Conflict directory
STORIES
Real combat stories across the ages, now grouped by conflict so the archive is easier to scan. Existing story URLs stay the same; the old page 2 and page 3 archives remain available as fallback links.
8 stories
Featured / Newest
Recently built feature stories and major pages to open first.
Alvin York
The Argonne machine-gun fight near Chatel-Chehery
October 8, 1918 - Meuse-Argonne Offensive
Khe Sanh
Marines, air supply, Operation Niagara, and the shadow of Dien Bien Phu
January 21-April 8, 1968 - Quang Tri Province
LZ X-Ray
Hal Moore, Hueys, and the first major U.S. Army clash with PAVN regulars
November 14-16, 1965 - Ia Drang Valley
Treason in Ink — The Declaration Signers
Fifty-six public names placed under British law's death sentence.
July 1776 • Philadelphia — Lives, fortunes, sacred honor
Arnhem
Lt. Col. John Frost - the bridge too far
September 17-21, 1944 - Netherlands
PT-109
Lt. John F. Kennedy - Blackett Strait survival story
August 2-8, 1943 - Solomon Islands
The Lost Battalion
1st Battalion, 141st Infantry - rescued by the 442nd
October 1944 - Vosges Mountains, France
Against Battleships
USS Johnston DD-557 - Commander Ernest E. Evans
October 25, 1944 - Battle off Samar
1 story
World War I
Trench warfare, machine guns, artillery, tanks, raids, pilots, and the soldiers who fought in the first industrial world war.
30 stories
World War II
Pacific, Europe, resistance, air raids, armor, infantry, snipers, and survival stories.
Arnhem
Lt. Col. John Frost - the bridge too far
September 17-21, 1944 - Netherlands
PT-109
Lt. John F. Kennedy - Blackett Strait survival story
August 2-8, 1943 - Solomon Islands
The Lost Battalion
1st Battalion, 141st Infantry - rescued by the 442nd
October 1944 - Vosges Mountains, France
Against Battleships
USS Johnston DD-557 - Commander Ernest E. Evans
October 25, 1944 - Battle off Samar
Battle Off Samar
Destroyers vs. Battleships
Leyte Gulf • Impossible Odds • US Navy
The Doolittle Raid
B-25s Off the Deck
Apr 18, 1942 • USS Hornet to Tokyo
Shots Fired in Anger — The Mail-Order Sniper
2Lt John George — 132nd Infantry, Americal Division
Jan 1943 • Guadalcanal — 11 snipers killed in 4 days
Manila John — The Machine Gunner Who Held the Line
GySgt John Basilone — 1st Bn, 7th Marines
Oct 24-25, 1942 • Guadalcanal / Feb 19, 1945 • Iwo Jima (KIA)
The Stand at Holtzwihr: Murphy's Impossible Hour
Lieutenant Audie Murphy ? 15th Infantry
Jan 26, 1945 • Holtzwihr, France
The Last Stand of Joe Sadowski
Sgt Joe Sadowski ? 37th Tank Battalion, 4th Armored
Sep 14, 1944 • Valhey, France
Cobra King: The Tank That Broke the Siege
Lt Boggess & LtCol Abrams ? 37th Tank Bn, 4th Armored
Dec 26, 1944 • Bastogne, Belgium
The Mortar Man of Burnon
TSgt Roscoe V. Albertson ? CCB, 4th Armored Division
Dec 22, 1944 • Burnon, Belgium
Death's Deception on Christmas Day
Pfc Roscoe Putnam ? 318th Infantry Regiment
Dec 25, 1944 • Chaumont, Belgium
The Eyes of Patton
Pvt John DiBattista ? 25th Cavalry Recon, 4th Armored
Dec 22, 1944 • Burnon, Belgium
The Christmas Tanker of Chaumont
Pvt Bruce Fenchel ? 8th Tank Battalion, 4th Armored
Dec 22-25, 1944 • Chaumont, Belgium
Hacksaw Ridge — Desmond Doss
Refused to Carry a Weapon — Saved 75 Men
May 1945 • Okinawa • Conscientious Objector
Night Witches
Soviet Women Bomber Pilots
Po-2 Biplanes • Whisper Raids • 1942-1945
The Great Escape
76 Men Out. 50 Murdered.
POW Tunnels • Forged Papers • WWII Germany
The Dam Busters Raid
Bouncing Bombs at Midnight
RAF • May 1943 • Ruhr Valley
The White Death — Simo Häyhä
505 Kills in 100 Days — Iron Sights, No Scope
1939–1940 • Deadliest Sniper in History
The White Death
Simo Häyhä
Finland • Iron Sights • Snow Ghost
Eugene Sledge at Peleliu
Hell in the Pacific
USMC • Coral Ridges • No Glory
Vasily Zaitsev
Sniper in the Ruins
Red Army • Urban Hell • Legend
Lafayette G. Pool
America's Deadliest Tank Commander
3rd Armored • Sherman • France 1944
Witold Pilecki
The Man Who Volunteered
Polish Underground • Intelligence • Escape
The Burning Angel of Koriyama
Red Erwin carries a burning phosphorus canister through a B-29.
April 12, 1945 Koriyama Raid
The Human Torch of the Pacific
Henry E. Erwin saves his B-29 crew while blinded and burning.
April 12, 1945 20th Air Force
Mad Jack Churchill
The officer who went to World War II with a longbow, sword, and bagpipes.
1940-1945 British Commandos
The One-Eyed Ghost
Lo Major loses an eye, refuses evacuation, and later helps liberate Zwolle.
1944-1945 Netherlands
The Warsaw Uprising
A City Fights Alone
Aug-Oct 1944 • Warsaw, Poland
3 stories
Vietnam War
Air mobility, siege warfare, jungle terrain, and the changing shape of the war.
Khe Sanh
Marines, air supply, Operation Niagara, and the shadow of Dien Bien Phu
January 21-April 8, 1968 - Quang Tri Province
LZ X-Ray
Hal Moore, Hueys, and the first major U.S. Army clash with PAVN regulars
November 14-16, 1965 - Ia Drang Valley
The Battle of Ia Drang
Helicopters Into the Valley
Nov 1965 • LZ X-Ray and Albany
4 stories
Revolutionary War
Founders, spies, river crossings, militia warfare, and the public risk of rebellion.
Treason in Ink — The Declaration Signers
Fifty-six public names placed under British law's death sentence.
July 1776 • Philadelphia — Lives, fortunes, sacred honor
The Crossing — Washington's Gamble at Trenton
Gen. George Washington — Continental Army
Dec 25-26, 1776 • 0 KIA, 900 Hessians captured
The Swamp Fox — Francis Marion
BGen Francis Marion — South Carolina Militia
1780–1782 • South Carolina — Father of American Rangers
One Life to Lose — Nathan Hale
America's First Spy — The Only Volunteer
Sep 22, 1776 • Age 21 • Executed by British
8 stories
Ancient & Medieval
Classical last stands, empire-ending sieges, steppe conquest, and pre-modern battlefield shocks.
The Hot Gates — 300 Spartans at Thermopylae
King Leonidas — 7,000 Greeks vs. 100,000+ Persians
480 BC • Last Stand • ~20,000 Persian KIA
Crossing the Alps — Hannibal Barca
37 War Elephants Over the Alps — 218 BC
218 BC • Lost 20,000 Men Crossing • Defeated Rome for 15 Years
The Fire of Boudicca — Queen of the Iceni
Burned London to the Ground — 80,000 Romans Killed
60-61 AD • 100,000 Celtic Warriors • Never Captured
Masada
A desert fortress, a Roman siege ramp, and a last stand above the Dead Sea.
73-74 AD Judea
The Wrath of Khan — Khwarezmia Erased
They Killed His Ambassadors — He Killed Their Empire
1219–1221 • 1-2 Million Dead • Empire Annihilated
The Mud & the Arrows — Agincourt, 1415
King Henry V — 5,000 Longbowmen vs 15,000 Knights
Oct 25, 1415 • St. Crispin's Day — 6,000 French KIA
The Last Roman — Constantinople, 1453
Emperor Constantine XI — 7,000 vs 80,000 — The 27-ft Cannon
May 29, 1453 • 53-Day Siege • End of the Roman Empire
The Sword Saint
Miyamoto Musashi, undefeated duelist and author of The Book of Five Rings.
1584-1645 Japan
3 stories
19th Century / Colonial Wars
Imperial frontiers, doomed charges, outposts, and early modern legend-making.
The Wall of Fire — Rorke's Drift
150 vs 4,000 — 11 Victoria Crosses
Jan 22–23, 1879 • 12 Hours Through the Night
Remember the Alamo
Travis, Bowie, Crockett, and the 13-day siege that became a rallying cry.
1836 San Antonio de Bxar
Into the Valley
A misread order sends British light cavalry into Russian guns.
Oct 25, 1854 Balaclava
3 stories
Cold War & Modern
Post-1945 combat stories, rescue raids, peacekeeping sieges, and Korea.
90 Minutes at Entebbe — Operation Thunderbolt
2,500 Miles — 102 Hostages Rescued
July 4, 1976 • Yonatan Netanyahu KIA
The Siege of Jadotville — The Forgotten Heroes
155 Irish vs 3,000 — Zero KIA — Denied Honor for 55 Years
Sep 1961 • Congo • Finally Honored 2016
Chosin Reservoir Breakout
Frozen Hell
Korea • -35°F • Surrounded
8 stories
Shadow War
Spies, deception, resistance networks, covert raids, and intelligence operations.
The Limping Lady — Virginia Hall
One Leg, Zero Fear — Most Dangerous Allied Spy
1941–1945 • SOE / OSS / CIA
Virginia Hall
The spy the Gestapo could not catch
Wooden Leg • Resistance Networks • WWII
Noor Inayat Khan
Wireless Under Occupation
1943-1944 • Paris • SOE network
Operation Mincemeat
A corpse, a briefcase, and the road to Sicily
British Intelligence • Strategic Deception • WWII
Garbo
The man who invented an army of spies
Juan Pujol García • Fortitude • WWII
Witold Pilecki
The Man Who Volunteered
Polish Underground • Intelligence • Escape
One Life to Lose — Nathan Hale
America's First Spy — The Only Volunteer
Sep 22, 1776 • Age 21 • Executed by British
The Warsaw Uprising
A City Fights Alone
Aug-Oct 1944 • Warsaw, Poland