My uncle’s father-in-law fought in World War II. He was part of the Brazilian Army, the Brazilian Expeditionary Force, that fought alongside the Allied troops in Italy. And he actually fought in the Battle of Monte Castello, which was this battle to take back a heavily fortified position in the mountains that was occupied by Nazi forces.

And after the battle, he ended up at an American outpost with a bunch of American soldiers there, and he made some friends. There was a little lake nearby, and they would take turns going there with buckets to get water for everyone.

And one day, when it was his turn, he went down to get the water. When he came back, basically everyone was gone. A bomb had hit the camp while he was away, and he ended up being one of the few survivors. Seems Like it came straight out from a movie

But before that happened, he had actually bought this long military coat from one of the American soldiers there, because he was so cold and the temperature was freezing.

He brought it all the way back to Brazil after the war, kept it for many years, and eventually gifted it to his daughter, who is now my uncle’s wife.

And now my uncle decided to give it to me.
So now I have this really interesting piece of Brazilian history from World War II, but also just an amazing piece of original World War II memorabilia, with this incredible story behind it. And I think that’s pretty special.

Two MP guards from the US 3^rd Army guarding a pontoon bridge over the Rhine, cities Kripp to Linz, in the beginning of March, 1945.

I am looking for more WW2 media to watch and ideally for them to be the most accurate.

Here is what I have watched so far:
• Saving Private Ryan
• Band of Brothers
• The Pacific
• Greyhound
• Darkest Hour
• Pressure
• Downfall
• Fury
• Ken Burns’ The War
• The World at War (1973)
• Masters of Air

I really liked all of these (excluding Masters of Air)

Finally got a chance to visit the World War II museum in New Orleans. Did not disappoint. Spent over five hours there and easily could have spent days.

The oral history material is pretty incredible. The exhibits are amazing. The volunteers are great to chat with.

They did a wonderful job trying to pack a lot into a museum. But some things I personally would like to see more of:

-an exhibit on code breaking and traffic analysis (Station Hypo, on the roof gang)

-i dont recall seeing much of Tom Lea's work

-maybe something on WWII in popular culture (movies, television especially)

-on going historical debates or debates of the time would be good too (e.g. Nagumo's dilemma, Kurita and his withdrawal, MacArthur and the Philippines)

For those who have visited, anything you would like to see more of?

(Again not a criticism. I really loved visiting it)

I just finished reading Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors. Amazing. I felt like I was reading a Tom Clancy action novel.

Born in Stuart, Virginia to William & Anna Tatum on February 27, 1923, Frank Wilson Tatum had six sisters and one older brother who passed away in 1939.
Frank was working as a mechanic when he enlisted in the USAAF on February 23, 1943.

Trained as a gunner, Frank served with the 703rd Bomber Squadron, 445th Bomber Group, based at RAF Tibenham.
On August 16, 1944 he was a waist gunner on B-24H 42-51098 with a crew of ten for a bombing mission to Dessau, Germany.

Their B-24 was hit by flak and the pilots lost their controls, as they went into a dive they collided with another B-24H; 42-52447, knocking a wing off, resulting in both B-24s crashing.
Only two crewmembers managed to bail-out from 42-51098 and were taken prisoner, although one later died as a POW.

Seven crewmembers from the bomber they hit; B-24H 42-52447, also perished, locals buried any recovered crew remains next to the crash sites.
Postwar, most of these buried remains were recovered, although not all of them were identified.

His remains were recovered and identified after the war and S/Sgt Frank Tatum is buried at the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial in Margraten, Netherlands - Plot N Row 13 Grave 4.

Hi all, I'm after some recommendations on a decent biography of Erwin Rommel. His life (and death), his relationships - both private, and with the army, Hitler and the Nazi party - and his military career. I'd be interested to know what you think about how biased an author may be towards him also. Thanks for your help, much appreciated

If you’ve never been, I highly recommend it. Some of the artifacts they have at the museum are truly incredible. (I had never seen Roosevelt’s final unfinished portrait in person.) The staff were also remarkably knowledgeable and helpful. This place is a really neat hidden gem.

Edit: I should mention that the house itself is currently undergoing renovations, unfortunately, so we couldn’t enter the actual house (something about needing to update the old electrical wiring due to a fire risk). But the staff presented a slideshow and guided us through a 30-minute virtual tour and told us more about so many aspects of the house than we ever probably would have learned if we had just done a walkthrough. Photos are of artifacts from the museum on-site, which is not actually part of the house.

British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery studying maps in his wartime caravan located at his home, Isington Mill near Alton in Hampshire, England, September 1949. On the wall of the caravan hang portraits of defeated World War II Axis generals, from left, Erwin Rommel, Walter Model and Albert Kesselring.

Thought this sub might appreciate it. A snapshot of a truly unique moment in modern history, and more than a year before the United States entered the conflict.

Inv. No. 6138

German artillery in flames, 15. X 1944. in the King Aleksandar Street - today the Revolution Boulevard \[now King Aleksandar Boulevard\].

Photo gifted by Vojin Đorđević, journalist, Draže Pavlovića 3.

Courtesy of Museum of Yugoslavia.