Learn about WWII History

Explore the critical events related to the war and the personal stories of those who lived through that challenging time.

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Addi Bâ Mamadou

Addi Bâ Mamadou, or Hady Bah Mamadou, was born in 1916 in Guinea. During the Second World War, he was a soldier in the F...

#Biography

Oldřich Babka

Oldřich Babka, born in Pilsen in 1925, was a grammar school student during the war and was forced to join the local Ger...

#Biography

Luděk Dembrovský

Luděk Dembovský was born on December 11, 1929 and grew up in Pilsen. In May 1945, he experienced bombing and the arrival...

#Biography

Josef Vlach

Josef Vlach was born on 20 September 1919 in Pilsen. At the outbreak of war, he fought against the German invasion of Cz...

#Biography

Jiří Rádl

Jiří Rádl was born on 7 January 1928 in Pilsen. During the Second World War, he and his classmates from the fourth year ...

#Biography

James Duncan

During the Second World War, Sergeant James H. Duncan Snr was commander of the “F” Company of the 38th Infantry Regiment...

#Biography

Ida Milotova

Ida Milotová (née Roučková) was born in Karlovy Vary in 1928. She grew up in Plzeň where her father was in charge of the...

#Biography

Sergeant Stanley Hollis

Stanley Hollis was the only one soldier to be awarded the Victoria Cross medal on 6 June 1944....

#Biography

Operation Goodwood

On 18 July 1944, General Montgomery launched a new offensive, Operation Goodwood, southeast of Caen, to fully capture th...

#Storyline

Tadeusz Wyrwa

Tadeusz served with his father in the Home Army. He started his service with the partisans of the legendary Major Dobrza...

#Biography

Ryszard Książyński

When the Second World War broke out in 1939, Ryszard Książyński was only 15 years old. Ryszard was a boyscout and loved ...

#Biography

Jerzy Krusenstern

Jerzy Krusenstern came from aristocratic European families. Before the war, he was a boyscout which helped to prepare hi...

#Biography

Jan Karski

Jan Karski was a member of the Polish Underground State, and a witness of the Holocaust. On the orders of his commanders...

#Biography

Elżbieta Zawacka

Elżbieta Zawacka was a courier and emissary of the commander of the Polish Home Army, the most important resistance orga...

#Biography

Tatjana Barbakoff

She attracted attention by her attitude, her colourful costumes and by a programme that alternated Russian and Chinese d...

#Biography

Roza Shanina

“Throughout my life at the front there has not been an instant when I have not longed to be in battle. I want to be wher...

#Biography

Roger Bushell

In 1950, Australian writer Paul Brickhill published “The Great Escape”. The book was based on a mass escape of 76 Allied...

#Biography

Irma Grese

Irma Grese was a female concentration camp guard (Aufseherin). She was only 18 years old when she began her service at t...

#Biography

Horst Willner

Horst Willner was a German U-boat commander. Between January and May 1945 he took part in a large naval evacuation opera...

#Biography

Slávka Altmanová

Slávka Altmanová was born on 8 August 1923 in Volhynia. She witnessed the Soviet invasion in 1939 as well as the German ...

#Biography

Richard Smola

Richard Smola was born in Pilsen on the 3 June 1930. He witnessed the bombing of the city and its liberation by U.S. for...

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Civilian photography appeal - mapping the beaches

Mapping the terrain of the beaches in Normandy was essential in preparing suitable landing craft and training troops for...

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Children’s perspectives of life in South East England

During the preparations for D-Day, civilians in Southeast England saw thousands of troops and vehicles descend upon thei...

#Story

Jimmy Tompkins

Jimmy Tompkins was a professional footballer who played for Fulham FC based at Craven Cottage stadium in Fulham. Tompkin...

#Biography