and halt an advance from the west. This PBS website contains a collection of letters written by the paratroopers involved in this action. The words of the soldiers relay the many emotions experienced by the men who fought on D-day.

Second World War Pillboxes: In the summer of 1940 a network of defences was hastily built all over the British Isles to prevent an anticipated German invasion. Sited at road junctions, canals and other strategic points these constructions were called "pillboxes". If the Battle of Britain had turned out differently our fathers or grandfathers might have died in one defending the freedoms which many now take for granted. This site attempts to show what remains today.

Douglas MacArthur: No soldier in modern history has been more admired - or more reviled than Douglas MacArthur. The liberator of the Philippines, shogun of Occupied Japan, brilliant victor of the Battle of Inchon, was an admired national hero when he was suddenly relieved of his command. This PBS website concentrates on MacArthur in the Philippines during the Second World War and his conflict with Harry S. Truman in 1951.

World War Remembered: People are a great resource - their memories can unlock the past for us. World War Remembered is a Web site that publishes personal accounts of the wars of the last century. Students and teachers from the East Riding of Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, have collected spoken and written memoirs from people who experienced war - in the armed services, or as civilians. This site is growing, as more people contribute - and this site can help preserve their stories for future historians.

Battle for Berlin: Stalin's attempt to take Berlin ahead of his allies in 1945 led to the death of 70,000 Russian soldiers. This BBC website follows historian Antony Beevor as he examined the conquering army's conduct and unearthed evidence to suggest that Stalin's nuclear ambitions may have driven him to take such military risks. Beevor's task was awesome. There were tens of thousands of unexplored documents in the Russian archives relevant to the Battle of Berlin. Would the new material shed light on controversial issues such as the alleged mass rape of German women by Red Army soldiers? Why did Stalin sacrifice the lives of tens of thousands of his soldiers in order to be in Berlin before the Americans?

Nazi and East German Propaganda: Propaganda was central to Nazi Germany and the postwar German Democratic Republic. The German Propaganda Archive website maintained by Randall Bytwerk, includes both propaganda itself and material produced for the guidance of propagandists. The goal is to help people understand the two great totalitarian systems of the 20th Century by giving them access to the primary material. The website includes speeches, posters, cartoons and photographs.

Battle of Midway: In a three day battle between June 3-6, 1942 United States land and carrier-based planes decisively repulsed a heavy Japanese naval and air assault. Japanese casualties included loss of 275 planes, four large carriers, two heavy cruisers, and three destroyers and damage to three battleships and four cruisers. American losses included one carrier, one destroyer and 150 planes. This website, produced by the US Department of the Navy, provides an illustrated account of this important battle.

London At War: A comprehensive website on London during the Second World War. The material is organized under four headings: Children and the War (Winter 1939, Schools & Evacuation, Barbara Male, George Knott); Air Raids (London Prepares, ARP, Civil Defence, An Incident, The Blitz); Shelter (Going Underground, Eastenders, Westenders, Shelter Life, Home Shelters, Rev. James Mackay); Women at War (Daily Life, Business as Usual, Dig for Victory, Rationing, Spam and Spives).

Destruction of Lidice: In 1942 Lidice, a village in Czechoslovakia, was the scene of a violent reprisal for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich. The village was razed to the ground and all its inhabitants murdered. This is the official site of the Czech government dedicated to events in Lidice. Produced in German, Czech and English it tells the story of both the events of 1942 and efforts to commemorate the massacre.

Lidice and Oradour: Remembering the Nazi Massacres: The 10th June marks the anniversary of the Nazi massacres of 340 citizens of the Czech village of Lidice in 1942 and 642 citizens of the French village of Oradour-sur-Glane in 1944. Both villages were completely destroyed by the SS, but for reasons of memorial neither was rebuilt on their original site. At Lidice the visitor finds an empty valley with only a low stone wall to mark the position of the barn where villagers were shot. At Oradour the ruins have been carefully preserved to create France's village martyr. This website, produced by the International School of Toulouse, is an interesting example of how websites might be used to support the learning of students undertaking history fieldwork.

Navajo Code Talkers: Early in 1942 Philip Johnson, met Major General Clayton B. Vogel, the commanding general of Amphibious Corps, Pacific Fleet, and suggested that the U.S. Marines used the Navajo language as a secret code. Johnson, who had grown up on an Navajo Reservation, argued that because it of its complex syntax, tonal qualities and dialect, the Japanese cryptographers would find it impossible to decipher. He also pointed out that Navajo was not a written language and less than 30 non-Navajos understood it. Vogel was convinced by Johnson's arguments and it was decided to establish a Navajo code programme at Camp Pendleton at Oceanside, California. Over the next three years over 400 Navajos agents were trained to use the code and around 300 saw action in the field. Speaking Navajo and using an additional code within that, they were able to convey information and orders among Marine units and Navy warships and aircraft. This website provides an overview of the subject plus links to other related resources including a Navajo Code Talker Lesson, a Navajo Code Talkers' Dictionary, a Navajo Code Cipher Simulation and the Windtalkers film.

Evacuation: During World War II, children and those at risk were taken to places of safety to protect them from bombs and war damage. The well-known story of evacuation sees people evacuated from London to the countryside. However, this doesn't tell the whole story. Some children were evacuated to other British Dominions (countries that were part of the British Empire) such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. In this Public Record Office website students can investigate what happened to a number of children who were evacuated to Canada by examining official government documents and records.

Oradour-sur-Glane: During the D-day landings in June, 1944, the Maquis and other French Resistance groups rose up to help in the liberation of their country. These armed resistance groups were able to slow down the attempt by the SS Panzer Division to get to the Normandy beaches. The German authorities decided to carry out a revenge attack that would frighten the French people into submission. On 10th June a group of SS soldiers led by Major Adolf Diekmann entered Oradour-sur-Glane, a village in the Haute-Vienne region of France. He ordered the execution of more than 600 men, women and children before setting fire to the village. This website provides a detailed account of this terrible war crime.

War, Media and Propaganda: In 1939 Joseph Goebbels remarked: "We cannot be satisfied with just telling the people what we want. We have to keep hammering on at them until they become addicted to us." This statement is included in the Flanders Field Museum's online exhibition on war, the media and propaganda in the 20th century. The exhibition starts with stories from Belgium in 1914 about nuns were being raped by German soldiers to the claims that Kuwaiti babies were being snatched from hospital incubators by occupying Iraqi troops in 1991.

Second World War Open Directory: This comprehensive directory contains 737 websites on the Second World War: Air Forces (98), Arts and Literature (14), Atomic (56), Directories (3), Documents, Manuscripts and other Primary Sources (3), Education and Academic (3), Land Forces (36), Naval Forces (63), People (183), Regional (133), Theaters of Operations (162), War Crimes (2) and Weapons and Equipment (43).

World War II: The Homefront: This website created by Jacob Crouch, Ben Gould, and Scott Hays for ThinkQuest, an educational web site building contest for high school children world wide. It includes a timeline, an impressive artifact museum and a simulation that allows students to follow the lives of five American families during the school year of September 1943-June 1944.

The Blitz: What was it like in London during the Second World War? How did Londoners cope with the Blitz , the V1 flying bomb attacks, food rationing and all the other hardships of war? What happened to the children when London was in the front line of the battle against Nazi Germany? This website has four sections - Air Raids, Daily Life, Children at war and Shelters - and contain photographs, paintings, posters, diaries, personal reflections and local newsletters from and about the people of London.

World War II: Dave Depickere from Belgium has produced an interesting website on the Second World War. On the site you have the following sections: Battle Reports (information on battles, raids, generals); The Battlefield Today (itineraries and pictures of the battlefields in Europe); Fact or Myth (a look at controversial issues); The People's War : (stories of how people lived and viewed the war) and Veterans (stories of soldiers who fought in the great war and a place where they can meet and search for comrades).

Military Obituaries: A collection of obituaries of men who played a significant role in the Second World War. The obituaries originally appeared in the Daily Telegraph and The Times and includes figures such as Johnnie Johnson, Leo Marks, Patrick Porteous, Geoffrey Page, Marcus Oliphant, Charles Merritt, Vera Atkins, Thomas Ferebee, Jean Pierre Bloch, Harriet Waddy, Telford Taylor and John Howard.

Katyn Massacre: Katyn Forest is a wooded area near Gneizdovo village, a short distance from Smolensk in Russia where, in 1940 on Stalin's orders, the NKVD shot and buried over 4000 Polish service personnel that had been taken prisoner when the Soviet Union invaded Poland in September 1939. In 1943 the Nazis exhumed the Polish dead and blamed the Soviets. In 1944, having retaken the Katyn area from the Nazis, the Soviets exhumed the Polish dead again and blamed the Nazis. In 1989 Gorbachev admitted that the Soviet NKVD had executed the 25,700 Poles in Katyn. This website includes four articles on this terrible tragedy.

Polish Home Army: The division of Poland into two occupied zones, German and Soviet, in 1939, did not break the will of the Polish people and they continued to fight for freedom. In Warsaw, before the surrender, a secret military organization was set up with the approval of the Supreme Commander, who was already in Romania. General Michael Karszewicz-Tokarzewski took command of what became known as the Polish Home Army. This website provides a detailed account of Polish resistance during the Second World War.

Warsaw Uprising: As the Red Army advanced into Poland during the summer of 1944, Soviet contacts in Warsaw encouraged the underground Home Army, supported by the exiled Polish government in London, to stage an uprising. Polish resistance troops led by General Tadeusz Komorowski gained control of the city. However, the Soviet Army reached the suburb of the city but failed to give help to the insurgents, or allow the western Allies to use Soviet air bases to airlift supplies to the Poles. On the 2nd October the Poles were forced to surrender. This article by Tadeusz Kondracki provides a detailed account of the Warsaw Uprising.

Polish Resistance in the Second World War: The Polish Home Army was the largest underground resistance army during the Second World war. 300,000 strong at its peak it is credited with supplying the Allies with constant intelligence information about the eastern front, providing information about the V-1 rocket in Peenemunde, the sending over to Britain of the V-2 rocket, the sabotage and destruction of German supply trains and communication centres. It carried out the war’s largest uprising (the Warsaw Rising) which lasted 63 days.

45th Infantry Division: The 45th Infantry Division was one of four National Guard Divisions activated in 1940 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, foreseeing the possibility of war on the horizon. The campaigns it fought in were Sicily, Naples- Fogia, Anzio, Rome-Arno, Southern France, Central Europe, Ardennes Alsace, and Rhineland. The World War II Recreation Association in conjunction with BSA Venturing Crew 1941 have developed a website to preserve the history of the 45th Infantry Division and the individual Veterans who served in it.

Home Front: During the Second World War a school teacher in England was imprisoned for "advancing defeatist theories" to his pupils. This is one of the interesting facts included in this online simulation on the Home Front. In the lesson the students have to imagine they are living in Britain in December 1941. The students are the asked to write a report on one aspect of government policy (evacuation, rationing, refugees, etc.). Every student has to report back to the class about the topic he or she has investigated. They then provide a report on what has been happening in their assigned area since the outbreak of the war. The student then has to make proposals about the changes they would like to see in government policy. These proposals are then discussed and voted on by the rest of the class.

Sisters of Resistance: This PBS film chronicles the heroism and lifelong friendships of four young non-Jewish women who were imprisoned in concentration camps during the Second World War for their resistance to the Nazi occupation of France. On the accompanying website you can follow the lives of the four brave women highlighted in the film from just before the war until liberation. You can also go deeper into the fascinating stories of French Resistance heroes Geneviève de Gaulle Anthonioz, Jacqueline Pery d'Alincourt, Anise Postel-Vinay and Germaine Tillion, in this untold story of the Holocaust.

Dambusters: Sixty year ago, On the night of May 16, 1943, the specially formed 617 Squadron flew 19 modified Lancaster bombers to Germany, on a mission that was to become one of the most famous episodes of WWII, the Dambusters raid. To mark the raids 60th anniversary, the National Archives retells the story using original documents and images from its collection. You can see, online for the very first time, Barnes Wallis concept drawings for the 'bouncing bomb', 617 Squadron's log books of the Dams raid, the first air reconnaissance photos of the successfully breached Dams and many more fascinating historical records.

World War II Memories: Krista Salter's website is dedicated to an English father and Austrian mother and many others who were a part of the Second World War. Do you have memories that you would like to share? If so, please contact Krista Salter via the Feedback button. The website also includes links and section aiming to help family and friends find information on war veterans.

Camp 198: On the night of 10th March 1945, Seventy German prisoners tunnelled to freedom from Camp 198 in Bridgend. It was the biggest escape attempt made by German P.O.W.s in Great Britain during the Second World War. This website provides an indepth look at this event and includes the actual BBC News recording reporting the escape, newspaper reports and an interview with Carl Brockmeyer, one of the German prisoners at Camp 198.

Lord Haw-Haw: On 26th August 1939 William Joyce, the former Propaganda Director of the British Union of Fascists, left for Nazi Germany. Soon after arriving in Berlin he found work with the German Radio Corporation as an English language broadcaster. Joyce joined the 'German Calling' programme and in September 1939 and as a result of a comment made in the Daily Express, he acquired the name, Lord Haw-Haw. A survey in January 1940 revealed that over a quarter of the British population admitted listening to Joyce's broadcasts. This website provides a brief biography of Joyce and contains extracts from his broadcasts.

Warsaw Diaries: It is estimated that around half a million people were crammed into an area approximately 1.3 square miles in the Warsaw Ghetto during the Second World War. Some 100,000 died from disease, starvation and execution before the rest were transported to the death camp of Treblinka in July 1942. Inmates of the ghetto feared that the crimes committed against them would remain unknown to the outside world. Halina Gorcewicz was one of those who recorded her experiences and these can be found on this impressive website.

Nuremberg: In early October 1945, the four prosecuting nations - the United States, Great Britain, France and Russia - issued an indictment against 24 men and six organizations. The individual defendants were charged not only with the systematic murder of millions of people, but also with planning and carrying out the war in Europe. On November 20, 1945, twenty-one Nazi defendants filed into the dock at the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg to stand trial for war crimes. This TV Court Online website provides extensive details of what happened.

Oradour: Early in the afternoon of 10th June 1944, the Waffen SS troops arrived at the entrance to the village of Oradour in France and surrounded it. The troops assembled the inhabitants in the village square. They separated men, women and children. The men were executed in various parts of the village (forge, barns, and garages). The soldiers also killed at random in streets and houses, so that no witnesses would remain. The women and children were massacred in the church where they were shut in; the soldiers then tried to blow the church up with explosives. There were 642 victims; less than 10% could be identified. The Centre de la Mémoire website provides a detailed account of one of the major atrocities of the Second World War.

London at War: What was it like in London during the Second World War? How did Londoners cope with the Blitz , the V1 flying bomb attacks, food rationing and all the other hardships of war? What happened to the children when London was in the front line of the battle against Nazi Germany? This website looks at this and more in the first section of a site dedicated exclusively to the history of London. Its four sections - Air Raids, Daily Life, Children at war and Shelters - contain photographs, paintings, posters, diaries, personal reflections and local newsletters from and about the people of London.

Remembering the Blitz: For those who lived through it, the Blitz is an event that can never be forgotten. Large areas of London were entirely flattened by bombing, 20,000 people were killed, and 1.4 million were made homeless. This exclusively on-line exhibition includes photographs, memorabilia and recorded memories drawn from the Museum's Oral History Archive. In addition, for a period of 8 months, from 7 September 2000 to 11 May 2001 - exactly 60 years after the event - web visitors were invited to send us their own recollections of the Blitz. Often poignant and full of new insights, these memories now form an integral part of the exhibition itself.

Westall's War: At 11.12 pm on Saturday May 3rd 1941 the Air Raid Alert sounded over North Shields. In the East End of the town, locals hurried as usual to the air raid shelter beneath Wilkinson's lemonade factory .At midnight, a single bomb from a lone German raider scored a direct hit on the shelter. 103 people, many of them women and children were killed. It was the worst bombing incident in north east England during World War II. Robert Westall, the award-winning author of The Machine Gunners, was a North Shields schoolboy at the time. His father was an ARP warden in the town. Westall used his wartime experiences as a backdrop to many of his novels. Westall's War explores the Wilkinson's disaster using quotations from the novels to introduce archival sources.

World War II Plus 55: This award-winning web-page, hosted on the site of the battleship USS Washington's reunion group, is a day-by-day history of World War II. Begun as a weekly e-mail to entertain the US Naval Antarctic Support Unit in New Zealand for the 55th anniversary of World War II, it expanded like a fungus to its present size. Written in a day-by-day, present-tense format, it is designed to convey the war as it happened, with special emphasis placed on the experiences of those who fought in the conflict.

The People's War: A growing collection of personal accounts of the Second World War is included on this BBC website. This includes How a Russian Family Survived a German Labour Camp (Svetlana Ponkratova), Burma, 1945 (Bill Hopkins), Memories of a Black British Serviceman (Allan Wilmot), From Captivity to Freedom (Les Birch), The Royal Navy on Omaha Beach (Kevan Elsby), Germans in Blackpool (Harry Gallagher), Growing up in Wartime Essex (Christine Hacklett) and Boyhood at War (James Cameron).

The Home Guard: When the British and French armies were defeated in France by the Germans in May 1940 the future looked very bad. Britain was the last big country in Europe still fighting Hitler and faced the real threat of an invasion from the Germans across the sea from France. The British army had been badly weakened by the defeat in France so the government quickly set up a volunteer army to make Britain harder to invade. This was originally called the Local Defence Volunteers but was later known as the Home Guard. It was sometimes nicknamed 'Dad's army' because it was made up of volunteers who were too old to serve in the regular army. This excellent Public Record Office website takes a close look at the activities of the Home Guard during the Second World War.

After the Day of Infamy: On December 8, 1941 (the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor), Alan Lomax, then "assistant in charge" of the Archive of American Folk Song sent a telegram to fieldworkers in ten different localities across the United States, asking them to collect "man-on-the-street" reactions of ordinary Americans to the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the subsequent declaration of war by the United States. A second series of interviews was recorded in January and February 1942. Both collections are included on this website. They feature a wide diversity of opinion concerning the war and other social and political issues of the day, such as racial prejudice and labour disputes. The result is a portrait of everyday life in America as the United States entered World War II.

Aerial Reconnaissance in World War Two: During World War Two, aerial reconnaissance was one of the key methods of obtaining intelligence about the enemy and their activities. Photographs provided concrete evidence - fast. Within hours of a reconnaissance sortie, the film could be developed, printed and interpreted. Allied reconnaissance, for the most part, was classified under two main headings: mapping and damage assessment. Enemy activity was recorded and new installations were located, so that accurate maps, to be used by the ground forces, could be made. From damage assessment photographs, the exact moment when a target that had been previously hit should be re-attacked could be calculated, and the effectiveness of the enemy's rebuilding programme could be assessed. This BBC website provides articles and photographs of these activities.

Bombing of Dresden: In 1945, Arthur Harris decided to create a firestorm in the medieval city of Dresden. He considered it a good target as it had not been attacked during the war and was virtually undefended by anti-aircraft guns. The population of the city was now far greater than the normal 650,000 due to the large numbers of refugees fleeing from the advancing Red Army. On the 13th February 1945, 773 Avro Lancasters bombed Dresden. During the next two days the USAAF sent over 527 heavy bombers to follow up the RAF attack. Dresden was nearly totally destroyed. As a result of the firestorm it was afterwards impossible to count the number of victims. This website uses the words of Arthur Harris and Winston Churchill to help explain why it was thought important to destroy Dresden.

West Africa and the Second World War: During the Second World War both sides looked for support from other countries and peoples. Britain was keen to keep the support of the colonies in her Empire. At the same time Germany and her allies were keen to persuade the colonial peoples of the British Empire to take the opportunity to gain their independence. This would have weakened Britain and some of her allies who also had empires, especially the Belgians, Dutch, and French. This Learning Curve activity takes a look at the propaganda used in this struggle for the minds of those people living in West Africa.

D-day Exhibition: The Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944 - Operation Overlord - came after five years of war with Germany. It was the biggest and most complex combined operation in history, involving co-operation between the naval, air and ground forces on an unprecedented scale and marked the beginning of the end of the Second World War. 2004 is the 60th anniversary of this landmark event and at the five branches of the Imperial War Museum you can discover the fascinating stories of the people involved, from generals and political leaders to soldiers and civilians, through a series of special exhibitions and events.

Seuss and the Second World War: Theodor Seuss Geisel was a life-long cartoonist. He is mainly known for his children's books but for two years, 1941-1943, he was the chief editorial cartoonist for the New York newspaper PM, and for that journal he drew over 400 editorial cartoons. The cartoons in this website are arranged in chronological order, by year, by month, by day. These images are also browsable by subject terms such as Hitler and Japan.

Essential Pearl Harbor: This excellent website has been produced by Osprey, the publishers of military books. It includes a detailed Encyclopedia (over 400 entries), Eyewitness Accounts (sections of an award-winning documentary about the attack on Pearl Harbor), Sounds (radio broadcasts on the attacks), Debate (controversies concerning the attack on Pearl Harbor) and a Timeline (26th November to 11th December, 1941). There are some excellent 3-D animated maps. Other sections looks at uniforms, planes and ships.

D-Day: On June 6 1944, the largest armada in history launched an assault on the Normandy beaches. It was the decisive moment in the second world war. So how did it feel to be there on that tumultuous day? To mark the 60th anniversary of D-day, the Guardian has unearthed a series of letters written home by the combatants. This website also includes a dispatch from Martha Gellhorn, the American war correspondent who joined the landings and several articles by David Woodward, the Manchester Guardian war correspondent, who was one of three journalists who were landed in France from the air.

Special Operations Executive Obituaries: The SOE had many characters who also went on to make a name for themselves after the war. This section of the 64, Baker Street website contains the obituaries of some of those individuals who served so bravely during the Second World War. This includes Lise de Baissac, Walter Freud, T A Sandrock, Anthony Simkins, Leo Marks, Derek Dodson, Peter Johnsen, Peter Wand-Tetley, Paul Getty, Jim Davies, Arthur Knight, Hardy Amies, Geoffrey Gordon-Creed, Gordon Nornable, John Bunting, Reginald Hibbert, Ole Lippmann, Arthur Sclater, John Mott, Frederick Bradnum and Hugh Verity.

Camp X Historical Society: This organization was established in recognition of the courageous men and women who served in the British Security Coordination (BSC), Special Operations Executive (SOE), and the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) - those men and women who were trained in subversive warfare and covert techniques, those who fought behind enemy lines, who lived in the shadows, or who served at Camp X. The Society, established in November 1998, is a registered not-for-profit (charitable) Historical Society within the Province of Ontario, Canada. The Society’s primary mandate is conducting research for the purpose of documenting the Camp’s history, the conservation of artifacts, and community education. The Society spends a considerable amount of time and resources working with veteran agents and former Camp X staff and instructors in an effort to document and catalogue properly their experiences for historical research purposes and to preserve the memory of the Camp for future generations.

BBC D-Day: On 6 June, 1944, the Allies began the liberation of Europe with the most daring seaborne invasion in history. Sixty years on, you can commemorate D-day with the BBC. D-day features past and present; audio/ video coverage of events. The website includes an article by Duncan Anderson where he explains how meticulous planning, good luck and sheer guts made D-day one of the greatest triumphs. There is also an interactive game to play and all the details of the radio and television programmes being broadcast to commemorate one of the most important events in history.

D-day, Normandy and Beyond: The main objective of this site is keeping the memory alive of the sacrifice these brave men and women made when liberating Europe. A feature of this site is the many personal photographs, poems, letters, maps and stories contributed by the veterans themselves to be preserved here for future generations. So far 134 unique eyewitness accounts have been added to the website. Most of these accounts are from American veterans but a growing number of soldiers from other countries are adding their stories.

Normandy 1944: This is one of the Encyclopedia Britannica's online study guides and contains a detailed account of the D-day landings by the historian, John Keegan. It also includes vivid newsreel footage of the landings and radio broadcasts such as the one made by Richard Dimbleby in a Spitfire squadron over Normandy. The audio archive also includes accounts by Ralph Crenshaw (crossing the Atlantic on LST 44) and a speech by General Bernard Montgomery. Special Exhibitions are available: The Leaders and the Generals, Training, Fortress Europa and Seven Soldiers in Normandy. There are also clips from several documentaries including D-Day Remembered and Life in London.

Second World War Online: The website uses the advantages of 21^st century technology to bring to light personal histories from the War, in striking audio and video testimonies from war veterans, Blitz survivors, evacuees and Wrens. With hundreds of letters and photographs from archival sources being seen for the first time, the website provides a unique resource and a respectful tribute to the people of Northern Ireland who were affected in so many ways by the War. This online learning resource provides an interactive gateway to Northern Ireland’s experiences of the Second World War, with extensive museum and archive collections becoming more accessible to all generations, from school children to those who remember the War themselves. The website has the preservation of memory for future generations firmly at its heart. Its six specially-designed learning packages for schools cover topics such as the impact of the War on women in Northern Ireland, Irish neutrality, and the Holocaust and Northern Ireland - recognising the importance of the Second World War in the Northern Ireland curriculum. Developed by the Northern Ireland Museums Council and generously funded by the Big Lottery Fund, this site continues the work of the Imperial War Museum’s 2005 Their Past Your Future project, which marked the 60^th anniversary of the end of the War. It has been made possible through partnership between museums, the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, and other key players across the province.

The Home Front: The multiple award winning Learning Curve has launched its latest piece of content. The Home Front: 1939-45 is designed to complement fully the History National Curriculum (Key Stages 2-4). Students can take a multimedia journey through seven different aspects the Second World War and make up their own mind as to why it occurred and how it was fought. Along every step of the way the student has unrivalled access to the original documentation, gaining a real experience of 'making history'.

Winston S. Churchill: Maintained by the Churchill Center in Washington, this website is devoted to the life and times of Winston Churchill. The very detailed biography is organism into eight sections: Youth (1874-1900), Young Statesman (1901-1914), The Challenge of War (1914-16), The Stricken World (1917-1922), The Prophet of Truth (1923-1939), Finest Hour (1939-1941), Road to Victory (1942-1945) and Never Despair (1945-1965). Other sections include Debates about Churchill, Churchill's Life: Day by Day, Churchill Facts and Frequently Asked Questions.

World War II Resources: A directory of primary source materials on all aspects of the Second World War. It includes Peace and War, United States Foreign Policy 1931-1941, a 421 page chronology with citations to original source documents on the web. Other collections include the British War Blue Book, Diplomatic Documents (papers relative to the events and negotiations which preceded the opening of hostilities), Nazi-Soviet Relations (documents from the archives of the German Foreign Office) and the Pearl Harbor Attack Hearings.

World War Pictures: This site features World War I propaganda and recruitment posters from various countries, alongside a number of photographs, including American colour shots from wwii. The website also features a number of the best known war poets, with poetry by the likes of Wilfred Owen and John McCrae and 20 official war artists with brief biographies and examples of their work.

Holocaust Exhibition: Four years in the making, the Imperial War Museum's Holocaust Exhibition uses historical material to tell the story of the Nazis' persecution of the Jews and other groups before and during the Second World War. The 1200 square metre historical display covers two floors and brings to Britain for the first time rare and important objects, some of them from former concentration and extermination camp museums in Germany, Poland and the Ukraine. If you cannot get to the exhibition in London some of the material is now available from the Imperial War Museum website.

Second World War Related Websites

0 comments:

Links