Lone Sentry WWII - Directory of World War II Links and News

A website dedicated to Staff Sergeant David "Rosie" Rosenkrantz who served in H Company, III Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division during WWII and was declared MIA in Holland, September 1944. The website contains an interesting collection of unit and personal history, letters, sketches, and photographs. External Link: S/Sgt David Rosenkrantz.

Author Harry Yeide (Steel Victory, The Tank Killers, The Longest Battle, and Weapons of the Tankers) has placed a wealth of information and photographs online on his homepage. The site includes a brief history of each of the U.S. independent tank battalions and tank destroyer battalions along with numerous photos. The Public Folder section also contains two fascinating memos from Maj. Gen. McNair and Maj. Gen. Lynch debating U.S. tactical doctrine on whether tanks should fight tanks. External Link: Harry Yeide Homepage (mac.com).

The PEDG (Panzer Elite Development Group) photography section has photographs from various members of military ships, airplanes and tanks at various museums in the U.S., U.K. and France. The coverage of Tankfest 2004 at Bovington Tank Museum is particularly interesting and includes the Tiger #131 runner. External Link: PEDG Photography Section (www.pedg.co.uk).

"Through My Sights" documents the photograph collection of Glenn L. Kappelman, a gunner with the 106th Cavalry Group. The website contains only a small fraction of the photos online, but the selection is outstanding. Online photos can be found both in the gallery and in the sample pages sections of the website. Also see the site at wuacc.edu for additional images -- the heavily-loaded jeep with two German prisoners is particularly noteworthy. External Links: Through My Sights (ljworld.com) and Through My Sights Information (wuacc.edu)

A chapel decorated by WWII Italian prisoners of war in Wales is facing closure. The prisoner's chapel was decorated by Italian prisoners held at camp 70 in Henllan. After the war, many ex-PoWs made an annual pilgrimage to the chapel for reunions. External Link: POW Chapel in Need of Friends.

The movie "Flags of Our Fathers" opens this weekend. Jake Coyle of AP discusses the movie and the famous photograph of the flag raising on Iwo Jima. External Link: The Story of the Iwo Jima Photograph.

Inspired by the opening of "Flags of Our Fathers," MSNBC lists their Top 10 WWII films: External Link: MSNBC Top 10 World War II Films.

The recent book "Whispers from an Empty Coffin" recounts the story of Donald W. Schuman who was a POW in Stalag 9B near Bad Orb. External Link: Whispers from an Empty Coffin (Amazon).

The Traces Center for History and Culture presents the stories of the encounters between Americans from the Midwest and Germans or Austrians during WWII. Along with more traditional WWII artifacts, the website displays an interesting set of photographs, documents, and camp newsletters from POW camps for Axis prisoners in the Midwest. The museum also has a traveling exhibit that tells the story of German-Americans interned during WWII. External Link: Traces.org.

Outstanding website covering the Combat Engineer units of the U.S. VI Corps, in particular 36th Combat Engineers (2826th, 2827th and 2828th Bns), 39th Combat Engineers (1st and 2nd Bns), 540th Combat Engineers (2832nd and 2833rd Bns) and 1108th Combat Engineers (48th and 253rd Bns). The website is very deep with numerous sections to explore for photographs, documents, personal accounts, and external resources. External Link: VI Corps Combat Engineers WWII.

A WWII weapons cache was recently found by construction workers in Lviv, Ukraine. According to Ukranian TV:

Emergency workers found 18 German grenades and more than 500 German and French-made bullets. Radio equipment was also found. The hardware was described as being in excellent condition. But local historians were most excited by the maps and documents found in the store. Based on the documents, researchers believe the roof-top bunker was last used in 1944.

Lviv was occupied by Germany from June 1941 to July 1944 when Soviet forces recaptured the city. External Link: Lviv: WW2 Weapons Cache Found in Roof.

The new WWII movie Flags of Our Fathers directed by Clint Eastwood opens October 20. The movie tells the story of the six men in the famous photograph of the U.S. flag being raised on Iwo Jima. External Link: Flags of Our Fathers: Official Movie Site.

The movie is based on the book Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley and Ron Powers. External Link: Flags of Our Fathers: Book (Amazon.com).

The remains of WWII Air Force pilot 1st Lt. Shannon E. Estill of Cedar Rapids, Iowa have been identified by the Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office. Estill is scheduled to be buried October 10 in Arlington National Cemetery. Estill's P-38 Lightning was hit by German fire on April 13, 1945 and his plane was seen to explode and crash near Elsnig, Germany. The crash site was discovered in 2003 and the remains recovered in 2005. External Link: Missing WWII Airmen is Identified.

Outstanding collection of WWII photos and documents on Flickr originally from T/4 Robert G. Pittinger of the U.S. 11th Evacuation Hospital. In particular, Page 2 contains interesting equipment photos of German Me-262's jets, Sherman tank, and German 88's. External Link: Pictures from Grandfather P.'s Experiences in WWII (flickr).

Garrett County Press sent a note about their new WWII memoir From Campus to Combat: A College Boy Becomes a WWII Army Flier by James Alter. From the book jacket:

James Alter was a sophomore in college when Japan attacked the United States. He enlisted, and after an Army program that condensed years of training into a few frantic months, was flying over Europe, dodging German gunners in a B-24. Alter proudly recounts the achievements of his heroic generation as he details this 'important, but defining chapter' of his early life.