Sword Beach was of one of the three British landing beaches during the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. "Sword Beach" was a codename for that British landing sector, which stretched 5 miles from Ouistreham to Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer. It was also the easternmost landing sector of the six Allied landing points at D-Day and lay [...]

The Kovel encirclement was the Soviet Army pincers movement which surrounded and trapped most of the 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking in Kovel, Poland, during the Second World War. In March 1944, the commander of the 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking, Herbert Otto Gille, had been ordered to proceed and assist in the defence of the Polish [...]

Strafing is the military tactic used in modern warfare to attack ground forces, such as infantry, artillery, or armor units from low-flying fighters or light bombers using machine guns and small-caliber cannons. "Strafing" derives from the verb "to strafe", which in turn derives from the German verb "strafen", which means to punish. Using their biplane [...]

The Maginot Line was a French defensive system of concrete fortifications which stretched along the border between France and Germany. It was built by the French government between 1930 and 1940 as a result of experience from World War I. Although it had originally been proposed by field marshal Joseph Joffre, the Maginot Line was [...]

Blitzkrieg is a military tactic of an all-mechanized and armored force concentrating its attack on a small section of the enemy front. Then, when the latter is pierced, the assault is concentrated on its flank. Blitzkrieg is a German word which means “lightning war” and was first used by the German Army in World War [...]

Devised by German Chief of Staff Alfred von Schlieffen, The Schlieffen Plan was the German early 20th century strategic plan for victory both on the Western Front against France and against Russia in the east, taking advantage of expected differences in the three countries’ speed in preparing for war. In modified form, it was executed [...]