Published:
February 24, 2021 at 7:03 am
At the height of the battle of Dunkirk in May 1940, the brilliant New Zealander Al Deere was on patrol in his RAF Spitfire over the French coast. Suddenly, through the haze of smoke drifting upwards from the raging combat on the ground, he spotted a German Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter below him. He instantly gave chase. Soon, both planes were descending earthwards at high speed. “Down we went, throttles fully open, engines roaring and each determined to get the last ounce out of his straining aircraft. From 17,000 feet down to ground level I hung to his tail,” recalled Deere.
On This Day: Thousands support Nazism at Madison Square Garden rally
On Feb. 20, 1939, tens of thousands of Nazi supporters gathered for a rally at New York City s Madison Square Garden to celebrate the rise of Adolf Hitler.
By (0)
On February 20, 1939, tens of thousands of Nazi supporters gathered for a rally at New York City s Madison Square Garden to celebrate the rise of Adolf Hitler. File Photo courtesy of the Department of Defense
Tara Lipinski poses on the red carpet at the the annual White House Correspondent s Association Gala at the Washington Hilton on April 25, 2015. On February 20, 1998, Lipinski, 15, became the youngest winner of a ladies Olympic gold medal in figure skating. File Photo by Molly Riley/UPI | License Photo
Sitzkrieg: World War II s Strange Beginning in Western Europe
The lull in the fighting on the Western Front in 1940 came to be known as the Phony War.
Here s What You Need to Know: World War II got off to a slow start in Western Europe.
Within hours of the entry of Great Britain and France into World War II on September 3, 1939, the British liner SS
Athenia was sunk by a German U-boat off the northwestern coast of Ireland, with the loss of 112 dead, including 28 American citizens.
The Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS
Courageous was torpedoed by a U-boat off the southwestern English coast on September 17 with the loss of 515 lives; the venerable, 29,150-ton battleship HMS