Please recommend me some great books about the home front during WWI or WWII. [more inside]
posted on Jul 21, 2008 - 23 answers

Please help me figure out the name of this Japanese war movie... IMDB and Netflix have let me down. [more inside]
posted on Jul 9, 2008 - 1 answers

Are there any good English-language sources on dissent in World War II era Japan? [more inside]
posted on Jul 3, 2008 - 7 answers

anyone familiar with the language/alphabet used in this WWII-era document from western China? my best guess is something related to the Yi language, but that could (of course) be totally wrong.
posted on May 13, 2008 - 7 answers

This is a recording of the CBS radio announcement of the Pearl Harbor bombings. I remember having a longer version of this exact clip, and right where this one ends an announcer with a classic American radio accent says "We take you now, to Washington". Where could I find that again? (I've googled, and all I can find is the abridged version). [more inside]
posted on Apr 3, 2008 - 4 answers

What makes a score to an American WWII movie or tv show have that distinctive "sound" to it? [more inside]
posted on Feb 15, 2008 - 7 answers

Why were the Germans allied with the Japanese in WWII? Why were the Americans at war with the Japanese?
posted on Dec 22, 2007 - 12 answers

My grandfather recently showed us an old handwritten flight logbook from when he served in Guam in WW2 with the Navy. Would scanning this serve any interest to someone? Might it be considered classified info? [more inside]
posted on Nov 29, 2007 - 8 answers

Please help me find the grave of Private Thomas F. Maguire of Arlington, Massachusetts, who was killed in WW2. [more inside]
posted on Sep 23, 2007 - 15 answers

Details of the German tank counting method (as seen on reddit)? [more inside]
posted on Sep 19, 2007 - 13 answers

Would the Navy stop to pickup a sailor who fell overboard? [more inside]
posted on Sep 2, 2007 - 16 answers

Looking for a quote, possibly from Winston Churchill, along the lines of "Don't panic, live life as you have been, etc. etc." May have been in reference to severe bombing in London during WWII (if it was indeed Churchill).
posted on Aug 29, 2007 - 9 answers

How can I find a legendary "formula" for an A-Bomb and not be put on a terrorist watch-list in the process? [more inside]
posted on Apr 11, 2007 - 13 answers

Help finding photograph of corporate executive being carried out of his building by MPs? [more inside]
posted on Mar 30, 2007 - 10 answers

When I was in college, I watched a French movie for one of my classes. The premise, as I remember it, was that a French Jew is separated from his wife and child during World War II. He starts paying a old farming couple to hide him, giving them some of the gold and valuables he is carrying. Eventually, the old couple decide that hiding him is rather lucrative, and manage to fool him into remaining in hiding after the war is over so that they can squeeze him dry. [more inside]
posted on Mar 26, 2007 - 5 answers

How widespread was the knowledge of the concentration camps outside of Germany, and displaced Jewish families, in the 30's and 40's? When did the general American public become aware of what was happening? [more inside]
posted on Feb 20, 2007 - 19 answers

Help me understand the connection between "Traumerei" and Russia. [more inside]
posted on Dec 22, 2006 - 7 answers

Recognize this movie? Somebody asked the Onion's AV Club about it and they (I think) got it wrong -- and it's a movie that's been bugging me for some time also. Can AskMe get it right? Details inside include a crashed WWII bomber in the desert and spooky ghost crew members. [more inside]
posted on Dec 1, 2006 - 12 answers

What things would we not have today had we lost World War 1 or 2? [more inside]
posted on Nov 9, 2006 - 40 answers

Please help me identify the location and significance of this (possible) War Memorial structure. [more inside]
posted on Sep 6, 2006 - 9 answers

History-Filter: Post WWII riots by soldiers in Europe... I need to find out the exact where, when, etc. for the mustering out riots that took place after the end of WWII. From what little I know, soldiers were upset about not being able to go home once the war was over, and riots broke out. History Buffs - help!
posted on Jul 12, 2006 - 4 answers

ID-That-Book-Filter: I read this novel in the mid-90s, and my recollection of it is very vague, but I'd love to find and read it again. I read it in the school library so it was probably written well before then; I'd guess maybe in the 80s. It was [more inside]
posted on Jun 29, 2006 - 11 answers

My uncle died last week at 86. In World War II, he was with the O.S.S. in the China-Burma-India theater and on 8/17/45 parachuted into the Shantung peninsula to liberate the Weihsien internment camp from the Japanese (this was the camp that Eric Liddell died in - he was the English 1924 Olympics runner in Chariots of Fire). There is an online exhibit at the Smithsonian American History museum with a picture of him and three others at Weihsien (page all the way down, next to last picture on the right, he's on far left). My question: when I click on the picture to enlarge it and then attempt to right click it to save it, up comes a Macromedia Flash Player script & no joy. Is there any way I can save this enlarged picture to my hard drive? Help of Mavens of MeFi! http://americanhistory.si.edu/militaryhistory/printable/section.asp?id=9&sub=8
posted on Jun 28, 2006 - 24 answers

What's a good book (or more) for a general historical overview of World War II? [more inside]
posted on Jun 14, 2006 - 19 answers

Long car trip coming up, I'm asking for book suggestions from others who enjoyed Leo Marks' "Between Silk and Cyanide : A Codemaker's War, 1941-1945". [more inside]
posted on Jun 12, 2006 - 16 answers

What literary critic is said to have used the only couple of his great work as rolling paper for his cigarettes? [more inside]
posted on Apr 3, 2006 - 5 answers

Does the re-purposing of the word "Nazi" in U.S. culture in recent years to mean generic-overzealous-rule-enforcement instead of Homicidal-Socialist-German-Workers-Party detract from the horror of the Holocaust and the other crimes perpetrated by actual Nazis? Is the "Soup Nazi"-type usage of the word "Nazi" taking away the power of the word? If so, is that the right thing to do? Is it causing greater estrangement in cultural relationships between the U.S. and Europeans? How is the word "Nazi" used in your community/workplace/social circles? [more inside]
posted on Mar 11, 2006 - 33 answers

Anybody know anything about WWII British tug boats? [more inside]
posted on Feb 19, 2006 - 3 answers

The Sherwin-Williams paint logo has always reminded me of a propaganda poster. Possibly with WWII Japan depicted as an octopus. Or maybe there's oil involved. [more inside]
posted on Dec 30, 2005 - 19 answers

WWII London Blackout question -- blue streetlights? [more inside]
posted on Nov 22, 2005 - 4 answers

I'm looking for a good book on Japanese points of view on WWII. NPR keeps bringing it up, and I'd like to broaden my knowledge. Any tips?
posted on Aug 16, 2005 - 8 answers

I watched The Longest Day last night and had a few dumb D-Day questions afterward: 1) Why wasn't German U-Boat activity in the North Atlantic considered a major impedance to the invasion, 2) Why didn't German radars pick up the tremendous column of men & machines heading toward France, 3) Why wasn't more air cover sent in far ahead of the armada to take out the huge gun emplacements on the beach first, and 4) in order to risk less casualties once they hit the beaches, why didn't the Allies roll out tanks & armored vehicles first instead of releasing waves of vulnerable human targets from their LCVs, many of whom were killed immediately?
posted on Jul 29, 2005 - 32 answers

I'm looking for online examples of WWII-era airplane silhouettes, labeled as "American," "British," "Japanese," or "German," as used by civilians during WWII to spot enemy aircraft. Help? [more inside]
posted on May 3, 2005 - 6 answers

Vet's and movie buffs, I need your help to get me into a WWII solider character. [more inside]
posted on Mar 29, 2005 - 8 answers

Inspired by the question about publicly available news footage: Is it possible to download somewhere all 7 (?) parts of Frank Capra's WWII series "Why We Fight"? I know it's in the public domain, having been produced with taxpayer dollars, but all I can find is people selling it on DVD and VHS, with the exception of the final title, which Prelinger has. Are there MPEG-2 or avi versions of the other titles somewhere?

Also, if I could sneak in a twofer -- Where do Jon Stewart, SNL, etc. get the video and stills they use in their news parodies? I know parody is protected, so they probably don't have to clear rights, but do they just copy it down from regular programming? Or is there some kind of archive they're tapping? Does CBS, for instance, just give you this stuff if you ask for it?
posted on Dec 16, 2004 - 8 answers

I think we've just about all heard about the Japanese internment camps of WWII. While I'm mildly curious to know if any actual pro-Japanese/anti-American espionage rings were discovered through that process, I'm really curious to know if Japan experienced the inverse-- that is, whether there was any sort of pro-American underground in Japan attempting to thwart the country's progress in its war against the US. I saw a documentary a couple of years back, probably on the History Channel, discussing how Japan had seen a lot of western modernism creep in in the 20s and 30s that then led to a strong backlash and trend towards nationalism, which helped lead to Japan's involvement in WWII. It occurred to me that some of those pro-westerners must have been plenty annoyed with their country; did any of them act on that anger?
posted on Dec 7, 2004 - 7 answers

WWIIMovieFilter: I was talking to my grandfather, who was a paratrooper who particpated in the Normandy invasion, about war movies. He mentioned how unrealistic he found movies like Saving Private Ryan and that he had only ever seen one movie that he found truly illustrated the realities of his experience. [MI]
posted on Dec 4, 2004 - 10 answers

I'm trying to find out what my grandfather did during World War II. He was in the 101st and I know he saw a lot of the worst of the Battle of the Bulge. He mentioned going to Hitler's retreat (I believe he means Eagle's Nest). He also won, I believe, an important medal that he refuses to accept and was invited to France to do something. He hates talking about it, he's getting up there, and I was hoping to figure out as much as I can. Sorry to be vague but I'm telling all that I know. My preliminary google searches don't turn up anything. More inside.
posted on Oct 12, 2004 - 10 answers

I have a couple of nuts-and-bolts questions about the Pacific theater in World War II.
posted on Oct 4, 2004 - 8 answers

War Movies: I'm looking for any good movies about World War II, specifically to do with civilian life (rather than military actions.) I've seen Au Revoir Les Enfants and The Diary of Anne Frank - can you suggest any others you've enjoyed?
posted on Sep 16, 2004 - 35 answers

How and when did World War II get its name?
posted on Jun 6, 2004 - 10 answers