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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The Liberation of Paris

The liberation of Paris didn’t have Allied priority, but an uprising of the population against the Germans on 19 August ...

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Operation Pluto

Operation Pluto (Pipelines Under The Ocean) represents one of wartime’s greatest feats of engineering. Huge pipelines we...

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Ambiguous liberation

The European drama of 1939-1945 resulted in widespread destruction. Millions were killed, maimed, displaced or traumatiz...

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The Battle of Normandy

Fought between the iconic landings on 6 June 1944 and the liberation of Paris on 25 August, the Battle of Normandy is of...

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D-Day

6 June 1944 entered history under the now legendary name of D-Day, the Allied landings on the beaches of Normandy. It wa...

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The Campaign of Monte Cassino

The Allied campaign of Monte Cassino was fought in four phases between January and May 1944. The town of Cassino was a k...

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Preparations for D-Day

D-Day is one of the most remembered campaigns of the Second World War. The operation involved troops from Britain, the U...

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Atlantic wall in Normandy

Following the invasion of the U.S.S.R. and the entry into the war of the U.S.A. on the British side, German strategy in ...

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The 1st Polish Armoured Division

The Polish First Armoured Division under command of general Maczek played an important role in the liberation of France,...

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The Hague in World War Two

In the early morning of 10 May 1940, Germany invaded the Netherlands. The Hague became the centre of German rule in the ...

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Westerplatte

On 1 September 1939 the Germans attacked the Westerplatte peninsula in the port of Gdańsk. This assault marks the beginn...

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National Socialist Ordensburg Vogelsang

The Ordensburg Vogelsang was a training venue for an upcoming Nazi-elite. Young cadets were persuaded they were racially...

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Bombing of the Bezuidenhout

On 3 March 1945, The Hague's Bezuidenhout district was bombed by the British as they attempted to eliminate the V-2 laun...

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Miet Pauw, a resistance woman murdered

During the war, Maria Verhoeven ran a textile shop on Oosteinde, in the centre of Baarle-Hertog. However, 'Miet Pauw', a...

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Zondereigen: from battlefield to construction site

When German forces retreated in the evening, they left the centre of the village of Zondereigen, in the municipality of ...

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Liberation and months after

Lier, 5 September 1944, 9.30am. From Mortsel, four British reconnaissance vehicles approached. On the Grote Markt, resid...

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The battle for Monday city

On 29 September 1944, the British 49th West Riding Infantry Division advanced on Merksplas Colony. That place was marked...

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Soldiers and nurses in the Castle

As during World War I, the Germans took up residence in the castle of the Counts de Renesse. In 1941, British bombs dest...

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A surprising liberation

A big role for two small bridgesIn Willebroek in 1944 there was a pontoon bridge over the Brussels-Scheldt Canal, and in...

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A long awaited liberation

During September 1944, nervousness increased in Turnhout. Both residents and German soldiers knew that the Allies were g...

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An eye for an eye

During World War II, Breendonk Fort served as a transit camp. The German occupiers locked up political prisoners and res...

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The liberation of Viersel

By 9 September 1944, Viersel village had already been liberated. The other side of the Albert Canal was still in the han...

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The battle for the stone bridge

October 1944. In the north-east of the province of Antwerp, the German army was trying to hold out. The British 49th Inf...

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Celebrations after a delayed liberation

Hoevenen experienced turbulent times in 1944. The liberation of Antwerp on 4 September brought not the hoped-for joy, bu...

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